Originally published in 2002
If you could be transported back in time, as is the theme of many popular novels and movies, to arrive at a time and place unfamiliar to you, it might be difficult at first to determine exactly where you were. What if, for instance, you went back in time 4,000 years to a place called the Land of Canaan? You would probably be deeply impressed by the natural beauty of the land; a land God himself described as simply flowing with milk and honey. 'Beauty as far as the eye can see and a well-watered region comparable to the very Garden of God,' is how you might describe it. Situated in the lush verdant valley of pastures, olive gardens, orchards, and vineyards bursting with fruit, is a quaint little city. 'This must be paradise,' you muse. As you enter the town looking for accommodations, suddenly, you are surrounded by a mob of unruly and depraved men! To your horror you realize that you have just entered the city of Sodom.
In a way that illustrates the predicament of Jehovah's Witnesses today. We are time travelers in a sense, in that we have gone back in time through the pages of the Bible to try and discern where we stand today in relation to the prophecies written long ago. Are we presently living in the spiritual paradise that the prophet Isaiah described, or are we perhaps similarly disoriented by the disarming beauty of what turns out to be the region of Sodom and Gomorrah?
Centuries after the Israelites settled in the Land of Canaan, Jehovah spoke through his prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and likened the spiritually corrupt condition of his nation to the depraved cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the 1st chapter of Isaiah, Jehovah addresses himself to the Jews and their leaders, saying to them: "Hear the word of Jehovah you dictators of Sodom. Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah."
As offensive and uncomplimentary as such a description was, Jehovah nevertheless honored his people by his willingness to reason with them. The 18th verse goes on to say: "Come, now, you people and let us set matters straight between us," says Jehovah. "Though the sins of you people should be as scarlet, they will be made white as snow; though they should be as crimson cloth, they will become even like wool."
Jehovah's remedy for the malady afflicting his people was to allow the Babylonish hoards to completely dispossess the Jews of their beautiful land, and then allow a chastened and cleansed remnant to re-inhabit it. While Jehovah's correction of his ancient wayward people was no doubt very traumatic and painful for them to endure, the end result was worth the suffering. God's undying love for his people moved him to take drastic measures to heal them of their loathsome spiritual sickness.
One of the most comforting and beautiful prophecies in the Bible is found in the 35th chapter of Isaiah, where God promises his people that they will be restored to their homeland. At Isaiah 35:8-9, Jehovah foretells that he will make a way for his people to escape their Babylonish captors. "And there will certainly come to be a highway there, even a way; and the Way of Holiness it will be called. The unclean one will not pass over it. And it will be for the one walking on the way, and no foolish ones will wander about on it. No lion will prove to be there, and the rapacious sort of wild beast will not come up on it. None will be found there; and the repurchased ones will walk there."
That is quite a contrast that Jehovah vividly portrays in prophecy. In the beginning of Isaiah, God's people are likened to Sodom and Gomorrah, then, later, Jehovah opens up to them a special highway called the Highway of Holiness, and the travelers on that road are called the redeemed ones of Jehovah who rejoice to time indefinite.
According to the Watchtower's interpretation of that prophecy as it applies to spiritual Zion, Jehovah's modern people were released from captivity to Babylon the Great back in 1919 and set out upon the foretold Highway of Holiness leading to spiritual paradise. We believe this highway opened up shortly after the hard experiences of the First World War, when several officers of the Watchtower were released from the federal penitentiary and the work of the Bible Students was reinvigorated.
But, do present realities really match the prophetic description that Jehovah gave of spiritual paradise? At Acts 17:10, the Beroeans are complimented because they not only eagerly received the word, but they also carefully examined the Scriptures daily in order to determine if what they were hearing was the truth. Should we do any less?
First, note that the prophecy is spiritual in nature and not literal, evidenced by the fact that preliminary to the Jews taking to the "highway" is the fact that Jehovah must first open blind eyes and unstop the ears of the deaf ones. That means that God causes his people to see and hear vital truths that they had previously been blind and deaf to. Is it possible that we are blind and deaf to certain aspects of God's Word?
Well, consider that the above-quoted prophecy says that, "the unclean one will not pass over it." Now, consider the reality of our present situation, whereby every year tens of thousand of Jehovah's Witnesses are judicially expelled from the Christian congregation for various forms of moral uncleanness. But God's word says that no such ones will even travel that road in the first place, so that expelling such ones shouldn't even be necessary ---that is, if we were actually on the foretold Highway of Holiness.
Or what about the fact that the 9th verse says that not one rapacious sort of wild beast will be found there? The 11th chapter of Isaiah foretells that men who pose a spiritual and moral danger to their fellows, as if predatory animals, would experience a radical transformation of character so as to become harmless. So, we are not being presumptuous if we take God's word at face value, are we? When God's promise states that not so much as one predatory, animalistic, unclean, or foolish man will be found on his holy highway, we must take that to mean what it says: namely, that there will be no such men among all of God's holy people. Yet, sadly, the reality of our situation is quite different from the idyllic conditions the prophecy portrays.
