What Are the Signs? - Pt 4

 

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. (Revelation 11:15–19 ESV).

 

The third sign is the environmental crisis. On May 13, 2021, the world’s largest iceberg was formed when it broke off the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. “A-76,” as it was named, is a whopping 1,670 square miles. To give you some comparison it is nearly the size of Delaware, larger than the state of Rhode Island, and over 70 times larger than Manhattan Island.

 

No doubt, the earth is changing. While science attributes the environmental crisis to such factors as global warming, loss of biodiversity, or pollution, the Bible explains the root of the problem as another sign of the end. In his vision of the final judgment, the prophet Isaiah recorded, “The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate” (Isaiah 24:5, 6). Furthermore, in his vision of the end times, the apostle John heard proclaimed from heaven that God would “destroy those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). The earth is breaking down because humanity has persistently broken God’s law. There may well come a day when the devil will twist this reasoning to convince the majority of the globe to follow a counterfeit law of God.

 

In 2015, Pope Francis published his second encyclical, entitled Laudato si’, widely considered to be the pontiff’s opus on environmental protection. The issue has, in fact, been called the “cornerstone of his pontificate.” Francis has been instrumental in propelling climate change into a global movement, largely in his efforts to unite church and state under its banner. At no other time in Earth’s history has a church been so impassioned about environmentalism.

 

Though we are not given license to treat our planet like trash, there is danger in making environmentalism your gospel. The fact of the matter is that we cannot save the world with solar panels, wind turbines, or hybrid cars. “The day of the Lord [the Second Coming] will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). It is Christ who saves the world. Ultimately, the Savior will “create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17), restoring the earth to perfection. That time may be much sooner than many realize!