IMMORTAL HEAVENLY JUDGES

20. (a) During the millennium, why will not mankind be left to itself again and again, as during the time of Israel’s judges? (b) Why will even the “great crowd” of tribulation survivors need further deliverance?

²⁰ However, the judges whom this same Jehovah God raises up in Jesus Christ and his 144,000 judicial associates will not die off and leave the inhabitants on earth to themselves, even though Satan the Devil and his demons have been removed from the vicinity by being abyssed. Possessed of the “power of an indestructible life,” they will all serve continuously for the full judicial term of a thousand years. They will not just sit on thrones and hand down decisions and rulings, but they will act as deliverers, just as did the faithful judges who gained Jehovah’s approval in ancient times. Even “the living,” who survive the “great tribulation” under divine protection and live on after Satan and his demons are abyssed, will still need a further deliverance. Because of their righteous standing with God they are preserved alive on earth into the millennial day of judgment, but there is more in their case from which to be delivered. What is that? It is their sinfulness, imperfection, weakness and dying state with which they have been preserved clear through the destruction of this system of things and the hurling of Satan and his demons into the abyss.

21, 22. (a) Why will the human dead, when resurrected, need further deliverance? (b) For what reason will some, like Job and David, be counted “righteous” when resurrected?

²¹ Likewise, in the case of “the dead,” who need to be restored from the memorial tombs: Whether counted “righteous” or “unrighteous” on being awakened from the sleep of death, they all need to be freed from sinfulness, shortcomings, faultiness, human frailties, and proneness to death. The fact that any are counted as “righteous” does not mean that they are humanly and morally perfect in the flesh. Their being righteous in God’s eyes, however, means that they are men and women of integrity toward God, as the patient Job of the land of Uz was. (Job 2:3, 9; 27:5; James 5:11; Ezekiel 14:14, 20) Or, like King David of Jerusalem who was not afraid to be judged by his God, for in Psalm 26:1-3, 11, David said:

²² “Judge me, O Jehovah, for I myself have walked in my own integrity, and in Jehovah I have trusted, that I may not wobble. Examine me, O Jehovah, and put me to the test; refine my kidneys and my heart. For your loving-kindness is in front of my eyes, and I have walked in your truth. As for me, in my integrity I shall walk. O redeem me and show me favor.”

23, 24. (a) For the sake of what kind of resurrection did those pre-Christian men of integrity refuse to bargain with the ungodly? (b) What does Hebrews 11:35-40 have to say about such ones?

²³ Other men of pre-Christian times who died in their integrity, refusing to prove disloyal to Jehovah God by any sort of bargain or compromise with the ungodly, were the men and women named or spoken of in chapter eleven of the book written to Christianized Hebrews. They looked forward to a resurrection to life under better earthly conditions, under a better government, under which they could live forever in perfect peace and happiness and integrity to the living God. In expression of this it is written in Hebrews 11:35-40:

²⁴ “Women received their dead by resurrection; but other men were tortured because they would not accept release by some ransom, in order that they might attain a better resurrection. Yes, others received their trial by mockings and scourgings, indeed, more than that, by bonds and prisons. They were stoned, they were tried, they were sawn asunder, they died by slaughter with the sword, they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, while they were in want, in tribulation, under ill-treatment; and the world was not worthy of them. They wandered about in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. And yet all these, although they had witness borne to them through their faith, did not get the fulfillment of the promise, as God foresaw something better for us, in order that they might not be made perfect apart from us.”

25, 26. (a) Why will those “righteous” ones, when resurrected, not fear Judgment Day? (b) Why will those “unrighteous” ones, when resurrected, be under a handicap in comparison with the “righteous”?

²⁵ Dying in their integrity to God, these “righteous” ones will be raised in their integrity toward God, even though not raised in human perfection and faultlessness of conduct. They will not fear the great Judgment Day of a thousand years into which they have been ushered by resurrection. Their integrity that they developed before death and with which they will be raised up will give them an advantage over the “unrighteous” in advancing to actual human perfection in complete freedom from sinfulness. They will, as it were, have a head start over the “unrighteous” in that direction.

