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Peace is coming to the earth, but not by man’s efforts.

“YOU must pray, then, this way: “‘Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. 10 Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” –Matthew 6:9’10. With these words Jesus foretold the way peace was to come to the earth; by the bringing about of God’s “will” for the earth. What is God’s will for the earth? You only have to read Genesis chapters one to five to know this; it was for people to live together on the earth in peace and security, to take care of the earth, to multiply and eventually fill the earth with families all united under Jehovah’s rulership.
Why don’t we see the world filled with peace and security today then? Does anyone who truly believes in a loving God think that He would not give His earthly children the answer to this question? Would any loving human parent withhold information from their children that they needed to understand life, if they had the answers? No. So why would our loving heavenly Father and creator do so? But suppose your children choose to listen to someone else and so got into trouble, could others rightly blame you for the fact that your children did not listen to your advice, but listened to others?
This is exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden. Jehovah told Adam and Eve everything that they needed to know in order for them to live a happy and peaceful secure life, a life with no mention of death, except if they were to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden referred to as the tree of the knowledge of good and bad (Gen 2:17) (all scriptures in this article taken from NWT, but compare your own). Adam and Eve choose not to listen to their creator, but instead choose to listen to the voice of one they did not even know at the time, the one the bible later revealed as Satan the devil (Revelations 12:9).
Had Jehovah God lied to them? Well, we do not see them on the earthly scene today do we? Had Satan lied? Well did Eve become a god? Did things turn out better for her than if she had listened to her creator, as Satan implied it would? Adam and Eve later died, but could Satan possibly cause Jehovah God to give up on, or change His purpose for the earth? Jehovah answers this question in the book of Isaiah 55:18 saying; “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 45:11 also saying; “For this is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the [true] God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited: “I am Jehovah, and there is no one else.”
In the first prophecy recorded in the bible, Jehovah said to those who had not listened to Him at Genesis 3:14-15; “And Jehovah God proceeded to say to the serpent: “Because you have done this thing, you are the cursed one out of all the domestic animals and out of all the wild beasts of the field. Upon your belly you will go and dust is what you will eat all the days of your life. And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.”
Yes Jehovah in His wisdom, choose to allow Adam and Eve to have offspring and to bring about His purpose for the earth AFTER He dealt with the rebellion of Satan and the questions that Satan had raised there in the Garden. But in this first prophecy, the meaning of which was hidden at the time but since revealed, God foretold how he would deal with Satan and still bring His original purpose for the earth to completion.
Obviously, as already pointed out, God was not here talking to a literal serpent. The Scriptures indicate that the creature known as Satan did not always have that name. Rather, this descriptive name was given to him because of his taking a course of opposition and resistance to God. The name he had before this is not given. God is the only Creator, and ‘his activity is perfect,’ with no injustice or unrighteousness. (De 32:4) Therefore, the one becoming Satan was, when created, a perfect, righteous creature of God. He is a spirit person, for he appeared in heaven in the presence of God. (Job chaps 1, 2; Re 12:9) Jesus Christ said of him: “That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him.” (John 8:44; 1Jo 3:8) Jesus here shows that Satan was once in the truth, but forsook it. Beginning with his first overt act in turning Adam and Eve away from God, he was a manslayer, for he thereby brought about the death of Adam and Eve, which, in turn, brought sin and death to their offspring. (Ro 5:12) Throughout the Scriptures the qualities and actions attributed to him could be attributed only to a person, not to an abstract principle of evil. It is clear that the Jews, and Jesus and his disciples, knew that Satan existed as a person. In fact, at Luke 4:6 Jesus is shown talking to Satan, at which time Satan offered Jesus the authority over the kingdom/governments of the world. How could he do this? Because as Satan here points out this authority had been given to him, Jesus did not deny it!
How, many ask, could spirit or human persons created perfect act wickedly? The answer the bible tells us is that while created perfect, (the Hebrew word here by the way means perfect in the sense of being perfect to fulfill the role for which they were created), they were also created with free will. The bible principle at James 1:14; 15 applies, that says; “When under trial, let no one say: “I am being tried by God.” For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone. But each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin; in turn, sin, when it has been accomplished, brings forth death”. Being born free moral agents to make their own decisions both Satan and Eve apparently were enticed, and deceived by false reasoning, into sinning. This is where sin entered into the world (see Romans 5:12).
So, in that first prophecy at Genesis 3:14; 15, we have Satan as the serpent, but who would be his seed here mentioned? This prophecy, as we will see, has taken centuries to develop. This is shown by the fact that when Jesus was on earth, four thousand years later, he referred to Satan’s seed several times. In the bible book of John 8:44 Jesus said of some of the religious leaders; “YOU are from YOUR father the Devil, and YOU wish to do the desires of YOUR father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of [the lie]. 45 Because I, on the other hand, tell the truth, YOU do not believe me. 46 Who of YOU convicts me of sin? If I speak truth, why is it YOU do not believe me? 47 He that is from God listens to the sayings of God. This is why YOU do not listen, because YOU are not from God.”
