I have a problem — I can't memorize scriptures. It's laborious for me to sit down and try to learn all those figures. Can you help me?
Learning and memorizing certain basic scriptures has been a problem to some in God's Church — but needlessly so! There are definite steps we can take in order to make the study and memorization of God's Word easier. Anyone who has a problem memorizing scriptures which he ought to know should first of all examine his attitude to see if he really, joyfully WANTS to learn from God's Word enough to memorize it. Then he can work from there. We CAN memorize those basic scriptures we ought to know. God says so! In Phil. 4:13 He inspired Paul to write, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." It IS possible through God's help to do those things required of us, to learn His Word — yes, even to memorize exactly where the basic scriptures are found. We must come to deeply know and believe it CAN be done! But after obtaining the right attitude and approach to God's Word, what then? How should you actually go about memorizing? Too many have made the mistake of trying to memorize too many scriptures all at once. You should start little — start with only a few basic scriptures and learn those. Set a small goal for yourself (say, five scriptures) and memorize them. Write them down. Read the context around the scripture — know first of all the BOOK where it's found, then the chapter, then the verse. Start general — then get specific. Remember the point of the scripture — not necessarily all the quaint phraseology of the King James language don't be a modern Pharisee. Next REVIEW — USE those scriptures you've memorized. TALK about them. TELL them to someone at the proper time and in the proper manner. THINK about them. If you can't remember the exact verse, try to remember at least the book where it's found, then the chapter. If you happen to forget the verse, you can always check it later. The more you USE and REVIEW the basic scriptures you learn, the longer you will retain them and the more they will actually become a PART of you! Finally — from time to time have someone test you on the scriptures you've learned, but CAUTION our purpose for learning and memorizing basic things from God's Word is not to become a walking "Bible encyclopedia." Don't know the Bible to be able to "show off" your knowledge, but "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." and "... be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you..." (Col. 3:16, and I Pet. 3:15). Ask God in prayer to help you memorize for the right purpose and with the right attitude. Ask for the help to grasp, use, and review what you've learned, and see if your memorization of God's Word doesn't become a more joyful, rewarding experience.
How could the earth possibly hold all the people who have ever lived — all during the 100-year White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:5, 11, 12)? The earth is too crowded even now.
This world in its present state can hold few more people. The streets of many cities are pitifully crowded. Farmers are desperately searching for new tillable land. Ten thousand starve to death daily — and there are only a few over three billion people. How could this same earth hold approximately forty billion MORE people — ten to fifteen times the number of people living on earth today? The key is this: they will not live in this world, this age, this society. They will be resurrected after a thousand years of renovation by God's Government (Rev. 20:4-5). Let's examine some of the physical changes this government will effect: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain" (Isa. 40:4). Much of the world is pockmarked with gigantic mountain ranges which are too high and forbidding to be of use. These mountains will be miraculously lowered to a tillable altitude, and valleys below sea level will regain a sensible altitude above sea level. There will still be the beauty of rolling hills and variety in God's Creation, but no more useless areas such as the Himalayas, Antarctic ranges, and the higher Andes. "The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly" (Isa. 35:1-2). Only about ten percent of the earth's land area is being used today. Why? Mainly because deserts or polar iceboxes monopolize each major continent. "The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water" (Verse 7). When God restores the right climate, these areas will all begin to blossom with a beauty unseen in this present world. These changes will take time, but God and His transformed saints have 1,000 years to prepare every square inch for these multitudes. After these centuries of preparation, God's relatively small "Task Force" will be organized and ready for the climactic moment: the resurrection of forty or fifty BILLION bodies, each one healthy and whole. NOW the question is: will the earth's land hold all these people? Simple mathematics, forty billion people divided by fifty million square miles of land surface, gives us a roomy five-acre plot for each medium-sized family of four to six members. This is the PERFECT size: large enough to feed a family and give plenty of "elbowroom," but small enough to discourage large-scale, greedy profit-farming. This fits in perfectly with God's prophecy in Micah 4:4: "But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid." God's Word stands wonderfully true under any test.
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