²⁶ To this effect it is written: “Anyone of little means who is walking in his integrity is better than the one crooked in his lips, and the one that is stupid.” Also: “The righteous is walking in his integrity. Happy are his sons after him.” (Proverbs 19:1; 20:7) On the other hand, it will go much harder for the “unrighteous” ones, who down till death cultivated sinful tendencies and bad habits and evil cravings. These will be handicaps, disadvantages, encumbrances, to work against them in the race to win everlasting life in sinless human perfection on a paradisaic earth. Also, in this life many of these “unrighteous” ones have failed to take advantage of the spiritual opportunities and provisions that were at hand, but which they ignored, disdained, despised, or resisted. They thus have an unappreciative, obstinate disposition to master. Hence, it will be woeful for them. Jesus Christ gave examples of cases of this kind, when he said to the unrepentant cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum:

27. How did Jesus illustrate the foregoing by the use of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum?

²⁷ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! because if the powerful works had taken place in Tyre and Sidon that took place in you, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Consequently I say to you, It will be more endurable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgment Day than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you perhaps be exalted to heaven? Down to Haʹdes you will come; because if the powerful works that took place in you had taken place in Sodom, it would have remained until this very day. Consequently I say to you people, It will be more endurable for the land of Sodom on Judgment Day than for you.”​—Matthew 11:20-24.

28, 29. (a) Why will the ancient Ninevites and the queen of the south condemn the Jewish generation of Jesus’ day? (b) On Judgment Day, how will matters be counterbalanced as between the now advantaged ones and the religiously disadvantaged ones?

²⁸ Speaking to the generation of Jews who were adulterating their relationship with God by worldliness and basing their belief on visible signs, Jesus said: “Men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; because they repented at what Jonah preached, but, look! something more than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will be raised up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but, look! something more than Solomon is here.”​—Matthew 12:38-42.

²⁹ What surprises, then, there will be for many self-righteous religionists, self-satisfied, complacent formal religionists, who were sure in themselves that they were more righteous than those whom they called pagans or heathens! They will find that they were religious hypocrites, whereas the heathens whom they looked down upon were more sincere, more teachable, more appreciative, and less reprehensible because of their ignorance. Then the sincerity and attitude of persons less favored religiously will condemn the privileged people who neglected their opportunities indifferently or willfully. So there will be a just counterbalancing of matters as between the present-day advantaged persons and the disadvantaged ones.

THE ADVANTAGES OF JUDGMENT DAY

30, 31. (a) On Judgment Day, do all humans need to have their previous condition rehearsed before them to see whether they are innocent or guilty? (b) By the use of the Jews under the Law, what was demonstrated about all mankind?

³⁰ There is no denying the truthfulness of the statement, in Romans 3:22, 23: “There is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Hence, all on Judgment Day, “the living and the dead,” urgently need to be delivered, by the help of the heavenly judges whom Jehovah God raises up, from all traces of sin and moral weakness and bodily imperfection with which they are ushered into the Judgment Day. The evidence and testimony are all against mankind, as comprehensively stated in Romans 3:23 and other scriptures, and this does not need to be rehearsed before those on judgment to see whether they are innocent or guilty. By the failure of the natural Jews to keep the Law that God gave them through Moses, it was demonstrated that no part of humankind, not even the favored Jews themselves, could keep God’s law perfectly. Thus by this practical demonstration with the Jews under the Law, every human mouth was silenced from defending its user and all the world of mankind was proved guilty before God. It is just as the apostle Paul wrote long ago:

³¹ “Now we know that all the things the Law says it addresses to those under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become liable to God for punishment.”​—Romans 3:19.

32. (a) What should be said about humans having a “second chance” on Judgment Day? (b) On whom, then, will it depend as to whether they will live on the Paradise earth or not, and why?

³² Because of being born sinful and condemned to death, mankind never had “a chance.” It could never justify itself before the God of absolute perfection by doing perfect works of righteousness and ridding itself of sinfulness. So, Judgment Day does not offer mankind what is called “a second chance.” Rather, it affords to mankind its first real opportunity to gain eternal life in human perfection and absolute innocence in an earthly Paradise. Judgment Day affords mankind the opportunity that Christ’s perfect human sacrifice provides for them to be cleansed from sin and to be uplifted to the full “glory of God” from which they now fall short. In view of this fact it depends upon what “the living and the dead” do on Judgment Day as to whether they will possess the Paradise earth forever or not. Their past record is already made and is irreversible, with good effects or bad effects to themselves. Judgment Day will allow them to prove their sincere heart’s desire to be done, finished, through with sin forevermore. The heavenly judges will be in office to help them with instructions and guidance.

33. How, in symbolic language, is the opportunity of the Judgment Day pictured in Revelation 20:11-15?

³³ This opportunity on Judgment Day is pictured for us in Revelation 20:11-15, in this symbolic language: “And I saw a great white throne and the one seated on it. From before him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Haʹdes gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. 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.”

34. (a) Does the resurrection there pictured include those sharing in the “first resurrection”? (b) Of what do the “scrolls” then opened not contain a record, and why?

