| HIGHLIGHTS OF DAWN | August 2002 |
The End Of The World
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“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.” |
IT WAS NOT TOO LONG ago that many preachers in Christianity preached a ‘doomsday’ doctrine. It was a concept based on the question asked by our Lord’s disciples, “What shall be the sign of thy coming (Greek parousia, presence), and of the end of the world?” (Matt. 24:3) Later the Apostle Peter wrote, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (II Peter 3:10) This text was used to prove that the end of the world would be the time when the earth would be destroyed by fire. We don’t hear this doctrine preached as much, though many believe that it will happen. They expect the good believers in Jesus to be carried away in the ‘rapture’ to heaven when it happens.
The reason why doomsday, as a teaching, does not occur as frequently as it did 100 years ago, is because Bible students have been successful in disseminating a more accurate knowledge of Bible teachings. For example, the Greek word translated “world” in Matt. 24:3 is the Greek word, aion, meaning ‘age’ or ‘period of time.’ Hence, our Lord’s disciples wanted to know when the age of this present evil world would end. Also Bible students have made known that the Bible is not contradictory. In Ecclesiastes 1:4 the statement is plain, “The earth abideth for ever.” Also, in their studies, they have found that fire is used as a symbol of destruction. The Bible often uses symbolic language to describe events to come.
SEVERE WATER SHORTAGE
The strange turn of events is that scientists and well-educated men, who are specialists in their fields of knowledge, have now become the prophets of doom. It is not surprising, therefore, that in the span of three weeks earlier this year there appeared three articles in the Los Angeles Times that forecast doom for many peoples, and destruction of life upon earth. The first of these appeared on March 23 and said:
“More than 2.7 billion people will face severe shortages of fresh water by 2025 if the world keeps consuming water at today’s rates, the United Nations warned in a report marking World Water Day.
“Worldwide, about 5 billion people will be living in areas where it will be difficult or impossible to meet all their needs for fresh water, creating ‘a looming crisis that overshadows nearly two-thirds of the Earth’s population,’ the report said.
“The report was released in Vienna by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a nuclear watchdog organization leading the United Nations’ effort to draw attention to the world’s water crisis and urge the launch of a ‘blue revolution’ to conserve supplies and develop new ones.”
GLOBAL WARMING DISASTER
The second appeared on April 3 commenting on the Senate’s failure to pass a stricter fuel bill, and that global warming would continue with disastrous effects. The reporter wrote:
“How ironic. As Washington lawmakers were complaining late last month that soccer moms would be deprived of minivans if the nation adopted tougher fuel economy standards for SUVs and other vehicles, chunks of ice the size of Delaware were breaking away and disintegrating in Antarctica.
“The collapse of ice shelves as thick as 640 feet in the coldest continent on Earth is more evidence of global warming, scientists suggest. Many experts insist that to protect the environment and slow the warming trend, vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide—a gas linked to global warming—must be reduced.
“Vehicles with poor fuel economy generally produce more carbon monoxide than those with better economy that are driven the same number of miles each year.
“The United States Senate had a chance to take a big step to promote better fuel economy, but the senators dodged it.
“The fuel economy bill advocated by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC) would have required auto makers to manufacture vehicles that would have a fleetwide average of 36 miles per gallon by 2015.
“That would have represented a 38% increase from the 26-mpg average that has been in place more than two decades. It also would, over time, have eliminated exemptions that currently allow light trucks, including sport utility vehicles, to meet a lower average of only 20.7 mpg.
“What did get approved was an alternative bill— considered more friendly to the auto industry—that directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set fuel standards. Those standards would be based on their impact on vehicle safety, jobs, and the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
“The measure was touted by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Senator Christopher S. Bond (R-MO). It was Bond who worried about the fate of soccer moms.”
The writer of the article, at the end, made his own personal comments, saying:
“But back on the issue of the environment, scientists say that as temperatures rise, ice shelves in Antarctica continue to collapse with staggering speed. Years from now, the collapse of these shelves could lead to a rapid rise of the sea level.
“I must admit I’m more worried about the consequences of global warming and melting icebergs than whether or not the neighborhood soccer mom, or anyone else, has a big enough minivan or sport utility.”
Note: There is an error in this reporter’s article. He refers to the concern scientists and experts have about the emissions of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a product of incomplete combustion and is lethal. Carbon dioxide is a product of complete combustion and is the gas linked to global warming.
DISASTROUS COLLISION
The third article appeared on April 8 and told of a huge asteroid spinning in space that could hit Earth with a force that could cause the end of all life on earth. The article reported:
“The greatest known threat to Earth from outer space is an asteroid barreling through the universe named 1950 DA. It is six times the size of Morro Rock asteroid and capable of ending life as we know it.
“We are safe for the time being. So are our great-grandchildren. And theirs. The space rock has a roughly 1-in-300 chance of smacking the planet with the force of millions of tons of TNT and kicking up enough dust to choke off life with a nuclear winter-on March 16, 2880.
“‘This is not something to worry about,’ said Jon Giorgini, a Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer who led the team that analyzed the asteroid and published its findings in this week’s issue of the journal Science. ‘That’s 35 generations away.’
“Rather than being seen as a potential disaster, the finding comes as something of good news in a field better known for ominous forecasts of planetary disasters. More than 1,000 large asteroids capable of hitting Earth are circling through the solar system. Only 576 have been identified.
“‘We know this thing could not hit until 2880. We can certify the safety,’ said Steve Ostro, a JPL astronomer who studied the asteroid using radar telescopes. ‘This is one object we’re not losing sleep over.’
