[This article has been contributed by Alex Rover]
Might certain inhabitants of the destroyed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah live in paradise earth?
What follows is a taste of how the Watchtower answered that question:
1879 – Yes (wt 1879 06 p.8)
1955 – No (wt 1955 04 p.200)
1965 – Yes (wt 1965 08 p.479)
1967 – No (wt 1967 07 p.409)
1974 – Yes (awake 1974 10 p.20)
1988 – No (revelation climax p.273)
1988 – Maybe (Insight Volume 2, p.984)
1988 – No (wt 1988 05 p.30-31)
1989 – No (1989 edition of Live Forever, p.179)
2014 – Maybe (wol.jw.org indexes Insight Volume 2 – current light)
Perhaps you notice that for an astonishing 76 years the answer was initially ‘Yes’. Incidentally the Watchtower used to teach during much of the same period that all faithful Christians have a heavenly hope. The doctrinal struggle we witness in the latter part of the last century is in effect clearly related to Jehovah’s Witnesses abandoning the truth about our hope.
After all, if all good Christians deserve to live on earth, there is no room left for those evil Sodomites. What merit do they have to receive mercy, if we work so hard to be holy and acceptable to God?
We can’t even show mercy to those who are disfellowshipped because as Jehovah’s Witnesses we think of them as already dead. And our neighbors who rejected the Watchtower magazines recently are likely as good as dead, except for the small chance that Jesus sees something in their hearts we missed in our blindness.
But restore our understanding to the truth that all Christians have the heavenly hope, and our viewpoint toward the world changes:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
Let’s re-examine the Scriptures so we may correct our thinking and learn to love our enemies as we consider the topic of Mercy to the Nations.
Finding the worthy
As Jesus sent out his twelve, he paired them and instructed them to preach that ‘the kingdom of heaven is near’. After warning them not to venture into Samaritan towns and Gentile regions, he gave them power to cure the sick, raise the dead and to cast out demons. Thus, the Jews would not just hear their words, but would see physical evidence that they were indeed prophets of Jehovah God.
Today, our ministry is void of such amazing powers. Imagine if we could go door-to-door and heal cancer and heart disease, or even raise up the dead! Yet Jesus did not instruct his twelve to perform mass miracle works; instead they were to examine who was worthy:
Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave. As you enter the house, give it greetings. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. – Matthew 10:11-13
The worthiness of the household would be linked to whether or not they ‘welcomed them’ or ‘listened to the message’. What’s amazing about these words is that Jesus simply required a basic human decency of welcoming a visitor and showing respect by listening to the message.
In my years of full time ministry I have to say that by and large, most people are not rude and if they have some time, they will entertain a conversation. Of course it’s rare someone will agree to everything I have to say, but here is a clear difference between me and my first-century brothers: Today, when a person shows worthiness by listening, I can’t heal their back-pain or resurrect their mother! Suppose I could perform these kinds of miracles? I imagine that those good people would stand in line to accept my message!
We are quick to judge others simply by the fact they don’t accept everything we say as truth, even without offering them miracles as proof!
It is clear that we need a correction in our thinking.
Sodom and Gomorrah
What Jesus says about Sodom and Gomorrah is most revealing:
And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town! – Matthew 10:14-15
Notice the condition for judgment over the entire town or region: “if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message”. This is equivalent to saying: “if not a single person will welcome you or listen to your message”. Can we say that in our ministry in any given town or region, we have never found anyone who welcomes us or hears our message?
Now let’s go back in time and apply the conversation between our Lord and Abraham to the previous passage:
What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” – Genesis 18:24-26
Abraham then pleaded with the Lord that if only 10 man could be found, the city would be saved, and it was agreed upon. But in the end, only one family could be found, and the angels led this family to safety because Jehovah would never kill the godly with the wicked.
How was Lot and his household proven worthy? The details surrounding this may astonish us! Just like the two apostles that would come to a home, two angels came to his home.
