The Promise and the Unanswered Date

Sickness and death reach into every community, while crime and injustice add suffering that human choices could prevent but often do not. The Bible does not ask people to regard these conditions as normal features of Jehovah’s intended future for mankind. Revelation 21:3-4 promises the end of death, mourning, crying, and pain. Isaiah 33:24 speaks of a time when an inhabitant will not say, “I am sick.” Psalm 37:9-11 contrasts those doing evil with the meek who will enjoy an abundance of peace. These passages give substance to hope by naming conditions that are to change. They do not, however, provide a calendar date for the final change. An honest answer to “When?” must preserve both the certainty of the promise and the limits of what has been revealed.

Jesus explicitly limited human knowledge of the timing. Matthew 24:36 states that no one knows the day and hour except the Father. In Acts 1:6-7, when the disciples asked about the restoration of the Kingdom, Jesus said that the times and seasons belonged to the Father’s authority. His answer did not cancel the promised Kingdom, for He immediately directed the disciples to their assignment as witnesses in Acts 1:8. It did prevent them from making a timetable the center of their work. The same distinction remains necessary today. A prediction based on a war, epidemic, technological change, or political figure may attract attention, but attention is not evidence that Scripture authorizes the date. Watchfulness means faithful readiness, not possession of information Jesus said His followers lacked.

Scripture does provide an order to important future events. Jesus spoke of His return in Matthew 24:29-31, and Revelation 19:11-21 portrays His judgment against opposing powers. Revelation 20:1-6 then describes Satan’s confinement and Christ’s thousand-year reign, followed by the final rebellion and judgment in Revelation 20:7-15. Revelation 21:1-4 presents the new heaven and new earth and the removal of death and pain after those events. The sequence helps prevent the assumption that every promised benefit must already be complete. It also gives no basis for calculating a date from the number one thousand. The chapter identifies the length of Christ’s reign, not the starting date on a modern calendar. The promise has a stated direction and sequence, but its precise timing remains with Jehovah.

The End of Sickness and Death

Jesus’ earthly healing ministry shows why the promise concerning sickness should be taken seriously. Matthew 8:14-17 describes Him healing Peter’s mother-in-law and many others who were ill. He did not merely offer comfort to people who remained sick, though comfort has value; He relieved actual physical conditions. Mark 2:1-12 joins His forgiveness of a paralyzed man’s sins with a visible healing, showing both His authority and the wider scope of human need. These miracles took place among particular people and did not end all illness during His first coming. They nevertheless demonstrate the capacity of the One appointed to rule. Future freedom from sickness rests on Jehovah’s action through Christ, not on the claim that present medicine or human resolve can make every disease disappear.

Death requires an even greater intervention because it ends human consciousness and activity. Ecclesiastes 9:5 and 9:10 describe the dead as without knowledge or work in the grave. Jesus called Lazarus’s death sleep in John 11:11-14 before plainly stating that Lazarus had died. When Jesus brought him out of the tomb in John 11:43-44, the result was a return to life, offering a concrete illustration of resurrection power. The Bible does not describe mankind as naturally possessing an immortal soul that makes death only a change of location. First Corinthians 15:26 calls death an enemy, and Revelation 20:14 presents its eventual abolition. A promise to eliminate death is meaningful precisely because death is a genuine loss that God intends to reverse and end.

The future hope includes those who have already died. John 5:28-29 says that people in the memorial tombs will hear Jesus’ voice and come out. Daniel 12:2 also speaks of those sleeping in the dust awakening, connecting resurrection with differing outcomes. The promise does not imply that every person, regardless of his response to God, automatically receives everlasting life. It does mean that current mortality is not the final limit on Jehovah’s power to deal with individuals. A family facing a funeral cannot choose the moment of resurrection or remove its present grief by wishing. It can, however, see why Christian hope speaks of restored life rather than simply of remembering the deceased. God’s appointed King has authority that reaches those whom human care can no longer reach.

