“Neither is there any indication that the number of people on the planet will ever grow too great, in and of itself, to threaten any of God’s other creations. Indeed, the Lord always speaks of the multiplying and increasing of mankind’s numbers as something to be desired.”
“[E]ven now, we may already be unknowing participants in the great plan, as our burning of fossil fuels releases long-sequestered carbon to the atmosphere, awakening earth’s plant life from the lethargy of the low CO2 concentrations under which it has basically slumbered throughout the entire history of man.”
[NOTE: This concludes my two-part post from yesterday.]
As technology has increased in the earth, the Industrial Revolution has indeed taken its toll on the planet, but not in the ways decried by those who would turn back the clock to a simpler time. Rather, as humanity has been transformed from a largely agrarian society to one much further removed from the basic elements of nature, so also has the knowledge of our direct dependence on God for supplying our needs been greatly diminished.
Whereas we used to importune Him regularly for our daily bread and then thank Him for his graciousness in supplying it unto us, we now obtain it from the local convenience store and complain if we have to stand too long in line to pay for it. To a large extent we have forgotten that our most basic needs are supplied by a kind and loving Heavenly Father, who has told us that His blessings are dependent, first and foremost, upon our keeping His commandments (Leviticus 26:3-5,9).
If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full … For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you.
“Wherefore, it shall come to pass,” as it is said in Deuteronomy 7:12-13,
if ye hearken to do these judgements, and keep them, and do them, that the Lord thy God … will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
To the learned of the world, such declarations of cause and effect—of the productivity of the land being dependent upon righteous living—might seem like foolishness. But “the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25), just as it is written that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19).
Indeed, as is recorded in Isaiah 55:8-9, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
When will the people of the earth see the light and realize that their own wisdom is not sufficient to resolve all their problems? If the past is prologue to the future, probably not anytime soon; for such an acknowledgment will only come when we live as God wants us to live. And as we see each day on the nightly news, we have a long, long way to go before achieving such a state.
The Face of the Future
In concluding this treatise, let us consider the words of the Lord as given to the prophet Ezekiel (chapter 36); for they describe the near-future earth in terms that sound much like the predictions of one of the parties to the great CO2 debate, which could well be a means of steering us in the right direction.
Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes … ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people … I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit … And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine … And the desolate land shall be tilled … And they shall say, This that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden … I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it … and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Nowhere in this declaration, nor in any other place in the cannon of the Holy Scriptures, is there any indication that anyone other than God is going to bring about the bountiful conditions of biological productivity that will sustain the future human and animal populations of the planet. No man or woman or nation or group of nations will ever consciously devise and implement a plan that will usher in such an age of plenty, without acknowledging the hand of the Lord in the matter.
Neither is there any indication that the number of people on the planet will ever grow too great, in and of itself, to threaten any of God’s other creations. Indeed, the Lord always speaks of the multiplying and increasing of mankind’s numbers as something to be desired.
The only thing God clearly denounces—and to which He attributes our problems—is sin. Hence, if we will turn to Him and listen to His wisdom, He will see to all our needs, as well as those of all of His other creations. In fact, He may even allow us to be participants in His decreed transformation of the planet; but it will be on His terms and according to His timetable.
Indeed, even now, we may already be unknowing participants in the great plan, as our burning of fossil fuels releases long-sequestered carbon to the atmosphere, awakening earth’s plant life from the lethargy of the low CO2 concentrations under which it has basically slumbered throughout the entire history of man.
Let us deeply consider these matters—even prayerfully—before we put forth our arm to steady the ark of God. He is clearly capable of doing His own work.
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Craig Idso (Ph. D) is the founder and former President of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change and currently serves as Chairman of the Center’s board of directors. Dr. Idso received his B.S. in Geography from Arizona State University, his M.S. in Agronomy from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, and his Ph.D. in Geography from Arizona State University, where he studied as one of a small group of University Graduate Scholars.