The Bible Students were not completely sure what would happen. They were convinced that it would not result in a burning up of the earth and a blotting out of human life. Rather, they knew it would mark a significant point in regard to divine rulership. At first, they thought that by that date the Kingdom of God would have obtained full, universal control. When that did not occur, their confidence in the Bible prophecies that marked the date did not waver. They concluded that, instead, the date had marked only a starting point as to Kingdom rule.

Did the “Alarm Clock” Go Off Too Soon?

Great turmoil certainly burst forth upon the world in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I, which for many years was called simply the Great War, but it did not immediately lead to an overthrow of all existing human rulerships. As events in connection with Palestine developed following 1914, the Bible Students thought they saw evidence of significant changes for Israel. But months and then years passed, and the Bible Students did not receive their heavenly reward as they had anticipated. How did they react to that?

The Watch Tower of February 1, 1916, specifically drew attention to October 1, 1914, and then said: “This was the last point of time that Bible chronology pointed out to us as relating to the Church’s experiences. Did the Lord tell us that we would be taken [to heaven] there? No. What did He say? His Word and the fulfil[l]ments of prophecy seemed to point unmistakably that this date marked the end of the Gentile Times. We inferred from this that the Church’s ‘change’ would take place on or before that date. But God did not tell us that it would be so. He permitted us to draw that inference; and we believe that it has proven to be a necessary test upon God’s dear saints everywhere.” But did these developments prove that their glorious hope had been in vain? No. It simply meant that not everything was taking place as soon as they had expected.

Several years before 1914, Russell had written: “Chronology (time prophecies in general) was evidently not intended to give God’s people accurate chronological information all the way down the path of the centuries. Evidently it is intended more to serve as an alarm clock to awaken and energize the Lord’s people at the proper time. . . . But let us suppose, for instance, that October, 1914, should pass and that no serious fall of Gentile power would occur. What would this prove or disprove? It would not disprove any feature of the Divine Plan of the Ages. The ransom-price finished at Calvary would still stand the guarantee of the ultimate fulfillment of the great Divine Program for human restitution. The ‘high calling’ of the Church to suffer with the Redeemer and to be glorified with him as his members or as his Bride would still be the same. . . . The only thing [a]ffected by the chronology would be the time for the accomplishment of these glorious hopes for the Church and for the world. . . . And if that date pass it would merely prove that our chronology, our ‘alarm clock,’ went off a little before the time. Would we consider it a great calamity if our alarm clock awakened us a few moments earlier in the morning of some great day full of joy and pleasure? Surely not!”

But that “alarm clock” had not gone off too soon. Actually, it was the experiences to which the “clock” had awakened them that were not exactly what they had expected.

Some years later, when the light had grown brighter, they acknowledged: “Many of the dear saints thought that all the work was done. . . . They rejoiced because of the clear proof that the world had ended, that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and that the day of their deliverance drew nigh. But they had overlooked something else that must be done. The good news that they had received must be told to others; because Jesus had commanded: ‘This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come.’ (Matthew 24:14)”—The Watch Tower, May 1, 1925.

As the events following 1914 began to unfold and the Bible Students compared these with what the Master had foretold, they gradually came to appreciate that they were living in the last days of the old system and that they had been since 1914. They also came to understand that it was in the year 1914 that Christ’s invisible presence had begun and that this was, not by his personally returning (even invisibly) to the vicinity of the earth, but by his directing his attention toward the earth as ruling King. They saw and accepted the vital responsibility that was theirs to proclaim “this good news of the kingdom” for a witness to all nations during this critical time of human history.—Matt. 24:3-14.

What exactly was the message about the Kingdom that they were to preach? Was it any different from the message of the first-century Christians?

God’s Kingdom, the Only Hope of Mankind

As a result of careful study of God’s Word, the Bible Students associated with Brother Russell understood that God’s Kingdom was the government that Jehovah had promised to set up by means of his Son for the blessing of mankind. Jesus Christ, in heaven, would have associated with him as rulers a “little flock” selected by God from among humankind. They understood that this government would be represented by faithful men of old who would serve as princes in all the earth. These were referred to as “ancient worthies.”—Luke 12:32; Dan. 7:27; Rev. 20:6; Ps. 45:16.

Christendom had long taught ‘the divine right of kings,’ as a means of holding the people in subjection. But these Bible Students saw from the Scriptures that the future of human governments was not secured by any divine guarantee. In harmony with what they were learning, the Watch Tower of December 1881 stated: “The setting up of this kingdom will of course, involve the overthrow of all the kingdoms of earth, as they are all—even the best of them—founded on injustice and unequal rights and the oppression of many and favor of the few—as we read: ‘It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever.’”—Dan. 2:44.

As to the way in which those oppressive kingdoms would be broken, the Bible Students still had much to learn. They did not yet understand clearly how the benefits of God’s Kingdom would spread to all mankind. But they were not confusing the Kingdom of God with a vague feeling within one’s heart or with rule by a religious hierarchy that used the secular State as its arm.

