Chapter 9
The Post-Millennial Test of All Mankind
1. At the end of the millennial Judgment Day, what is the final requirement for restored mankind, and so what will the Deputy Judge Jesus Christ do with them?
AT THE end of the thousand-year-long Judgment Day the righteously judged human family stands perfect before its Judge and Liberator, Jesus Christ. But not yet are they adjudged worthy of eternal life on the Paradisaic earth. They must yet face the Supreme Court of the universe, that of the Most High God, Jehovah the Sovereign Lord. In harmony with this final requirement the Deputy Judge Jesus Christ must hand the human race, now capable of perfect righteousness, over to his God and Father for Him to render his decision toward all those who, under test, will prove worthy or unworthy of the priceless gift of eternal life in peace and happiness. Despite their perfection they are yet mortal.
2. By then what will have happened to Adamic death, and hence what will Jehovah determine regarding individuals of mankind?
2 The dying condition that had attached to mankind because of the sin of their first human father Adam in Eden has now been undone, destroyed, just as if hurled into the “lake of fire” to its own death. (Revelation 20:14, 15) However, will mankind, now liberated from Adamic death and imperfection, do anything of its own accord, willfully, to deserve eternal death under Jehovah’s judgment? Which individuals will prove worthy of “second death”? This is what the Supreme Judge Jehovah must determine as Final Arbiter.
3. According to 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, what transfer of things takes place?
3 Now applies what the apostle Paul foretold in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28: “Next, the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all government and all authority and power. For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet. As the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing. For God ‘subjected all things under his feet.’ But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’ it is evident that it is with the exception of the one [Jehovah God] who subjected all things to him. But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.”—NW; Ro.
4. What questions must the Sovereign Lord Jehovah now determine toward perfected mankind, and by what means will he do so?
4 As a result of the Son’s handing over the kingdom to his God and Father, the kingdom becomes the property of Jehovah God. There thus remains no subsidiary kingdom between the Sovereign Lord Jehovah and mankind. How, now, will mankind react to God’s direct Kingship over them? Will they all declare themselves his loyal subjects to all eternity? Will they all determine personally that He is their choice as God forever? This declaring of a person righteous on his own account and conferring upon him the right to everlasting life is a serious thing, that calls for unswerving loyalty on the part of the recipient of such a precious right. How will God determine whose name should stand on the “book of life”? It will be by a test of heart allegiance and integrity, as in the case of the patriarch Job of the land of Uz.
5. How will the test then made of perfected mankind correspond with that of Job, and for the purpose of proving what?
5 For a thousand years now under the kingdom of the Son of God mankind has enjoyed the undeserved kindness of God and they find themselves in a beauteous planetary paradise. As in the case of Job, the question is, Do they love and worship God only for all the good that he has done for them or because of what He is in himself, the one living and true God and the Rightful Sovereign of the universe? In the case of Job, his integrity toward Jehovah God was tested by permitting the Devil Satan to harass him short of taking his life away. So now, by permitting Satan the Devil to put restored mankind to the test to the extent that God Almighty permits, perfected mankind can be tested and proved as to individual integrity to God in a perfect sense. Such a test would call for Satan and his demons to be loosed from their thousand years of imprisonment in the abyss. This is what will take place.
6. How does Revelation 20:7-10 describe what will happen at the end of the millennial reign of Christ?
6 What takes place after the end of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and his 144,000 royal associates, Revelation 20:7-10 tells us, in these words: “Now as soon as the thousand years have been ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison, and he will go out to mislead those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of these is as the sand of the sea. And they advanced over the breadth of the earth and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down out of heaven and devoured them. And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
7. When loosed, why will Satan and his demons be confident respecting perfected mankind, and what will again be the point in dispute?
7 The loosing of Satan and his demons from the abyss means letting them come again into the vicinity of the earth where they can exercise an invisible control over those of mankind who succumb to them. Satan the Devil will be confident of himself, in spite of the mental, moral, spiritual, physical perfection of mankind. True, he did fail in the case of the patriarch Job, but he did succeed more than twenty-four centuries earlier in the case of Adam and Eve in spite of their human perfection in Eden. In both cases, however, the point in dispute was the same, namely, the rightful sovereignty of Jehovah God, which requires absolute obedience of human creatures to God’s laws and prohibitions.
