The teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses about paradise earth is not in the Bible...
| Verses used by JWs | Verses ignored by JWs |
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Ecc 1:4 — “One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever.” Mat 5:5 — “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Psa 37:29 — “The righteous will inherit the land, and will dwell there forever.” |
Mat 24:35 — “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” 2Pe 3:7 — “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” 2Pe 3:10 — “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” Zep 1:2-3 — “I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. 3I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked I will cut off man from the face of the land,” says the Lord. Zep 1:14-15 — “The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening well, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man cries there in terror. 15“That day will be a day of hatred, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and darkness,” Zep 1:18 — “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’S anger; And all the earth will be devoured by fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete end, indeed a horrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”Heb 11:16 — “But they were looking for a better place, A HEAVENLY HOMELAND. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” Rev 21:1-4 — “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.'” |
Jehovah’s Witnesses have a unique and unbiblical belief about the imminent return of Christ which is also the Day of Judgment. For them this LAND or EARTH will not be destroyed but it will be a NEW PARADISE. We often see that in their publications a colorful and beautiful paradise where people are happy, animals are gentle, and a beautiful world that they call a NEW TREND.
Of course, in order to persuade people and prove that their belief is true, they give people a guided tour of the Bible. Although the Bible does not use the phrase a NEW PARADISE EARTH literally, they use verses to try to support their interpretation. Here are their main ones:
Ecc 1:4 — “One generation goes, and another generation comes; BUT THE EARTH REMAINS FOREVER.”
They use this verse to prove that this world will supposedly not be destroyed by Jehovah and it will be turned into a NEW PARADISE.
That is why it is said that the faithful witnesses who are not among the 144,000 [the only people who will go to heaven] will inherit this PARADISE LAND.
Mat 5:5 — “Blessed are the meek: for THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.”
Which they also relate to this verse:
Psa 37:29 — “THE RIGHTEOUS WILL INHERIT THE LAND, and will dwell there forever.”
But Jehovah’s Witnesses will surely agree that there is no contradiction in the Bible.
Why do we say that? Because the LORD JESUS CHRIST said this:
Mat 24:35 — “HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, but my words will not pass away.”
If Christ said the EARTH WILL PASS, and Ecclesiastes 1:4 says the EARTH WILL REMAIN doesn’t that show that CHRIST CONTRADICTED what was said in that book?
But as we have already said, in the Bible there will never be a CONTRADICTION.
Therefore what CHRIST refers to as the LAND THAT WILL PASS must be different from the LAND spoken of in Ecclesiastes as the LAND THAT WILL REMAIN. Because if you assert that it is the same LAND that is being referred to, it must be a CONTRADICTION.
So let’s clarify which EARTH it is that Christ said will pass away, and how will it pass away?
2Pe 3:7 (NASB) “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
2Pe 3:10 (NASB) “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
It is clear then that the earth referred to by Christ that will pass away is this EARTH that we live in now, it will be DESTROYED by God by BURNING it, which will happen on the DAY OF JUDGMENT or the EXTERMINATION OF ALL EVIL PEOPLE.
And what Apostle Peter said was supported by the Lord God himself, this is what is said in the book of the Prophet Zephaniah:
Zep 1:2-3 “I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. 3I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked I will cut off man from the face of the land,” says the Lord.
Zep 1:14-15 “The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening well, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man cries there in terror. 15“That day will be a day of hatred, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and darkness,”
Zep 1:18 “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’S anger; And all the earth will be devoured by fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete end, indeed a horrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”
So it seems that Jehovah’s Witnesses have a misunderstanding. It is clear that the referred EARTH THAT WILL REMAIN is NOT this EARTH, it is clear from these passages that this world will be destroyed and ended by god...a clear proof that this is not the same earth mentioned in Ecclesiastes 1:4.
So then what is the EARTH THAT REMAINS which is referred to in the book of Ecclesiastes, which is also said to be inherited in Matthew 5:5 and Psalm 37:29?
Heb 11:16 “But they were looking for a better place, A HEAVENLY HOMELAND. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
The EARTH or LAND that is said to REMAIN FOREVER that the SAVED will INHERIT is the BETTER HOMELAND IN HEAVEN.
It is not the earth or this world that will be given to those who are saved to be their home forever but the NEW HEAVEN and the NEW EARTH and the HOLY CITY, the NEW JERUSALEM.
Rev 21:1-4 — “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.'”
This is the glorious home that the saved will inherit, it is in heaven now, and it will come down on the DAY OF JUDGMENT, the HOLY CITY, which GOD has prepared for man’s home forever.
So it is sad to think that the PROMISED SALVATION of Jehovah’s Witnesses is a place that God will actually destroy and not make into a NEW PARADISE EARTH. What they believe is actually not taught in the BIBLE.