| Highlights of DAWN | October 1989 |
The single most important, uncontrollable phenomenon of our time is the wildfire rate of population increase on our globe.
It more than any other human factor has influenced the drastic political revolution currently taking place in the communist world.
As population grows, so do human needs—and communism has proven quite ineffective in keeping pace both at home and in world markets.
The capitalistic segment of society has done somewhat better, but still falls far short of supplying even the basic needs of food and clothing to much of their world.
Is this a problem for man?—YES!
For God?—NO!
The Exploding Population
“Thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” —Isaiah 45:18
WORLD economists who are devoting attention to the rapidly increasing population of earth are becoming fearful lest this planet on which we live become overpopulated. While the situation is not yet critical, if something is not done, the end of the twentieth century might well find more people on the earth than present potentials could properly feed, clothe, and house.
By the beginning of the Christian era, which was approximately 4,000 years from man’s creation, earth’s population is estimated as having been root more than 250 million, or a quarter of a billion. Sixteen more centuries had passed before the population reached the half-billion mark. But in the next 250 years, or by 1850, the one billion mark had been reached. Today, nearly a century and a half later, the population of the earth is approaching the five billion mark.
And we are now told by the United Nations demographers that by the close of the century, eleven years from now, the population of the earth will be close to seven billion. They say that in less than 125 years the population will be FIFTY billion, or more than ten times what it is today!
But let us take a ten-billion figure, which will be reached within the lifetime of billions now living on the planet. This is a little more than double the present population. This would mean that all our cities must become double in size in less than thirty years, and the rural population become twice as dense. New cities may well be built, but no matter how the increased population may be apportioned, this factual look at the situation is rather awesome. And if we project our thinking 125 years into the future the situation becomes ten times as acute; and from the standpoint of human wisdom, this would not be the end.
As compared with many countries, especially those of Asia and South America, the population situation here in the United States is very favorable. There is already overcrowding in many areas of the earth. Much effort is being made by those in positions of influence and whose responsibility it is to do something about the population boom, to acquaint the people of earth with adequate methods of birth control, especially those in backward countries where the increase is the most rapid. For instance, in China, families are allowed to have only one child, and severe penalties are imposed on those who ignore this edict, not excluding mandatory abortions. So far as worldly wisdom is concerned, this seems to be the only solution short of a nuclear war, which would wipe out most of the present population of earth, and no one wants this! The only viable hope for a solution to this perplexing problem is found in the Word of God.
To those who understand God’s plan for his human creatures, the present burgeoning population is not a surprise. Instead it is one of the evidences of the forward march of his plan, and of the fact that it is soon to reach its glorious consummation in the enlightenment and blessing of all the families of the earth. The first statement in the Bible pertaining to God’s plan for his human creatures is found in the Book of Genesis. We quote: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he them; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish [Hebrew, ‘fill’] the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”—Gen. 1:27,28
The Genesis record also says, “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:8,9) This garden was but a model from which man could work as, in fulfillment of the Lord’s command, he pursued the project of subduing the whole earth.
And we can easily imagine how this would have been progressively accomplished. Obeying the Creator’s command to multiply and fill the earth, Adam’s family soon would have outgrown that comparatively small garden eastward in Eden. Then its borders would need to be extended. This process would continue until what started out to be but a small area of productive land would have encompassed the whole earth, and would thus have become a worldwide paradise.
This earthly paradise would then have been filled with God’s happy human creatures, knowing nothing of sin, sorrow, pain, and death. There would have been no danger of overpopulation, for God’s command was to FILL the earth, not to overfill it. We could assume that one solution would be for the Creator, at the proper time, to cooperate with his obedient humans to end the bringing forth of further children. The Bible does not give us any details of this, but this could possibly be implied by the nature and limitation of the command.