The End of Crime and Injustice

Crime is not merely a shortage of rules; it grows from decisions to take, exploit, deceive, or injure. Human societies need laws and responsible authorities now, as Romans 13:3-4 recognizes. Yet laws cannot make every person just, and officials who administer them can themselves commit wrong. Proverbs 29:2 observes the difference people experience when righteous or wicked persons rule. Jehovah’s promised Kingdom addresses the character of rulership as well as its power. Isaiah 11:3-5 describes a ruler who judges with righteousness rather than deciding by outward appearance or hearsay. In the biblical presentation, this ruler is associated with the line of Jesse and the hope fulfilled in Christ. People who have suffered through false accusation or favoritism can understand why a judge free from those weaknesses matters.

Psalm 37 gives a particularly concrete picture of the end of persistent wrongdoing. Psalm 37:10-11 says that the wicked will be no more and that the meek will enjoy abundant peace. Psalm 37:27-29 calls people to turn from evil and do good, then promises lasting possession of the land or earth to the righteous. The passage joins future conditions with present moral choices, rather than inviting readers to wait passively while mistreating others. It also does not say that victims must call present injustice acceptable because judgment will come later. Scripture repeatedly condemns oppression in the present, as Isaiah 1:16-17 shows when it calls for justice and the defense of vulnerable people. Future judgment gives assurance that wrongdoing will not retain permanent control; it does not cancel present duties to act rightly.

Revelation 20:7-10 describes the final end of Satan’s opposition following Christ’s thousand-year reign. The passage matters because the promised peace is not presented as a temporary pause before evil returns forever. Revelation 21:8 also warns of judgment upon those committed to serious wrongdoing. These texts are sobering as well as hopeful: removing evil includes a genuine judgment of people who persist in it. The Bible does not support the idea that lasting justice can be achieved by declaring every choice equally good. At the same time, God’s present call to repentance shows that wrongdoers can change before final judgment, as Acts 3:19 urges. The coming end of crime and injustice should move people both to seek righteousness and to accept the opportunity for repentance now.

What People Can Know and Do Now

A person awaiting these changes still has immediate responsibilities. A sick believer may seek medical help and accept care from others; the future promise does not require refusing available treatment. Someone harmed by crime may seek lawful protection and assistance; confidence in divine judgment does not require remaining exposed to preventable harm. Families facing bereavement can comfort one another, as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 encourages believers to do in light of the resurrection hope. Christians can also show practical concern for people in need, following the instruction of James 2:15-17. None of these actions ends all suffering. Each is an appropriate present response while awaiting the broader work that only Jehovah’s Kingdom can accomplish.

Jesus’ instruction to stay awake and ready is explained in Matthew 24:42-46 through the picture of a servant faithfully carrying out his assignment. The servant is praised for doing what he was responsible to do, not for publishing a correct date. A Christian can follow that pattern by continuing to learn Scripture, speaking truthfully, caring for family, and sharing the Kingdom message. Second Peter 3:13 links the promised new heavens and new earth with the dwelling of righteousness. That prospect supplies a reason to practice righteousness now, even where it is costly. Present faithfulness also protects hope from becoming mere curiosity about signs. The future matters because it shapes allegiance and conduct today.

The answer to “When will these evils end?” is therefore precise within the limits Scripture sets. Jehovah has promised their removal through the reign and final victory of Jesus Christ, and the Bible places the complete abolition of death after the judgments described in Revelation 20. It does not disclose a date that readers can calculate or responsibly announce. Revelation 21:3-4 identifies the promised outcome in language people who have suffered can understand: no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. Isaiah 11:4-5 and Psalm 37:9-11 identify the just rule and removal of wickedness that peace requires. The wait is real, and so are the hardships experienced during it. Biblical hope gives reason for patient endurance because the promised future rests on Jehovah’s authority, not on humanity’s ability to predict its arrival.

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