Many Bible scholars maintain that under Christ’s Kingdom, earth will become a literal paradise:
“The whole earth under the Messiah must then ultimately become . . . what it . . . would have been if Adam had never sinned.” - Theologian Joseph A. Seiss
In the commentary The New Testament for English Readers, Henry Alford wrote: “That kingdom of God . . . shall work onwards till it shall become actually a kingdom over this earth, and its subjects shall inherit the earth . . . , finally in its renewed and blessed state for ever.”—Italics his.
Isaac Newton also wrote: “The earth shall continue to be inhabited by mortals [humans] after the day of judgment and that not only for 1000 years, but even for ever.”
This astronaut photograph, taken from the International Space Station while over China (approximately 400 kilometers to the northwest of Beijing), provides the unusual perspective of looking down on a meteor as it passes through the atmosphere. The image was taken on August 13, 2011, during the Perseid Meteor Shower that occurs every August.
At Mt. 24:3, Jesus was approached by his disciples and was asked: "Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?" In response, Jesus did not provide a specific time, saying that “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father." (Mt. 24:36) However, while the exact time of the coming end of this “system of things” has not been revealed to us, “the sign” that Jesus gave would let us know when we are in the time period known as “the last days.” (2 Timothy 3:1)
Telling us what will mark the last days, Jesus went on to say: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another pestilences and food shortages; and there will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs.” (Luke 21:10, 11) Jesus also said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”(Matthew 24:14)
What is the "Good News of the Kingdom" Described at Matt. 24:14?
The Bible mentions that the entire theme of Jesus’ preaching was God’s Kingdom. For instance, Jesus said,
"I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth.” (Luke 4:43)
Most are familiar with the model prayer. In it, Jesus taught us to pray for God's Kingdom to come:
“Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your KINGDOM come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, ALSO UPON EARTH.” (Matthew 6:9-13) emphasis mine.
Daniel 2:44 says more about this kingdom:
“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”
After that, mankind will be under just one government, God’s Kingdom. The Bible says that that Kingdom will do God’s will and bring great blessings such as removing Satan and his demons. (Revelation 20:1-3) The Bible also mentions that faithful humans will no longer get sick and die. Instead, under Kingdom rule they will be able to live forever. (Revelation 22:1-3) The earth will be made into a paradise. Also see: God’s Kingdom - What Is It? When Will It Come? (bh chap. 8 pp. 76-85; Watchtower Online Library)
Who is Preaching the Gospel of God's Kingdom Today?
Some religions have acknowledged the Christian obligation to preach in public places and from house to house Acts 5:42; Matt. 10:11-14; Luke 9:6), although this is often left to a limited group of missionaries or clergy to fulfill... not every member.
However, every member who is identified as one of JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES heeds Jesus' instructions when he told his followers to "make disciples of people of all the nations," and when Jesus himself set the example by "journeying from city to city and from village to village, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God." (Matthew 28:19, 20; Luke 8:1) Also see: Ways They Use to Share the Good News (jt pp. 19-21; Watchtower Online Library) Their Worldwide Organization and Work (jt pp. 25-26; Watchtower Online Library)
Will the Good News Have to be Directly Preached to Every Man, Woman and Child on Earth Before "The End Will Come"?
Notice the wording at Mt. 24:14,
"...will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations..."
Jesus did not specifically say that every man, woman and child on earth will have the good news directly preached to in the last days. He said that the good news will be preached in all of the Earth for a witness to all of the nations. This means that every nation will have the good news preached in it to some extent.
Interestingly, as of the time of this writing, Jehovah's Witnesses are preaching this good news of the Kingdom in 239 lands worldwide. http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/
Jewish tradition holds that there are seven archangels named Gabriel, Jeremiel, Michael, Raguel, Raphael, Sariel, and Uriel. On the other hand, Islam believes in four archangels, namely, Jibril, Mikal, Izrail, and Israfil. Catholicism also believes in four archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel.
What Does the Bible Say?
Aside from Michael, no archangel is mentioned in the Bible, nor do the Scriptures use the term “archangel” in the plural. The Bible describes Michael as the archangel, implying that he alone bears that designation.
