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The End of the World Survivors
As the sun began to rise,
the truth became frighteningly clear: nothing was left.
There was no-one to be seen; every living thing had been
destroyed, wiped off the face of the earth. Their minds were still
full of the experience they had gone through. To begin
with there had been horror; sounds outside of terror and
despair, upheaval and chaos, but the family had sat
tight, holding hands, safely enclosed. Later came silence
and that was even worse. What now? Was it safe to open
the window? What would they find? They knew with
certainty that the earth outside, would be strange; a
very different place from the familiar world they had
left behind. Their home had gone for sure and all the
landmarks. There would be emptiness and devastation.
Would they be able to survive? They knew nothing about
nuclear war or radiation: the danger which surrounded
them was caused by billions of tons of water - tidal
waves and torrents which submerged the earth.
Nevertheless they are of especial interest to us, for we
too are faced with the possibility of world-wide
disaster, a fiery holocaust instead of a flood and the
fear that our world like theirs could come to an end. Noah and his family were sickened with the misery and violence they saw: they wanted a better world where there would be kindness and peace. The main difference between them and the rest of the population was that they believed in God the Creator and they knew He cared about the earth and mankind. God spoke to Noah and told him He was also grieved and angry because His earth was being spoiled and He intended to clean it up. In fact, God said He would literally wash it and wipe off all traces of the people who had filled the earth with wickedness. God gave Noah clear
instructions how he and his family could survive and when
Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives went into the
ark they had built, it was God Himself who sealed them in.
The family lived in the ark for over a year until the
flood water had drained away and God, who had brought
them through that terrible ordeal, encouraged them to go
out into the earth and start a new life. "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease" (Genesis 8:21,22). As a guarantee God gave a sign - the rainbow which appears in the sky after rain (Genesis 9:14-16). This promise was given even though God knew Noah's descendants (from whom sprang all the races and nations on earth) would be no better than the people who lived before the flood, because, to quote God's words again: "Every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood". This means every single one of us has inherited from the first human parents (Adam and Eve) a selfish core which makes it easier to hate than to love and which leads to destruction and death. Left to ourselves we are powerless to change this sinful nature and have no hope of saving the world. God had proved to Noah he was able to save him but Noah and his family eventually died. Suffering and death still continued on the earth. so what was the point of being saved? What comfort was it to Noah to be promised that the earth would endure if he wasn't alive to enjoy it? We have to turn to the New
Testament to discover what motivated Noah. We are told he
had faith that God would reward him in the future even
though he died, and he would be the "heir of
righteousness" (Hebrews 11:7). Noah died in faith,
knowing he would again live on the earth when it was made
wholly clean, when he and all those like him would no
longer be sinful, dying creatures, but would be changed
to righteous, immortal beings; when the world men had
made would end and the world God had designed would begin.
"This is what the Lord says: He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited ... There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Saviour ... Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth ... Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength' " (Isaiah 45:18-24). "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). God first revealed His
plan to a man called Abraham, who was born in the Middle
East about 1,000 years after Noah. Abraham believed in
God and he was told that through his descendants, al the
nations of the earth would be blessed. Like Noah, Abraham
also knew the promise was an everlasting one, reaching
into the future when God's world came into its own on the
earth; he knew he would be "heir of the world"
(Romans 4:13). The Jewish world was far from being the Kingdom of God until God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, born a Jew rind a descendant of Abraham through Mary his mother, to save His people from sin and death and to rule over the Kingdom. The birth of Jesus was a
miracle and his life was in every way unique. He showed
people how they should live; how they should learn to
care for others instead of only themselves and replace
the hate in their hearts with love. Jesus made it clear
the Jewish world of that time would have to end. The
Jewish leaders were hypocrites, outwardly pretending to
be godly and righteous but inwardly full of wickedness.
