The Foundations Are Shaking!

Reading from the Book of II Samuel 22:8-16

 

⁸ The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry. ⁹ Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. ¹⁰ He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. ¹¹ He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. ¹² He made darkness his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. ¹³ Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. ¹⁴ The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. ¹⁵ He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. ¹⁶ The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

 

Global warming? Global cooling? Who cares? The world is changing. Climate is changing. The world is undergoing a revolution. Most of us in the U.S. are under a heat dome right now, yes. But aside from that oven effect, the sun is getting hotter. For several years I have noticed the rays of the sun; the penetrating, burning rays, becoming more intense. Even on cool days.

Earthquakes, and other geological and climatic events are occurring in diverse places, with increasing frequency and intensity. A 6.5 again in northern Japan. Even sinkholes are more frequent. Great centrifugal forces are altered with the receding or building of ice mass on continental plates. Great stresses result.

 

Volcanos are erupting in many different locations. Dust storms are passing over the Mid-West. Foundation cracks are appearing, many that are consuming houses, cars, etc.

The foundations of the earth are being shaken.

Do we grasp; do we realize, what we are witnessing in history? Humanity itself is undergoing a revolution. Every culture, and government, and economic system on earth is undergoing a revolution.

The hand of God is moving.

The tectonic problems are being caused by the removal of oil (lubrication) and gas (expansion/pressure regulation/shock-absorption/catalyst), and depressurizing of such pockets, as well as that of our water aquifers. Water in the system is coolant/lubricant/catalyst/purger/etc.

The practice of 'fracking'-fracturing-crumbling-mass formations of rock deep within the earth, is the last frontier of 'fossil' fuel, but also the straw that will break the camel's back. It is like a root canal on a tooth, in that it
is taking the life and resiliency from the rock, in terms of its geological placement and function. After fracking, the formations will pulverize and disintegrate. This will lead to different conditions, from compacting, to creation of voids, or vast fluid masses.

The way we go about using our resources (and we need to produce them to use them) is like tapping a maple tree for syrup year round. Sapping it dry, with no regard for its health. It will soon lose its life. All things in nature act this way in a general sense.

Placed in economic terms, this is not capitalism in my opinion. True capitalism is not a purposeful destroyer for the sake of exploitations. Something truly capitalist would preserve its resource to perpetuate the economic return, not rape, pillage, and plunder, seeking what it may devour next. Capitalism is a producer, not a destroyer (abaddon, hbrw, apollyon, grk~Rev. 9:11). Vast amounts of methane, and pollutants are released to atmosphere from fracking, filtering through aquifers that supply drinking wells to vast swaths of people.

"And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth." ~ Rev 11:18

Now, who, I ask, (and this is especially significant for judeo-christian people) is "them that destroy the earth"?
No one believing the Bible can say man has not the capacity to inflict massive damage upon the earth by his actions and use of resources. The time is here for great travail, and great opportunity.

Psalm 115:13 ...he will bless those who fear the LORD--small and great alike

To Be Excellent In A Lions' Den

Reading from the Book of Daniel 6: 3, 10-23

 ³ Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

Daniel was a man of excellence and because of that, the king promoted him to a position of great influence and authority. Daniel was also a man who refused to compromise. Even if his choices endangered his life, he would not compromise. He believed strongly in keeping his commitments, promises and vows and he was willing to endure personal discomfort to do so. The Bible says we should swear to our own hurt and change not. In other words, we should do what we say we are going to do even if it is hard or brings negative consequences.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. ¹¹ Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. ¹² So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”
   The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
 ¹³ Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” ¹⁴ When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
 ¹⁵ Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”
 ¹⁶ So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
 ¹⁷ A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. ¹⁸ Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
 ¹⁹ At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. ²⁰ When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
 ²¹ Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! ²² My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”
 ²³ The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

In Daniel chapter 6, the king signed a decree stating that anyone who asked a petition of any god or person besides the king for thirty days would be cast into a lions' den. Daniel refused to stop praying to God and was indeed sent into the lions' den. However, no harm came to him because God miraculously shut the lions' mouths. The king was so impressed with Daniel's decision and the miraculous way God took care of him that he issued a decree that all the people had to fear and tremble before Daniel's God, for He was indeed the living God.

Daniel continued to pray as he always had. He apparently knew that God's protection could render men's threats totally null and void. If we believe we are doing God's will and then run into opposition, we need to be like Daniel and boldly continue to do as God has instructed us, trusting Him to protect us.

Our God is an excellent God, and He has called us to be excellent too. To be excellent is a decision we must make, and it means we should always go the extra mile to do things the very best way they can be done. And, we should strive to do what we believe God would do in a situation similar to the one we are in. Make a decision today to be excellent!

When the Foundations Are Destroyed

Reading from the Book of Psalm 11:3

"When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

 

The word here for "foundations" is not the usual word for, say, a building foundation. Used rarely, a better translation of this word would be "purpose," or "basis." The fear expressed is not that the foundations of our faith might be undermined, but that we might lose our sense of purpose.

 

In the context of the psalm, David was in danger of becoming demoralized by the pressures of wicked desires and evil ambitions all around him, and Christians surely have the same problem today. Why should we try to maintain high standards of doctrinal integrity and moral purity when the people around us--even most Christians--seem to be occupied mostly with materialistic ambition and pursuit of pleasure? If we allow the devil to undermine the very purposes God has for our lives, wandering away from His will in favor of some temporal interest, then why even continue with a pretense of Christian living?

 

David's solution was simply to remind himself that "the LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men". He may allow the righteous to be tried for a season, but we must not forget that "the righteous LORD loveth righteousnes", and that "the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth".

 

When we are tempted to wonder whether it is really worth all the effort, and when our very foundation and purpose for living seems to be crumbling, we should remember that our God is Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of all--that He still is on His throne, and that we who belong to Him have been "predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" Ephesians 1:11.

The Institute for Creation Research