What Is God's Kingdom?/Continue with WHAT WILL GOD'S KINGDOM DO?

Well, remember what God's will is for the earth. You learned in Chapter 3. In Eden, God showed that his will is for this earth to be a paradise filled with an undying, righteous human race.  Satan caused Adam and Eve to sin, and that affected the fulfillment of God's will for the earth but did not change it.   Jehovah still purposes that "the righteous  themselves will possess the earth and they will reside forever upon it."  (Psalm 37:29)  And God's Kingdom will accomplish that. In what way? 

Consider the prophecy found at Daniel 2:44.  There we read:  "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." What does this tell us about God's Kingdom?

First, it tells us that God's Kingdom was to be established "in the days of those kings," or while other kingdoms still existed. Second, it tell us that the Kingdom will last forever. It will not be conquered  and be  replaced by some other government. Third, we see that there will be a war between God's Kingdom and the kingdoms of this world.  God's Kingdom will be victorious. In the end, it will be the only government over mankind. Then humans will enjoy the best rulership they have ever known.

The Bible has much to say about that final war between God's Kingdom and the governments of this world.  For example, it teaches that as the end approaches, wicked spirits will spread lies  to deceive "the kings of the entire inhabited earth." For what purpose?  "To gather them [the kings] together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty."  The kings of the earth will be gathered together to "the place that is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon."  (Revelation 16:14,16) Because of what is said in those two verses, the final conflict between human governments and God's Kingdom is called the battle of Har-Magedon, or Armageddon.

Next time: What Is God's Kingdom?/Conclusion of WHAT WILL GOD'S KINGDOM DO?

From the book: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY TEACH?