9. New light identifies this systems end is imminent

JESUS CHRIST foretold that at a future date, ‘the end would come.’ Describing that time, he said: “Then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.”—Matthew 24:14, 21.


Jesus’ statements about the end, along with other Bible passages on this topic, raise a number of important questions. Why not open your Bible and read what it says in answer to those questions?


The Bible does not teach that the literal earth will be destroyed. “[God] has founded the earth upon its established places,” wrote the psalmist. “It will not be made to totter to time indefinite, or forever.” (Psalm 104:5) Nor does the Bible teach that all life will be annihilated in a global conflagration. (Isaiah 45:18) Jesus himself indicated that some people will survive the end. (Matthew 24:21, 22) What, then, does the Bible say will end? Among other things that cause human suffering -


Failing human governments will end. God inspired the prophet Daniel to write: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”—Daniel 2:44.


War and pollution will end. Describing what God will do, Psalm 46:9 states: “He is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth. The bow he breaks apart and does cut the spear in pieces; the wagons he burns in the fire.” The Bible also teaches that God will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”—Revelation 11:18.


Crime and injustice will end. God’s Word promises: “The upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.”*—Proverbs 2:21, 22.


Jehovah God has set an “appointed time” to bring an end to wickedness and to install his Kingdom government. (Mark 13:33) But the Bible clearly indicates that we cannot calculate the specific date for the end. Jesus said: “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) Jesus and his disciples did, however, foretell what conditions on earth would be like just before God brings the end. The end is imminent when all the following events are happening at the same time and on a global scale. The Bible does not teach that all good people will be taken from the earth to live forever in heavenly bliss. Instead, Jesus taught that God’s original purpose for mankind will be fulfilled. “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth,” said Jesus. (Matthew 5:5; 6:9, 10) For those who die before the end comes, the Bible holds out the promise of a future resurrection. (Job 14:14, 15; John 5:28, 29)


From heaven, Jesus will rule as King of God’s Kingdom. “I kept on beholding in the visions of the night,” wrote the prophet Daniel, “and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man [the resurrected Jesus] happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days [Jehovah God] he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. And to him [Jesus] there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.”—Daniel 7:13, 14; Luke 1:31, 32; John 3:13-16.


Subjects of God’s Kingdom will enjoy perfect health, lasting security, and eternal life. “They will certainly build houses and have occupancy,” wrote the prophet Isaiah. “And they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating.” (Isaiah 65:21-23) The apostle John wrote of that time: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”—Revelation 21:3, 4.


Again, there is so much more on this and other subjects in this blog that I encourage you to contact me with specific questions at haleiwa.hi@gmail.com