"It Does Not Belong To Man"

However, humans - even ones -would forever need Jehovah's rule. Why? Because Jehovah did not create them with the capacity for being successfully independent of his rule. That is a law of humankind, as the prophet Jeremiah acknowledged: " I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step. Correct me, O Jehovah." (Jeremiah 10:23, 24) It would be folly for humans to think that they could successfully regulate society without Jehovah ruling them. It would be contrary to the way they were made. Independence from Jehovah's rule would, without fail, result in selfishness, hate, cruelty, violence , wars and death. "Man would dominate man to his injury.' Eccelesiastes 8:9.

Sadly, our first parents decided that they did not need God as their Ruler, and they chose to live independently from him... As a result, God no longer sustained them in perfection. They were now like an electric appliance cut of from its source of power. So in time, They would slow down and stop - in death.... They became like a defective pattern, and that condition was all they could pass on to their offspring. (Romans 5:12) "The Rock [Jehovah], perfect in his activity, for all his ways are justice... They have acted ruinously on their own part; they are not his children, the defect is their own." (Deuteronomy 32:4, 5) True, Adam and Eve were influenced by the rebel spirit creature who became Satan, but they had perfect minds and could have rejected his wrong suggestions. - Genesis 3:1-19; James 4:7

History testifies abundantly to the result of independence from God. For thousands of years, people have tried every form of human government, every economic and social system. Yet, wickedness continues to "advance from bad to worse." (2Timothy 3:13) The 20th century proved that. It was filled with vicious hatreds and the most violence, warfare, hunger, poverty and suffering of any time in history. And no matter what medical advances have been made, sooner or later everyone dies. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10) By trying to direct their own steps, humans have allowed themselves to become prey to Satan and his demons, so much so that the Bible calls Satan "the God of this system of things."-2 Corinthians 4:4.

Next time: The Gift Of Free Will