1. Lot welcomed them
“Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Spend the night and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” – Genesis 19:2a
2. The two visitors performed a miracle
Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, with blindness. The men outside wore themselves out trying to find the door. – Genesis 19: 11
3. Lot listened to their message
Compare Genesis 19:12-14.
4. Still Lot was not fully convinced, for he hesitated
When Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. – Genesis 19:16a
So when we analyze what occurred here, Lot was saved based on two things: he welcomed them and listened to their message. While not fully convinced, the Lord showed compassion on them and decided to save them anyway.
If there had been only nine more men like Lot, Jehovah would have spared the entire city on behalf of them!
What does this teach us about how we view the preaching work today? In light of the millions who have not witnessed any miracle, yet welcomed Christians to their home and respectfully listened to the message, could our almighty God not show compassion?
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns were destroyed as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire [or: destruction]. (Jude 1:7)
About these cities, Jesus made an astonishing revelation:
For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. – Matthew 11:23b
Jesus here reveals that at least 9 more men would have repented in case Sodom had witnessed the same miracles of Jesus, and the entire city would not have been destroyed in that case!
Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin were worse than Sodom, Tyre and Sidon, for these Jewish cities had witnessed Jesus’ miracles and did not repent. (Matthew 11:20-23) And for those individuals in Sodom who have been destroyed but might have repented under different circumstances, there remains a coming day of judgment. (Matthew 11:24)
About Tyre and Sidon, Jesus said:
If the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. – Matthew 11:21b
This brings us to Jonah. When he declared to the people of Nineveh that God would destroy them for their wickedness, the entire city repented in sackcloth and ashes. (Jonah 3:5-7)
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. – Jonah 3:10
When Jesus will manifest himself with great signs in heaven, all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation. (Matthew 24: 22) This brings to mind the scenario of Jeremiah 6:26:
O daughter of my people,
put on sackcloth and roll in ashes;
mourn as for an only son,
A lamentation most bitter.
We know that when Jesus returns, a judgment will follow. But when he finds people in deep mourning and beating themselves with lamentation, in sackcloth and ashes, he will undoubtedly show mercy to many.
Mercy is undeserved
God is not obligated to forgive. It is done by undeserved grace alone, and his forgiveness should never be taken for granted. Compare the words of Ezra:
I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. [..]
What happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. [..]
Jehovah, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence. – Ezra 9:6,13,15
More than welcoming a brother or sister of Christ and listening to their message is required to become heirs of the kingdom of heaven: one has to take up their torture stake and follow Christ fully. As Ezra put it, to stand “in God’s presence” we need cleansing from our sin. This can only come through Christ.
Those who did believe will serve in God’s tabernacle before the throne and the Lamb, and have the privilege to guide any resurrected repentant ones and all the tribes of the earth to righteousness, shining as brightly as the stars that illuminate the sky, in their white linen robes.
Blessed are you who have not seen any miracles but have believed! Show love and mercy to the people of the nations today, as our Father has shown mercy to us when he adopted us as his children. Let us do away with our old personality and thinking and put on the mind of Christ as we learn to love the whole world.
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. – Matthew 7:1
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. – Ephesians 4:32
Archived Comments
We have moved to the Disqus commenting system. To post a new comment, go to the bottom of this page.
Comment by apollos0fAlexandria on 2014-09-03 09:05:24
Alex
You've given us much to think about. I never related the need to obscure the possibility of salvation for the present age, with the shift towards earthly life for the current faithful.
But it's true that by moving the Christian hope “a few rungs down the ladder” then something has to give in order not to completely undo the idea of a reward for good works.
The simplest way to address this is to tell people that you will live while everyone else dies. That's an easy enough concept for anyone to hang their hat on.
The problem is that in order to achieve that model we have had to shift a few pieces of God's Word around to shore up such a doctrine.
A reassessment of this subject does not have to lead to a doctrine of Universal Salvation either, which some might be concerned about. But that can be a topic for another day.
Thanks for a great article.
