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Darkness Before Dawn
“My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure
dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” “Violence shall no more be
heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou
shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.” “They shall build
houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the
fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not
plant, and another eat: ... Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their
hands.”
Isaiah 32:18
;
60:18
;
65:21, 22
.
There, “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” “Instead of the
thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come
up the myrtle tree.” “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; ... and a little child shall lead
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them.” “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” saith
the Lord.
Isaiah 35:1
;
55:13
;
11:6, 9
....
Development of Mind, Body, and Soul
There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight
the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There
will be no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every
faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement
of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There
the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspira-
tions reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise
new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to com-
prehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and
body.
All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s
redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to
worlds afar—worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human
woe and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul.
With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and
the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge
and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation
of God’s handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory
of creation—suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed order
circling the throne of Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the