This condition of genuine peace and security was also foretold and foreshadowed by God long ago. It was in a prophecy concerning “new heavens and a new earth” (that is, the heavenly government of Jesus Christ, and the new earthly arrangement of things during the thousand-year Kingdom rule).

This prophecy was spoken by God’s prophet Isaiah to the Israelites before they went into exile to Babylon in 607 B.C.E. because of not observing God’s laws. God comforted them by showing that he would restore them to their land. He said:

“No more will there come to be a suckling a few days old from that place, neither an old man that does not fulfill his days; for one will die as a mere boy, although a hundred years of age; and as for the sinner, although a hundred years of age he will have evil called down upon him.”​—Isa. 65:17, 20.

During the seventy years of exile the Israelites had turned from their idolatrous ways and again served God in truth. (Jer. 29:10) On their return, instead of being in constant fear of their enemies, they could feel secure. Gone was the feeling they had experienced seventy years previously when Nebuchadnezzar had come in and destroyed both young and old. (Lam. 2:21) In their restored state a child would live to maturity, and a man would live out his normal life-span, not being cut off by the sword, by famine or the scourge of pestilence.

Isaiah’s prophecy continues:

“And they will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating. . . . They will not toil for nothing, nor will they bring to birth for disturbance; because they are the offspring made up of the chosen ones of Jehovah, and their descendants with them. And it will actually occur that before they call out I myself shall answer; while they are yet speaking, I myself shall hear.”​—Isa. 65:21-24.

The Israelites restored from Babylonian exile, after being exhorted by Jehovah’s prophets to put spiritual interests first, were prospered in their building and planting, their property not being taken away by an invader, nor by economic distresses. They did not bring up their children to fall prey to war, delinquency and an early death. For many years they were thus blessed by Jehovah. But later they became disobedient again, and deteriorated as a nation. Why did God allow this?

It was not yet the time for God’s Messianic kingdom to rule; it was not the time for the installation of ‘new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness is to dwell,’ of which the apostle Peter wrote. It was in only a miniature or typical fulfillment back there.​—2 Pet. 3:13.

Past Acts of God Assure Paradise Conditions for Earth

But what about the reality under God’s Messianic government? God did those good things for his people back there when they listened to him. He will do them on a much larger, permanent scale for those who hear and believe his promises today, for he purposes to have a paradise earth, a real new set of conditions that will last forever.

Jesus spoke to an evildoer dying next to him about this paradise into which the evildoer would be resurrected. This man, though being justly executed for some crime, expressed faith in Christ’s coming kingdom, and this prompted Jesus Christ to promise that he would have opportunity for life there.​—Luke 23:39-43.

Note also some of the other promises of God, many of which he already fulfilled in a typical or miniature way in the sixth century B.C.E., for our faith, hope and comfort:

“The wilderness and the waterless region will exult, and the desert plain will be joyful and blossom as the saffron. Without fail it will blossom, and it will really be joyful with joyousness and with glad crying out. . . . For in the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain.”​—Isa. 35:1, 2, 6.

These promises proved true in a small-scale way when Israel returned from Babylon. Their land had been utterly desolate, no humans or domestic animals, only wild beasts, having inhabited it for seventy years. Most of the land was like a desert wilderness. Yet God, pleased with their return to true worship, caused waters to break out, and in a short while the land began to blossom and to produce abundantly.

Jehovah promises permanent blessings for those who obey him under Kingdom rule, blessings like those he provided repatriated Israelites:

“For them I shall certainly conclude a covenant in that day in connection with the wild beast of the field and with the flying creature of the heavens and the creeping thing of the ground, and the bow and the sword and war I shall break out of the land, and I will make them lie down in security.”​—Hos. 2:18.

If Israel had remained faithful, their peace would have endured. But they were rebellious toward God. Under Christ’s heavenly rule, such rebellion will not take place. Why not? Because, on the basis of his atonement sacrifice for mankind, he will gradually bring obedient ones to perfection, wiping out selfishness and greed from the earth. This is the great difference between the basis for peace that his Kingdom rule brings as compared with that which the worldly leaders attempt to establish.

Now, by applying Bible principles, we can partially overcome bad traits and hold them generally under control. But with the full application of the merit of Christ’s sacrifice, obedient ones will achieve full spiritual, mental and physical healing, with full control of all their faculties, completely overcoming all their imperfections.​—Compare Romans 7:18-25.

See how God assures us of permanent peace, health and security in the last book of the Bible:

“‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. 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 [of this present old system] have passed away.’ And the One seated on the throne said: ‘Look! I am making all things new.’ Also, he says: ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’”​—Rev. 21:3-5.

The Promiser a God of Truth

Yes, these words are faithful and true. They are not mere political promises of men seeking to hold on to positions of power and prominence. God went to all the pains to prepare these things long beforehand and to record them centuries ago for our instruction. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) In the foregoing we have seen that he has already brought to pass fulfillments of his promises in a small-scale and temporary way. Many other promises he made he has already fulfilled, and these should give us strong confidence in the reliability of his word. Note a few:

When God promised centuries ago to clean up the earth by a flood, the flood came. (Gen. 6:17; 7:11-24) When he promised more than 400 years ahead to bring Israel out of Egypt, that occurred on time. (Gen. 15:13, 14; 50:25; Ex. 12:37-42) When he promised nearly two hundred years beforehand to cause a man named Cyrus the Persian to overthrow Babylon so that Israel could be released, it came to pass.​—Isa. 45:1, 2; 2 Chron. 36:22, 23; Ezra 1:1-4.

