Ecclesiastes 3:1 states: “For everything there is an appointed time, even a time for every affair under the heavens.” While this is true from the human viewpoint, it is even more so from God’s viewpoint. He has definite times and seasons for accomplishing his purpose. If we do not harmonize our lives with this fact, then all the arranging of our lives to conform to clocks or to calendars will eventually prove to be useless.

⁵ Why is this so? Because Jehovah has a purpose for this earth and for human creatures on it; otherwise he would not have created them. If we do not coordinate our lives with that purpose, we will not be included in it. And his purpose is certain to be carried out right on schedule. He declares: “So my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”​—Isaiah 55:11.

Jehovah’s Purpose for Meek Ones

12, 13. What is God’s purpose for this earth and for humans?

¹² However, when Jehovah created humans, he purposed that the entire earth should become a paradise like the garden of Eden, populated by perfect, unified, happy people. (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15; Isaiah 45:18) That purpose has not been canceled by rebellious humans and wicked spirit creatures. Also, since Jehovah is a God of times and seasons, his purpose will be accomplished at the appointed time that he has set for it. He will not allow human rule independent of him to continue fighting against his purpose beyond the allotted time.

¹³ Jesus had complete confidence in Jehovah’s purpose for this earth. He said to an evildoer who showed some faith in him: “You will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) That was the earthly Paradise to come. On an earlier occasion, Jesus had said: “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) Here, Jesus likely referred to the thought in Psalm 37:11, which says: “The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”

14. What kind of people will inherit the earth?

¹⁴ Who are these who will inherit the earth? Psalm 37:34 states: “Hope in Jehovah and keep his way, and he will exalt you to take possession of the earth. When the wicked ones are cut off, you will see it.” Verses 37 and 38 of Ps 37 add: “Watch the blameless one and keep the upright one in sight, for the future of that man will be peaceful. But the transgressors themselves will certainly be annihilated together; the future of wicked people will indeed be cut off.” Thus people who will inherit the earth must come to know Jehovah, believe his promises, and be considered by him upright and blameless because they obey his laws. As First John 2:17 declares: “The world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.”

15. For major beneficial world changes to take place, what is one vital thing that must happen?

¹⁵ However, for those changes to take place would require an enormous reversal of the state of affairs that now exists. For one thing, it would have to mean the removal of all present rulerships of the earth, since human rule has never brought about desirable conditions. But such earthshaking changes are well within the ability of Jehovah. For example, the Bible states: “He is changing times and seasons, removing kings and setting up kings.”​—Daniel 2:21.

Removing Opposers

16, 17. (a) How did Jehovah deal with the Pharaoh who opposed His purpose? (b) How was Jehovah’s prophetic word confirmed?

¹⁶ Consider what Jehovah has done to powerful rulers and dynasties in the past, especially to those who have tried to interfere with his purposes. They have been broken and scattered to the winds like mere dust, as have their empires. For instance, there was the Pharaoh of Egypt who had enslaved God’s people. But Jehovah had a purpose for his servants, and he sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to free them. Instead, Pharaoh arrogantly declared: “Who is Jehovah, so that I should obey his voice?” He added: “I do not know Jehovah at all and, what is more, I am not going to send Israel away.”​—Exodus 5:2.

¹⁷ Jehovah gave Pharaoh many opportunities to change his mind. Yet, time after time, as Exodus 11:10 says, Pharaoh ‘became obstinate.’ However, Jehovah has irresistible power. When his appointed time came, he drowned Pharaoh and his armies in the Red Sea. Exodus 14:28 says: “Not so much as one among them was let remain.” On the other hand, Jehovah’s servants were protected and freed. This, moreover, came at the exact time that Jehovah’s prophetic word had foretold, at the end of a 400-year period he had spoken about to faithful Abraham centuries before.

18. What did Jehovah do with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon? Why?

¹⁸ Then there was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He got to boasting about his power and accomplishments, as though he were a god. But Daniel 4:31 says that “while the word was yet in the king’s mouth, there was a voice that fell from the heavens: ‘To you it is being said, O Nebuchadnezzar the king, “The kingdom itself has gone away from you.”’” Jehovah told him that he would be brought low like a beast of the field until, as verse 32 of Dan 4 says, he would know “that the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind, and that to the one whom he wants to he gives it.” That is just what happened at the exact time that Jehovah had purposed for it.

19. Why did Jehovah’s adverse judgment come against Babylon and its ruler, Belshazzar?

¹⁹ The last king to rule in Babylon was Belshazzar. It was then Jehovah’s time for that monstrous empire to fall. Why? Because the Babylonians held Jehovah’s people captive and blasphemed Jehovah. Daniel chapter 5 relates that Belshazzar made a big feast for a thousand of his officials. Then Belshazzar “said to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken away from [Jehovah’s] temple that was in Jerusalem, . . . and from them the king and his grandees, his concubines and his secondary wives drank.” (Daniel 5:2, 3) Note what they did next: “They drank wine, and they praised the gods of gold and of silver, copper, iron, wood and stone.” (Daniel 5:4) By drinking from the sacred utensils that had been used in Jehovah’s worship, they mocked and blasphemed Jehovah. By worshiping their false gods, they worshiped Satan.

20, 21. What message did Daniel deliver to Belshazzar, and how was it fulfilled?

²⁰ However, at that moment a startling thing happened. The fingers of a hand were seen writing on the wall of the palace! It shocked the king so much that “his very complexion was changed in him, and his own thoughts began to frighten him, and his hip joints were loosening and his very knees were knocking each other.” (Daniel 5:6) None of Belshazzar’s religious advisers could understand the handwriting, so Jehovah’s servant Daniel was called in to interpret it. Daniel informed the king that the message was from Jehovah, and it was this: “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has finished it. . . . You have been weighed in the balances and have been found deficient. . . . Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”​—Daniel 5:26-28.

²¹ That very night, Medo-Persian armies invaded the city through gates carelessly left open. As Daniel 5:30 concludes: “In that very night Belshazzar . . . was killed.” Babylon’s fall allowed for Jehovah’s people to return to their homeland exactly 70 years from the start of their captivity. That was precisely according to Jehovah’s timetable, as revealed at Jeremiah 29:10.

22, 23. How did Jehovah deal with King Herod Agrippa I, who opposed Christians in the first century?

²² In the first century, King Herod Agrippa I was the last ruler of Palestine, part of the Roman Empire. Herod had the apostle Peter imprisoned, and he persecuted other Christians. He even had the apostle James killed. (Acts 12:1, 2) Herod also arranged murderous gladiatorial combats and other pagan shows. All of this gave the lie to his claim that he was a worshiper of God.

²³ But, then, Jehovah’s due time came for executing this opposer. Acts 12:21 to 23 tells us: “On a set day Herod clothed himself with royal raiment and sat down upon the judgment seat and began giving them a public address. In turn the assembled people began shouting: ‘A god’s voice, and not a man’s!’” What happened next? The Bible says: “Instantly the angel of Jehovah struck him, because he did not give the glory to God; and he became eaten up with worms and expired.” Here was another example of Jehovah’s “removing kings,” as Daniel 2:21 had stated.

24. To what do such historical facts testify?

²⁴ Such historical events testify that Jehovah has his times and seasons for his purposes. They also demonstrate that he surely has the ability and the power to fulfill his purpose to transform this earth into a paradise where “righteousness is to dwell.”​—2 Peter 3:13.