QUESTION: On the basis of Matthew 5:5, the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that we will be on the earth forever. Is this true?

ANSWER: No! The phrase “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” has absolutely nothing to do with how long the earth will stand. It simply means that the “meek” (those who humbly accept the teachings of Christ) will inherit great blessings. The word translated “earth” here would have been more appropriately translated “land.” Thus, the reading would be “for they shall inherit the land.” Since one of the greatest blessings to Jewish people was that they “inherited the land” of Canaan, this phrase came to denote any great blessing that might be forthcoming. So it is in Matthew 5:5!

The Jehovah’s Witnesses also misapply the phrase “new heavens and new earth” in this way. They say that this phrase teaches that the earth will be rebuilt and we will live here forever. But God’s Word teaches differently! In II Peter 3:10, we find that the “heavens and earth, which are now, are by the same word (God’s Word) kept in store, reserved unto fire . . .” In this same verse, Peter tells us that these heavens and earth will pass away. Then, in verse thirteen, he says that Christians are not to forget the Lord’s promise of the “new heavens and the new earth.”

Man could not live without the atmosphere (heavens) that helps provide the air that we breathe and the earth that provides our food. He could not be sustained without either. So, in this passage, Peter simply says that Jesus has promised us a new place, where we will be sustained eternally, after the old passes away.

Symbolically, he calls it a “new heavens and new earth” as compared with the old! It is that place referred to in John 14:1-3, where Jesus promised, “I go to prepare a place for you.” This place is the “new heavens and the new earth.” It is the future abode of the faithful Christian, following Judgment!