Apollos
Comment by Anjinsan on 2014-09-03 09:34:08
Thanks for the article. I really enjoyed the way you analyzed the account of Lot. Yes we should continually show love and mercy to all, in imitation of our heavenly Father.
Comment by kev c on 2014-09-03 09:55:36
Thanks alex for a lovely article that makes alot of sense to me .This paradise earth doctrine has been in the wrong place in our jigsaw pattern for a long time and has pushed lots of other pieces out with it .That makes much more sense to me . Romans 11 v 25 to 32 makes much more sense to me as well The deliverer will come out of zion and turn away ungodly practices from jacob .. The watchtower is saying that Jesus is going to kill everyone that rejects their message . That is not the jesus i read about in my bible .yes when he returns their is a judgement But hes a compassionate and loving king not a ruthless tyrant .His anger is toward evil people .and toward those who flatly refuse to obey him despite his power .2 thess 1 v 6 to 10 . Good one alex cheers . Kev
Comment by imacountrygirl2 on 2014-09-03 15:10:35
"Show love and mercy to the people of the nations today, as our Father has shown mercy to us when he adopted us as his children. Let us do away with our old personality and thinking and put on the mind of Christ as we learn to love the whole world."
For so many years, Jehovah's Witnesses have loved other Jehovah's Witnesses only, completely shutting out the rest of the world. For many years, I was taught that people of the world/earth were evil and would all be destroyed at Armageddon, except us.
We thought only of ourselves as a separate elite group and never gave a thought to having or showing love and mercy to everyone else. How selfish of us to withhold our love and mercy from our real brothers and sisters all around us, we are ALL God's children. Instead we judged all of them as unworthy and made ourselves the epitome of self-righteousness.
I am so grateful to Jesus that the scales have come off my eyes, and I have learned to be more Christ-like by showing love and mercy to all of my brothers and sisters, praying for those all around the world. It is a lesson in humility I had to learn the hard way.
Thank you for this article, Alex.Reply by anderestimme on 2014-09-03 15:35:24
Matt 25, where the "sheep" are those who showed hospitality to Christ's brothers, makes more sense in the light of this analysis.
Reply by anderestimme on 2014-09-03 15:50:13
Sorry CG, I wasn't really replying to your fine comment - I just used the wrong reply button. Sometimes I feel like Darius the Mede when I comment here. Once my comment goes forth, it cannot be altered.
Comment by anderestimme on 2014-09-03 15:47:15
This also makes me think of 1 Tim 2:1-4, where we're urged to pray for 'all people', because it's the will of God for 'all people' to be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth, and because Christ died as a ransom for 'all people'. Interesting that being saved comes before knowledge.
I don't mean to imply that knowledge is superfluous, nor would I argue universal salvation, but the idea that salvation will not be such a legalistic affair as we've been taught definitely jibes better with the mercy of our Lord.
Comment by imacountrygirl2 on 2014-09-03 17:23:49
anderestimme, I completely agree with you about "all people".
"They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Acts 16:31 NIV
"Believe" is not something you do and it lasts forever, it is an on-going process that continues until the end. So to believe is an obligation to continue believing until your death.
If you continue to believe, which is a verb, that calls for on-going action on your part. You will continue increasing in knowledge and work towards the other standards for salvation.
Also, the scripture says "you will be saved". It does not say "You are saved". Paul could not read hearts, so he could not know the final outcome for the jailer and his family. He just gave him the truth which is "you will be saved if you (continue to) believe in the Lord Jesus."
To believe and not act is really not to believe at all.
Where your comment ends up is based on which REPLY you use. If you click on the black "reply" directly under the post, your comment will go to that comment. If you go to the big box and "leave a reply", it will go as a separate comment. DISCLAIMER: This is based on my memory.
Comment by Christian on 2014-09-03 17:39:19
I find it encouraging(and a little bit spooky:) that I have been musing over this subject a lot this week.
