A Truly United People

9. What likelihood is there of a united human family?

⁹ Does this mean, then, that world unity is out of the question? Not at all! On the contrary, world unity not only is possible but is inevitable! In fact, the foundation for world unity already has been laid! Already there is a people who are doing what Einstein said, ‘overcoming the obstacles of nationalism.’ Already a truly united people exists worldwide. Already a superior world government exists that has the first allegiance of millions of people throughout all nations.

10. What characteristics must a real government have?

¹⁰ Many will feel that such a view is farfetched. They may ask: ‘Are you talking about a real government with real laws and real citizens? Where is all of this supposed to be happening? Who are involved?’ Well, what makes up a government? Several things: (1) It must have real, living leaders; (2) the place from which it governs must also be real; (3) the nation must have real laws to preserve order; (4) it must have real subjects​—people. For instance, in the United States there is an executive (the president) who has Washington, D.C., as his seat of government. There is a legislature (Congress) that makes laws. There is a judiciary (courts of law) to enforce the laws of the country. And there are over 230 million people who are subjects. Would anyone contend that all of this is not real?

11. How has even the secular press acknowledged that a truly united people does exist?

¹¹ Just as real is the existence of a truly united people today! Where? Which government do they serve? Why can we say that they are fully united? The Brazilian newspaper O Tempo noted this unique people when it wrote: “Although there are many imposing religions with their propaganda in all parts of the globe, there does not exist a single one on the face of the earth today that shows the same love and unity as the Theocratic organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

12. What view expressed in a Belgian newspaper agrees with a reality recognized by Jehovah’s Witnesses?

¹² In Belgium, the newspaper La Nouvelle Gazette carried this headline: “To Avoid a Nuclear War in 25 Years’ Time, American Experts Have Found Only One Solution: That of Jehovah’s Witnesses!” The article stated that the only remedy would be “a radical change in the life-style of mankind . . . in favor of a world government.” The publication concluded that this view agreed exactly “with the proposition upheld by Jehovah’s Witnesses.” And just what “proposition” is that? The one that Jesus made the central theme of his teaching: God’s new government for all the earth, His heavenly Kingdom with Christ as ruler. That government is God’s remedy, the only remedy for all mankind’s ills, including its divided condition. Jesus taught people to pray for that government when he said: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, Catholic Jerusalem Bible) And, as this same Bible version renders the prophecy of Daniel 2:44, that government of God soon “will shatter . . . all the previous kingdoms, and itself last for ever.”

Demonstrating True Love and Unity

13. Regarding a world government to unite people, what has happened since 1914?

¹³ World events in fulfillment of Bible prophecy show that God’s heavenly government began to rule in 1914. At that time God installed as ruler his proved King, Jesus Christ. (Matthew 24:3-14; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Revelation 12:10) That government has superior laws and principles, as recorded in the most sacred of all documents, God’s inspired Word, the Bible. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) And since 1914 the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has been gathering the citizens of God’s New Order. So right now the foundation of that new earthly society is being laid! Yes, all of this is very real. It is not just a dream.​—Matthew 25:31-46; John 10:14-16; 2 Peter 3:13.

14. What disuniting factor have Jehovah’s Witnesses overcome?

¹⁴ As citizens of the New Order, Jehovah’s Witnesses in every land give God’s heavenly Kingdom government their first allegiance. Thus, when Jehovah’s Witnesses read the command of Jesus, “Love one another just as I have loved you,” they take that to mean what it says, and they do it on a worldwide scale. (John 15:12) As a result, they have really broken the restraining bands of petty nationalism. They are able to demonstrate true love for all mankind, regardless of a person’s race, tribe or nationality.

15, 16. How has the overcoming of nationalism been recognized by others?

¹⁵ In this regard, in the Italian church magazine Andare alle genti a Roman Catholic nun wrote the following about Jehovah’s Witnesses: “They are worthy of our admiration for the way they refuse any form of violence and without rebelling put up with the many trials inflicted on them because of their beliefs . . . How different the world would be if we all woke up one morning firmly decided not to take up arms again, whatever the cost or the reason, just like Jehovah’s Witnesses!”