By 1914, the faithful pre-Christian servants of God had not been resurrected on earth as princely representatives of the Messianic King, as had been expected, nor had the remaining ones of the “little flock” joined Christ in the heavenly Kingdom in that year. Nevertheless, The Watch Tower of February 15, 1915, confidently stated that 1914 was the due time “for our Lord to take up His great power and reign,” thus ending the millenniums of uninterrupted Gentile domination. In its issue of July 1, 1920, The Watch Tower reaffirmed that position and associated it with the good news that Jesus had foretold would be proclaimed earth wide before the end. (Matt. 24:14) At the convention of the Bible Students at Cedar Point, Ohio, in 1922, this understanding was restated in a general resolution, and Brother Rutherford urged the conventioners: “Advertise, advertise, advertise, the King and his kingdom.”

However, at that time the Bible Students felt that the setting up of the Kingdom, its full establishment in heaven, would not take place until the final members of Christ’s bride were glorified. A real milestone was reached, therefore, in 1925, when The Watch Tower of March 1 featured the article “Birth of the Nation.” It presented an eye-opening study of Revelation chapter 12. The article set forth evidence that the Messianic Kingdom had been born—established—in 1914, that Christ had then begun to rule on his heavenly throne, and that thereafter Satan had been hurled from heaven down to the vicinity of the earth. This was the good news that was to be proclaimed, the news that God’s Kingdom was already in operation. How this enlightened understanding stimulated these Kingdom proclaimers to preach to the ends of the earth!

By every appropriate means, Jehovah’s people gave witness that only God’s Kingdom could bring lasting relief and solve the deep-seated problems that afflicted humankind. In 1931 this message was featured in a radio broadcast by J. F. Rutherford on the most extensive international network that had ever been on the air. The text of that broadcast was also published in many languages in the booklet The Kingdom, the Hope of the World—millions of copies of which were distributed within a few months. In addition to widespread distribution to the public, special effort was put forth to get copies into the hands of politicians, prominent businessmen, and the clergy.

Among other things, that booklet said: “The present unrighteous governments of the world can hold out no hope whatsoever to the people. God’s judgment against them declares they must go down. The hope of the world, therefore, and the only hope, is the righteous kingdom or government of God with Christ Jesus as invisible Ruler thereof.” That Kingdom, they realized, would bring true peace and security to mankind. Under its rule the earth would become a real paradise, and sickness and death would be no more.—Rev. 21:4, 5.

The good news of God’s Kingdom continues to be central to the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Since the issue of March 1, 1939, their principal magazine, now published in over 110 languages, has borne the title The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.

But before the Kingdom rule would transform the earth into a paradise, the present wicked system would have to go. How would that be accomplished?

The War of the Great Day of God the Almighty

The world war that began in 1914 rocked the existing system of things to its foundations. For a time it appeared that events would develop as the Bible Students had expected.

Back in August 1880, Brother Russell had written: “We understand that before the human family are restored or even begin to be blessed the present kingdoms of earth which now bind and oppress mankind will all be overturned and that the kingdom of God will assume control and that the blessing and restitution come through the new kingdom.” How would that ‘overturning of kingdoms’ take place? Based on conditions that he could then see developing in the world, Russell believed that during the war of Armageddon, God would use contending factions of mankind to overthrow existing institutions. He said: “The work of demolishing human empire is beginning. The power that will overthrow them is now at work. The people are already organizing their forces under the name of Communists, Socialists, Nihilists, etc.”

The book The Day of Vengeance (later called The Battle of Armageddon), published in 1897, further enlarged on the way the Bible Students then understood the matter, saying: “The Lord, by his overruling providence, will take a general charge of this great army of discontents—patriots, reformers, socialists, moralists, anarchists, ignorants and hopeless—and use their hopes, fears, follies and selfishness, according to his divine wisdom, to work out his own grand purposes in the overthrow of present institutions, and for the preparation of man for the Kingdom of Righteousness.” Thus they understood the war of Armageddon to be associated with violent social revolution.

But was Armageddon going to be merely a struggle between contending factions of mankind, a social revolution used by God to overthrow existing institutions? As further attention was given to the scriptures bearing on this matter, The Watch Tower of July 15, 1925, drew attention to Zechariah 14:1-3 and said: “By this we would understand that all the nations of earth, under Satan’s direction, would be gathered to battle against the Jerusalem class, viz., those who take their stand on the Lord’s side . . . Revelation 16:14, 16.”

The following year, in the book Deliverance, attention was focused on the real purpose of this war, saying: “Now Jehovah, according to his Word, will make a demonstration of his power so clearly and unequivocally that the people may be convinced of their ungodly course and may understand that Jehovah is God. That is the reason why God brought the great flood, threw down the Tower of Babel, destroyed the army of Sennacherib the Assyrian king, and swallowed up the Egyptians; and it is also the reason why he is now going to bring another great trouble upon the world. The former calamities were but shadows of the one now impending. The gathering is to the great day of God Almighty. It is ‘the great and the terrible day of the Lord’ (Joel 2:31), when God will make for himself a name. In this great and final conflict the peoples of every nation, kindred and tongue will learn that Jehovah is the all-powerful, all-wise and just God.” But Jehovah’s servants on earth were cautioned: “In this great battle no Christian will strike a blow. The reason they do not is that Jehovah has said: ‘For the battle is not yours, but God’s.’” The war here being discussed was definitely not the one that was fought among the nations, beginning in 1914. It was yet to come.

There were yet other questions that needed to be resolved on the basis of the Scriptures. One of these involved the identity of the Jerusalem that was to be trampled underfoot until the end of the Gentile Times, as stated at Luke 21:24; and related to this was identification of the Israel referred to in so many prophecies of restoration.