³⁴ This symbolic picture does not involve those who share in the “first resurrection,” and who were already spoken about in Revelation 20:4-6 as being in no danger of the “second death.” This picture refers to those who share in a resurrection to existence on earth, and who will be adjudged worthy of everlasting life only at the end of the thousand years, when they will be able to show their fully acquired righteousness in human perfection. The “scrolls” that are opened and according to the things written in which they are judged favorably or adversely are not scrolls containing the record of all their past imperfect, sinful deeds in this present life under this system of things. The heavenly judges do not need to spend a thousand years in going through the records of past human lives in order to determine the guiltiness or innocence of each individual resurrected. They are not so ignorant or ill-informed about mankind’s past. What the judges are looking to is, not mankind’s past, but mankind’s future. Mankind needs guidance for the future!

35, 36. (a) What, then, do those “scrolls” picture, and who will know the contents of them? (b) Why will there be no excuse for anyone on earth not to know?

³⁵ So those “scrolls” that are opened are the new set of instructions, directions and orders that will be given out by the judges acting for God to mankind. Thus all mankind will be informed of the contents of those opened “scrolls,” in order to know the standards by which they are to be judged and what is to be expected of them as to their future conduct and work. Mankind will not be left in ignorance, and everybody will be obliged to know what is the law according to the judgment scrolls. There will be no Satan the Devil and none of his demons around in the invisible vicinity of the earth to blind people, to mislead people, to pervert the published law and instructions. No, indeed; for those old “heavens” will have fled away from before the face of God who set the time for this Judgment Day. Accordingly, there will be no witch doctors around, no spirit mediums or clairvoyants, no astrologers with horoscopes, no sale of Ouija boards and suchlike demonistic contrivances. There will be only the “new heavens” in existence and they will drop down righteousness. As we read:

³⁶ “O you heavens, cause a dripping from above; and let the cloudy skies themselves trickle with righteousness. Let the earth open up, and let it be fruitful with salvation, and let it cause righteousness itself to spring up at the same time. I myself, Jehovah, have created it.”​—Isaiah 45:8.

EARTHLY “PRINCES”

37. (a) How will the heavenly judges communicate to mankind the contents of those “scrolls”? (b) How will mankind know when God’s laws and rulings are being executed?

³⁷ How the invisible heavenly judges will communicate the contents of the opened “scrolls” to earth’s inhabitants is not specifically stated to us in the Bible. But there will be direct representatives of the heavenly kingdom of God on the earth. Their presence among mankind will be an official evidence that a “new earth” has come into existence with its new human society. The old “earth” dominated invisibly by Satan the Devil has fled away from before God’s face and no place has been found for it except in destruction. The law courts and lawyers and attorneys and judicial system are a thing of the past; the law of God is the thing now for a person to be well versed in, to judge by and to apply. And when the Kingdom’s earthly representatives act, the people will know and distinctly understand that it is God’s law and rulings that are being executed.

38. Will the heavenly King Jesus Christ have to depend upon his earthly ancestors for illustriousness or have his own?

³⁸ Indications of this arrangement for the thousand-year Judgment Day are given us in the prophetic Scriptures. Take, for example, Psalm 45, which is a lyric concerning God’s anointed King, Jesus the Messiah or Christ. After telling prophetically about the heavenly marriage of Jesus Christ and his bridal congregation and those who are attending upon the bridal class, the psalm says: “They will enter into the palace of the king. In place of your forefathers there will come to be your sons, whom you will appoint as princes in all the earth.” (Psalm 45:15, 16) Of course, the heavenly King Jesus Christ has had illustrious ancestors, of whom the list is given in the Bible record, whether these have served on the earthly throne of King David at Jerusalem or not. But the heavenly King will not have to depend upon them for illustriousness. He will have his own, even though on earth as a perfect man Jesus Christ refused to sit upon any material throne at Jerusalem or elsewhere.

39. How will the King Jesus Christ exceed in illustriousness even King David as regards territory?

³⁹ The heavenly King Jesus Christ will surpass even David in fame, honor and illustriousness. He will extend his kingdom far beyond the boundaries of all the territory that King David conquered in his day according to God’s promise to Abraham. (Genesis 15:17-21) Yes, to where East meets West and North meets South, even all around the planet, “all the earth.” As it is written “Regarding Solomon” as a prophetic type of the King Jesus Christ: “O God, give your own judicial decisions to the king, and your righteousness to the son of the king. May he plead the cause of your people with righteousness and of your afflicted ones with judicial decision. And he will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”​—Psalm 72: superscription, 1, 2, 8.

40. As regards princely sons, what problem seems to arise here because of Jesus’ earthly childlessness and his being Permanent Heir to King David?

