• After Armageddon—A Righteous New World
    The Watchtower—1963 | March 1

    • promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”—2 Pet. 3:13.

      That righteousness will dwell securely in God’s new world is further assured by the fact that Jesus Christ the King will also be the Judge. Concerning this Judge the apostle Paul wrote: “He [God] has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men in that he has resurrected him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) Jehovah’s raising Jesus Christ from the dead is assurance that all the inhabitants of the new world will be judged righteously, including all those who come back to life in what Jesus called “a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28, 29) God’s Judge and King will not judge from outward appearance or by rumor and gossip but he will have the spirit of wisdom that comes from Jehovah God. Moreover, he has the fear of Jehovah; thus the prophet Isaiah gave this description of the One appointed by God to rule and judge the righteous new world:

      “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.”—Isa. 11:2-4.

      Truly Jesus Christ is the ideal Ruler and Judge, for he rules in the fear of Jehovah. What blessings that means for obedient mankind! This blessed time is referred to by King David of old, who, in his last words, said: “The God of Israel said, to me the Rock of Israel spoke, ‘When one ruling over mankind is righteous, ruling in the fear of God, then it is as the light of morning, when the sun shines forth, a morning without clouds. From brightness, from rain, there is grass out of the earth.’” (2 Sam. 23:3, 4) Jehovah thus compares the God-fearing ruler to the influence of sunshine on a cloudless morning after rain, in refreshing and invigorating the growing verdure of the earth, so that tender grass springs out of the ground. Refreshing, then, will be the atmosphere of the new world. Nothing obnoxious, nothing smacking of injustice will mar life in a new world under such a Jehovah-fearing King; hence the psalmist paints this beautiful word picture of that glorious time:

      “May he plead the cause of your people with righteousness and of your afflicted ones with judicial decision. He will descend like the rain upon the mown grass, like copious showers that wet the earth. In his days the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more.”—Ps. 72:2, 6, 7.

      INHABITANTS TO STAY RIGHTEOUS

      Not only will the government of the new world stay righteous, but the inhabitants must also keep to the way of righteousness. They will. None will live in that new world who do not love truth and righteousness and who do not stay in line with principles of uprightness. All must learn God’s righteousness, as foretold at Isaiah 26:9: “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.” (Isa. 26:9) By keeping in the way of righteousness, the inhabitants of God’s new world will receive bountiful blessings. Their own salvation will be assured: “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.”—Isa. 45:8.

      To live in God’s righteous new world and be in line for a salvation to everlasting life in perfect health, one cannot wait till after Armageddon to learn righteousness. He must begin now, obeying the command of Jesus Christ: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” (Matt. 6:33) We have to get in line, then, with God’s righteousness now by familiarizing ourselves with the way he wants us to live. We cannot fool God by putting on a mere outward appearance of uprightness, such as that of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Jesus knew what was really in their hearts: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you resemble whitewashed graves, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of every sort of uncleanness. In that way you also, outwardly indeed, appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”—Matt. 23:27, 28.

      So we cannot hide a lawless heart with a cloak of outward righteousness; God sees what we are to the core. We must remember that God’s spirit of counsel and of wisdom and knowledge is upon the Judge and King, Jesus Christ, that he is backed up by the Supreme Sovereign of the universe, the Examiner of hearts: “All hearts Jehovah is searching, and every inclination of the thoughts he is discerning.” “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but Jehovah is the examiner of hearts.” (1 Chron. 28:9; Prov. 17:3) This Examiner of hearts does not need any mechanical instruments, such as an X-ray machine. He can easily determine what a person is at the core, what his innermost thoughts are. Thus Jehovah searches out the heart and he determines if one has a good heart, if his thoughts and motives are righteous. Since no unrighteousness will go undiscovered and unpunished at Armageddon, now is the time to begin living for the righteous new world.

      This divine examination of hearts, moreover, ensures that the new world will stay forever righteous. Jehovah is interested in a person’s heart condition because he is concerned with justifying creatures to everlasting life in that new world. If someone with an unrighteous heart were granted the right to live forever, then some kind of crookedness or rebellion would crop up in the future. But Jehovah determines whether one’s heart is firmly established in rectitude; then God knows that such a person is worthy of the gift of everlasting life.

      Such, then, is the hope for all lovers of what is right. Look to God’s King, Jesus Christ, and to his heavenly kingdom. Show your faith by taking all necessary steps now to live for the righteous new world. Let the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses help you. They are interested in your enjoying the blessings foretold at Psalm 85:10, 11: “As for loving-kindness and trueness, they have met each other; righteousness and peace—they have kissed each other. Trueness itself will sprout out of the very earth, and righteousness itself will look down from the very heavens.”