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THE CITIES OF
TOMORROW
by
Jeff Calkins
And now for something completely different! Instead of
piles of garbage, crime, fear, slums, rot and decay
- splendiferous beauty, magnificent gardens, clean and
secure city streets, inspiring architecture. The cities of
tomorrow- what tremendous places in which to live!
Y
OU ALREADY KNOW
that most of the cit–
ies of this world are a
botch. They range from the
barely livable to the insuf–
ferable. They are, as ·they
were recently called by a
group of Roman Catholic
priests, "the pits."
So instead of getting de–
pressed with the squalor of
today's cities, let's dwell on
something more p leasant.
Let's cheer up with the
GOOD
NEWS
of tomorrow's cities!
Why
Cities?
God has revealed in the Bible that
lije will be better
in his soon–
coming Kingdom:
"And
1
will multiply upon you
man and beast; and they shall
increase and bring fruit: and
l
will settle you after your old
estates, and will do better unto
you than at your beginnings: and
ye shall know that 1 am the Lord"
(Ezekiel 36:11).
And cities are absolutely neces–
sary for a good life. A famous
pagan philosopher- wiser than
many today-once said that men
carne to the city to Jive, but they
stayed to live the good life.
Concerts, museums, art galler–
ies, sports events, restaurants,
theaters, clubs, libraries-all re–
quire a certain physical closeness
of people. Imagine trying to pre–
pare a concert, or any other.
aspect of the performing arts, if
people are separated by vast dis–
tances with limited means of
communication! You need to get
people together for rehearsals and
have things such as costumes and
musical instruments easily ob–
tainable.
If
everyone i nvolved
lived in the country and didn't
have a next-door neighbor for
miles and miles-putting on such
a concert can be unthinkable.
Cultural and sports events require
a certain centralization-they
must be easily accessible to both
those who promote them as well
as those who attend them.
If
you want to know about a civi–
Jization or a culture-look at its
cities. Cities carry on the activities
that make Ji fe human and joyous–
or squalid and fearful. Whether
people can enjoy parks, sports and
restaurants and theaters-or dash
furtively in fear- depends on city
life. In God's world, people will be
able to enjoy these human, cultural
activities--concerts, sports, per–
forming arts-and that means cit–
ies whose inhabitants have all
found the way to peace and harmo–
ny.
The Bible clearly prophesies
the existence- and magnifi–
cence- of cities in the world
tomorrow.
" ... Thus saith the Lord of
hosts; My cities
through prosper–
ity
shall yet be spread
abroad ..." (Zechariah 1: 17).
There will be numerous
cities:
"For God
will
save Zion, and will
build the
cities
of Judah: that
they may dwell there, and have it
in possession" (Psalm 69:35).
And the cities of tomorrow will
be built from the bottom up! They
won't have to compromise because
ofwhat has already been built- the
bui lders of the cities of God's world
will have a free hand!
Such is the silver lining of the
upheaval and destruction just
before Christ's return. "For thou
shalt ... make the
desolate cities
to be inhabited"
(Isaiah 54:3).
"And they shall build the old
wastes, they shall raise up the for–
mer desolations, and they shall
repair the waste cities, the desola-