⁴⁰ However, does a problem seem to arise here? This King who is greater and wiser than Solomon the son of King David did not marry when he was here on earth as a perfect man with the reproductive power in his loins to bring forth a perfect human family. How, then, can the prophecy be fulfilled that, “in place of your forefathers,” notice, “there will come to be your sons, whom you will appoint as princes in all the earth”? Moreover, the heavenly Jesus Christ is the Permanent Heir of King David, and because of his “power of an indestructible life” he will reign without successors, without the need of a son to succeed him. As the angel Gabriel said to Mary concerning her prospective Son Jesus: “Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as king over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom.”​—Luke 1:32, 33.

41, 42. (a) Why are the 144,000 joint heirs not the “sons” to be appointed on earth? (b) How will the heavenly Jesus Christ have earthly “sons,” in fulfillment of what prophetic title?

⁴¹ We know that the 144,000 joint heirs of Jesus Christ are not his spiritual sons, but are sons of God, “heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:17) Who, then, are these ones spoken of as “your sons, whom you will appoint as princes in all the earth”? Manifestly these are not heavenly sons of the King Jesus Christ. They must be earthly sons, who, being on earth, can be appointed princes “in all the earth.” These will be the sons of His by the resurrection of the dead, specifically of the “righteous” dead. His promised title, according to the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6, 7, namely, Eternal Father, will be no mere empty honorary title. He will really be a father to the resurrected human family. He is “the last Adam,” who became “a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47) The first man Adam sold all his human offspring into sin and death, but the “second man,” who is “out of heaven,” laid down his perfect human life in order to purchase them back from such an Adamic inheritance. So we read:

⁴² “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all.” (1 Timothy 2:5, 6) “We behold Jesus, who has been made a little lower than angels, crowned with glory and honor for having suffered death, that he by God’s undeserved kindness might taste death for every man.”​—Hebrews 2:9.

43. (a) How will the King become the father of the “great crowd” of tribulation survivors who need no resurrection? (b) How will his fatherhood of mankind become eternal?

⁴³ By his self-sacrifice according to God’s will, Jesus Christ gained the right to impart life to the dying race of mankind, in this way becoming their father. He will transmit life to the “dead,” both the “righteous” and the “unrighteous,” by calling them out of their memorial tombs or watery graves and then lifting up all the willing ones to perfection of human life. As for the “living” who survive the “great tribulation” into Christ’s millennial reign, he will likewise lift these “righteous” survivors up to a level of life “in abundance,” life as human creatures in glorious perfection. (John 10:10; 2 Timothy 4:1; Acts 24:15) He will have all this accomplished by the end of the thousand years. But this abundant life of his earthly children can go on forever, and there will be those who by keeping integrity in perfection will prove deserving of eternal life. These will be his eternal children, and he will be literally their Eternal Father.

44, 45. (a) How will the King begin his reign with sufficient princes on the earth, and why will all the appointed ones rank as “princes”? (b) However, is royal lineage necessary for a chief over others to be called a prince (sar)?

⁴⁴ At the beginning of his millennial reign the illustrious King Jesus Christ will begin to take suitable ones from among his earthly children to be “princes in all the earth.” The “living” who have survived the “great tribulation” and the abyssing of Satan and his demons will furnish a number of these “princes.” The “righteous” ones of the “dead” who are resurrected from the sleep of death will furnish others, sufficiently so in order to have the appointed “princes in all the earth.” Psalm 45:16 appears to mean that such “princes” will include the “righteous” men from among his resurrected “forefathers.” Once these were his ancestors, but now they become his “sons” by resurrection. Being the sons of the heavenly King, these appointed ones will rank as “princes.”

⁴⁵ However, it is to be noted that the Hebrew word in Psalm 45:16 for “princes” is sarím. Among the ancient Israelites not everyone who was called a “sar” had royal connections. Among them a chief of a thousand, a chief of a hundred, a chief of fifty, and even a chief of ten men was called a “sar.” Even a chief of the royal butlers or chief of the royal bakers could be called a “sar.”​—Exodus 18:21, 25; Deuteronomy 1:15; 20:9; 1 Samuel 8:12; Genesis 40:2. Compare Genesis 23:5, 6.

46, 47. (a) Will all those appointed have to be royal or patriarchal ancestors of the King, and what kind of men will they have to be? (b) In whose interests will they really have to be interested, as described in Isaiah 32:1, 2?

