“Let this one fact not be escaping your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” A thousand years is a long time to a man who has a life span of only seventy or eighty years, but to God, who inhabits eternity, it is as a day would be to us. So there is no cause to doubt when we pause to consider that less than six of these thousand-year days have passed since man’s fall into sin, and we are now living in the very generation that will see the new world come in. “Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:8, 9) Those who are busy in the work of the Lord are not complaining because of God’s patience; they are working hard to find those who are the Lord’s sheep and help them into the fold of safety while there is yet time. While looking forward with keen anticipation to the time when wickedness will be brought to an end and God’s name will be forever vindicated, they are anxious to do all they can before that time to help those with a right heart condition to attain to repentance and survive with them into the new world of righteousness.

19. Why will destruction come on the old world as a thief, but why will Jehovah’s faithful witnesses not be caught unawares?

¹⁹ Although the world has been warned, the unbelieving, disobedient ones will be caught unawares because they give no heed. Jehovah’s day will come upon them as a thief—unwanted, and at a time when they do not expect. “But you, brothers, you are not in darkness, so that that day should overtake you as it would thieves, for you are all sons of light and sons of day.” (1 Thess. 5:2-5; 2 Pet. 3:10) No, Jehovah’s faithful witnesses will not be caught unawares. They take to heart the advice: “Since you are awaiting these things, do your utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace.” They live every day with a keen sense of awareness of the nearness of the day of Jehovah’s execution of the satanic world. They know that God’s kingdom already rules in the heavens and that they are its publicity agents. Zealously they advocate it by both word and deed. These awake worshipers of Jehovah God earnestly endeavor to rouse others to spiritual wakefulness now so that they will not go down into perpetual sleep with the wicked at Armageddon, but will survive with the awake worshipers into the new world to worship Jehovah forever.—2 Pet. 3:11-14.

The Name of God

In their Tract No. 12, published in La Paz, Bolivia, the Maryknoll priests inadvertently admitted that the name of God is Jehovah. Catholic translations make the name Jehovah conspicuous by its absence, but here is the quotation from the Catholic tract:

“This precept [the 2nd commandment] commands us not to abuse the name of God. The Jews of the Old Testament had so much respect for the name of God that they began to avoid the pronouncing of this name. In the book of Leviticus we read, ‘Whosoever curses the name of Jehovah will be punished with death’. Then the punishment of ‘taking the name of God in vain’ was death. For that reason, Moses commanded that the blasphemers, who take the name of God in vain, be stoned to death by the people.”

Does the Bible version you use contain the name of God? His name does appear in the original Hebrew Scriptures over 6,800 times.