Michael is clearly an outstanding angel. The book of Revelation shows that Michael wars with Satan and his demons and hurls them out of heaven. (Revelation 12:7-9) No other angel is portrayed as having such great power and authority over God’s enemies.
Who is Michael the Archangel?
According to the Bible, the name 'Michael' was applied to God's Son before he left heaven to become Jesus Christ and also after his return. For much more concerning the identity of Michael the Archangel, please see the informative, Bible-based articles below:
"The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general."—The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries (New York, 1848), Augustus Neander (translated by Henry John Rose), p. 190
"The later Hebrews looked on the celebration of birthdays as a part of idolatrous worship, a view which would be abundantly confirmed by what they saw of the common observances associated with these days."—The Imperial Bible-Dictionary (London, 1874), edited by Patrick Fairbairn, Vol. I, p. 225
“Early Christians [from the time of Christ until the 4th century] frowned on [celebrating anyone’s birthday], which was too closely linked with pagan customs to be given the approval of the church.” - How It Started, Garrison, copyright 1972 by Abingdon Press, p. 213
"Christians of the first century did not celebrate the festival honoring the birth of Jesus - for the same reason they honored no other birthday anniversary. It was the feeling at that time by ALL Christians that the celebration of all birthdays (even the Lordâs) was a custom of the PAGANS. In an effort to divorce themselves from ALL pagan practices, the early Christians refused to set aside a date marking Jesus' birth. As a result, the first celebration of Christmas by Christians did not take place until the fourth century." - The Christian Book of Why, by Dr. John C. McCollister (Lutheran minister and university professor, graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary), Jonathan David Publishers, Inc., 1983, p. 205
The Jews themselves never celebrated birthdays until long after the death of Jesus. They considered it a purely pagan custom and detestable to the God they worshiped. Jesus and his Apostles continued this belief and so did their followers for centuries.
The following are links to information from JW.ORG that refute virtually every main so-called Trinity 'proof'-text that is used. Starting from Genesis to Revelation:
Mt. 28:19 - What does it mean to be baptized “in the name of the Father”, ‘in the name of the Son’, and ‘in the name of the holy spirit’? (w02 4/1 pp. 10-15; Watchtower Online Library) http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2002243#p14
Mt. 28:19 - What does it mean to be baptized “in the name of the Father”, ‘in the name of the Son’, and ‘in the name of the holy spirit’? (wt chap. 12 pp. 110-119; Watchtower Online Library) http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102002072#h=10:276-13:1162
YOUR eyes are like tiny television cameras. They convert images into electrical signals and transmit these signals along the optic nerve to the back of your brain, where the actual seeing takes place.
The eye is a marvel in miniature. Just an inch [24 mm] in diameter and one fourth of an ounce [7.5 g] in weight, it is ingeniously engineered. For example, it has separate systems for dim and bright lighting, so that 30 minutes after entering a dark room, your eyes may become 10,000 times more sensitive to light. Read the entire article "Nature Had It First" at http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102010085#h=3:0-8:317
“Thousands of neurons belonging to more than 30 different groups are needed to produce the movements of our eyelids,” explains Spain’s El País newspaper. Read the entire article "The Blink of an Eye" at http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102003769#h=16:0-17:811
Some researchers estimate that people who can see well gain approximately 80 percent of their information about the world through their eyes. In combination with our brain, our eyes enable us to see in full color, to track moving objects and images smoothly, to recognize patterns and shapes, and to see in three dimensions. Furthermore, we can see in varying degrees of light.
The latter involves a number of complementary mechanisms. For example, the pupil can expand from 0.06 inch to 0.3 inch (1.5 mm to 8 mm) in diameter, resulting in a possible 30-fold increase in the amount of light entering the eye. The light then passes through the lens, which focuses it onto the retina, concentrating the light energy by a factor of 100,000 times. Read the entire article "Appreciate Your Special Gifts - The Human Eye" at http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102011162#h=17:0-21:325
We can easily understand why many scholars prefer "Yahweh" since it clearly uses the four consonants YHWH. But why do we find so many Bibles using the name which has a "J"?