⁴⁶ Not all those appointed to be “princes in all the earth” need to be the royal or patriarchal ancestors of Jesus Christ as a man. Basically, they need to be men of integrity, “capable men,” “men wise and experienced,” such as the prophet Moses appointed to be judges, concerning whom we read: “Moses proceeded to choose capable men out of all Israel and to give them positions as heads over the people, as chiefs [sarím] of thousands, chiefs [sarím] of hundreds, chiefs [sarím] of fifties and chiefs [sarím] of tens. And they judged the people on every proper occasion. A hard case they would bring to Moses, but every small case they themselves would handle as judges.” (Exodus 18:25, 26; Deuteronomy 1:15) The earthly princes appointed by the King Jesus Christ will really be interested in the welfare of the people and in settling difficulties peacefully and amicably. They will be courageous and protective of what is right, like the princes described in Isaiah 32:1, 2, which says:

⁴⁷ “Look! A king will reign for righteousness itself; and as respects princes [sarím], they will rule as princes for justice itself. And each one must prove to be like a hiding place from the wind and a place of concealment from the rainstorm, like streams of water in a waterless country, like the shadow of a heavy crag in an exhausted land.”

48, 49. (a) There has been an increase of crime because of what belief encouraged in criminals because of present legal processes? (b) According to Ecclesiastes 8:11-13, with whom will it go well​—with a repetitious criminal or with whom?

⁴⁸ In those days of the heavenly Prince [Sar] of Peace the dealing out of justice and of bringing offenders to account will not be a slow, dragging process, without sufficient judges and officers to try all the offenders promptly. The taking of a long time, years of time in many cases, to bring wrongdoers to trial and to right injustices and enforce justice, has encouraged criminals who are led to believe that they can get away finally unpunished. Crime has increased tremendously during the last half of this twentieth century, but already in the eleventh century before our Common Era began to count, the wise inspired writer of sharp observations wrote:

⁴⁹ “Because sentence against a bad work has not been executed speedily, that is why the heart of the sons of men has become fully set in them to do bad. Although a sinner may be doing bad a hundred times”​—think of that! But the inspired writer goes on to say: “and continuing a long time as he pleases, yet I am also aware that it will turn out well with those fearing the true God, because they were in fear of him. But it will not turn out well at all with the wicked one, neither will he prolong his days that are like a shadow, because he is not in fear of God.”​—Ecclesiastes 8:11-13.

50. (a) The present slow operation of justice is due to what on high above mankind? (b) How will the “new earth” respond to the “new heavens” as to righteousness?

⁵⁰ The present slow process of bringing the wrongdoers to justice or of never bringing them to account is because we are living in the ‘old earth’ under the ‘old heavens’ and Satan the Devil and his “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places” are in control over human society. The destruction of the old corrupt human society and the abyssing of Satan and his demons will remove all obstruction of justice during the millennial judgeship of the Prince [Sar] of Peace with his 144,000 associate judges. As a result of the dripping and trickling down of righteousness from the “new heavens,” the human soil of the “new earth” will respond and become fruitful in a corresponding way. Jehovah has foretold this, saying: “Let the earth open up, and let it be fruitful with salvation, and let it cause righteousness itself to spring up at the same time. I myself, Jehovah, have created it.”​—Isaiah 45:8.

51. For what epoch, then, do we, along with Isaiah, long with our souls?

⁵¹ Do we not yearn for such an age of righteousness and justice as that? During that time the path of the righteous person will not be such rough going as now but will be smoothed out. In anticipation of that desirable epoch, the prophet Isaiah, who looked forward to an earthly resurrection, wrote under inspiration: “The path of the righteous one is uprightness. You being upright, you will smooth out the very course of a righteous one. Yes, for the path of your judgments, O Jehovah, we have hoped in you. For your name and for your memorial the desire of the soul has been. With my soul I have desired you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me I keep looking for you; because, when there are judgments from you for the earth, righteousness is what the inhabitants of the productive land will certainly learn. Though the wicked one should be shown favor, he simply will not learn righteousness. In the land of straightforwardness he will act unjustly and will not see the eminence of Jehovah.”​—Isaiah 26:7-10.

52, 53. (a) Even in the land of straightforwardness, under divine favor, for whom will it be difficult to learn righteousness? (b) In their case, what principle stated by the apostle Peter seems fitting?

⁵² The millennial “land of straightforwardness,” of straightforward dealing with the people and among the people, will be a place where great favor is shown to all mankind in their inborn human imperfection. Some members of the human family have gone down more deeply into sinful degradation than others and have been hardened in an unjust personality because of long failing to be brought to account. Their accustomed bent is toward injustice. It is easy to see how wicked ones of that kind would find it difficult to learn righteousness and uprightness even when all around them there is straightforwardness and divine favor is being shown to them through the King Jesus Christ. In spite of all the help proffered to them, they will be inclined to do unjustly. They will not want to recognize the eminence of Jehovah as the rightful Lawgiver nor the rightness of His standards for living. Respecting them the principle set forth by the apostle Peter seems fitting:

⁵³ “For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God? ‘And if the righteous man is being saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly man and the sinner make a showing?’”​—1 Peter 4:17, 18.