Moreover, hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah were accurately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the promised Deliverer and King​—the place and manner of his birth, the time of his appearance as the Messiah, his betrayal, his death, his resurrection, and other things too numerous to mention here.​—Mic. 5:2; Isa. 7:14; Dan. 9:25, 26; Ps. 41:9; Isa. 53:12; Ps. 16:10.

The reasonable conclusion for us to reach, then, is that what God has promised will take place just as he said. We cannot ignore the testimony of faithful men who had no selfish gain to make when, toward the end of their lives, they exalted God as the Fulfiller of his promises, rather than taking the glory to themselves. As Joshua, who had led Israel in conquering the Promised Land, told them: “You well know with all your hearts and with all your souls that not one word out of all the good words that Jehovah your God has spoken to you has failed.”​—Josh. 23:14.

Is God’s Promise Slow of Fulfillment?

WHEN mention is made of God’s promise of genuinely better times, do you feel like some who say, ‘If God is going to bring good conditions to the earth, why didn’t he do it long ago?’

Yet, do we not all value the privilege of having free will, freedom of choice?

The fact is that man set out virtually at the beginning of history, by his own choice, to rule according to his own will and way. He was originally made in God’s image and likeness, which included his having intelligence and freedom of choice. God respects this fact and deals with man as an intelligent person, not as an unreasoning animal, nor even as an irresponsible child.

Now, if God arbitrarily forced his rule on unwilling men, where would their own free will and choice find a place? Following the first man Adam’s rejection of divine rule, God has allowed mankind full and fair opportunity to try ruling themselves. They have thus had ample time to see demonstrated the failure of human rule independent of God, and to realize what rule was really best for them.

An example of God’s principle of thoroughness and patience in such matters is shown in his dealing with Abraham (Abram). He promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s posterity. But Abraham and his descendants had to wait four hundred years to get the land. Why? “Because,” God explained, “the error of the Amorites [inhabiting the land] has not yet come to completion.”​—Gen. 15:13-16.

Yes, God allowed the natives and their leaders in Canaan full opportunity to reform, but they went on full length into corruption. He did not arbitrarily take their land away. Like a rotting tree that produced nothing but rotten fruit, they became more and more vile, practicing child-sacrifice to idols, engaging in perverted, degraded sex worship, and were full of filth and disease. By every standard of right, they deserved to be ousted from the land. Not until then, after centuries of time, did God order their removal.​—Lev. 18:21-28.

God’s Seeming Delay a Good Thing for Men

Indeed, God in his tolerance with man has allowed conditions to develop to the point that all can see His full moral and legal right to remove government out of the hands of selfish men and to bring in his own heavenly rule of righteousness and justice. And right-thinking persons will be glad to see it. God has let the evidence pile up, just as in a court case, so that no one can charge him with arbitrary, dictatorial or unreasonable methods​—all this is really not for his own benefit, but for that of mankind, so that they can know that when he acts he is fully justified.

Accordingly, in God’s timetable for allowing men to try ruling themselves is a definite time to bring this misrule to an end. Being the Creator, knowing his own purpose and seeing all circumstances, he can select the optimum time, the very best time, to bring man’s unsuccessful efforts to a halt. Also, unlike men, he can and will completely erase the effects of any injustices mankind has suffered during the time that God has restrained himself from acting to bring in a righteous rule over earth. The former bad things “will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart,” to tarnish the happiness brought by the Kingdom’s rule.​—Isa. 65:17.

So, having the power to bring about his purpose and promises instantly, GOD is the one who has shown endurance, long-suffering and patience. He has endured all the insults and has seen terrible injustices practiced, but has exercised self-control in order to carry out his own purpose and for the ultimate welfare of all.

The apostle Peter wrote: “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. 3:9) He knows exactly what is needed to give men the best possible opportunity. He knows just what foundation to lay so that men can see and appreciate the fulfillment of his promises.

Why Certain

Now we have reached the time when God will take action to bring about the full realization of all his grand promises. How do we know that this is so? What reason do we have to believe that we can personally enjoy the better times that God’s promised government will bring?

Because the removal of the present corrupt system was foretold to occur toward the end of a certain “generation,” or lifetime, of people. The Bible shows that this generation consists of those who were living in 1914,a the year when World War I began. The entire period of time since that date is described in Bible prophecy, particularly with regard to the things that were foretold to take place during that era.

Check for yourself some of the details of such prophecies, for example, those found at Matthew chapter 24, Luke chapter 21, Mark chapter 13 and 2 Timothy chapter 3. In those prophecies were foretold global war, food shortages, disease epidemics and juvenile delinquency. Also mentioned was the trend toward pleasure-seeking at the expense of morality, as well as the breakdown of authority, the lack of neighbor love and the abandoning of any real faith in God by many people.

Those things came right on schedule, as foretold, beginning in 1914. At that time the Bible prophecy regarding the devastating ride of the ‘horsemen of the Apocalypse’ began its fulfillment. Their symbolic ride, with its resulting distress for humankind, continues to our day.​—See Revelation chapter 6.