Frankly, and to the point: If we were in a spiritual paradise, would there be animalistic sexual predators in our congregations stalking our young men and women, and yes, even infants? Would there be faithless apostates lurking among us placing their stumbling blocks in our path? If even one case of child abuse or fornication were to take place, wouldn't that be an indication that we were not on any Highway of Holiness? Surely, it is not too much to expect our Christian brothers to be trustworthy in that respect? In the coming physical paradise after the war of Armageddon, when the meek inherit the earth, are we to expect that there will be occasional cases of child rape and defrauding on the part of human predators? If not, then why do we imagine that God's Highway of Holiness is anything less?
To help us reason on this matter, we ought to ask a few pertinent questions, such as: Just what do we mean by spiritual paradise anyway? Has there ever been a so-called spiritual paradise on earth?
"He was caught away into Paradise and heard unutterable words"
The above verse was the apostle Paul talking in the third person about a supernatural vision he had had. Apparently, he was privileged to get a glimpse of the spiritual paradise that Jehovah had previously described through Isaiah. Did such a spiritual paradise exist in the first century among those spirit-anointed apostles and disciples? No, otherwise Paul would not have had a vision of paradise. Too, it is evident by reason of the fact that first-century Christians were plagued with all sorts of moral and spiritual problems, the same as we are. They had problems with sexual immorality, sectarianism, and apostasy; there was dissension and disputes about what was correct teaching, and so forth. Some congregations were troubled with petty jealousies, hatreds, and backbiting. There were treacherous, animalistic men who sought to prey upon the innocent vulnerable ones. Paul spoke about the spiritual dangers he faced from false brothers who sneaked into the congregations to spy upon the brothers, and from the satanic charlatans in Corinth whom Paul sarcastically dubbed the super-fine apostles. Those are hardly the conditions of a spiritual paradise.
But, even though those early congregations were serving as illuminators in a bedarkened world because of their possessing the truth, nowhere do we find any description of them as being in any spiritual paradise. So, just knowing certain truths, and even living by them, doesn't make for a spiritual paradise. Having organizational unity and order is not what makes for a spiritual paradise either. What makes for a spiritual paradise is the absolute absence of any corrupting influence or stumbling block of any kind. Such a condition did not exist in the first-century congregation, and neither does it exist today.
The only time a spiritual paradise has ever existed on earth was that brief moment in the Garden of Eden before the Devil misled humans into rebellion. Since that time, no such paradise has existed.
According to Jehovah's grand promise, though, there will yet again exist a spiritual paradise even in the midst of the present degenerate world. It will come about, not by mere human efforts to follow Christ, but by God's power and irresistible judgment. In the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus gave several illustrations to explain how a spiritual paradise would come about. He plainly said that during the conclusion of the system of things, he would send forth his powerful angels, "and they will collect out from his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and persons doing lawlessness." Notice, please, that Christ's judgment is final and absolute. It says that all things that cause stumbling, and all persons doing lawlessness,' would be removed.
Since there are undeniably stumbling blocks and persons doing lawlessness among us up to the present moment, it is obvious that Jesus has not yet sent forth his angels to accomplish that phase of Jehovah's purpose. That means, too, that we are not in the period of the harvest, or as Jesus called it---the conclusion of the system of things, but that is another topic.
In the prophecy of Malachi, the messenger of the covenant is said to come for the purpose of judging and cleansing God's people. Malachi 3:2 states: "But who will be putting up with the day of his coming, and who will be the one standing when he appears? For he will be like the fire of a refiner and like the lye of laundrymen."
We shouldn't imagine that Jesus Christ has already refined and cleansed his people. That is apparent from Christ's own words at Luke 21:35-36, where he spoke about the great time of trouble that was coming "upon the face of all the earth," and gave admonishment and instruction so that we might keep "standing before the Son of man." Since the tribulation has not come in upon all the earth, as Jesus foretold, our standing before the Son of man occurs in the future. That's why Malachi's question is still valid: "who will be the one standing when he appears."
That means that Christ is yet to purge his congregation of wicked ones and cleanse and refine the rest. Malachi 3:5 says: "And I will come near to you people for the judgment, and I will become a speedy witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those swearing falsely, and against those acting fraudulently with the wage worker, with the widow and with the fatherless boy, and those turning away the alien resident, while they have not feared me,' Jehovah of armies has said."
We must humbly and honestly face the truth. The truth is that in spite of the many wonderful spiritual blessings that we enjoy as Jehovah's Witnesses, we are not living in any sort of spiritual paradise. We must admit that we suffer all of the same maladies of spirit as any other religion of Christendom. Otherwise, why would it be necessary for Christ to cleanse us of such things as Malachi foretells? At some point we will be painfully forced to recognize that Jehovah's words directed to the "dictators of Sodom and you people of Gomorrah," are really words meant for our ears. Only when we listen to and accept God's scathing rebuke will he afterwards open up before us the spiritual paradise of unutterable beauty and peace that the prophets envisioned.
