Part 4—“Your Will Be Done on Earth”

We are still in Chapter 1, entitled “Whose Will?” in the book “Your Will Be Done on Earth”. In the vision that the Christian apostle John had he saw four living creatures before the throne of God. These four living creatures together symbolized the organization of his intelligent living creatures whom he endowed with the four divine attributes of justice, power, love and wisdom. These creatures worship God, as also do the symbolic twenty-four “elders,” who ascribe to God the coming into existence of all things because of his will. Jesus Christ taught his followers to pray to this God as their heavenly Father, that his name might be revered or sanctified. This God is no nameless Person but is named Jehovah. The very name “Jesus” honors that name, for it means “Jehovah Is Salvation.”

45. (a) Who gave God that name, and how long have men known and used it? (b) When will it be revered and sanctified, and why?

⁴⁵ This Jehovah was the One to whom Jesus’ disciples were to pray as “Our Father in heaven.” God gave himself this name before ever there was an Abraham, an Israelite, a Jew or a Christian; and God has stuck to that name ever since. The first man and woman on earth knew and mentioned his name. (Gen. 4:1) More than five hundred years before the flood of Noah’s day men in general were using God’s exclusive name. Yes, for during the days of the first man’s grandson they were doing so: “Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah.” (Gen. 4:26, AS) In the new world toward which humankind is rapidly moving, the name of Jehovah will be revered, hallowed, sanctified or held sacred by all human creatures that survive into that coming world. Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray that it might be so. For nineteen centuries since then his faithful, obedient disciples have prayed that it might be so. It will be so, because the heavenly Father who respects his own name will answer the prayer that his beloved Son and the disciples of his Son have prayed continually in faith.

46. According to Jesus’ model prayer, what will make certain whose will is to be done on earth?

⁴⁶ But one important question before leaving this prayer. It is this: Who will rule the planet earth and decide what the people on earth must do? The answer to that question will determine whose will is to be done on earth. There is an answer to the question, and it will be given by an able government. Whose government? God’s own government. Addressing the model prayer to his own Father and the Father of his disciples, Jesus prayed: “Your kingdom come! Your will be done on earth as well as in heaven!”

47. Why will the government of the new world not be one from outer space?

⁴⁷ During the coming new world this earth will not be governed by some government from this earth, from men. It will not be governed by some government of great wealth, power and scientific achievements that gets control of man’s “ultimate position” in outer space, and that with this advantage forces the peoples of earth to do its will or else take the consequences from outer space. Earth will be governed by a government higher than man’s “ultimate position” in outer space. It will be governed by a truly heavenly government, by God’s kingdom, in answer to the prayer of all lovers of a righteous, perfect, sinless government, a theocratic government.

48. Because of the many so-called gods, how is it known whose government personally the Kingdom is, and why is it inescapable that his will should be done on earth?

⁴⁸ Since there are so many who are called gods today, how could we know whose government God’s kingdom really was unless we knew the name of this God, this Father in heaven to whom Jesus addressed the model prayer? But no uncertainty exists as to whose kingdom is prayed for. It is the kingdom of the great Life-giver in heaven, whose name is to be revered and hallowed. That heavenly King is Jehovah God the Almighty, whom the twenty-four symbolic “elders” called worthy to receive the glory, honor and power. The earth and man upon it were created because of Jehovah’s will. It is right and inescapable that his will should be done on earth. His will is being done up in heaven, where he reigns as Sovereign of the universe. On earth his will is not being done by men whom the Creator has permitted to live. His will is done up in heaven, which is so immeasurably bigger than our small earth. During the new world his will is certain to be done on earth just as it is done on a vaster scale in heaven.

49. To what grand end respecting the earth has God been working, and what will its realization mean for the earth?

⁴⁹ When the will of that One is done on earth whom John saw in his inspired vision, the One who is so radiantly beautiful in himself and who surrounds himself with an organization of creatures acting with justice, power, love and wisdom, how grand it will be on earth in the new world! For thousands of years the changeless, irresistible purpose of Jehovah God has been working to that grand end. Regardless of what has been the turn of events on earth, he in his all-might has always been in command of the situation. He has always been ahead of man and devil. He has permitted nothing to interfere with the perfect outworking of his purpose, his will.

