The Flat Earth Society

Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder— no end to the prey! The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot! Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end— they stumble over the bodies! And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms. Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. And all who look at you will shrink from you and say, “Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her?” Where shall I seek comforters for you? (Nahum 3:1-7 ESV). Members of the Flat Earth Society claim to believe the Earth is flat. Walking around on the planet's surface, it looks and feels flat, so they deem all evidence to the contrary, such as satellite photos of Earth as a sphere, to be fabrications of a "round Earth conspiracy" orchestrated by NASA and other government agencies. And, no, I’m not kidding! The belief that the Earth is flat has been described as the ultimate conspiracy theory. According to the Flat Earth Society's leadership, it has been growing rapidly since 2009. Over 200 people (mostly Americans and Britons) per year have joined since then. You may visit their web site, or read some of the current literature, which speaks quite plainly about the trickery perpetuated by NASA and science in general. For them, it’s all a conspiracy. The oceans are actually secured by a mound of ice at the edges. These folks may not catch your attention, but there are subtle principles at work in their lives that we ought to take notice of in our own lives. Too many people seem to believe that our culture is stable. We seem to deny where we are heading and what counts in the end. Many have missed the core truth. This is the truth of our reading today. Nineveh (the known center of the world at that time) is not sovereign; its markets and entertainments are not permanent, its army is not strong enough. “I am against you, says the Lord of hosts” (v. 5). God plans to heal the nations, to redeem his people, to establish His eternal kingdom. The Ninevites did not see it. Their earth was flat. That certainly did not change the outcome of God’s purpose for history. We are on the eve of a New Year. There are so many things that pull for our attention. Some of them are important; most of them make very little difference in the plan and purpose of God. As ridiculous as the Flat Earth Society may seem, we can fall into such a false sense of our power to determine the future so easily. Today, God wants you to believe his Word and put your life in his hands. What better day to start fresh than today as we peek over into a New Year!