54. Do those who receive the favor of God in vain, missing its purpose, need to be preserved till the end of the Judgment Day, and what is the reason?

⁵⁴ Persons who, in the “land of straightforwardness,” receive the “favor” of God in vain, missing its loving purpose, and who prove unreformable, need not necessarily be preserved to the end of the thousand years before being executed as unfit for eternal life in the Paradise restored to earth. Without any injustice to such who prove to be beyond correction, they may be executed by the one whom God has appointed to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness. These do not get their names written “in the book of life” and hence they are fit for nothing but the “second death,” as symbolized by the “lake of fire” that causes a complete destruction. (Revelation 20:14, 15) How wise and prudent it is, then, to be obedient now to the “good news of God” and to cultivate a love of righteousness in view of that coming Judgment Day!

Chapter 8

What to Expect When the Millennial Judgment Day Ends

1. Why will it be nothing extraordinary to expect that during the thousand years that Satan is abyssed earth’s inhabitants will learn righteousness?

FOR the thousand years of the imprisonment of Satan the Devil in the abyss there will be world wide the judgments from God for the earth and its inhabitants. The heavenly judges will render decisions and act for Jehovah God. The princely representatives on earth will do likewise. They will conduct themselves as judges whom King Jehoshaphat of Jerusalem stationed throughout the land to bring the people back to God. Jehoshaphat said to them: “See what you are doing, because it is not for man that you judge but it is for Jehovah; and he is with you in the matter of judgment. And now let the dread of Jehovah [not of man] come to be upon you. Be careful and act, for with Jehovah our God there is no unrighteousness or partiality or taking of a bribe.” (2 Chronicles 19:4-7) With such heavenly judges and their judicial princes on the earth it is nothing too extraordinary to expect that the inhabitants of the productive Paradise land will learn righteousness, all together for a thousand years.​—Isaiah 26:9.

2, 3. (a) Through David, Jesus was the Descendant of what Bethlehemite, and so Isaiah compares Jesus at his earthly start to what with reference to that one? (b) A spirit with what qualities will rest upon him, and how will he judge?

² What a qualified, reliable Chief Judge all mankind will have in the “new heavens” during all that Judgment Day of ten centuries! Glowing with warmth is the prophetic description of the Judge as given by Isaiah in the eighth century before our Common Era. This foretold Judge is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messianic Descendant of King David the son of Jesse of Bethlehem. Could Jehovah God provide and appoint a better judge to straighten out human affairs and to see that the people get justice and that righteousness is forever established in the earth? Give all due attention, then, as the prophet under inspiration tells of the qualities of this future Judge who descended from the Bethlehemite Jesse through King David. Comparing this Descendant at his earthly start to a small twig that grows out of the trunk of a cut-down tree, Isaiah prophesies:

³ “And there must go forth a twig out of the stump of Jesse; and out of his roots a sprout will be fruitful. And upon him the spirit of Jehovah must settle down, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of mightiness, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah; and there will be enjoyment by him in the fear of Jehovah. And he will not judge by any mere appearance to his eyes, nor reprove simply according to the thing heard by his ears. And with righteousness he must judge the lowly ones, and with uprightness he must give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth. And he must strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the spirit of his lips he will put the wicked one to death. And righteousness must prove to be the belt of his hips, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.”​—Isaiah 11:1-5.

4. (a) In the fear of whom will he judge mankind? (b) How will he become more than a mere “twig” or “sprout” out of the “stump of Jesse” and not be a disappointment or irritation?

⁴ This Chief Judge takes an actual delight, finds a real enjoyment in fearing Jehovah, so that he will without fail do his judging for Jehovah and not for man. So he is only God-fearing in making his decisions, not man-fearing. Surely he must be wise due to this wholesome fear of the one living and true God, Jehovah. He did not remain like a mere “twig” or “sprout” out of the firmly rooted “stump of Jesse,” but grew up into a stalwart “big tree” of heavenly royalty, as the Greater David the Son of the Living Jehovah. (Isaiah 61:3; compare Ezekiel 17:22-24.) Upon this exalted one in his royal majestic position the mighty spirit of Jehovah rests, endowing him with knowledge, understanding and wisdom so much needed for his responsible office. Consequently, as the King enthroned at the right hand of God he will be a credit to Jehovah; and as a divinely appointed Judge, he will not be a disappointment or an irritation to earth’s inhabitants.

