"Jehovah's Sovereignty and the Kingdom of God"

JW's, in particular, will benefit from this Watchtower Study.

Paragraph 1 "Jehovah himself has firmly established his throne in the very heavens; and over everything his own kingship has held domination." (Psalm 103:19) With those words, the psalmist pointed to the fundamental concept of rulership. Jehovah God, being the Creator, is rightfully the Sovereign Ruler of the universe.

The Sovereign Ruler of the universe, the author of creation and rightful King.

Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Revelation 17:14 They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

Jude 1:4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Are there two Universal Sovereigns, two King of Kings and two Lord of Lords?

Paragraph 2 Of course, for a ruler to exercise his sovereignty, there need to be subjects. To begin with, Jehovah exercised his dominion over spirit creatures whom he brought into existence–first his only-begotten Son and then the angelic hosts. (Colossians 1:15-17) Far down the stream of time, the prophet Daniel was given a glimpse of the heavenly scene. He reported: "I kept on beholding until there were thrones placed and the Ancient of Days sat down.... There were a thousand thousands that kept ministering to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand that kept standing right before him." (Daniel 7:9, 10) For aeons Jehovah, "the Ancient of Days," presided as Sovereign over his immense and orderly family of spirit sons, who served as "ministers" doing his will.-Psalm 103:20, 21.

Notice that wording? Are they now trying to distance themselves, perhaps even regretting that they ever taught Jesus Christ is an angel?

The Watchtower November 1, 1995 "The foremost angel, both in power and authority, is the archangel, Jesus Christ, also called Michael. (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9) Under his authority are seraphs, cherubs, and angels"

Another dilemma is revealed. Are they saying God needs subjects to be legitimate? Since they teach Jehovah is only the Father, does that mean he was not GOD before the creation?

Paragraph 3 Eventually, Jehovah extended his rulership by bringing into existence the vast and intricate physical universe, including the earth. (Job 38:4, 7) To an observer on earth, the heavenly bodies operate with such order and precision that they seem to need no one to guide or govern them. Yet, the psalmist declared: "[Jehovah] himself commanded, and they were created. And he keeps them standing forever, to time indefinite. A regulation he has given, and it will not pass away." (Psalm 148:5, 6) All along, Jehovah has been exercising his sovereignty in directing, regulating, and governing the operations of the spirit realm and the physical universe.-Nehemiah 9:6.

Praise Jehovah!

Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

The Son sustains every single thing by his word. Earlier quoted is Colossians 1:17 where every single thing is held together by King Jesus. Praise Him indeed!

Paragraph 6 Since Jehovah, the Universal Sovereign, has always been exercising his power and mightiness, why is there a need for the Kingdom of God? A sovereign generally exercises his authority through an agency that is placed over his subjects. The Kingdom of God, therefore, is an expression or exercise of God's universal sovereignty toward his creatures, a means or an agency used by him to carry out his rulership.

What are they trying to explain?

The Watchtower July 15, 2006 The Kingdom of God is a government ordained by God. Its King—the Messiah, Jesus Christ—and all his associate rulers are responsible to God to uphold His just laws and loving principles. The subjects of the Kingdom, including its earthly representatives, take delight in living by God’s laws. God is thus at the center of the lives of the rulers and the subjects of the Kingdom. Therefore, the Kingdom is a true theocracy—rule by God. It is bound to succeed in accomplishing the purpose for which it has been set up.

Since they believe they'll never see Jesus physically, the new government in the Paradise will have new laws and regulations. Everyone will learn of these because the dissemination will be flawless.

Paragraph 10 That "seed" turned out to be Jesus Christ, along with a distinct group of associate rulers. Together they form God's Messianic Kingdom. (Daniel 7:13, 14, 27; Matthew 19:28; Luke 12:32; 22:28-30) All of this, however, was not revealed immediately. In fact, the outworking of the first prophecy remained a "sacred secret which [had] been kept in silence for long-lasting times." (Romans 16:25) For centuries, men of faith longed for the time when "the sacred secret" would be revealed and the first prophecy fulfilled to the vindication of Jehovah's sovereignty.-Romans 8:19-21.

Most JW's believe they can never be part of Abraham's seed, they think only a few who were alive before the cutoff date of 1935 and then--oh, sorry...the May 1, 2007 issue said that wasn't the case after all. However, only a fraction of the remaining 144,000 people will go to heaven.

What does the Bible teach?

First, that God promised Abraham he would bless him. It wasn't anything that he earned or did; it was not his works, but his faith!

Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

All who have the faith of Abraham are his children.

Galatians 3:6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Second, that Jesus Christ is the seed of Abraham.

Galatians 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

All who trust in Jesus (Jews and Gentiles) are made into one spiritual body.

Ephesians 2:11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

In Christ Jesus all believers are one.

Galatians 3:26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

This promise does not apply to only 144,000, but to everyone who places their faith and trust in Jesus.

John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

If we are His Body, His Church and Temple, we are Abraham's Seed, children of God by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone.

Paragraph 12 By Abraham's time, there had already been human attempts at rulership and domination. For example, concerning Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah, the Bible says: "He made the start in becoming a mighty one in the earth. He displayed himself a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah." (Genesis 10:8, 9) Clearly, Nimrod and other self-appointed rulers were puppets in Satan's hands. They and their supporters became part of Satan's seed.-1 John 5:19.

Paragraph 13 In spite of Satan's efforts to produce human rulers, Jehovah's purpose moves forward. Through Abraham's grandson Jacob, Jehovah revealed: "The scepter will not turn aside from Judah, neither the commander's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him the obedience of the peoples will belong." (Genesis 49:10) The term "Shiloh" means "He Whose It Is; He to Whom It Belongs." Thus, these prophetic words indicated that there would come one who had the legal right to receive "the scepter," or sovereignty, and "the commander's staff," or rulership, over "the peoples," or all mankind. Who would this One be?

They don't give God enough credit.

Psalm 75:7 But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.

Daniel 2:21 It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings

Romans 13:1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Last paragraph.

Paragraph 19 At last, the time for revealing "the sacred secret" had drawn near. The principal One of the promised "seed" was soon to appear. (Galatians 4:4; 1 Timothy 3:16) He would be bruised in the heel by Satan. But that "seed," in turn, will bruise Satan's head, putting him and all his cohorts out of action. He would also bear witness that by means of the Kingdom of God, all the damage done by Satan will be undone and Jehovah's sovereignty vindicated. (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8) How would Jesus accomplish this? What example did he leave for us to imitate? We will find the answers in the following article.

Let's see what they come up with next.