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kind has to solve horrendous global
pollution problems.
" Say to them that are of a fearful
heart [and who doesn' t get a litt le
fearful when reading about today's
pollution problems?), Be strong,
fear noi: behold your God wi ll
come ... he will come and save
you" (Isa. 35:4).
The Fi rst Step
What will be t he fi rst step Christ
will take to halt dest ruct ion of the
earth's environment?
He will remove the primary
source causing world problems, the
wrong a ttitudes a nd ideas in
h1,1mans that result in da!llaging
ways of living. Christ will first
dethrone and chain Satan and his
evil host af demons. They will cease
to deceive and sway the nations any
more (Rev. 20: 1-2). No one but the
great God can bind and c hain this
evi l " Destroyer ." Without this
step, stopping degradation of the
environment is not possible. No
human governmen t even knows
that.
God will then put a s top to
another great cause of human poJ–
Iution and environmentaJ degrada–
tion . The nations wi ll be forced to
stop warring and fighting. They
will be forced to stop destroying
and polluting the earth 's environ–
ment with nu clear , c hemical or
other means of destruct ion. Man–
kind , at last , wi ll be forced to stop
the vas t appropriat ion for war of
limited economic a nd mater ia l
resources. lnstead resources will
begin to go for cons tructive pur–
poses.
" And he [Christ] shall judge
among t he nat ions, a nd
s hall
rebuke many people:
and they shall
beat their swords (military hard–
ware] into plowshares, and their
spears into pruninghooks: nation
shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war
any more" (l sa. 2:4).
Healing Waters
But how, you may ask, are all the
vast quantities of pollution from
nuclear and chemical warfare and
other tox ic wastes pollut ing air,
land, water, even deep ocean beds,
.goi ng to be gotten rid o f or
cleansed? The process will begin
March 1983
immediately after the return of
Jesus Christ.
N ote this wonderful prophecy.
" And his [Christ's] feet s ha ll
stand in that day [of C hris t 's
return] upon the mount of Olives,
which is befa re J erusalem ... a nd
the mount of Ol ives shall cleave in
the midst thereof ... and there
shaJI be a very great valley ... and
it shaJI be in that day, that living
(l ife-giving] waters sha ll go out
from J erusalem; ha lf o f them
toward t he former sea [Dead Sea]
and half of them toward the h in–
der sea [Mediterranean]: in sum–
mer and in winter sha ll it be"
(Zech. 14:4, 8).
Note the miraculous healing
power of this water from Chris t 's
throne upon everything it touches.
''
Too often m the
process of creating sorne
new technology
or goods in competition
for markets,
more dangerous forms
of pollution are
generated.
''
E ze kiel , chapter 47 , fil l s in
details: "These waters issue out
toward the east country, and go
down into the desert, a nd go into
t he sea: which being brought forth
into the sea, the waters sha ll be
healed [of the horre ndous pollu–
tion wrought because of human
warfare aod sin] .
"And it shall come to pass, that
every thing that liveth, which mov–
eth, whithersoever the rivers shall
come, shall live: and there shall be
a very great multi tu.de of fish,
because these waters come thither:
for they shall be healed; and every
thing shall live whither the river
cometh" (verses 8, 9).
The whole world is going to real–
ize that all true good, and all t rue
heal ing-whether of body, mind ,
s pirit or of the environment–
issues from God and from him
alone!
But there is much more!
Llv e l ltlood s o n T rack
C hris t can start totally afresh in
rebui ldi ng communities and na–
tions with envi ronmentaJ ly sound
ways of living. Note the new eco–
nomic focus in the world tomorrow.
l t will be based on agriculture, on
the right care of the soil and on
p rodu cing ab undan t food a nd
bui lding mater ials, not on machines
for war and conquest ( l sa. 2:4).
What is a majar cause of today's
rush into pollution?
lt
is nations
rushing headlong into industrial
production- in fierce competition
for survival with other industrial
nations.
That means more and more pro–
duction is geared to making more,
making it faster and making it
c heap. l t means relatively few
people growing a limited variety of
grain crops for masses in urban
areas. Those who do produce food
are encouraged to plunder the soil
to force it to produce by any means!
More and more, industrial a nd
farm ing compe t itiveness means
cutting corners and ignoring proper
measures to protect workers, the
soil , the e nvironment and one
another 's health .
Sorne modern cost-cutting mea–
sures are good and helpful. But too
often in the process of creat ing
sorne new technology or goods in
competition for markets, more dan–
gerous forms of pollution are gen–
erated.
Modern economic compet ition
does not allow· ei ther indust ries or
farmers to apply the essential anti–
pollution equipment or conserva–
Lían mcthods they should. I f one
person does and others do not, the
one seldom can compete and su r–
vive economically.
1n God's kingdom .there will be a
proper place for certain kinds of
industry and r ight technology.
Note fi rst, however , God's plan of
putting priorities aright.
Rlght Prior i t ies
Remember , God's paramount pur–
pose is building godly character in
human beings. To do that God
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