Uniting Mankind by a Kingdom
What is the cause of so much disunity among men? How and when will it end?
IN CONSIDERING the history of mankind it can be seen that for almost six thousand years man has tried to unify mankind to lasting peace. But man has failed and continues to fail. This failure is due to the fact that Satan, the disunifier of men, is the god of this world. (2 Cor. 4:4) It will take a mightier power than mere man to stop disunity, and a mightier power we have—Jehovah God himself. He purposes to unite mankind by his kingdom; and what he purposed, that he will surely accomplish. He stated, at Isaiah 46:10 (AT): “My purpose shall stand, and all my pleasure will I do.”
Over this kingdom Jehovah God has appointed a king who will unite and bring everlasting peace to the earth; that king is Christ Jesus. This one Jehovah has appointed to put a stop to the disunifier, Satan the Devil. Of this ruler and unifier of men of good will it is written: “For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet.” (1 Cor. 15:25) Men of faith before the coming of Jesus Christ to earth looked to the kingdom of God as the only means by which mankind could become one. These men were moved by God’s spirit to write many prophecies concerning the righteous ruler chosen by God and the blessings that would result as a consequence of the rule of God’s kingdom. (Isa. 2:1-4; 9:6, 7, AV) After the rebellion in the garden of Eden by the disunifier of mankind, Satan the Devil, Jehovah’s own words of prophecy show and prove beyond doubt that the king and ruler whom God chose would destroy the cause of disunity in the earth.
Said Jehovah God: “And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.” (Gen. 3:15) This sure promise of Almighty God sounded the death knell for the rebel, disunifier and alienator of the first man and woman created by God. The one that would destroy Satan the Devil is Christ Jesus. (Heb. 2:14) Only when the prophetic words of Jehovah God have been fulfilled could permanent peace and unity be realized among mankind.
The Kingdom by which mankind would be brought to permanent peace and unity is also referred to in the Scriptures as a city. Concerning the man of faith, Abraham, it is written: “For he was awaiting the city having real foundations and the builder and creator of which is God.” (Heb. 11:10) Abraham and other faithful men like him believed that the uniting of mankind could come only by the power of Jehovah God, the Creator of the universe, and not by imperfect men on this earth. It is he that has promised to reconcile mankind by and through his beloved righteous Ruler, Christ Jesus.—Col. 1:19, 20.
JESUS’ COMING
In his own due time Jehovah God had sent to earth the one that would bring unity to men of good will. (Luke 2:11-14) From the time that Jesus began his ministry on earth until his death, he proved himself able to gather men to oneness and unity by and through the kingdom of God. This was the means; the Kingdom would draw men of all kinds. Those who heard and believed the message and the messenger became united to him and with one another.
It was to them, too, that Jesus extended a unique privilege. That privilege was to participate in bearing the message of peace and unity to others. It was to them also that he extended the privilege to be sharers in the rulership of the Kingdom, which kingdom would, in God’s appointed time, destroy Satan’s disunified world, as shown in Daniel 2:43, 44, which reads (AV): “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
Past history and present history show that peace and unity by man’s efforts could never be permanent, due to the rule of imperfect men, who have failed and who continue to fail to stick to their treaties and agreements for peace. According to the prophecy of Daniel a united world and permanent peace would have to wait on Jehovah God and his promised kingdom. Waiting on God to bring unity to mankind by his kingdom will bring no disappointment. There must first be a removing of the source of all disunity, mainly Satan the Devil, his invisible demons and the imperfect rule of men of this wicked world.—Luke 21:10, 11, 25, 26, 31, 32.
The work of bringing men to unity and oneness by drawing them to the Kingdom continued after Jesus finished his life course on earth. Jehovah God has purposed to have a united body of faithful followers of Christ Jesus. These were to be joined with him in the rulership of a righteous one world. The calling out of such persons has continued over many centuries and down to this very period of time in which we live. While Jesus was still living on earth as a man, many Jews became his followers and were drawn by the message of the Kingdom. However, it was not until the day of Pentecost that many thousands were added. In due time Jehovah would call them from all nationalities to become members of the one united body that was destined to share in the rule of the kingdom of righteousness. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.”—Gal. 3:28.