¹⁶ The Italian newspaper Il Corriere di Trieste observed: “Jehovah’s Witnesses should be admired for their firmness and coherence. Contrary to other religions, their oneness as a people prevents them from praying to the same God, in the name of the same Christ, to bless two opposing sides of a conflict, or from mixing politics with religion to serve the interests of Heads of State or political parties.”

17. How do 1 John 3:10-12 and John 13:35 distinguish between God’s children and Satan’s children?

¹⁷ Note how this harmonizes with 1 John chapter 3, verses 10 to 12. There it states: “The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should have love for one another; not like Cain, who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother.” No, God’s children do not slaughter their brothers. It is Satan’s children who do.​—John 13:35.

18. What happens to formerly disunited people when they become Jehovah’s Witnesses?

¹⁸ Thus, when Arabs, Jews and professed Christians in Israel and Lebanon become Jehovah’s Witnesses, they unite in an unbreakable bond of love and unity. So do former Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. So do blacks and whites in the United States. So do members of different African tribes who formerly hated and fought one another. The British magazine New Society noted: “The Witnesses are perhaps more successful than any other group in the speed with which they eliminate tribal discrimination among their own recruits.”

Source of Unity

19. In what two vital respects are Jehovah’s Witnesses extraordinary?

¹⁹ Why can Jehovah’s Witnesses display such love and unity? Is it because of their secular education, prominence, wealth or cleverness? No, they are just ordinary people. But they are extraordinary in two vital respects. First, Jehovah’s Witnesses accept the entire Bible as the inspired Word of God, and they do their utmost to live by it. As the apostle Paul said: “When you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God, which is also at work in you believers.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) Secondly, Jehovah’s Witnesses take the same position as that of Jesus’ apostles, who said to the rulers: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”​—Acts 5:29.

20. What is the real source of unity among Jehovah’s Witnesses?

²⁰ What happens to a people who accept the entire Bible as God’s Word, live by it and obey God as their Ruler in all things? Acts 5:32 states that God gives his powerful holy spirit, or active force, “to those obeying him as ruler.” That is the source of strength that enables Jehovah’s Witnesses to accomplish and maintain a world unity that is impossible for others.

21, 22. (a) Who, then, fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 2:2-4? (b) What prophetic fulfillments do Jehovah’s Witnesses now experience?

²¹ Who, then, in view of the evidence, fulfills the prophecy at Isaiah chapter 2, verses 2 to 4? Speaking of the time in which we live, that prophecy declares that the true worship of Jehovah would become firmly established under Kingdom rule, and that many would say: “Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, . . . and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” The prophecy also says: “He will certainly render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”

²² Who is it that have let God and his Word “set matters straight” among them? Who have really responded to God’s command ‘not to learn war anymore’? Who have spent a total of thousands of years in prisons and concentration camps in our time rather than kill their neighbors? Who show respect for the Bible as God’s inspired Word and obey God as Ruler? Who demonstrate an international brotherhood that is unique in this strife-torn world? The answer can only be, Jehovah’s Witnesses. And now the “other sheep,” in the hundreds of thousands, are being gathered as companions of the remaining ones of the anointed “little flock.” (John 10:16; Luke 12:32) These are also benefiting from the fulfillment of a prophecy given in Hosea’s time. It foretold that all of Jehovah’s servants would “certainly be collected together into a unity” under one Head, Jesus Christ, in Kingdom power. (Hosea 1:11) They also see fulfilled in their unity the words of Jesus when he prayed to God that his followers “may be one just as we are one.” (John 17:20-22) Thus, toward them God has kept his promise of long ago: “In unity I shall set them, like a flock in the pen.”​—Micah 2:12.

² To Jehovah’s united servants, the spreading disorder is a sure sign that an old system of things is nearing its end, while a new system of things is emerging. (Luke 21:28) Yet, in the midst of a world that more and more imitates its debased god, Satan the Devil, Jehovah is cleansing his people and leading them toward a bright New Order. He gathers them to his pure worship, which has been exalted as if on a mountain, high above all other forms of worship. The ones who turn to this united worship of the true God then say to others: “Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:2, 3) Those brought into this united worship look forward eagerly to ‘new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness is to dwell.’​—2 Peter 3:13.