8. (a) How is it here shown that the issue forced upon all mankind is that of universal sovereignty? (b) Who are the “holy ones,” and what is the “beloved city”?
8 That the same issue is forced upon all mankind after the end of the thousand years is shown by the fact that those who are now misled by Satan and his demons advance over the earth and encircle the “camp of the holy ones and the beloved city.” Yes, there will be “holy ones” on the earth then. These are encircled by Satan and his earthly hordes because they refuse to be misled by Satan and his demons. Such “holy ones” are those of restored mankind who keep their integrity to God under this all-deciding test. They are like in a war camp under attack by enemy warriors. The “holy ones” are put as separate from “the beloved city.” They are not in it but are in the “camp.” Evidently, then, this “city” is not any city constructed on earth as a global capital. This must be the city that is spoken of by the glorified Jesus Christ to his followers, in Revelation 3:12, and that he calls “the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my God.”
9. To whom is the city “beloved,” and how does it descend out of heaven from God?
9 This “city” is one “beloved” by God and also by the “holy ones.” The 144,000 joint heirs of Jesus Christ have written upon them the name of this “new Jerusalem.” It is not on earth like some material city, but is a heavenly city that descends by extending its influence and authority to the inhabitants of the earth.
10. Is the unloosed Satan able to get at the “beloved city” direct, and so what is the purpose of his attack upon it?
10 This “city” is not disorganized and demolished at the end of the thousand years of its rule over mankind, but its good, righteous effects still remain on earth with the “holy ones.” By making war upon this “beloved city” Satan the Devil aims at undoing all this good that the New Jerusalem has wrought. He does not want these benefits to remain with mankind forever. Being restrained to the earth’s vicinity, with no place for him any longer up in heaven out of which he and his demons have been cast, he cannot get directly at the “beloved city” up there. So he wars against it to the extent of trying to bring to nothing all the righteousness that it has established on the earth.
11. (a) How will the “war” then be carried on? (b) How is, not God’s almightiness, but the rightness of his universal sovereignty, shown to be the issue?
11 It is hardly to be expected that this “war” will be carried on with the scientific weapons such as the nuclear bombs and other implements of warfare of this twentieth century. The inhabitants of the earth during the millennium will not have stockpiled such weapons or have learned such war anymore. (Isaiah 2:2-4) It will not be a warfare of military might of that sort. Deceit, misleading propaganda, appeals to selfishness in disloyalty to the Universal Sovereign could be mighty weapons with which to overcome people. That the issue will be over the rightfulness of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty rather than God’s almightiness is shown in that Satan’s being imprisoned a thousand years in the abyss and now being released proves God’s superior might in comparison with the power of Satan the Devil. Still a rebel himself against Jehovah’s sovereignty, he is intent on making mankind rebels likewise.
EXTENT OF THE POST-MILLENNIAL REBELLION
12. What is indicated by the fact that those whom Satan misleads are said to be “as the sand of the sea”?
12 The number of those whom Satan and his demons succeed in misleading on the prime issue is said to be “as the sand of the sea,” that is to say, appearing to be numberless. (Revelation 20:8) This by no means signifies the vast majority of mankind. For instance, the combined armies that warred against Judge Joshua were said to be as numerous as the grains of sand of the seashore. (Joshua 11:4) The camels of the enemies who invaded the land of Israel in the days of Gideon the son of Joash were said to be “without number, as numerous as the grains of sand that are on the seashore.” (Judges 7:12) So, too, those who will be misled by Satan are an indefinite number, how many of them not being foretold, but enough of them to make an impression as of a large crowd. So Satan the Devil has only limited success.
13. Is the appearing on the Paradise earth of “those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog,” by a resurrection?
13 Those whom Satan succeeds in misleading are spoken of as “those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog.” Their appearing on the Paradise earth is not by a resurrection of the dead including the “unrighteous” ones, but is as a result of Satan’s misleading an unpredicted number of restored mankind.
14. In what sense, then, can they be called “nations,” and in what way can they be said to be “in the four corners of the earth”?
14 During the millennial Judgment Day there have been no national divisions of mankind, nor has the judgment of the people been influenced by any national extractions. The fact that these who are misled by the loosed Satan are called “nations” indicates that, like Satan, they refuse to recognize Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and that they choose to establish an earthly sovereignty of their own, like a national sovereignty. They may not have a united sovereignty over them, but, because of division among themselves, they may have group sovereignties. However that may be, they are all united in being against Jehovah’s sovereignty. Their being called “those nations in the four corners of the earth” suggests that they are far away from the “beloved city.” Hence, in their attitude toward sovereignty, the misled ones have moved far away from sovereignty by Jehovah God. Jehovah God does not become “all things to everyone” in their case.