But matters did not work out in the obvious manner which we have outlined. God had placed a condition, not upon populating and filling the earth, but upon continuing to live under the favorable conditions provided in Eden. Speaking of the forbidden fruit of the garden, God said to Adam; “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die [Hebrew, ‘dying thou shalt die’].” (Gen. 2:17) We all know the story of Adam’s disobedience, of his being sentenced to death, and driven out of Eden to die.
But this did not change the divine purpose in the creation of man, although human philosophy has made it appear as though it did. This philosophy began with a lie told to mother Eve by the ‘serpent’, through which the Devil presented the temptation. He contradicted God’s clear and simple counsel, by telling Eve that death would NOT result from disobeying God. Just what this meant to her we may not be sure, but later the philosophy developed to the point where the majority of men, believing Satan’s lie, thought that there is no death. This would mean that Adam and Eve did not really die, as God said they would; that what seemed to be death was merely the passing through a gateway into another life in some faraway ‘isle of somewhere’.
Death, however, is a reality. Our first parents were not transferred to another abode at death. They died, for “the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23) “The dead know not anything.” (Eccles. 9:5) The simple fact is that man was created to live on the earth, but he lost the privilege of living forever because he transgressed divine law. However, this did not change the divine purpose in the creation of man. As our text declares, God did not create the earth in vain, but formed it to be inhabited—not by a dying race, but by a living race.
It is a well-known fact that Jesus died to save the world from sin and death. But those who do not accept the testimony of the Bible concerning the reality of death suppose that Jesus’ death was to provide a way for converted sinners to go to heaven when they die. In reality, however, the great redemptive program centered in Christ Jesus provides for the human race to be restored to life on the earth as humans. This means that eventually, and in God’s own due time, his original purpose concerning man will be accomplished. The whole earth will become one vast paradise, filled with perfect, happy people, freed from sickness and death, and all the evils which now afflict the dying race.
True, Jesus said to his disciples that he was going away to. prepare a ‘place’ for them, and that he would come again and receive them unto himself. (John 14:2,3) This and other promises of the Bible warrants the followers of Jesus to expect a heavenly reward in the resurrection. But this provision is not for mankind in general. It is only for that little flock who follow in the footsteps of Jesus, laying down their lives in sacrifice as he did. These will be exalted to “glory, honor and immortality,” to live and reign with Christ a thousand years.—Rom. 2:7; Rev. 20:4,6
The main purpose of Jesus’ first visit to earth was the giving of his life in sacrifice in order that condemned humanity might be released from that condemnation and be restored to life. The Bible teaches that his second visit, which lasts for a thousand years, will be for the purpose of restoring the people to life. The Apostle Peter described the period of Christ’s second visit to earth as “the times of restitution of all things, which,” he declared, “God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”—Acts 3:19-21
This means, according to the testimony of all God’s holy prophets, that the arrangement which would have been had sin not entered the Garden of Eden, is yet to be! And the restoration of the human race to life will include not only those who are living at the time this great feature of the divine plan begins, for the Bible reveals clearly that all the dead are to be awakened from the sleep of death and given an opportunity to share in the blessings of health and life provided by the death of Jesus as man’s Redeemer.
This would seem to make the escalating population problem even more serious. Some have mistakenly supposed that there would not be room enough on the earth for those who have died, but this is not true. A simple way to prove this is to multiply the present daily death rate by the number of days since creation, add to this the present population of earth, and one will find that there would still be ample room on earth for the total number. It is obvious, however, that this method of estimating gives us many times what the total actually will be. And it is true that if nothing is done about the present exploding population growth the earth would soon become overpopulated.
As we have noted, the command to our first parents was to multiply and fill the earth, not to overfill it. The publicity being given to this subject in today’s world is preparing people for the change which must inevitably come. And there is still much unused land surface on the earth—vast open spaces available for further production. The Scriptures assure us that during the “times of restitution,” “the earth shall yield her increase.”—Acts 3:19-21; Ps. 67:6
We are reminded of the ever-increasing knowledge related to land utilization. On the average, much more food is produced per acre now than was true fifty years ago. And this increase continues. Modern farm machinery enables a few to cultivate vast areas of land. Hydroponic farming as well as experiments with genetic fusion are among the many new innovations in agriculture which are producing surprisingly brilliant results. We simply remind our readers of these various details to emphasize that the earth is quite capable of caring for the existing population, and additionally those who will be brought back from the grave.