“1950 DA is about two-thirds of a mile wide. The projected impact date falls on a Saturday. Talk about ruining a weekend.
“Its impact would generate enough energy to burn forests, spawn huge tidal waves, and turn the skies black. But it is far smaller than the asteroid, or comet, that helped wipe out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. That one was about 10 miles across.
“Typically, astronomers can predict the track of an asteroid for 100 years—and can’t say much about what will happen after that. So many factors tweak an asteroid’s path—from sunlight to the gravitational tug of stars—that peering further into the future becomes impossible.
“‘There are many uncertainties and they grow with time,’ Ostro said. The JPL team was able to push forecasting limits to nearly 900 years using a blend of good fortune, detailed radar observations, and an awful lot of math.
“The good luck came in 1950, when the asteroid was observed for 17 days through an optical telescope. To optical telescopes that collect light, dark asteroids are barely perceptible specks. But enough information can be gained from these rough observations to pinpoint their location relative to nearby stars.
“After that sighting, the asteroid was lost to science. It was not sighted again until December 31, 2000, when an astronomer at Arizona’s Lowell Observatory—who was working instead of ringing in the New Year—saw the asteroid and deemed it a new discovery. Further analysis showed the asteroid was good old 1950 DA, which had eluded telescopes as it looped toward the solar system’s outer reaches.
“The sightings so many years apart meant astronomers at JPL could discern the current orbit of the asteroid. But the team needed to know more about the rock’s position and the rock itself.”
The article then went on to describe the additional tests that were performed with a radar telescope and the multitudinous mathematical calculations made to arrive at the conclusion which predicts a possible striking of the earth in 2880 by this asteroid.
WATER SHORTAGE PROBLEM SOLVED
How real is the severe water shortage predicted by the International Atomic Energy Agency through the United Nations? Such water shortages, in our time, may occur in different parts of the world. The Lord originally set in motion a remarkable method of supplying water for mankind. The vast oceans on earth have a tremendous amount of water. The water is salty and needs to be distilled from the salt. This is accomplished by the sun evaporating water which is carried by winds inland where it condenses and forms clouds. These clouds are cooled and release their water as rain. As Solomon wrote about the rivers of earth which receive this water from the rain, “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.” (Eccles. 1:7) Returning to the sea, these waters are reevaporated, and the cycle is repeated. It is like a perpetual motion machine.
Weather patterns play an important part in this process. If a huge storm occurs and too much water comes down at once, flooding and hurricanes can occur adding to man’s woes. If there is a drought and the rain falls in the ocean directly, man does not benefit from that rain. The Scriptures indicate that our Lord Jesus is able to control the weather. During his earthly ministry a tempest blew upon the Sea of Galilee as our Lord and his disciples were crossing the sea in a ship. Jesus was asleep when this occurred and the disciples became frightened and thought they would perish. They awoke Jesus, who criticized them for their lack of faith, and then rebuked the winds and the sea so that a great calm occurred. They did not hear his criticism of them but stood in utter amazement saying, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”—Matt. 8:27
This capability of our Lord Jesus and his Heavenly Father to control the weather is the reason that in the kingdom any nation that fails to obey his instruction “to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.” (Zech. 14:17) In that kingdom there shall be an ample amount of water for everyone.
THE GOOD OF GLOBAL WARMING
How serious is the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to cause global warming? Will it have the disastrous effects predicted? The warning of global warming and its effects have been put forth by the scientific community for over twenty years. Global warming has released more land for farming in the colder areas of earth. This has been beneficial. The United States Department of Agriculture has run experiments to demonstrate that increased carbon dioxide in the air has caused plants to grow faster. This too has been beneficial as the world needs more food. To date, we have not observed the disastrous effects predicted by scientists of global warming.
One of the effects predicted is a rise in the sea levels to cause coastal floodings. The melting of ice in Antarctica is supposed to do this. To date, there have been no reports of radical changes in the coastlines of Earth. Changes in weather patterns are also forecast. But such are constantly occurring, and as we have seen demonstrated by our Lord Jesus when he was on earth, these can be controlled by the Heavenly Father and will be in his kingdom.
How much increase will God permit in the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere? We don’t know and will have to wait and see. Less use of fossil fuels for energy and more use of solar energy will certainly reduce the emissions of excess carbon dioxide. This balance is completely in our Father’s hands. The remarkable balance in life upon earth of carbon dioxide is constantly occurring as all animals (including man) exhale carbon dioxide and all green plants absorb it to make necessary food. The atmospheric content of carbon dioxide will be controlled by our God.
WILL A COLLISION OF EARTH WITH AN ASTEROID REALLY OCCUR?
How threatening to all life upon earth is the possible impact of asteroid 1950 DA? Would such a disaster occur in 2880, during the 1,000-year reign of Christ? It would be utterly foolish to believe that this could happen. As explained in the article on this asteroid, a number of factors can alter the course of this asteroid. These are its mass, shape, color, spinning orbit, heat absorbed or reflected from the sun, and gravitational pull of Earth and other planets. As suggested by the one who called attention to this article, all that needs to happen is to have God give it a slight nudge to make it go out into outer space. We can be assured that a tragic impact of Earth by this asteroid, or any other asteroid, will not occur because God has mandated that the ‘earth abideth forever.’ As Isaiah has written, “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.” (Isa. 45:18) This is the God that says earlier in Isaiah 45, “Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” (vss. 11,12) When we ask of things to come concerning his ‘sons,’ he reveals to us his wonderful plan of the ages. How blessed we are to know God’s plan concerning mankind, and the blessings he has in store for them.