15, 16. (a) In what ways are those misled nationalistic ones like “Gog and Magog” as respects timing of matters and the object of attack? (b) How are those misled ones also like Gog in being maneuvered by Jehovah into making their attack?
15 These misled nationalistic ones are called “Gog and Magog” quite appropriately. In the case of the original “Gog of the land of Magog,” as foretold in Ezekiel’s prophecy, he made a final attack upon the worshipers of Jehovah God. He did so after these worshipers had been restored to their proper earthly estate and their land had become like the “garden of Eden.” (Ezekiel 36:35) They were dwelling as in “open rural country” and “having no disturbance, dwelling in security, all of them dwelling without wall” and not having “even bar and doors.” (Ezekiel 38:11) Also, the people of the “land of Magog” backed their head chieftain in making this attack upon the seemingly defenseless worshipers of Jehovah. But Gog comes to the attack from far off really because, as Jehovah says: “I shall certainly turn you around and put hooks in your jaws and bring you forth with all your military force, . . . In the final part of the years you will come to the land of people brought back.”—Ezekiel 38:4-8.
16 Those misled by Satan the Devil after the millennial Judgment Day is over will follow this invisible chieftain who has just been released by Jehovah God from the abyss for the very purpose of letting him make an attack upon restored mankind. In being let loose from the abyss Satan the Devil and his demons are allowed to invade the vicinity of the earth again and be in close contact with mankind on the Paradise earth now like the Garden of Eden. So in making his attack, the released Satan the Devil is as if being led along by hooks in his jaws under the maneuvering of Jehovah. And the ones on earth who are now misled by Satan the Devil are, like him, led along as by hooks in their jaws to make this attack upon the “camp of the holy ones and the beloved city.” (Revelation 20:7-9) So the names of Gog and Magog can fittingly be appropriated and applied to these misled nationalistic ones of mankind who assail and try to despoil those who loyally adhere to the universal sovereignty of Jehovah God.
17, 18. (a) Do these misled ones have ability to attack the “beloved city” directly, and how are they obliged to make the attack? (b) At the end of Christ’s millennial reign, what action are his princely sons on earth obliged to take, and with what purpose in view?
17 These misled ones of mankind, being mere humans on the earth, can no more directly assault the heavenly New Jerusalem than their invisible leader, Satan the Devil, can do so. But they can get into contact with those on earth who have faithfully represented the heavenly Messianic government, namely, the “princes in all the earth.” These being appointed to be such princes by the King of the New Jerusalem, the Eternal Father Jesus Christ, they have served as the visible princely representatives of the “beloved city.” And when, at the end of his millennial reign, the kingly Son of God “hands over the kingdom to his God and Father,” these princely sons on earth must take corresponding action. They must imitate the Son of God who will “subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him,” the heavenly Father.
18 Hence these princely “sons” of the Eternal Father Jesus Christ rightly imitate him and subject themselves to his God and Father as the rightful Exerciser of universal sovereignty. Instead of proudly rebelling against what their changed situation calls for, they act Christlike and subject themselves to Jehovah’s universal sovereignty. The ones misled by Satan the Devil attack them with arguments and pressures to dissuade the visible earthly representatives of the “beloved city,” but these decidedly refuse to do so. They maintain their integrity to the Most High God and loyally cleave to his rightful sovereignty over all the earth and all the universe. They unhesitatingly choose to let Jehovah God be “all things to everyone” in their own case.—1 Corinthians 15:24-28.
DISPOSAL OF “GOG AND MAGOG” AND THEIR MISLEADER
19. Under attack by the misled ones, how do the loyal ones display, not only faith in God, but also integrity toward his universal sovereignty?