This whole subject of the destruction of the 'wicked' was the turning point for me many years ago. It was brought to the surface by a friends suicide and the cruel statement by several long standing brothers & sisters that "he would not get a resurrection". I was astounded that they could presume to pass judgement in such a condescending manner.
The scripture that brought me the most comfort was Genesis 18:25 and that has formed the basis for my love for Jehovah ever since, because He will ALWAYS do what is right!
I have several thoughts which may, or may not, have a bearing on the destruction of the wicked but I best compose them in a longer grammatically balanced comment later.
Thank you for bringing this subject up Alex.
Comment by smolderingwick1 on 2014-09-03 23:23:53
Oh yes my dear Brother Rover! You have made my day! I've always contested our dogma next to Amos 3:7! "For the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will not do a thing UNLESS he has revealed his confidential matter to his servants the prophets!" Since the vast majority of this world have yet to see a glimpse of any REAL prophet since the first century, the vision now is crystal clear!
"And all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to their other extremity."
And so........
"Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’
(Matthew 24:30, 31; Matthew 7:22, 23)
Sad that it took us soooooo long?
sw
Comment by yobec on 2014-09-03 23:59:11
I have a bit of a problem with believing that all christians today are heading for the heavens. I have understood that had the nation of Israel remained faithfull, that they alone would have had the privilege of the heavenly reward as seems to be indicated by Jehovah's promise to them at Ex: 19: 6
This also seems to be supported by Paul with the illustration of the olive's tree and the grafted branches. We know that it couldn't mean that had the nation remained faithfull, the gentiles, that is ,us,would have lost out on salvation. I am therefore inclined to believe that had the nation been aithfull, we, the non jews would not be grafted in for the heavenly hope.
On the day of Pentecost, 2 loaves of leavened bread were beeing offered to Jehovah at the temple. The society's still teaches that it pictures the Jews and the Gentiles beeing offered up to Jehovah on that day. The difficulty with this teaching is that the Gentiles were not to be part of the New Covenant for 3 1/2 more years which incidently is supported with Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks. According to this prophecy, the covenant , which included the havenly reward was to stay in force exclusively with the Jews for half a week or 3 1/2 years after the death of the Messiah. It therefore seems logical , at least to me, that any non Jews who became christian prior to Cornelius, could only have the earthly hope.
I suspect that all along since Pentecost, as portrayed by the 2 loaves of leavened bread, the hope for Christians have been dual. The society believes that all were of the anointed in the first century whereas it seems that the ingathering has been for both groups all along.
Perhaps also in support of this, one of the apostles speaks of an administration having been set up in his days to gather all things from both " the heavens and the EARTH".Reply by menrov on 2014-09-04 03:40:02
Yobec, I gues this is not the right place for me to provide my view on this topic (earthly hope) as it would deviate from the article. But in a few words, the bible does not really teach a earthly hope It teaches about a Kingdom headed by Jesus where people will have eternal life. This kingdom eventually will be both in heaven and on earth. It is the kingdom a Christian is looking for, longing for, regardless whether his eternal life will be in heaven or on earth. Revelation 21 teaches that Gods residence (“dwelling place”; traditionally, “tabernacle”; literally “tent.”) will be with the humans ( Or “people”; Grk “men” (ἀνθρώπων, anqrwpwn), a generic use of the term. In the translation “human beings” was used here because “people” occurs later in the verse and translates a different Greek word (λαοί, laoi)). It is a longing for the Kingdom, and being granted eternal life to life in / under that Kingdom.
Reply by yobec on 2014-09-05 11:15:11
First of all, a big apology to Alex .I am in construction and was working out of town and had put in a 13 hour day.
First thing I should have mentioned was, thank you for your article. I really enjoyed the reasoning behind the Sodom and Gomorrah resurrection possibilities and how it ties in with the discussion Abraham had with Jehovah in regards to how many righteous would it take to spare the city.
As far as whether a Christian's hope should be heavenly or earthly, I do respectfully disagree that the bible does not teach an earthly hope. Jesus gave that hope to his audience when he said " Happy are the meek for they shall inherit the earth ".