In the Middle Ages, the "Y" sound of the Greek "I" came to be written as either "I" or "J" (for the first letter of words, at least), and "Iesvs" became either "Iesvs" or, more ornamentally, "Jesvs." And, finally, the "v" came to be written as "u" and the name came into its final written form (in English) as "Jesus." (In fact, even the first editions of the King James Version still used the initial "I" instead of the equivalent "J" which shows that it was still pronounced "Yay-soos" in the English of 1611:
"In form, J was originally merely a [more ornamental] variation of `I,' arising in the 14th century .... Not until the middle of the 17th century did this usage [the new pronunciation of the new letter `J'] become universal in English books; in the King James Bible of 1611, for example, the words Jesus and judge are invariably Iesus and iudge." - p. 4823, Vol. 13, Universal Standard Encyclopedia (Funk & Wagnalls), 1955.
"In the word `hallelujah' the j retains its early consonantal value of i or y." - p. 571, Vol. 15, The Encyclopedia Americana, 1957.
So even for some years after the KJV began using the new letter "J," the pronunciation of it was still "Y." But eventually (18th century?) we began to have "Jesus" (and other "J" words, including "Jehovah," "Jeremiah," "Jerusalem," "Joshua," etc.) with the modern English pronunciation of those letters: "Jee-suz." Nearly all modern English Bibles have purposely retained the earlier tradition concerning biblical names, and "Jesus" (and "Jeremiah," "Jerusalem," "Joshua," etc.) remains in all modern English Bibles.
Many believe that there is nothing wrong with retaining this tradition even though it is not the original pronunciation of the name of the Messiah (Yehoshua) nor even the original Greek rendering of it (Yaysoos). It is still an honest transliteration of the original proper name of the Messiah, however, and it is common to all speakers of English. (In like manner, although `Cristobal Colon' may be the original pronunciation, many do not object to calling the famous explorer `Christopher Columbus' in modern English.)
In the same way the only proper name of God Himself, YHWH, which is used nearly 7000 times in the original writings of the Old Testament is sometimes transliterated as "Jehovah" in English (ASV, Young's, KJIIV, NWT, Byington, and, in some verses only, in NEB, MLB, KJV, and Living Bible) and, more rarely, as "Yahweh" (JB, NJB, and Rotherham). (Of course it is more often improperly rendered "LORD" in most places in most Bibles.)
So which is the proper pronunciation of God's name - "Jehovah" or "Yahweh"? Well, many Bible scholars in more recent times have preferred "Yahweh" as the probable original Hebrew pronunciation. But there is still more to say for "Jehovah" in addition to the fact that it is the older, more traditional, and better-known form.
So "Iehouah" (Yehowah) could also be written "Jehovah."
We are to know and use Jehovah's name. We also must not misunderstand how extremely important it is to Him (and to us). One of God's Ten Commandments, for example commands:
"You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name." - Ex. 20:7, NJB [cf. NRSV, NIV, NEB, REB, GNB, NLV, ETRV].
God certainly didn't say, "Don't ever use my Holy Name"! By direct Bible statements and commands and by the clear, thousand-fold repeated examples of all the prophets of God in the OT we know that God's Holy Name must be known and used by his people. (Mt. 6:9) This surely wouldn't mean for it to be withheld from usage or omitted from His Word the Bible, as unfortunately many copyists have kept to following the tradition of eliminating the distinctive name of God by replacing it with Ky´ri·os and The·os´ ("LORD" and "GOD").
God Himself makes it clear in the Bible how important His name is:
"Jehovah ... This is my name for ever; this is my title in every generation." (Ex. 3:15) - NEB
It’s perhaps one of the most famous images in astronomy. But now, with the addition of ultraviolet
light the renowned image is even better than ever. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field displays nearly 10,000 galaxies across the observable Universe in both visible and near-infrared light. The smallest, reddest galaxies are among the youngest known, existing when the Universe was just 800 million years old.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz and M. Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech), A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and Z. Levay (STScI)
Concerning it's accuracy, the New World Translation has been found to be "one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available" and is "the most accurate of the [8 major] translations compared." -Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament by Jason BeDuhn, associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Also note the comments made by Professor Benjamin Kedar of Israel:
"In my linguistic research in connection with the Hebrew Bible and translations, I often refer tothe English edition of what is known as the New World Translation. In so doing, I find my feeling repeatedly confirmed that this work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the text that is as accurate as possible. Giving evidence of a broad command of the original language, it renders the original words into a second language understandably without deviating unnecessarily from the specific structure of the Hebrew. . . . Every statement of language allows for a certain latitude in interpreting or translating. So the linguistic solution in any given case may be open to debate. But I have never discovered in the New World Translation any biased intent to read something into the text that it does not contain.'" (emphasis added) - March 1st, 1991 issue of the Watchtower, pages 26-30, The "New World Translation" Scholarly and Honest.
