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problems- the problems of crime,
violence, immorality, divorce, de–
linquency- will be solved.
Then it will be possible to go to
work on the physical aspects of the
city- the streets, buildings, parks,
bornes, schools, transportation.
Here, too, God will start from
scratch. But uow? How can you
start from scratch in cities like Chi–
cago, New York, London, Sydney,
Toronto, Johannesburg, Tokyo or
Manila?
In the sa.me way that Berlín,
Warsaw and other European cities
started from scratch after they
were destroyed in World War
11!
Yes, shocking as it may be, Bible
prophecy reveals that our present–
day cities are going to be devas–
tated with all the destructive force
of modern warfare! But wuv?
WHY Our Cltles Destroyed
God is going to allow this world's
cities to be destroyed for the very
reason why they are festering sores
on the earth's face to begin with–
and that reason is SIN! Our cities
are full of sin. Of course all this
could be avoided.
Speaking to modern Israel- the
United States, the British Com–
monwealth peoples and the democ–
racies of northwest Europe--God
warns:
..For if ye throughly amend your
ways and your doings; if ye
throughly execute judgment be–
tween a man and bis neighbour; if
ye oppress not the stranger, the
fatherless, and the widow, and shed
not innocent blood in this place,
neither walk after other gods to
your hurt: then will 1 cause you to
dwell in this place, in the land that
1 gave to your fathers, for ever and
ever" (Jer. 7:5-7).
Yes, if we as a people would
even
now
QUIT SINNING and turn to God,
our land and cities could be spared
from the catastrophes shortly to
come.
If
we were willing to cooper–
ate with God, he would work out
sorne other way to make our cities
decent places to live-·without hav–
ing to suffer the ravages of war.
But human beings refuse to do this
(Jer. 7:8-10, 28; 8:5-6; 9:5-6, 8).
Yes, it is because of SIN that God
is going to punish us and destroy
our cities. Whole chapters and
books
of the Bible are devoted to
26
warning us of this sobering REAL
fact.
Notice Ezekiel's dire prediction:
" In all your dwellingplaces
the
cities sha/1 be /aid waste,
...
And
mine eye shall not spare, neither
will
1
have pity:
1
wil/ recompense
thee according to rhy ways and
thine abominations
that are in the
midst of thee; and ye shall know
that
I
am the Lord that smit–
eth....
"Tbe sword is without, and the
pestilence and the famine within:
he that is
in
tbe field shall die with
the sword; and he that is in the city,
famine and pestilence shall devour
him.... They shall cast their silver
Why can't cities be
safe? Why can't
elderly people go
for an evening stroll
without being
assaulted? Why
can't children play
without fear of
being molested?
in the streets, and their gold shall
be removed: their silver and their
gold shaU not be able to deliver
them in the day of the wrath of the
Lord....
" Make a chain:- for the land is
full of bloody crimes, and the city
is full of violence. Wherefore 1 will
bring the
worsr of rhe heathen,
and
they shall possess their houses....
And ye shall know that I am the
Lord: for ye have not walked in my
statutes, neither executed my judg–
ments, but have done after the
manners of the heathen that are
round about you....
"They shall eat their bread with
carefulness, and drink their water
with astonishment,- that her land
may be desolate from all that is
therein, because of the violence of
all them that dwell therein.
And
rhe cities rhar are inhabited sha/1
be laid waste, and the land sha/1
be
desolare; and ye sha/1 know that
1 am the Lord"
(Ezek. 6:6; 7:9, 15,
19, 23-24; 11 :12; 12:19-20).
What a terrible time of destruc–
tion that will be. But, thankfully
the story doesn't end here!
The Joyous Rebulldlng
An all-wise God will have to deal
with us in the only language we
understand- PHYSICAL FORCE and
PUNISHMENT.
But once he has dealt with us in
this way, and once we have learned
our lesson, then Jesus Christ will
return to this earth to set up God's
government. And then our cities
will be rebuilt- this time Goo's
way.
Notice the loving tone in which
God comforts Israel whom he has
had to punish:
"For a smal l moment have
I
forsaken thee; but with great mer–
cies will
1
gather thee.
In
a Little
wrath
1
bid my face from thee for
a moment; but with everlasting
kindness will
1
have merey on
tb'ee, saith the Lord thy Re–
deemer . For thou shalt break
forth on the right hand and on the
left; and thy seed shall inherit the
Gentiles, and
make the desolare
cities ro be inhabited"
(lsa. 54:7,
8, 3).
"For God will save Zion, and
will build the cities of Judah: that
they may dwell there, and have it in
possession. The seed also of bis ser–
vants shall inherit i,t: and they that
love his name shall dwell therein"
(Ps. 69:35-36).
When God sets bis hand to build
tomorrow's cities with the help of
bis spirit servants, how fantastic do
you think those cities will be? They
will be beautiful beyond descrip–
tion!
And they will be filled with joy–
ful thankful people:
" 1 will cause the captivity of
Judah and the captivity of Israel to
return, and
will build them, as at
the first .
...
Again there shall be
heard in this place, which ye say
shall be desolate without man and
without beast, even in the cities of
Judah, and in the streets of Jerusa–
lem, that are desolate, without
man, and without inhabitant, and
without beast, The voice of joy, and
the voice of gladness, the voice of
TIHI
PLAIN TRUTH