as the Universal Sovereign need from mankind? He is the Creator of all things. The whole universe belongs to him. In arguing his case with mankind of today he says: “I will not take out of your house a bull, out of your pens he-goats. For to me belongs every wild animal of the forest, the beasts upon a thousand mountains. If I were hungry, I would not say it to you; for to me the productive land and its fullness belong.” (Ps. 50:1, 9, 10, 12) As regards his heavenly Son, Jesus Christ, whom he makes king over mankind, this Prince of Peace is the Heir of all things. (Heb. 1:1-6) Mankind will not need to be taxed in order to maintain their King in material luxury and extravagance. He will not permit any oppression or extortion by any of his visible human representatives in the earth. (Ps. 45:16; Isa. 32:1, 2) The present “god of this system of things,” Satan the Devil, and his demons will be bound and imprisoned in what the Bible describes as an abyss or bottomless place, but with a cover of restraint over it.—Rev. 19:11 to 20:3.

48, 49. (a) What interesting question now arises regarding repopulating the earth? (b) How are we assured the earth is to be inhabited?

⁴⁸ When Jehovah God created the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden, he blessed them and commanded them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28) Now, since the battle of Har–Magedon will make such a cut in the earth’s population that seems to be exploding today, how long will it take for the earth to be filled when God is king over all the earth and rules through his Son Jesus Christ? From the flood of Noah’s day till now it has been more than four thousand years, and it has taken all this time to pass the mark of three thousand million inhabitants, despite two world wars and all the other wars and deadly calamities in the meantime. How long will it take after Har–Magedon to fill the earth under God’s kingdom, and how will such a filled earth be fed, clothed and sheltered? This is no impossibility for God. His original purpose for our earth will be realized.

⁴⁹ Isaiah 45:18 assures us that Jehovah God is “the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited.” After he created the earth, he pronounced it very good. (Gen. 1:31) For these reasons he will never destroy this good earth, but it will abide and stand in existence for all time, regardless of what modern-day scientists or astronomers or false religionists say. (Eccl. 1:4; Ps. 104:5) It will be inhabited to its fullness.

50. (a) When will the start to once again populate the earth begin, and who will have a part in it? (b) Under what type of conditions will offspring be born?

⁵⁰ The new start to fill the earth with a righteous race of humans will get under way after the war of the great day of God the Almighty is over. It will begin with the earthly survivors of that universal war, as pictured by Noah and his family when they emerged from the ark of salvation after the Flood. (Gen. 9:1, 7) Married couples survived that Flood, and their offspring married, when of age, among themselves. Likewise, the battle of Har–Magedon will not dissolve the marriage ties of those surviving it, and we may reasonably believe and expect that marriages by single persons surviving Har–Magedon will be authorized by the King Jesus Christ, and their marriages will be fruitful with children. Although children then born from still-imperfect Har–Magedon survivors will not be born perfect, there will be no stillbirths or miscarriages or deformed children. They will be born in righteousness, by righteous parents, in God’s righteous new order, and there will then be no need for artificial birth control.

RETURN OF THE DEAD

51. What other grand provision has the Universal King made for filling our earth, and in what way has he reassured man that it will happen?

⁵¹ However, marriage will not be the only procedure contributing toward the filling of the earth with righteous subjects of God’s kingdom. The bringing forth of children by honorable marriage of Har–Magedon survivors and, in turn, by such post-Har–Magedon children will be approved by the King for evidently a limited time—for how many generations we do not know. Why so? Because it will have to take into account the fulfillment of a marvelous prophecy of God’s written Word. What promise? That of the resurrection of the dead, the resurrection of those whose names God has not blotted out of his memory as being too bad to be reformed. God’s resurrection of his own Son Jesus Christ from the dead was a guarantee of the resurrection of mankind in general. Jesus, looking forward to his kingdom, said: “The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, . . . to a resurrection.” (John 5:28, 29) What ruler on earth today could bring back your dead?