Accusations Against The New World Translation Hypocritical
Some have hypocritically accused the New World Translation Bible of inaccuracies, bias, and written by those with poor credentials. When, in reality, what kind of credentials do the writers of most every other modern Bible have? And yet these copyists allowed the insertion the title "LORD" instead of the divine name in most of the nearly SEVEN THOUSAND instances in their 'translation' of the Hebrew Scriptures. Not only is this inaccurate, but it is a purposeful, blatant misuse of God's Name! (Ex. 20:7) The NWT is accurate in that it uses God's Name in all instances found in Scripture.
Also, (unlike the NWT) most of these other translations used were made by those who were influenced by the pagan philosophies and unscriptural traditions that their religious systems had passed down from long ago as well as other influences. For just one instance, the majority of Bible scholars (including Trinitarian ones) freely admit that 1 John 5:7 in the King James Version is spurious. But Trinitarian scholars and copyists felt compelled to ADD it to the Holy Scriptures because of their trinitarian biases.
(Also see: How Can You Choose a Good Bible Translation?; w08 5/1 pp. 18-22; Watchtower Online Library)
'Jehovah' is a rendering of God's name that has been recognized for centuries. In the original Hebrew text, the name appears nearly 7,000 times as four consonants: יהוה. These consonants are transliterated YHWH and are known as the Tetragrammaton. Its use throughout the Scriptures far outnumbers that of any of the titles, such as "Sovereign Lord" or "God," applied to Him.
Bible scholars acknowledge that God’s personal name appears in the O(ld) T(estament), or Hebrew Scriptures. However, many feel that it did not appear in the original Greek manuscripts of the so-called N(ew) T(estament).
Some condemn the New World Translation Bible for restoring God's Name some 237 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures where it was likely there originally - places where the Christian Greek Scripture writers quote the earlier Hebrew Scriptures containing God's name. Yet many translators have done this. Really, shouldn't the condemnation be directed toward many English Bibles' removal of God's Name nearly 7,000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures when the Name is clearly there?
We can accept both "Testaments" as the inspired word of God and still see understandable differences occurring between the two, but not basiccontradictory differences. For example, we know how and why animal sacrifices to God have been done away with. It has been carefully and logically explained in the NT and, therefore, does not contradict the OT teachings where such sacrifices were required (essential). But where is the careful, logical explanation that shows that the necessary knowledge and use of God's name (as clearly acknowledged by word and example throughout the OT) was done away with in the NT?
It's not there. How can it be that God reveals His personal name and commands that it be publicly acknowledged and used forever by His servants (and they respectfully do so for over a thousand years) and then, for no Scriptural reason, His worshipers suddenly begin refusing to use that name and even hide it?
Therefore, if we are to keep the Scriptures from terribly contradicting themselves in an extremely important area, we must conclude that either the OT Scriptures are wrong or the oldest available NT manuscripts and fragments (at least those which actually contain places that quote from the OT where "YHWH" was originally used) are copies that have been CHANGED FROM THE ORIGINAL. Since the name of God being used as YHWH even in everyday life is attested to by archaeological findings back to the 8th century B. C. at least, we are really forced to conclude that, yes, the existing NT manuscripts are terribly wrong in this particular area.
Therefore, we know that the Name belongs in the NT. Besides, the MSS we have today were copies of copies, etc., written hundreds of years after the originals, and therefore may well have been changed when the name became a hated "Jewish" name to "Christians" (around 135 A.D.).
"ALLELUIA, the Greek form (Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6) of the Hebrew Hallelujah = Praise ye *JEHOVAH*, which begins or ends several of the psalms (106, 111, 112, 113, etc.)." – Easton's Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publ., 1897.
For more excellent information from JW.ORG concerning this, see:
Many Bible scholars maintain that under Christ’s Kingdom, earth will become a literal paradise:
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