The temple had become "a den of thieves"
instead of a "house of prayer" (Matthew 21:13)
and it would be destroyed, together with the city of
Jerusalem, and the Jewish people would be enslaved and
scattered throughout the earth. Jesus told his disciples he would come "in the clouds with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30); his throne would be in Jerusalem; he would rule over the nations and his faithful followers would inherit that Kingdom, ruling with him over the whole earth (Matthew 25:31-34). The Jewish leaders refused
to believe Jesus Christ was the Son of God, their Saviour
and King, and they plotted to destroy him. So Jesus was
crucified and died (Matthew 27). This was the price God
paid to save His world! His only Son, whom He loved, who
showed people what God was like, the Saviour, the One
born to be the King, was put to death by wicked men. In Jesus Christ, God offered the solution to the curse of sin and death. He showed that death was no problem to Him, for He could bring back the dead to life. His Son who had never sinned rose from the dead on the third day after he had died on the cross, now to be alive for evermore. He appeared to his followers and turned their bewilderment into excitement, their grief into joy (John 20; Luke 24:36-48). Jesus told them the time had not yet come for God's Kingdom to be set up on earth. He had to go to heaven to His Father, but all power had been given to him in heaven and in earth. They were to go to all nations, preaching the Gospel (God's good news), teaching them to keep his commands and baptizing them in his name for the forgiveness of their sins. And Jesus promised, "Surely I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus' disciples knew that "the end of the world" would come when Jesus returned to set up the Kingdom of God; at that time he would raise the dead who had been faithful to his Father and to him; they would he given eternal life and would rule with him over the earth. When Jesus had spoken about his return he made it clear that it would coincide with a time of great trouble on the earth - and he particularly mentioned Noah. He said: "In the
days before the flood, people were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah
entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would
happen until the flood came and took them all away. That
is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew
24:38,39). But, just as the earth was
once destroyed by water, the present heavens and earth
are reserved for fire. Bible language suggests that the
heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be
destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will
be burned (2 Peter 3:3-10; see also Acts 17:31 and 2
Thessalonians 1:6-10). Is this what the Bible foretells? Will there be a nuclear war? Let's look at the other evidence in the Bible, remembering Jesus endorsed all that was said by the Old Testament prophets, who foretold that the centre of events at the time of the end would he Israel and especially the city of Jerusalem. The prophecies made
centuries ago are startling in their relevance to our
present world. They speak about Israel and the Jewish
people as a power to be reckoned with among the nations;
of Jerusalem being a major cause of trouble and concern;
nations such as Persia (Iran), Libya, Ethiopia and a
great northern power, with massive armaments, becoming a
threat to world peace and invading Israel. "At that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel ... all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence ... Every man's sword will be against his brother" (38:19-21). God will pour down
torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulphur on them
and they will fall on the mountains of Israel. The war
will have a far-reaching effect because fire will also
fall on those who are far-off and think they are safe (39:6).
The prophet Joel also spoke about the Day of the Lord: "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, said God. Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes" (2:30,31). Through Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament, God said: "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble and that day that is coming will set them on fire" (4:1). But though these are human wars God is using them to work out His purpose. "The Lord will go out and fight against those nations. His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives on the eastern side of the city and there will be a great earthquake" (Zechariah 14:1-4). The superpowers are already positioned around the trouble-spots of the Middle East. It is not difficult to imagine them being drawn together to a final battle in the land of Israel. That tiny state will be the centre of a violent Third World War. There is no doubt that all these prophecies will come to pass in the very near future. But we, like Noah, can have confidence in God as long as we obey the clear instructions He has given in the Bible, knowing He will bring us through the turmoil and chaos and will preserve the earth according to His promise. So will the earth be
reduced to cinders? Will this lovely planet be destroyed?
It is not the earth which is to be destroyed, but this
civilisation; this materialistic society has to be purged
with fire. "I will show my greatness and my holiness and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 38:23). Joel says: "Every one who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said" (2:32). Malachi ends with comforting words from God: "For you who revere my Name, the Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings" (4:2). And Zechariah assures us that, "The
Lord will be king over the whole earth; on that day there
will be one Lord and his name the only name" (14:9).
The Bible is God's guidebook for life. It gives clear advice - and dire warnings. Those who follow God's advice, as Noah did, will be saved from the terrible judgements God is bringing on the earth. Those who believe and gladly accept Jesus, together with all the faithful men and women down the ages, raised from the dead, will say, "The
kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of His Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever
... We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and
who was, because you have taken your great power and have
begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath
has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for
rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and
those who reverence your name, both small and great - and
for destroying those who destroy the earth" (Revelation
11:15-18). As the sun began to rise it became apparent that nothing was left ... Everything had been made new! The earth basked in glory, and sounds of joy and gladness rose to heaven (Isaiah 65:17-25; Revelation 21:1-5). "God shalt wipe away all tears ... there shall be no more death ... neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:5). SHEILA WILSON Reproduced by courtesy of the Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association by whom all rights are reserved. |
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