50. Why has God seen thousands of years ahead of humans, and how shall we receive greater assurance that his will is going to be done here?

⁵⁰ Knowing the end of his works from the beginning of them, he has seen thousands of years ahead of his creatures. (Isa. 46:10) From the beginning he has worked steadily, unswervingly toward his goal. The end is now plainly in sight. By making a swiftly moving survey of the known events of human history over thousands of years in the light of prophecies given over God’s own name, we shall appreciate more his faithfulness to his promise and prophecy, and his perfect foresight and ability to carry out his righteous purpose. As never before we shall understand the meaning of what is now occurring on earth. Through this we shall receive still greater assurance that the will of Jehovah God will be done on earth as well as in heaven.

CHAPTER 2

WHY IT MUST BE DONE ON EARTH

 1. Why is there no other place for man to move to, and how will he find himself trapped in destructive trouble?

LIVING on this earth is becoming more and more dangerous for mankind, not only physically but also morally and spiritually. This ought not to be so. But it is so. Yet there is no other place for mankind to move to. Mankind cannot move away from the trouble to the much smaller moon or to the other planets such as men have named Venus, Mercury and Mars. The earth’s moon and the planets of our solar system were not prepared for man to live there in comfort, happiness and eternity. Boast as men may of shooting a rocket to or around the moon, or of sending a manned, atom-powered spaceship there and beyond, no nation is prepared to evacuate its people from this earth to the moon or any other planet of our solar system. Besides, what sane man wants to live there or could live there? Man is bound to this planet. He will have to stay here when the danger reaches its highest pitch. He will find himself trapped in a destructive trouble that is largely of his own making.

 2. Why is this nuclear space age not such a wonderful time in which to live, and what has scientific advance left unchanged?

² Because of the advances of worldly science the nuclear space age suddenly broke in upon mankind. Because it was practically forced upon us by ambition, rivalry and fears of a grasping, greedy enemy, not by love, it has not proved to be such a wonderful time to live in for people of this world. Any spreading of modern conveniences, any lifting of the people’s standard of living, any increases in the number of scientists, any enlargement of man’s understanding of the secrets of outer space and of the structure of our earth, all this has left the more important situation still unchanged. It is still a split-up world. More than just a chasm divides East and West. In numberless ways the people are divided as to whose political, social and religious will they want to rule them. Dictatorial powers or systems of rule take control of the people in large areas; even popular governments find it necessary to take over more power in order to keep operating or to protect themselves. So the people find themselves forced to bow down to the will of distracted, powerfully armed and heavily financed rulers.

 3. Why is the isolation of any continent now a thing of the past, and why in further total warfare must all the people as well as the firers of weapons suffer?

³ Despite protests, the test explosion of atomic and nuclear weapons of war continued, polluting the air and the sea, even the rainfall and the snow. Nations are willing to call a halt to the production and testing of further weapons of holocaustic destruction of human lives only because they feel overstocked with them, or feel they have reached the ultimate weapon and no further testing is needed. Fear of radioactive fallout from nuclear explosions spreads around the globe and stirs unrest among the helpless, who feel victimized. For the sake of security and to get surprises ready for the suspected enemy, the invention and making of more hideous weapons of destruction continues. With the ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) or with the atomic or modernized submarine equipped to hurl IRBM’s (intermediate-range ballistic missiles) from underneath the water and able to conceal itself under the polar icecap, the “splendid isolation” of any continent is a thing of the past. All continents are within range of war missiles, all civilian populations also. Strategic bombing of population or industrial centers is just as vital to winning a hot war as tactical bombing of people in the war camp or on the firing lines. In the unavoidable total warfare and regimentation of the citizenry all the people supporting and supplying the men in uniform must suffer equally with those firing the scientific weapons of war.