I will however, take your suggestion and start a topic on it if it hasn't been done already as I would really enjoy getting to the bottom of it.Reply by menrov on 2014-09-05 15:58:47
Hi again, the verse states a promise to the meek, not a hope. It is confirmed by Jesus that the meek will inherit the earth.
Reply by Alex Rover on 2014-09-05 16:52:19
I look forward to seeing the discussion on our forum!
Reply by on 2014-09-04 18:07:29
Not grafted in as kings and priests, yobec. Remember, my brother, all the Israelites were in the new covenant, from chieftain to beggar, and all could eat of the communion sacrifices with the priests in the temple. The 12,000 taken "out of" each tribe in Revelation means they've been subtracted from a larger number. We just don't know how many that number is they've been subtracted from.
Comment by saskawoo on 2014-09-04 00:44:12
thank you for this encouraging and well-researched article!
Comment by on 2014-09-04 18:00:26
Wel written, Alex Rover. This well thought out scriptural post really helped me see things in a new light. How can we assume to know how great God's mercy and forgivness are? This also throws a monkey wrench into the "we're the only organization worthy of salvation" nonsense. I think we're going to have quite a few "Jonahs" walking around, cursing God and themselves for not having seen the destruction we so blantantly feature in the photos on our magazine covers.
Reply by kev c on 2014-09-05 10:36:27
Yes the jonahs walking around and the destruction featured in the magazines . Thats one thing that never really sat right with me . Some in our congregation saying are you looking forward to armageddon .. whats that all about .is that really the message of a god of love .they seem to want it to come almost willing it on .They seem to have made jehovah into someone to fear instead of someone to love . Oh dear is that really the good news . Kev
Comment by search4truth on 2014-09-05 08:23:33
Big Thanks. That's what I would call a food in the proper time. Something positive to thing about. I was nearly crying before I finished reading your article. After years spent in fear of the gloomy Wt message I love to hear some positive message for the humanity, instead of thinking about my fellow human beings as a 'bird food ' and in fact shun them I can show compassion and love to anybody same like our Lord did. Imacountrygirl, love your comment. Love.
Comment by on 2014-09-05 11:57:58
I also always thought it a lttle strange that the anoited jump ship and leave the "great crowd" behind to face the Great Tribulation on their own. Does the GB really think that Satan is interested in wiping out God's "friends", when his real targets are the "sons of God"? I wonder what the conversation in heaven going's to sound like during this bloodfest?
Reply by bystander on 2014-09-08 16:00:57
The anointed will remain with the Great Crowd through most of the Great Tribulation, only going to heaven just before Armageddon. They must go to heaven so that they can return with Jesus to fight at Armageddon. The anointed will always be with the Great Crowd, either literally or figuratively.
Comment by on 2014-09-05 14:05:50
That's why I always direct the householder to Jesus as the means for reconciliation. I've worked with friends in the ministry who, after leaving a door with a very negitive response, have said, "I'd like to see the look on his face when Armageddon comes!" My goodness, didn't Jeremiah weep over Jerusalem's destruction?
Comment by Jannai40 on 2014-09-06 11:51:44
What an encouraging and uplifting article - just what we need. Thank you.
Comment by mdnwa on 2014-09-08 10:26:11
I don't understand those who claim to serve God or his channel to him want to always sit on the judgment seat. While the bible is very clear about certain choices that can prevent us from everlasting life, many say matter of fact who will and will not be personally saved which is egregious. Sometimes I feel Jehovah shakes his head thinking why can't man just read my words, apply and share... instead they use his words to judge, condemn, be unloving, used for fear, and misrepresent God.
Thanks for the write up since some points I feel exactly like you.
Comment by Shadows of Things to Come | Beroean Pickets on 2015-11-13 11:51:42
[…] a spectacular way come the Day of Atonement. More than a year ago I wrote in an article titled “Mercy to the Nations” that Revelation 15:4 speaks of […]