5. In favor of strict justice, how will he show himself impartial and discerning, even more so than Solomon as judge?

⁵ Justice will be established in the earth. The heavenly Judge will exercise greater discernment than did his prototype King Solomon, who rendered such splendid decisions, such as in the stiff case submitted to him by the two harlots. They both disowned a dead child and laid claim to a live child. Concerning Solomon’s unique way of bringing the true mother of the live child to the fore, it is written: “And all Israel got to hear of the judicial decision that the king had handed down; and they became fearful because of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to execute judicial decision.” (1 Kings 3:16-28) In like manner the Greater Solomon will not judge according to the surface appearance of things nor according to mere hearsay, but will see to it that the true facts are unearthed and that the true account is reported, to the end that a just decision may be rendered and executed. He will not favor the high ones as against the lowly ones, nor the arrogant ones as against the meek ones.

6. How will he, by his procedures in the “great tribulation,” show that his thousand years of judgeship will be righteous?

⁶ In order to show what his thousand years of judgeship promises to be, this Judge so filled with the spirit of Jehovah will show himself to be a Liberator of the lowly and meek ones in the coming “great tribulation” that culminates in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon. (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 7:14; 16:14, 16) His orders and directions to his heavenly armies will be like a “rod” out of his mouth, for, in fulfillment of what he says as Commander, the ‘old earth’ of unrighteousness will be struck and broken to pieces. The lips of his mouth will be moved by the spirit of Jehovah and will express his attitude and feeling toward the wicked ones on earth, and these will accordingly be put to death. Our whole earthly globe will be cleansed of the lofty, arrogant, wicked ones. And, of course, the unseen ruler of these, Satan, will be chained and abyssed.

7, 8. (a) For the good of mankind, how will it be as if the Judge were belted with righteousness and girded with faithfulness? (b) What effects will this have upon mankind in producing changes in them?

⁷ Of a truth, mankind has nothing to expect of the millennial judgeship of Jehovah’s appointed Judge, Jesus Christ, but righteousness and faithfulness to their interests. It will be as if this heavenly Judge is belted, sustained by righteousness, as if he girdles himself for the work of righteousness. Yes, it is as if he belts, girds himself with the quality of faithfulness, or girdles himself in support of the faithful care for the interests of the people whom he judges according to God’s standards. Oh, what peace and tranquillity this will result in for the earth! What altering there will be of attitudes of persons toward one another, what a changing of personalities for the good of others! This is delightfully pictured in the prophetic words of Isaiah, as he says:

⁸ “And righteousness must prove to be the belt of his hips, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. And the wolf will actually reside for a while with the male lamb, and with the kid the leopard itself will lie down, and the calf and the maned young lion and the well-fed animal all together; and a mere little boy will be leader over them. And the cow and the bear themselves will feed; together their young ones will lie down. And even the lion will eat straw just like the bull. And the sucking child will certainly play upon the hole of the cobra; and upon the light aperture of a poisonous snake will a weaned child actually put his own hand. They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.”​—Isaiah 11:5-9.

PERSONALITY TRANSFORMATIONS

9. Since when, and upon whom, have such transformations of personal characteristics been brought about by God’s spirit?

⁹ Imagine the human personalities that are likened to the wolf, the leopard, the bear, the maned young lion, the cobra, the poisonous snake! There have been many people with suchlike personalities who have responded finally to the message of God’s kingdom and who have changed their personalities so that they could get along with other persons who are meek and inoffensive like the lamb, the kid, the little boy, the sucking child or the weaned child. Ever since the outpouring of God’s holy spirit through Christ upon the Christian congregation when gathered together on the Festival Day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., the spirit of God has been working to transform members of the congregation to be Christlike. As a consequence the faithful members of the congregation have been able to put up with one another and to get along together, even though formerly they could be likened in personality to those dreaded wild animals. (Acts 2:1-33) True to Isaiah’s prophecy, they have done no harm to fellow Christians nor caused any ruin to the congregation in the “holy mountain” of Jehovah’s worship.

10. (a) Upon whom else, besides the 144,000 associate judges of Christ, have such personality transformations been wrought? (b) How will this transformation result favorably toward them at the start of Christ’s millennial judgeship?

¹⁰ This personality transformation has taken place not only with those who finally make up the 144,000 associate judges of the Chief Judge Jesus Christ, but also with the numberless “great crowd” of worshipers of Jehovah who are today being gathered together from all nations, tribes, peoples and languages. These prospective inhabiters of the earthly Paradise are assured of God’s protection during the “great tribulation” and will be preserved through it into the divine new order under the millennial judgeship of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 7:9-17) Naturally they will carry their transformed personalities directly into the divine new order. This will result to them very favorably, for they will be the “living” toward whom the heavenly Judge Jesus Christ will begin expressing his millennial judgments. (2 Timothy 4:1) Under such circumstances fear of harm and ruin will be gone from the “holy mountain” of Jehovah’s worship. They already know Jehovah, and so with these survivors all around the globe the earth will indeed be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah. But this knowledge will increase.