 4. What possibility does control of the weather take on as compared with nuclear weapons?

⁴ To add to the scare, the control of the weather takes on the possibility of being more deadly than nuclear warfare. The chairman of the American Advisory Committee on Weather Control warned that control of the weather by the enemy could work more disastrous results to the United States of America than atomic discoveries. About the same time the director of the Laboratory of Earth Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology backed that warning up, saying: “International control of weather modification will be as essential to the safety of the world as control of nuclear energy is now.” And he urged America to keep ahead or abreast of Soviet Russia.a

 5. What does coexistence of opposed nations really mean and how hard would “cold war” at last make it for this world?

⁵ A peaceful coexistence has been recommended for nations that follow radically different political ideas and systems. Coexistence does not mean brotherly love between nations. It means a risky putting up with each other while the rivalry and race for worldly advantages and domination goes on in ways less noisy than launching deadly missiles armed with atomic and nuclear warheads. Merely the temperature of the war is different—cold. At the World Conference of Religions in New Delhi, India, during November of 1957, Jawaharlal Nehru as India’s Prime Minister mentioned to the delegates that the world had taken a “mighty turn” toward the adventure of interplanetary travel. He said no one was sure how the new forces would at last be put to use. One thing had become clear to him, though, and that was that if the “cold war” kept on it would be a hard thing for this world to survive.b Other voices besides his have been raised in warning.

 6. For man’s preservation on earth, whose supranational will must be done here, and how will that affect the purpose in man’s creation?

⁶ If mankind and animalkind are yet to be preserved on an earth fit to live in, a will higher than that of the selfishly divided, suspicious nations needs to be carried out on earth. It must be the will of more than just anyone in the spirit realm who is higher and more powerful than earthly nations. Why so? Because the Holy Bible warns us that the nations are in the grip of the worst enemy of man and of man’s Creator, namely, Satan the Devil. He is, in fact, the invisible “ruler of this world,” “the god of this system of things.” (John 12:31; 14:30; 2 Cor. 4:4) What, then? For the survival of man and animal on earth as an everlasting home the supranational will that has to be done on earth is that of God the Creator, who says: “I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to anyone else I shall not give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images.” (Isa. 42:8) His will must be done on earth if man and beast are to enjoy life on earth forever. In this way his purpose in creating man and animals on earth will have to be proved just, righteous, good and loving. His purpose will thus have to be vindicated, justified, to his immortal glory. Those praying the model prayer that Jesus taught pray for God’s purpose to be vindicated by his will being done on earth as well as in heaven.

THE EARTH EVERLASTING

 7. How can we make sure that it is the Creator’s will for the earth to exist forever?

⁷ How, though, can we make sure that it is the Creator’s will for the earth to stay in existence to eternity and for it to remain an inhabited planet always? We cannot make sure of this by going to the contradictory religions of Christendom. We can positively make sure of it by going to the Creator’s own written Word, the Holy Bible. By his spirit or active force he is the Creator of the Bible, even though he did use faithful men of God in the producing of it. “For you know this first, that no prophecy of Scripture springs from any private release. For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:20, 21) Religious priests keep the Bible from the people and interpret or misinterpret it according to their creeds or man-made statements of belief. However, God produced the Bible for all the people to read or to have read to them, to know for themselves what God himself says in his Book.

 8. (a) In harmony with what writings did Jesus compose his model prayer? (b) When God’s kingdom comes, why should the earth not be destroyed?

⁸ Jesus Christ had the thirty-nine books of the Hebrew Scriptures, from the book of Genesis to the book of Malachi, which had been written under inspiration of God’s spirit before Jesus lived on earth. From those books Jesus knew what God’s will for this earth was and what his purpose was in creating it and putting man on it. In harmony with this knowledge from those Hebrew Scriptures Jesus composed the model prayer for his followers. He told them to pray to the Father in heaven: “Your kingdom come! Your will be done on earth as well as in heaven!” Let us ask ourselves, then: Is Jesus here teaching men to pray for the earth to be destroyed by fire or any other means and to be emptied of human and animal creatures? Since the heavenly Father’s kingdom is to come to this earth in answer to Jesus’ own prayer, why should this earth be destroyed at that time or at any time afterward? God’s kingdom comes to stay here for all future time. He does not need to destroy the earth on account of the people on it. No, not when God’s will is then being done by people on earth under God’s kingdom the same as it is being done up in heaven. Why destroy the earth any more than destroy the heavens, where holy spirit creatures are doing God’s will the same as human creatures will be doing it here under his kingdom?

(To be continued)

[Footnotes]