There are many prophecies in the Bible pertaining to the day of preparation for Christ’s kingdom, which will be the agency used for restoring mankind to life on the earth. These prophecies are being fulfilled in a remarkable manner, which proves that the long-promised kingdom of the Messiah is close at hand. One of these pertains to the great increase of knowledge and rapid means of travel peculiar to the present time. (Dan. 12:4) The increase of knowledge manifests itself along many lines, and particularly in the increased production of all the various commodities needed by man.
Under present conditions, and particularly aside from the vast amount of energy utilized in maintaining and increasing the machinery of war, this increased production potential is posing a labor problem for the world. The industrial world is now able to produce much more than the people can possibly use. However, this situation will not continue, for soon there will not be only the living generation for which provision will need to be made, but also the vast numbers returning from death. Thus God, in his wise foresight, has timed these events to coincide for the good of his human creatures.
And speaking of God’s timing, the population explosion points up another aspect of divine wisdom. While at present, and for a short time into the future, the total number of new babies born will have ample room here on earth, and can be well provided for, but the present arrangements cannot continue too long. If they do, as the statisticians point out, there will not be room on earth for even the living population, to say nothing about the millions who have died.
What has so comparatively suddenly brought about this population crisis? A simple, and we believe a well-known illustration reveals the answer to this question. Two germs are placed in a bowl to propagate. These germs double in number every second. At the end of one hour, the bowl is full of germs. At what point in the hour is the bowl half-full? The answer is at the end of the fifty-ninth second of the sixtieth minute in the hour! It would be the last doubling that would fill the bowl!
We can hardly apply this illustration with exactness, for there is no way of now just how many people the earth would actually support under perfect conditions. However, it appears that humanity has reached a point in its increase of population which compares roughly to that last second of the hour during which the germs fill the bowl! This is why thinking people of the world are suddenly becoming alarmed. The doubling of the present population of five billion by the end of the century is a startling thought, but what about the doubling of that number a few years beyond the turn of the century?
And what does it mean to the outworking of the divine plan? Simply that God’s time is near to apply his solution to the problem. Messiah’s kingdom and the time of restoration is hear—that restoration, or restitution, which was spoken by the mouth of all God’s holy prophets since the world began.
Today seventy-five percent of the human race is underfed, underclothed, and has insufficient shelter. Millions go to bed hungry every day, and, particularly in the Far East, never have a roof over their heads from the time they are born until they die. Even now, however, the productive countries of the earth could produce enough for all. One of the problems is distribution, and behind this problem is human selfishness. Many ‘have’ nations simply do not want to give up any of their luxuries in order to raise the standards of the ‘have not’ nations. And when relief has been inaugurated by generous countries in specific desperate situations, local pride, mismanagement and selfishness takes over. If the general spirit of selflessness and of genuine interest in the welfare of all people prevailed, the distribution problem would disappear.
But here again, the Lord will step in and do for man what he cannot do for himself. Prophecies concerning restitution picture men as being given hearts of flesh, and the Lord’s law of love being written in their hearts. (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 11:19,20; 36:24-28) What a difference this will make in human behavior, especially in the attitude of people toward other people, and particularly the people of other lands!
With such a loving attitude prevailing, and divine power intervening as necessary in the affairs of men, there will be no problem too great to be solved. Ways will be found to make earth produce more abundantly. The present waste places will become fertile; “they shall build houses” in abundance “and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.” (Isa. 65:21,22) “Her [the world’s] merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.” (Isa. 23:18) Let us rejoice in all the evidences with which we are surrounded assuring us that such a glorious new day of blessing is near!