52. How do we know that all the children born to Armageddon survivors and the returning dead will not overpopulate our earth?

⁵² Think of all the billions of dead that will be brought back to life on earth to enjoy the benefits of God’s kingdom over the earth and to take advantage of the opportunity then offered to gain everlasting life on earth! This will result in no overcrowding or overfilling of the earth. This will create no food problem and no unemployment problem. Agriculture and gardening will then be carried forward on an intelligent basis under supervision of the King Jesus Christ, and all the earth will be cultivated and cared for till it becomes a Paradise everywhere. It will be the earthwide Paradise that God the Creator set before Adam and Eve as a goal to work for, saying: “Fill the earth and subdue it.” No ruiners of the earth and no contaminators of air, soil and waters will be allowed. Good, wholesome food will be produced in abundance and will contribute toward the gaining of perfect health of body and mind.

53. Why will spiritual food be so important?

⁵³ Besides natural food, spiritual food will be served them, for without it eternal life on the Paradise earth could never be gained. As Jesus Christ the King himself said, when quoting God’s Word: “It is written, ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.’” (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3) The King wants his subjects to live forever in Paradise.

54. What are some of the many blessings in store for those living under God’s rulership?

⁵⁴ Within the thousand years of his reign the King will have the earth filled with a righteous race of mankind, according to God’s will. When the last of the dead is resurrected, it will mean the destruction of the grave, yes, of the cemetery. When the condemnation that Adam and Eve brought upon all mankind has been lifted because of the ransom sacrifice of the King Jesus Christ, and when the last trace of imperfection and evil tendency inherited from Adam has been overwhelmed and wiped out, then the death inherited from Adam will be no more on earth. As the prophecy in the last book of the Bible declares: “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 any more. The former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:3, 4; 20:4-6) This will mean a happy people. But that is the very thing desired, for the success of a ruler is measured by the righteousness and happiness of his people, and also by the multitude of his subjects who choose to live under him. Wise King Solomon, son of David, gave the measure of a successful king when he stated: “In the multitude of people there is an adornment of a king, but in the lack of population is the ruin of a high official.” (Prov. 14:28) The success of Christ’s thousand-year kingdom will be seen in a Paradise earth full of righteous, happy subjects, for all of whom he died.

55. Why will there be no unemployment in that new world?

⁵⁵ No problem will arise over the question of employment because of modern-day labor-saving machines and so-called automation. The King will keep all his subjects fully occupied, and they will become perfect workmen. Work will be properly distributed among all, and there will never be cause for unemployment. The divine rule will be enforced: “If anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat.” (2 Thess. 3:10) The greatest employment will be that of doing the will of God, prayerfully seeing to it that God’s will is done on earth as it is done also in heaven. (Matt. 6:9, 10) In fact, it will be only by doing the will of God forever with a loving heart that men and women, perfected, will be rewarded with the gift of everlasting life under Jehovah’s theocratic government.

56. What should we do now in expectation of the time when God is “king over all the earth”?

⁵⁶ Here, indeed, will be the desired improvement in government in a perfect sense. It is a government that will never pass away, for God the Universal Sovereign will never pass away. He is immortal, almighty, supreme. (Dan. 2:44; Ps. 145:10-13) It is our privilege now, not just to pray formally for God’s kingdom, but also to take our stand for it and everywhere to proclaim the everlasting good news about it. May our determination henceforth be to live now in expectation of the glorious time when God is “king over all the earth.”

Worldwide Witness

◆ One of Jehovah’s witnesses in the United States, in Illinois, reports: “One Saturday morning while working from door to door in Oak Park, spreading the Word of life, I came across a woman who was very busy. The luggage, she indicated, had just returned from a trip. With a few words to help her appreciate the need of the Word of life, I showed her The Watchtower. ‘Oh, no, not The Watchtower,’ she said in a sighing tone. ‘I have just returned from a world tour and in every country that I visited, people were approaching me with The Watchtower.’”