The Inheritance of the Earth
In the present world, good and evil people exist side by side. In the world Hereafter, the Angels will separate the evil from the righteous and enter only the good people into the eternal world of Paradise.
The fish is a living creature. It has its own complete existence but it requires a habitat in which to survive. If the fish is taken out of water and thrown down in the desert, it will be the same fish but it will just wriggle for a short time there, and, in desert environment, unable to find the blessing of life, it will soon expire. This applies also to human beings. Man has a living existence in the complete sense but in actuality, he requires a habitat in which to live. The present world gives him just such a habitat. Man can survive and develop only on the planet earth. If he is taken off of the planet earth and placed on some other celestial body like the moon, he will be just like the fish out of water. He will make threshing movements with his arms and legs, like the fish wriggling in the desert, but not finding his habitat, he will soon breathe his last.
The present world’s features are well known to man, and, in the light of his knowledge he can fully understand what heaven and hell are like. If we study the matter, we find that on today’s earth, all the things are present which will be there for man in Paradise. For instance, the scenes of nature here are so beautiful that when man looks at them he can understand that he is observing Paradise from a distance. But in the present world, good and evil people exist side by side. The evil people fill the world with corruption. Had it been possible to expel the evil people from the earth leaving only good people here, the earth would have become a model of Paradise. A Hebrew Prophet expressed this as follows: “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew, 13:49-50).
This is similarly expressed in the Psalms of David: “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.” (Psalms, 37:29)