19 In this “war” for which Satan the Devil has gathered his misled ones on earth together, the “camp of the holy ones” and the earthly representatives of the “beloved city” do not fight back with fleshly weapons. They, of course, cannot kill off Satan the Devil and his demon angels, whom they cannot see or reach. But even though they can see on earth the misled ones who make up “Gog and Magog,” the loyal choosers of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty do not kill off the misled ones, in such a way acting as executioners of the misled ones. Choosing the side of Jehovah God, they let him make expression of his universal sovereignty and prove it to the misled disloyal ones. They let the battle be Jehovah’s and so do not assume to act as His executional forces and fight with lethal weapons. This displays, not only faith on their part, but also perfect integrity toward Jehovah God and his universal sovereignty. Let Him himself save them and destroy the disloyal ones! Trustfully they stand still and see the “salvation of Jehovah” in their behalf.—2 Chronicles 20:15-17.
20. (a) Under divine protection, what will the loyal ones be privileged to see? (b) What does this divine action signify for the disloyal ones?
20 Lodging “under the very shadow of the Almighty One,” those who keep allegiance to Jehovah’s universal sovereignty will, only with their eyes, “look on and see the retribution itself of the wicked ones.” (Psalm 91:1, 8) They will behold the fulfillment of what was foretold in Revelation 20:9 regarding the post-millennial “Gog and Magog”: “And they advanced over the breadth of the earth and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down out of heaven and devoured them.” These disloyal ones of mankind get a baptism of fire, which means their everlasting destruction. God does not justify them or declare them righteous and enter their names on the “book of life.” (Romans 8:33) This is no abuse of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty but is a rightful expression of it toward his enemies.
21. (a) How long was Satan to be loosed from the abyss, and has its purpose now been served? (b) What would returning him to the abyss mean?
21 However, the eternal destruction of these lawless haters of what is good does not remove Satan the Devil and his demon angels from the vicinity of the earth. He has now been let loose from the abyss long enough. God’s purpose in letting him loose has been served in full; there is no further reason for letting him and his demons on the loose any longer. We remember that it is written respecting his being hurled into the abyss for a thousand years: “After these things he must be let loose for a little while.” (Revelation 20:3) The “little while,” in which Satan the Devil has tried to mislead as many of restored mankind as he can into thinking that Jehovah is exercising his sovereignty over the earth in a wrongful, arrogant way, is now up. What now? Are Satan and his demons hurled back into the abyss? To do so would imply that they were to be let loose again, just as Jesus Christ himself was let loose from the abyss, and the “wild beast” upon which Babylon the Great rides ascended out of the abyss.—Romans 10:7; Revelation 9:1-3; 17:8; compare Revelation 11:7.
22, 23. (a) How has Satan’s accusation with reference to man been answered, and in whose favor has the long controversy been settled? (b) What now befalls Satan and his demons?
22 The chaining and imprisoning of Satan the Devil and his demons in the abyss was a temporary torment for them. Is the torment of restraint again to be temporary for them, or for all time? What happens to them after they have seen the ones whom they have misled on earth punished with fiery destruction? The Devil has now had answered the accusation that he has all along made, that men on earth serve Jehovah God merely for what they can get out of him, and that no man will remain loyal to Jehovah out of pure love for him, even under wicked temptation by Satan the Devil. Those men and women of integrity who remain alive on earth after the fiery annihilation of the disloyal ones stand as a living answer to the Devil, proving his accusation to be false and that he is a liar. The controversy of seven millenniums of time has ended in favor of the God of truth, and so there is no reason for letting Satan the Devil and his demons live on any longer. God’s patience toward them is now at its end. For these reasons he does not return these rebel angels to the abyss. So what befalls them?
23 “And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”—Revelation 20:10.
24, 25. (a) Being hurled into the lake of fire symbolizes what for Satan and his demons? (b) Why is this another kind of death?
24 The torment of Satan the Devil in the lake of fire and sulphur signifies the same for him and his demons as it does for the symbolic wild beast and the false prophet. And what is that? Destruction forever and ever. (Revelation 19:20) Satan the Devil and his demons will no more live again than that symbolic wild beast and false prophet will live again. Their names are not written on any divine “book of life.” Life is life, whether spent in pleasure or in suffering pain. So their being plunged into the symbolic “lake of fire and sulphur” does not mean their being preserved in life in order to suffer conscious torment in their bodies and minds.
25 That symbolic “lake” does not symbolize what is called “a living death.” It symbolizes another kind of death, different from that suffered by all mankind through birth inheritance from the sinful Adam and Eve and which apparently was the first form of death to enter the realm of creation, among creatures in God’s image. Such inherited death proved to be temporary, it being turned into a ‘sleep of death’ by the resurrection that results from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.—1 Corinthians 15:20-22.
