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us his ways, so that we may walk in
his paths. ' The law will go out from
Zion, the word of the Lord from
J erusalem. He will judge between
many peoples and will settle dis–
putes for strong nations far and
wide. They will beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks. Nation will not
take up sword against nation, nor
will they t rain for war anymore"
(Mic. 4:2-3) .
Can you imagine what kind of
economy could exist if not one pen–
ny was spent on defense? And the
greatest minds were devoted to
efforts of peace, not war? The kind
of buildings, transportation, com–
munications and conveniences we
would have!
That is exactly what is going to
happen.
A Change i n Nature
God's government and worldwide
peace are only the beginnings of
the fantastic world tomorrow.
One of the most beautiful scrip–
tures in the Bible describes just
how total the restoration of God's
way will be.
Describing conditions after the
Messiah appears, lsaiah wrote:
"The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the
goat, the calf and the !ion and the
yearling together; and a little child
will lead them. The cow will feed
with the bear, their young will lie
down together, and the !ion will eat
straw like the ox. The infant will
play near the hole of the cobra, and
the young child put his hand into
the viper's nest. They will neither
. harm nor destroy on all my holy
mountain, for the earth will be full
of the knowledge of the Lord as the
waters cover the sea" (lsa. 11:6-
9).
So meaningful is that scripture
that the sea! of Ambassador Col–
lege depicts it.
When God created Adam and
Eve, he placed them in the beauti–
ful garden of Eden. There they
could enjoy the beauty of flowers,
pristine air and water, and all the
food they would need.
But as a result of their sin-the
decision to pursue their own
course- to decide for themselves
what is good and what is evil- God
drove them from the garden.
48
They would then work midst
thorns and thistles, weeds and
briers. The nature of many animals
was changed, becoming hostile to
man. So it has been ever since.
In the world to come, as Isaiah
wrote, even ferocious _beasts and
poisonous vipers will be changed to
domesticated, tame creatures.
Also of tbat time Isaiah wrote:
"The desert and the parched land
will be glad; the wi lderness will
rejoice and blossom. Like the cro–
cus [or rose], it will burst into
bloom; it will rejoice greatly and
shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon
will be given to it, the splendor of
Carmel and Sharon; they will see
the glory of the Lord, tbe splendor
of our God" (lsa. 35:1-2).
Not only that, sickness and dis–
ease will be healed. "Then will the
eyes of the blind be opened and the
ears of the deaf unstopped. Then
will the lame leap like a deer, and
the tongue of the dumb [mute]
shout for joy" (Isa. 35:5-6).
Good healtb, peace, great weath–
er and abundant crops will make
the world tomorrow a wonderful
place to live.
Family Life Rest ored
Without a doubt one of the most
needed aspects of human relation–
ships that needs restoring is family
life. Virtually no society in all his–
tory has truly practiced the God–
inspired, biblical instructions on
marriage and child rearing.
We can at least get a glimpse of
the happy family life from a few
scriptures that look to the future
when God's government is set up.
Jeremiah wrote about the resto–
ration of God's way: "The sounds
of joy and gladness, the voices of
bride and bridegroom, and the
voices of those wbo bring thank
offerings to the house of the Lord,
saying, 'Give thanks to the Lord
Almighty, for the Lord is good; bis
!ove endures forever'" (Jer.
33:11).
For most of human history the
joy of brides and bridegrooms has
only turned to sorrow. Sickness,
poverty and war have epitomized
vast segments of human history.
But in that world to come, the joy
of the wedding will live on and on.
Husbands and wives growing in
love as each year goes by.
They will have healthy and hap–
py children. And they will know
how to rear them. Notice what
Zechariah saw as God revealed the
future to him: "Tbe city streets will
be filled with boys and girls playing
there" (Zech. 8:5).
Without fear of serious accident,
kidnapping, mugging, abduction
and the host of modero atrocities
that plague our societies, children
will play openly-free from harm
from man or beast.
And verse 4 tells us, " This is
what tbe Lord Almighty says:
'Once again men and women of
ripe old age will sit in the streets of
Jerusalem, each with cane in hand
because of his [and her] age.'"
War will not consume the
strength of young men. Mothers
will not die in childbirth. Sickness,
disease, hunger and malnutrition
will not consume thousands daily as
in our "enlightened" 20th cen–
tury.
In that world everything good
will be the norm. God will prove
his way is the only way by giving
mankind 1,000 years of bis govern–
ment and instruction.
A New World Coming
This utopian world that Herbert
W. Armstrong and the
Plain Truth
magazine have proclaimed now for
50 years is just as certain as the
rising of tomorrow's sun. The apos–
tle Peter said: "We have also a
more s ure word of prophecy ;
whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed, as unto a light that shineth in
a dark place, until the day dawn,
and the day star arise in your
hearts. . . . For the prophecy carne
not in old time by the wiJI of man:
but holy men of God spake as tbey
were moved by the Holy [Spirit] "
(II
Pet. 1:19,21, AV).
No one knows exactly when the
kingdom of God is going to be estab–
lished. But world events are rushing
toward that inevitable day. And it
could happen a lot faster than many
would humanly predict.
l f you want to know even more
about what is prophesied for the
future, write for Mr. Armstrong's
free book
The Wonderful World
Tomorrow-What lt Will Be Like!
You will fi nd there is a world soon
coming that exceeds all you have
ever hoped the world could be. o
The PLAIN TRUTH