• “We Have Heard That God Is With You People”
    Survival Into a New Earth

    • 4. Why does this prophecy not apply to Judaism or to Christendom?

      4 The limited fulfillment that this prophecy had in connection with the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, starting in the days of Zerubbabel, pointed forward to a far grander fulfillment in our day. In connection with what people? Surely it would not be reasonable for those who “seek Jehovah” to turn to people who superstitiously refuse even to pronounce God’s name, as do the natural Jews who cling to their traditional worship. Nor to Christendom, which imitates the Jewish custom of avoiding the use of the divine name. It is not to earthly Jerusalem that people in our day are turning to worship Jehovah. As Jesus foretold, God abandoned his temple there, and it was destroyed in 70 C.E., never to be rebuilt down to this day. This indicates to any reasonable person that God is not with non-Christian Israel.​—Matthew 23:37, 38; compare 1 Kings 9:8, 9.

      5. How do the Scriptures identify (a) the “Jerusalem” that represents Jehovah today? (b) the “man who is a Jew” concerning whom Zechariah prophesied?

      5 The “Jerusalem” that today represents Jehovah is described at Hebrews 12:22 as “a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem.” Even as ancient Jerusalem was a visible symbol of Jehovah’s rulership, the “heavenly Jerusalem” is God’s Messianic Kingdom in which Jesus Christ was enthroned as King at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914. (1 Chronicles 29:23; Luke 21:24) That government has representatives here on earth, those who are loyally proclaiming it as the only sure hope of mankind. The first ones to announce that the Kingdom had been established in 1914 were the remaining ones of the “little flock.” These are “the Israel of God,” spiritually speaking. They are the spiritual ‘Jews’ concerning whom Zechariah prophesied. (Luke 12:32; Galatians 6:16; Romans 2:28, 29) Since 1931, because of their love for God and their appreciation of the responsibility to make known that Jehovah is the true and Almighty God, they have adopted the name Jehovah’s Witnesses.​—Isaiah 43:10-12.