26. Why is this different kind of death fittingly called “the second death,” and the humans that suffer it do not have their names written where?
26 The death symbolized by the “lake of fire and sulphur” is different from the death inherited by mankind from Adam in that it is not like a sleep terminated by an awakening but is a total destruction, an endless death. Death received from Adam as an inheritance was the ‘first death.’ This different kind of death as symbolized by the “lake of fire and sulphur” is therefore fittingly called “the second death.” This is what it stands for in the case of those humans on earth who enter into the thousand-year Judgment Day and who later do not get their names written in God’s “book of life.” The inspired Scriptures give the significance of the “lake of fire” for such ones unworthy of everlasting life, saying: “And death and Haʹdes were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.”—Revelation 20:14, 15.
27, 28. (a) Why is it possible for Satan and his demons to suffer the “second” death? (b) What, then, does their being tormented in the lake of fire forever mean?
27 This divine explanation of what the “lake of fire” symbolizes is borne witness to a second time, a few verses later, where we read: “Anyone conquering will inherit these things, and I shall be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowards and those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and fornicators and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This means the second death.” (Revelation 21:7, 8) All such references to the “lake of fire” being so close together, in the same context in Revelation, chapters 19-21, then what the “lake of fire” means for those humans not found written on the “book of life” it means also for Satan the Devil and his demons. It means “the second death.” It does not mean necessarily dying a second time, but dying the second kind of death that the Bible speaks about, and that is an endless death.
28 Accordingly, Satan and his demons can die this kind of death, even though they have never died before. There was not a bit of life in the first kind of death that came in by the sin of the first man. Likewise there is not even a spark of life in the “second death” that is the everlasting punishment for those who willfully disobey God, even ruining their perfection in order to do so. By all Scriptural rules, then, the torment of Satan and his demons in the lake of fire and sulphur forever and ever means their being brought to nothing, their being made nonexistent, their being blotted out of spirit life forever. As a result, God will have a demon-free universe, with demons never being allowed to appear again.
COMING TO LIFE AFTER THE MILLENNIUM ENDS
29. God’s permitting the camp of the holy ones and also the princely representatives of the beloved city to survive signifies that he has taken what action toward them?
29 What a glorious eternity, therefore, awaits mankind! Look! Jehovah God permits the “camp of the holy ones” and the princely representatives on earth of the “beloved city” to survive the destruction of “Gog and Magog” and of Satan the Devil and his demons! What does this mean but that God has written their names on the “book of life” or has let their names stand written on the “book of life”? This means that He has declared them righteous, justified them, because of their maintaining their integrity to him, thus joining in with the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the 144,000 joint heirs in vindicating the universal sovereignty of the Most High God, the Creator of all things good. Their being declared righteous by Jehovah God signifies that he has bestowed upon them the right to everlasting life in their Paradise home.
30. (a) To whom will these who successfully pass the final test be ever indebted, and where will they stand forever? (b) When will they really “live”?
30 It was the heavenly King, Priest and Judge, Jesus Christ, who, by his loving dealings with mankind during the thousand years, brought the willing and obedient ones up to this perfect righteousness in the flesh. If he had not done so by the end of the thousand years, then he would have been hesitant to turn them over to the final test by the Supreme Judge, Jehovah God. Why? Because he would have known that, lacking perfect righteousness, they could never undergo the divine test with success and gain eternal life. So, in complete righteousness and sinlessness in the flesh they stand in the earthly courtyards of Jehovah’s “true tent” or temple as his worshipers. There they keep standing forever by passing the divine test with irreproachable integrity and unswerving allegiance to the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. Forever they remain indebted to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who lovingly lifted them up to this perfect righteousness as evidence of the completed work of their Ransomer and Savior, the Lord Jesus. So at that time they really live!
31. Thus by the end of the thousand years of Christ’s reign, to what do the “rest of the dead” attain, and what happens to the Adamic death?
31 In the light of that fact we can appreciate the correctness of that parenthetical statement in Revelation 20:5: “(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)” If they had not had the preliminary work of the thousand years performed upon them by Jesus Christ and his 144,000 joint heirs who participated in the “first resurrection,” this state of perfect life would not have been the portion of the “rest of the dead” at the close of the thousand years. It is really by then that ‘death (as inherited from Adam) gave up the dead that were in it and that death was hurled into the lake of fire so as to suffer “second death” or extinction.’ (Revelation 20:13, 14) Then it becomes true, as foretold in 1 Corinthians 15:25, 26: “He must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet. As the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing.”
