I believe in Jehovah and Jesus his son, and I believe in all the things Jesus did when he was on earth I believe in the apostles that they lived and died for the truth, no man dies for a lie, but there are so many questions I have about the new world, I want to know how the billions who are resurrected will live, where will they live. How will we feed them? What about the clothes they will need when they come back? I don’t want to believe in a fairytale that God flicks his fingers and all is well, that these billions that come back will miraculously have everything they need to live on this earth. In my mind there would have to be a major works in the cauldron and I really have no idea how it will all pan out. I don’t want just to sit here thinking in fairytales happening. I know the Bible tells us that we are to live forever but there’s got to be some work that will be needed on our part to see the smooth running of the new world here on earth and I know there will be a heavenly government that will preside over the future world of mankind but can’t seem to get my head around it on how all this will take place here on this physical earth. Am I asking silly questions?
The Bible doesn’t say very much about the new world—just that there will be peace, prosperity, endless health, and happiness. The fact that God has set aside 1,000 years for the restoration of mankind, though, tells us it will be a major undertaking.
When we consider that the modern world has only existed for about 1,000 years and has developed in amazing ways, even under the rule of the Devil, it ought to help us appreciate how much humans could accomplish over a similar period under the reign of Christ.
The Bible does inform us that the new world will have an entirely different economic system. At Isaiah 65:21-22, Jehovah said: “They will build houses and live in them, and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build for someone else to inhabit, nor will they plant for others to eat. For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full.”
In other words, the employer/employee system will be gone. Everyone will be self-sufficient. There will be no landlords, no bosses, no masters, no slaves.
We gain a glimpse of the new world through the account of Israel’s history. When Moses sent the 12 spies into the land flowing with milk and honey, they brought back a cluster of grapes. It was not like anything you might buy in a grocery store or fruit market. The cluster was so humungous that two men had to carry it on their shoulders, suspended on a pole. It may have weighed over 100 pounds.
The passage in Isaiah makes an important point worth noting. It says that God’s chosen ones will enjoy the work of their hands to the full. Just think of the tedious monotony of working in a factory assembly line and placing a gidget on a gadget over and over again. What futility.
But God endowed humans with virtually unlimited creative abilities. Even now, some people create amazing, beautiful, and ingenious things. Given the freedom to develop our talents to the full, we can only imagine what works of art, pottery, houses, clothes, jewelry, music, tools, and whatever else, perfectly healthy, godly people will create. The principle certainly applies: “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, nor have there been conceived in the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him.” – 1 Cor 2:9
When God created Adam and Eve, He blessed them and instructed them to multiply and fill the earth, and to subdue it. Sadly, once they sinned, neither they nor their unborn offspring could fulfill that divine mandate. True enough, their offspring have filled the earth, but it is not what God had in mind. However, since Jehovah expected humans to complete His creation during his great Sabbath rest, He is not going to snap His fingers and make it happen. He expects the survivors of the end of this world to finish his project. Christ will bless them and guide them in that work, as it says in Isaiah, “They will not toil for nothing, nor will they bear children for distress, because they are the offspring made up of those blessed by Jehovah, and their descendants with them.” – Isaiah 65:23
Since people of the world have been subjected to all sorts of chemicals, plastics, heavy metals, and toxins, it is reasonable that, before the real work begins, Christ will have to get us sorted out. The Bible hints at this when it says that the Lamb will lead the great crowd to springs of water of life.
One question that comes up regularly is, Where will everyone live? Presently, there are over eight billion people on Earth. Most of them live in towns and cities. Millions are crammed into megacities. There are 57,000,000 square miles of land on the entire planet. Only about half of that is habitable. Roughly 30% is desert. 57 million square miles breaks down to about 36 billion acres, including islands. If the world’s land were equally divided among all of Earth’s present inhabitants, each would get 4 acres. Factoring in half of that, which is currently uninhabitable, each would receive 2 acres.
My wife and I have a small garden and a few apple trees, as well as raspberry vines. Each year, we grow more food than we can eat. We are talking about a 50x50ft plot. An acre could feed dozens of people if it were properly managed.
Let’s say in the new world there will be 100 billion people, some born to the survivors and billions resurrected from the dead. Jehovah does indicate that the deserts will bloom. So, instead of half of the 36 billion acres being uninhabitable, let’s take the entire sum. That would mean each person would have a third of an acre. That is larger than the average size yard for a city dwelling. But most people do not live alone. Let’s say that 100 billion people live in families of three. That would be an acre per family—more than enough room to grow all kinds of food.
But people like living in communities. Let’s say a few families, numbering about 100, form a community with condo-style luxury living quarters and various common areas. That would give the community roughly 300 acres surrounding it to grow food, with room left over for recreation, for animals, and even some areas set aside as wilderness and forests. That is pretty sizable. And if you really want to go crazy, a thousand-person village would have 3,000 acres to manage.
One thing is certain: No one will be fighting over land or greedily trying to exploit others. I doubt anyone will even regard what they have as their own. It’s like the John Lennon song, “Imagine all the people sharing all the world.”
We are told in prophecy that the survivors of the end of Satan’s world will plunder those who plundered them. In other words, just as the Hebrews plundered the Canaanites and inherited houses, vineyards, and orchards that they did not toil to build, so the great crowd will use what is left after the smoke clears. Tractors, bulldozers, and other heavy equipment would be useful for clearing away the rubble and debris strewn around the world.
Jesus called it the “recreation.” So, the first inhabitants of the New World will begin the work of creating paradise. It may take several hundred years, but once completed, the resurrection will begin.
I believe Jehovah’s Witnesses have already received some preliminary training through the Kingdom Hall quick builds and other construction and restoration projects.
I don’t know about you, but I am ready to get to work. Let your Kingdom come!