144,000 AND “GREAT CROWD”
Jehovah God has limited the number of members that will make up the heavenly spiritual rulership to 144,000. (Rev. 14:1, 3) Now the major portion of the members of the “body of Christ” have already received their reward for their faithfulness to the Kingdom and are now in heaven. At present there is still a remnant on the earth of those faithful ones who have the responsibility to preach the Kingdom message just as Jesus and his disciples did. This preaching work is aiding men of good will toward God everywhere to look to the Kingdom as the only means to unify righteously disposed persons. The hope of all such persons of good will being preached to is to live forever on the earth, which will then be freed from all the influences of disunity now prevalent.
Upon learning of the many blessings that the kingdom of God will bring, these persons of good will gladly dedicate their lives to the service of God and share in making known the good news. A prophetic description is given to us at Revelation 7:9, 10 of the great crowd of persons who look for unity, peace and salvation to life everlasting: “After these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, and there were palm branches in their hands. And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: ‘Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”
This crowd of persons are from everywhere and have heard the good news of God’s kingdom. No more do they look to imperfect men and their imperfect governments for peace and unity. They are now united in serving the one true God, Jehovah, and his Ruler-King, Christ Jesus. They credit their salvation to no worldly rulers and planners of a “better world”; rather, they owe their salvation to Jehovah God and to Christ Jesus, the appointed Ruler of the new world of righteousness. They must now stick to the same principles that apply to the remnant of Christ’s followers, as stated by the apostle: “There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all things and in all.”—Col. 3:11.
It is now, too, that all men of good will toward Jehovah God and his kingdom must demonstrate their unity among themselves. Yes, it is now when they must share in the words of prophecy written by the inspired psalmist: “Look! how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”—Ps. 133:1.
PERSECUTION
Unifying men of good will toward God by and through his kingdom has not been without opposition. The faithful men before the coming of Jesus to earth were opposed by Satan the Devil, his demons and earthly agents. (Heb. 11:36-38) The same persecution was meted out to Jesus and his disciples, and the same treatment comes upon his faithful followers at the end now of Satan’s rule over the present kingdom of this world. Jesus foretold such persecutions would be world-wide and directed especially against the remnant of the “body members” of his followers. Persecution would also come to those of the great crowd of preachers of the Kingdom, who have joined themselves to the remnant in the proclamation work. (Matt. 24:9, 14) In fulfillment of prophecy, a persecution broke out upon Christ Jesus’ true followers during World War I and World War II that has no parallel in modern history.
Why such persecution and opposition toward the preachers of the good news of the Kingdom? It is because this kingdom stands out as the only hope of bringing unity to mankind. Yes, it is the Kingdom that will vindicate the name of the true God, Jehovah, by making all families one on earth. The preaching of the Kingdom irks Satan and his demons as well as his visible representatives on earth. While persecutions have been permitted in these last days of this wicked system of things, Jehovah God will end such persecutions of his servants at the final war of this world, Armageddon. In that final war all cause of disunity among men will end forever.
Disunity had its beginning when a heavenly spirit creature rebelled against Jehovah God, the God of peace and unity. (Ezek. 28:15, AV; Rom. 16:20) It made its appearance on earth when the first man and woman created by God joined in the rebellion. It spread world-wide and has plagued mankind for almost six thousand years. But it will stop forever soon, under Jehovah’s kingdom rule: “Let him save the sons of the poor one, and let him crush the defrauder. He will descend like the rain upon the mown grass, like copious showers that wet the earth. In his days the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more. And he will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”—Ps. 72:4, 6-8.
Now, with the last days of this old world’s disunity upon us, men of good will everywhere are turning to the only source for unity and peace—Jehovah God and Christ Jesus and their means for uniting mankind, the Kingdom.