11. What did God assure the eight deluge survivors regarding the lower earthly creatures, and how will this have a modern counterpart?

¹¹ At this juncture, we remember what was said to the eight human survivors of the deluge of Noah’s day, after they came out of the ark and offered sacrifice to God. Jehovah said to them: “And a fear of you and a terror of you will continue upon every living creature of the earth and upon every flying creature of the heavens, upon everything that goes moving on the ground, and upon all the fishes of the sea. Into your hand they are now given.” (Genesis 9:2) May this not have its modern counterpart? As the coming “great tribulation” will be directed against ungodly humans of the earth, it will not kill off the land animals, birds and fishes of the sea. It is reasonable to expect that God will put upon those lower earthly creatures any lost measure of fear and dread of human creatures, who will be commissioned to convert the ruined earth into a Paradise. Certainly since God by his spirit was able to transform beastly personalities into Christian personalities among the 144,000 and the “great crowd” of today, he will be able to do something similar in the case of the wild animals. For a fact, they will do no injury to Jehovah’s worshipers in the earth.

12, 13. (a) Back in the original Paradise, what was the attitude of man and woman toward the lower earthly creatures? (b) What kind of relationship will there be between the lower earthly creatures themselves, in more than a figurative way?

¹² In accordance with this, we can look for the charming description of animal life as set out in Isaiah 11:6-9 to have a literal fulfillment with the birds, fishes and land creatures of earth during the millennial reign of the Prince of Peace, the Son of the Greater Jesse, Jehovah God. Away back in the original Paradise of Pleasure or Garden of Eden, the woman Eve did not have any fear of the serpent, not fleeing from it when it was made to speak to her. (Genesis 3:1-4) Before this, Adam had had the wild animals and the flying creatures brought before him and he named them, manifesting no fear of them. (Genesis 2:19, 20) That Edenic condition of freedom of fear of the lower creatures of the earth and security from harm by them will be reintroduced in the restored Paradise.

¹³ Also, these land animals, flying creatures and fish will be at peace among themselves as well as with man. It would be inconsistent for God to inspire such a prophecy as that of Isaiah 11:6-9, and Ezekiel 34:25 and Hosea 2:18 to have only a figurative or spiritual meaning and not have a true copy of these things in actual life, as though the literal fulfillment were an impossible ideal.

14. However, what is more important than the taming of the lower earthly creatures, and why?

¹⁴ However, the taming of the animal, bird and fish creation is not the main objective. Such earthly creatures existed long before mankind did. It is mankind’s continued existence on earth that is in question or at stake. All descendants from Adam and Eve were born sinners and so have fallen “short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) In many cases humans have taken on, not godly qualities, but qualities of now ferocious wild beasts. So mankind needs to be brought back to that “glory of God,” so as to prove worthy of everlasting life to the praise of God the Creator. The members of the human family need to be brought together into peaceful, harmless relations with one another, doing justice and righteousness perfectly. This is what the thousand-year judgeship of Jesus Christ will bring about.

15. How will the heavenly judges over mankind bring about that the rate of wrongdoing goes down as the rate of population goes up?

¹⁵ At present, the crime rate of men is increasing at a rate faster than that of the growth of earth’s population. In strong contrast with this, during the millennium earth’s population will regularly increase because of the resurrection of the dead, of the “righteous” and the “unrighteous.” And yet the rate of wrongdoing will decrease till at last it reaches the vanishing point. Why so? Because the heavenly judges over mankind will be absolutely righteous and will teach all mankind true righteousness according to God’s standards. As an aid in this direction, “the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.” (Isaiah 11:9) Only the worship of Him will be permitted in this theocratic millennium. Mankind will be brought to the earthly courtyards of Jehovah’s “true tent,” his spiritual temple. There they will be made to know the truth of what Jesus said in prayer to his heavenly Father: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”​—John 17:3; Hebrews 8:2.

16. (a) In view of what results will Christ’s millennial judgeship not fail of its purpose? (b) Why will Christ not bestow eternal life in Paradise upon restored mankind?

¹⁶ The millennial Judgment Day will not fail of its purpose. By the time of its end all the willing and obedient will have been trained in true justice and righteousness to perfection. Their physical and mental infirmities inherited from Adam and Eve will be done away with. They are now capable in all respects to measure up to God’s absolute standards of righteousness, in themselves. Does Jesus Christ as the Chief Judge now bestow upon them the right to eternal life in a peaceful earth all glorious in paradisaic beauty? No! In this regard he does not act for God, for he knows that it is written: “God is the One who declares them righteous.” (Romans 8:33)