32. How will Revelation 21:3, 4 then be fully true?
32 Then, with reference to the death inherited from the sinful Adam, it will be fully true: “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.
33. (a) How will those attaining to that abundance of life prove worthy of having their lives prolonged forever? (b) How will they then appreciate in themselves the truth of Romans 6:23?
33 Will all those who have come to life in this perfect sense by the end of the thousand years choose to prolong that abundant life forever? They can do so by proving themselves worthy to receive the right to everlasting life from the Great Source of all life, Jehovah God. For passing the thoroughgoing test of their whole-souled integrity to Him, the faithful and loyal ones are rewarded with that precious right to have their lives protected and prolonged to all eternity in happiness. Thus they will realize in their own selves that “the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) If it had not been for God’s use of his beloved only-begotten Son, this would not have been possible for the human family.
34, 35. (a) What is our hope concerning the “great crowd” who already before the “great tribulation” were serving white-robed in Jehovah’s spiritual temple? (b) What feelings of the sons of Korah toward Jehovah’s courtyards will even the “unrighteous” resurrected ones be enabled to develop?
34 How soul-satisfying it will then be to worship and serve the God whose name is Jehovah in the earthly courtyards of his spiritual temple! Already at the beginning of the glorious millennium it was true of the “great crowd” of survivors of the “great tribulation” that “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple.” (Revelation 7:9, 14, 15) It is hoped that the members of this clean-robed “great crowd” will abide in those courtyards of God’s spiritual temple clear through the thousand years and the test of absolute integrity to the Sovereign Lord Jehovah after the millennium is ended. Those who are raised from their graves during the millennium will be brought to the earthly courtyards of Jehovah’s spiritual temple to take up his worship and service there. By entering with proper appreciation into Jehovah’s service there, even the resurrected “unrighteous” ones will feel as did the sons of the Levite Korah:
35 “For a day in your courtyards is better than a thousand elsewhere. I have chosen to stand at the threshold in the house of my God rather than to move around in the tents of wickedness. For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield; favor and glory are what he gives. Jehovah himself will not hold back anything good from those walking in faultlessness.”—Psalm 84: superscription, 10, 11.
36. What appreciation of God’s temple as expressed by David will those who are determined to keep integrity cultivate?
36 The ones who are determined to maintain wholehearted integrity to the one living and true God will cultivate the appreciation of spiritual things that David expressed, when he said: “One thing I have asked from Jehovah—it is what I shall look for, that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the pleasantness of Jehovah and to look with appreciation upon his temple.”—Psalm 27: superscription, 4.
37, 38. (a) To what natural state will Jehovah’s “footstool” eventually be brought? (b) Will inhabitants of his “footstool” enjoy only a natural paradise, and in what way will they respond to the call of the last of the Psalms?
37 All the earth will then be a place of worship of its wondrous Creator. It is his “footstool,” whereas the heavens are his “throne.” (Isaiah 66:1) His heavenly throne is glorious; his earthly footstool will be made glorious as a suitable place for his feet. Everywhere on earth it will be paradisaic, like the Garden of Eden, like the Garden of Jehovah. (Genesis 2:8; 13:10) It will be a place of delight and joy, for it will be a place of life in unmixed happiness for all his worshipers who no longer “fall short of the glory of God.” They will have all the godly qualities in beauteous bloom and enjoy the fullness of sweet relationship with God, so that they will find themselves in a spiritual Paradise as well as an earthly Paradise. What a soul-stirring cause all this for praising the Grand Creator and Provider of all this unspeakable goodness! With melodious voices and all their musical skills that they have developed they will gratefully praise Him. They will forever join the heavenly throngs in responding to the enthusiastic call of the last one of the inspired Psalms:
38 “Praise Jah, you people! Praise God in his holy place. Praise him in the expanse of his strength. Praise him for his works of mightiness. Praise him according to the abundance of his greatness. Praise him with the blowing of the horn. Praise him with the stringed instrument and the harp. Praise him with the tambourine and the circle dance. Praise him with strings and the pipe. Praise him with the cymbals of melodious sound. Praise him with the clashing cymbals. Every breathing thing—let it praise Jah. Praise Jah, you people!”—Psalm 150:1-6.