His promise

“The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth”

HOW? “YOU are probably familiar with Jesus’ heartwarming words that ‘the meek shall inherit the earth.’ But in view of all that people are doing to one another and to the earth, what do you think there will be left for the meek to inherit?”—Matthew 5:5; Psalm 37:11;

King James Version. God’s purpose regarding the earth is also made evident in the commission that he gave to the first human pair. To Adam and Eve, Jehovah said: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

The earth, which God entrusted to Adam and Eve, was to be an everlasting home for them and for their offspring. “As regards the heavens, to Jehovah the heavens belong,” declared the psalmist many centuries later, “but the earth he has given to the sons of men.”—Psalm 115:16.

When Adam and Eve willfully disobeyed God by breaking the command that had been laid upon them, they in reality turned their back on the one who provided them with everything that they had. (Genesis 3:6) In so doing, they lost their beautiful Paradise home not only for themselves but also for their offspring. (Romans 5:12) Did the first couple’s disobedience thwart God’s purpose in creating the earth?