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given to the people of the saints of
the most High, whose kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom, and all
dominions [or rulers] shall serve
and obey him" (Daniel 7:27).
F irst St eps to World Peace
What will be the first step taken
by Christ to straighten out world
problems?
Christ will firs t dethrone and
chain Satan and his evil host of
demons so they cannot deceive
and sway the nations of mankind
with their evils (see Revelation
20:1-3). Without this step world
peace is not possible. But no gov–
ernment on earth knows that!
Under Christ's direction na–
tions will be forced to stop war–
ring and fighting.
Warmaking is one of the
greatest curses on humanity. But,
under God's all-powerful world
government, this majar cause of
economic insecurity, disruption
and misappropriation of limited
human and material resources
will be forcibly stopped.
"And it shall come to pass
in
•
the last days ,
that the mountain
[government] of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of
the mountains [it will rule over
all nations] ... and all nations
shall go ... and say, Come ye,
and Jet us go up to the mountain
of the Lord ... and he will teach
us of his ways , and we will walk
in his paths....
"And he [Christ] shall judge
· among the nations, and shall
rebuke
many peop/e:
and they shall beat
their swords [military hardware]
into plowshares, and their spears
into pruninghooks: nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more"
( l saiah 2:2-4).
With so many totally destroyed
economies among the nations,
Jesus can start afresh in rebuild–
ing many nations in his totally
new way of living.
Notice the new economic focus
of nations.
It
will be based in
agr iculture, in the soil, in produc–
ing abundant food and building
materials, not in machines for war
and conquest.
Today, most nations are bur–
dened with huge defense and mil-
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July 1981
itary outlays. Sorne defense out–
lays eat up as much as half of
government budgets while agri–
culture and essential economic
sectors languish for funds. These
military outlays are in defense of
competitive world ideologies–
capitalism and communism- nei–
ther of which can solve the eco–
nomic injustices in this world.
But after military threats to
peace are eliminated, then what?
Every human being will be giv–
en an inheritance in property, in
productive land. This is land that
a person can live upon or always
fall back upon to provide the
basic essentials of life for himself
and his family.
Humans under God's govern–
ment will not · be slaves to a state
or to sorne industry or job that
totally divorces them from the
productivity of their own land.
Notice the prophecy of Zecha–
riah 3: lO. "In that day [after
God' s government is established
on
earth] ,
says
the
Lord ...
everyone
of you will
invite his neighbor under
his
vine
and under
his
fig tree" (RSV).
But you may ask, will there be
enough good and fertile land for
all?
lt
will be produced by the
power and merey of the Great
God!
"The wilderness and the soli–
tary place ... and the desert shall
rejoice, and blossom as the
rose.... Say to them that are of a
fearful heart [that's much of
humanity today], Be strong, fear
not: behold your God wi ll
come ... he will come and save
you.... In the wilderness shall
waters break out, and streams in
the desert. And the parched
ground shall become a pool, and
the t hirsty land springs of
water ... " ( l saiah 35:1, 3, 6-7).
What a happy day for impover–
ished and landless millions to look
forward to! (We could have it
today if we would quit our selfish,
sinful ways!) But there's even
more good news!
R ight agr icultura! practices
wi ll produce ever more abundant
crops. "Behold the days come,
saith the Lord, that the plowman
shall overtake the reaper, and the
treader of grapes hiin that soweth
seed . .. and they shall plant vine–
yards and drink the wine thereof;
they shall also make gardens, and
eat the fruit thereof" (Amos
9 :13-14).
And yet another fantastic
blessing! God will control the
weather to back up his promised
blessings for obedience. " . . . if
thou shalt harken unto the voice
of the Lord thy God ... the Lord
shall open unto thee his good
treasure, the heaven to give the
rain unto thy land in his season,
and to bless
al/
the work of thine
hand" (Deuteronomy 28:2, 12).
No more will obedient nations
be forced to suffer great natural
disasters, such as floods, earth–
quakes and hurricanes. No more
will natural disasters wipe out
great segments of their economy
and ínflate the cost of remaining
food supplies and resources.
How much money are those
blessings worth to any nation's
p rosperity and stability? You
can't put a price tag on them!
But what about anyone who
would think to destroy one' s
crops or property, or to rob, rape
or steal? That is all too common
today.
"Behold, a king will reign in
righteousness, and princes will
rule in justice. Each will be Iike a
hiding place from the wind....
The fool will no more be called
noble, nor the knave [churl or ill–
minded person] said to be honor–
able" (lsaiah 32:1, 2, 5, RSV).
No more will criminal gangs or
corrupt leaders terrorize a city or
be permitted to bleed critica! seg–
ments of national wealth for
themselves.
Criminal and corrupt thoughts
will be discouraged befare they
become a habit of thinking in
human minds. ' ' ... yet shall not
thy teachers be removed into a cor–
ner any more, but thine eyes shall
see thy teachers [spirit members of
the God family manifested in
human form]: And thine ears shall
hear a word behind thee, saying,
This is the way, walk ye in it, when
ye turn to the right hand, and when
ye turn to the left" (lsaiah 30:20-
21 ).
Scalpers and speculators seek–
ing to make a quick killing by
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