In the book of 1John 4:4-6 the apostle John made a similar statement, saying of Jesus’ disciples; “YOU originate with God, little children, and YOU have conquered those [persons], because he that is in union with YOU is greater than he that is in union with the world. They originate with the world; that is why they speak [what proceeds] from the world and the world listens to them. We originate with God. He that gains the knowledge of God listens to us; he that does not originate with God does not listen to us. This is how we take note of the inspired expression of truth and the inspired expression of error.”
John, here and in the rest of the book of 1John, (read chapters 3-5) makes it clear that there are two seeds. First those who listen to and are obedient to the words of Jesus, and second those who make themselves part of and follow the beliefs of the world under Satan’s control. John concludes chapter five by saying; “We know we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the [power of the] wicked one.” So, Satan’ seed doesn’t obey God or Jesus, some knowingly serve Satan while some just unknowingly go alone with the ways of Satan’s world, but they don’t search for God (Acts 7:7-8; Isaiah 55:6).
Of interest are Jesus’ words to his Father in the prayer recorded in the book of John chapter 17. Here, starting at verse 15, Jesus says of his followers; “I request you, not to take them out of the world, but to watch over them because of the wicked one. 16 They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world. 17 Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me forth into the world, I also sent them forth into the world. 19 And I am sanctifying myself in their behalf, that they also may be sanctified by means of truth.
20 “I make request, not concerning these only, but also concerning those putting faith in me through their word; 21 in order that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with you, that they also may be in union with us, in order that the world may believe that you sent me forth. 22 Also, I have given them the glory that you have given me, in order that they may be one just as we are one. 23 I in union with them and you in union with me, in order that they may be perfected into one, that the world may have the knowledge that you sent me forth and that you loved them just as you loved me. 24 Father, as to what you have given me, I wish that, where I am, they also may be with me, in order to behold my glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the founding of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world has, indeed, not come to know you; but I have come to know you, and these have come to know that you sent me forth. 26 And I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in union with them.”
True Christians were to be no part of Satan’s world, obviously they live in the same world, but they do not get involved in the politics of running Satan’s world nor do they have the same attitude as Satan’s world. Ephesians 2:12 saying of true Christians; “Furthermore, [it is] YOU [God made alive] though YOU were dead in YOUR trespasses and sins, 2 in which YOU at one time walked according to the system of things of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience.” True Christians, as the previous words of John chapter 17 show, are united in serving Jehovah by following the example taught them by Jesus (see 1Peter 2:21
What was the example Jesus set for True Christians? Matthew 4:23 says of Jesus; “Then he went around throughout the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom….”. Why did Jesus preach the Kingdom? Going back to the model prayer at Matthew 6:10, we recall that Jesus had told us to pray: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” So what part does the Kingdom have to do with God’s will being done on earth?
Going to the book of Daniel 7:13-15; 27 we read: “I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. 14 And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.” And verse 27 adds: “And the kingdom and the rulership and the grandeur of the kingdoms under all the heavens were given to the people who are the holy ones of the Supreme One. Their kingdom is an indefinitely lasting kingdom, and all the rulerships will serve and obey even them.” Yes, the “kingdom” that Jesus said to pray for is a literal heavenly government set in place by Jehovah God that will shortly replace the Satanic governments of Satan’s world. This is emphasized at Daniel 2:44 where it says in reference to today’s governments: “And 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;…”
This reminds us of Isaiah’s well know prophecy at Isaiah 9: 6-7 where it was foretold: “For there has been a child born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 To the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom in order to establish it firmly and to sustain it by means of justice and by means of righteousness, from now on and to time indefinite. The very zeal of Jehovah of armies will do this.” Yes, through God’s kingdom in the hands of the Prince of peace, and only through this kingdom, will peace and security return to this earth.
This is further shown in the book of Revelations 16:13-15 where it says: “And I saw three unclean inspired expressions [that looked] like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.
15 “Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments, that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness.” 16 And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har–Ma•ged′on.” While this scripture has some symbolism in it that I am not going to go into now, it never the less shows that the demons are drawing the nations into battle with Jehovah God at Armageddon. If you go the 19th chapter you see the outcome of this battle, the kings of the earth and their armies are destroyed and the birds of heaven are invited to come eat up their fleshly parts.
This leads into the fulfillment of Psalms 37:10-11 that says: “Just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”—Psalm 37:10, 11. Psalm 37:29 adds: “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it”.