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Today’s Scripture Reading [August 8, 2010]
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. [Revelation 8:8-9. KJV)
When Jesus was asked about the time for the end of the world, He told the disciple, among others, that there will be famines and earthquakes in various places, and all these are the beginning of birth pains. Following this, Jesus has instructed us to watch and pray so that we can be accounted worthy to escape all these things (Luke 21:36).
Since the start of 2010, there were catastrophes after catastrophes but so far nothing could match the destructive force of the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico as far as environmental damage is concerned. The damage to the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico due to the oil leak is irreversible and the livelihood of many people is destroyed for good. The Gulf was a sanctuary for some, an employer for others, a paradise for tourists and now, a tragedy for everyone living around there. Life will never be the same in this once popular beach resort. Although the latest attempt to cap the leak seems to give a ray of hope that the spill could be permanently capped, the disaster of BP oil spill is now considered by some scientists and environmentalists as the “Mother of all Man-Made Calamities.” What we have read or seen so far in the local mass media over the last three months are in fact no news at all compared to what is actually happening in the Gulf. I have viewed many Youtube videos concerning the oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico and even though this event is not likely a direct fulfillment of the prophecy in the Revelation 8:8-9, we can expect worst things to happen in the near future if man continues to operate in his present evil ways. What we now see in the Gulf of Mexico is just a glimpse or a rehearsal of what is going to actually take place when the second angel sounded his trumpet: among other things, one third of the sea will turn into blood, one third of the fishes will die, and one third of the ship will be destroyed.
The BP oil spill is not just about drilling of oil neither it is about technology of petroleum. Rather, it’s about human wickedness, human greed, human action that has gone astray, and more importantly, it is about the lack of fear of God which is indeed the very heart of the matter. As we can read from the following comments made by people across all diversity from scientists, politicians, environmentalists, Christian evangelists, rescue workers as well as ordinary people living along the Gulf of Mexico, we can come to the realization that the problem is not engineering but of human wickedness and sinfulness:
• The greed of the oil industry is best reflected with what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The doomsday scenario of men destroying themselves is closer than you can now imagine.
• BP stands for Bible Prophecy and nothing can depart from this biblical truth if we examine what is taking place in the Gulf of Mexico and Revelation 8:8-9; 16:3-4.
• The tsunami of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak is a clear signal of human consequences for failing to understand what selfishness and greed can do to us.
• Every truly born-again Christian has the responsibility to use current events to explain, in a loving way, that there is a limit to human accomplishment and beyond this we are only seeking self-destruction.
• The BP oil spill is a story about self-destruction and the apocalyptic vision that the end of the world is eerily near.
• At the present rate of the leak which is estimated to be at around 1-2 million gallons per day, the oil will reach all the oceans in 18 months.
• The destruction of the fishery and marine industry will create huge food shortage and will have serious repercussion on the food prices.
• The BP oil spill is not just another industrial accident. It is a made-man catastrophe of biblical proportion.
• Toxic gases, notably, hydrogen sulfide, benzene and methylene chloride are now few hundred times higher than the permissible level as prescribed by the U.S. environmental and pollution agencies. Massive evacuation of up to 30-40 million people is imminent because people are breathing toxic air.
• ….and much more, if only you care to search or google for more information!
The disaster in the Gulf is a reminder that sin is both personal and corporate. But this is not just about BP alone. It is not just about them - the people in the Board Room who were involved in cutting corners to generate addition dollar for the company that finally brought the disaster upon this fragile earth. It is also about us. Because of our constant need for more and better stuff and the choices we make about how we live leads to a huge need and dependence on oil; our addiction for oil leads to drilling in the ocean; BP’s desire for quick profits leads to cutting corners, which led to the disaster. We are all connected to this disaster in one way or another. In fact, everything that we do is connected. What we do as an individual or as a corporation will affect others. We cannot escape from what the Bible has taught us that if we continue to live the way we live, we will be destroyed by our own constant desire for wealth, for senseless and harmful desires (1 Timothy 6:9).
A well-known 19th century theologian Karl Barth famously said that to be an effective in the sharing of God’s Word, Christians should hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other because we are to consider both what is and what ought to be, both God’s intentions for us and the reality in which we find ourselves. Theologian Karl Barth has been gone for some time now, but it is still good advice. In fact, his advice is more relevant now than ever before. With that kind of sensibility in mind, we turn to the news everyday, and what do we find? I think I don’t need to elaborate further because I believe you know all the answers. The point that Karl Barth was making is that we are to read both the Bible and the newspaper and to interpret newspaper from the Bible. The Bible, though it was written many thousand years ago, is just as relevant as it was first written. Every piece of news, every world event that we read in the newspaper (and for that matter, reported in the TV, in the Internet) is closely connected to the Bible. Why is this so? Because the Bible is about past human history; it is about the present human events; and it is about the future Kingdom of God that is to come - in fact, more than 25% of the Bible is about the future Kingdom; about the coming of Jesus to take over the reign from Satan and to rule and to establish His everlasting Kingdom. Just imagine, one in four verses of the Bible is about our coming Messiah! His coming is imminent! When He finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all His angels with Him, the King of Kings will take His place on the glorious throne (Matthew 24:30). Then all the nations will be arranged before Him, and He will sort the people out, much as the shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to His right and goats to His left.
There are actually many lessons that we can learn from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But history has shown time and again, human beings don’t learn from their mistakes, and the truth is that history is going to repeat itself, often with even greater disastrous and destructive effects on the environment and on mankind. A good example is the War World Two which was known to some as ‘war of all wars’. When it finally ended in 1945, it was cheered because it was thought that ‘it is the war to end all wars'. So, has it?
As Christians, we have a living hope that all the money in the world cannot buy; the living hope that all the treasures in this world cannot provide – this is the living hope of our Lord Jesus who will establish His Kingdom here on earth. We must continue to live to give and that is the purpose of our lives – to give and to share the Good News of the living hope of Jesus to others; to share with others about the Spirit of Christ, and to help one another to prepare for His Coming Kingdom. This is the very purpose of our existence on earth because nothing else matter more than to let people know about Jesus and His Coming Kingdom. It is a wonderful accomplishment when we see one of our friends or relatives turns himself or herself to Christ and that the living hope of His Coming Kingdom is now part of his or her life.
We have to take full knowledge that the devil is busy putting doubts into the minds of men and women from every angle. Hence, we too must be busy sharing God’s Truth and pray for the Spirit of Christ to dissolve the doubts that the devil is putting into the minds of men and women. That’s the only purpose of the devil – to put doubts into the mind of people that there is no God. Thankfully, we have the Word of God, the Bible. This is a very powerful tool given to us by our God for us to dissolve the devil’s doubts of the men and women. We must make full use of this tool, the Word of God, the Bible as the spiritual weapon and together with the Spirit of Christ and the precious blood of Jesus, our victory is assured!
