Frank Fulop – 15 April 2020
It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. (Psalm 74:16-17)
Have you ever wondered what God, the Creator, teaches us through his Word – the Holy Bible – about the fears many people have for our environment?
God’s Word gives some heartening insights.
God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.
(Genesis 1:14-16) He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness. (Job 26:10) For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. (Psalm 33:9)
Carbon emissions – This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. (Jeremiah 10:2) His message to the House of Israel is the same to us today. In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:10) If he thought only of himself and withdrew his Spirit and his breath, all living beings would die together, and humanity would return to dust. (Job 34:14-15) (GW) Let us truly believe that the Lord is in complete control of the air we breathe.
Global warming – As long as the (present) earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. (Genesis 8:22)
God’s promise to us is that conditions for all life to continue will never cease until the time he has set for the world to end. He created and controls the sunlight, rain, oxygen, temperatures, times and seasons for all life to exist. He controls the heavens and the earth and promises to supply our every need.
On the Sea of Galilee, Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waters; and the storm subsided, and all was calm. He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him. (Luke 8:24-25) He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. (Psalm 147:15) The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. (Psalm 135:6) Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14) As God has set all the boundaries of earth, let us believe that he has set boundaries for the temperatures of the earth which cannot be exceeded.
Melting of the polar ice caps – From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen (the Lord spoke these words to Job)? (Job 38:28-30) The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. (Job 37:10) He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. (Psalm 104:5) For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world. (1 Samuel 2:8) Therefore, let us take God at his word that he has set boundaries for the polar ice caps which will never disappear.
Rising sea levels – I (wisdom) was there when he (God) set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. (Proverbs 8:27-29) I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. (Jeremiah 5:22) This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt?’ (Job 38:8-10)
He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. (Psalm 104:5-9) These are only glimpses of what he does. (Job 26:14) (GW)
There are many other fears that people have about our natural world. Let us draw strength, comfort and hope in the firm belief that God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is in complete control, so that human life will not perish but continue until the last day. The Lord Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.” (Isaiah 14:24) Who are we to fully understand the boundaries and other wonders that God has set by his own design?
I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.
(Psalm 131:1) He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed. (Job 5:9)
Let us not concern ourselves with the fears and worries of this world. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
(2 Timothy 1:7) (NKJV) Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
(Ephesians 6:10) (KJV)
Whilst we can take great comfort knowing that God has established natural boundaries that can never be crossed, let us turn our hearts and minds to the commands he has set – boundaries if you like – for a life which pleases him. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3) Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. (Hebrews 12:2) (GNT)
The one who comes from heaven is above all. (John 3:31) The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1) All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.
(Psalm 66:4) In God, whose word I praise – in God I trust and am not afraid.
(Psalm 56:4) Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. (Psalm 150:6)
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) God is not man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19) Do not be afraid; only believe. (Mark 5:36)
