“The kings of the earth take their stand …

… and high officials gather together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one.”
(Psalm 2:2)

When was this prophecy fulfilled? The book Worldwide Security Under the “Prince of Peace” says: “In 1914 .. came the time for Jesus Christ, ‘the Son of David,’ to be enthroned … That momentous date had been pointed forward to since 1876 by those who became associated with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. But the nations of the earth … refused to recognize it as the time for them to turn over their earthly sovereignties to the newly enthroned ‘Son of David.’” (page 26) “In 1914 … human rulers were put on notice to submit to God’s chosen Ruler. But they have refused to do so.” – The Watchtower, June 1, 2003, page 18.

How should the nations have ‘submitted to God’s chosen Ruler’ who “is invisibly present … and is reigning from heaven?” (Awake!, March 22, 1993, page 6) That would have been easy, since “God’s Messianic Kingdom [is] represented on earth today by a small band of anointed Christians.” (The Watchtower, July 1, 1990, page 22) Hence it is an unforgivable sin that “since … 1914, the nations and empires of this world have refused to yield over peaceably their earthly kingship to [Jesus] … Till this year, after more than half a century, the nations have refused to do so.” – The Watchtower, October 15, 1969, page 622.

So all governments of the world should have relinquished their power to the “small band of anointed Christians” around Charles Taze Russell in 1914. Later this group was taken over by Joseph F. Rutherford, and he would have ruled “substituting for Christ” over all the earth from Beth-Sarim. (2 Corinthians 5:20) How would the earth look like today? Mankind would never have travelled to the moon, since “by a higher law of nature, man is bound to his earth, as he can never get out of its borders,” though this fact had been “ignored by space fanatics.” (The Golden Age, German edition, November 1, 1931, pages 326, 327). “Fried potatoes” and “white bread” would be banned. – The Golden Age, January 15, 1936, page 227.

Vaccinations would be considered “the inoculation of a healthy person with putrid pus” and banned, though their consequences could be moderated by “the ‘Grape Cure’ diet.” (The Golden Age, May 1, 1929, page 507; May 29, 1929, page 564) Thus most of us would not be alive because our ancestors would have been removed by contagious diseases, or executed for fornication, or they would have “refrained from having children” so shortly before Armageddon. (The Watchtower, October 1, 1999, page 10) “Having a share in the ministry” would be an “obligation” for us all, but we would hardly meet anyone because most homeowners would be in the ministry. – The Watchtower, September 15, 1993, page 18.

Would it really have come to that? We can’t be sure, because “since 1914, the ‘kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ’ has had a right to interfere with Gentile nations. Does this mean that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses now have a right to meddle in worldly politics? Not at all!” (The Watchtower, March 1, 1978, page 29) Granted, in the years preceding 1914 the “earthly rulers were determined to resist the heavenly Messiah in taking over world domination” – but if they would have changed their mind and relinquished their power to Jesus’ earthly representatives, those would still not have been allowed to meddle in politics. (The Watchtower, August 1, 1983, page 23) Maybe “worldwide anarchy” would have been the consequence. – 1991 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, page 128.

All in all, we can consider ourselves fortunate that “in 1914, none of the nations .. were inclined to welcome Jehovah’s Anointed One, Jesus Christ, to the throne of rulership over the earth.” (The Watchtower, July 1, 1990, page 28) Let us hope that it remains this way in the future!