Natural Disasters

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

God Designed Planet Earth to Support Life

We live on a dynamic and beautiful planet. Consider the majestic mountains, the sight and sounds of babbling brooks, and verdant valleys nestled between mountain peaks. There are beautiful glacier-fed lakes, tropical islands, prairies, and plains. Our planet is divided by terrain, temperature, and soil type for growing an amazing variety of foods—rice, wheat, and corn; citrus fruits, almond and walnut trees, mangos, papayas, coconuts, and so much more!

We are refreshed by afternoon showers that clean the air and give needed water for crops and flowering plants of all kinds. We’re intrigued, and sometimes frightened, when huge thunder and lightning storms pass over us, occasionally accompanied by tornados or powerful straight-line winds. Volcanic eruptions are beautiful and awe inspiring, but they can be destructive and deadly. Hurricanes rip apart homes and disrupt lives, as do floods and earthquakes.

How do we make sense of such a dynamic planet? If God is a loving God, how do we explain so-called, natural disasters? Why does He allow disruption, destruction, and desolation—often resulting in sorrow?

Water: A Powerful Force for Life—and Destruction

A warm welcome to all of you, from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World, where we bring you the good news of the coming Kingdom of God, explain end-time prophecies, and make sense of the world in which we live. On today’s program, I’m discussing natural disasters, why they occur, and what God reveals about some in our future.

As explained in the short introduction, we live on an amazing planet. So much so that we could have a thousand programs on the topography, the natural resources, and the diversity of life—the flora and fauna in the waters and on the land. But let us look at one thing we often take for granted, and that is water. It’s both the source for life and a destructive force.

Have you noticed how scientists and science writers look for evidence of water as they explore other planets—primarily Mars? They know that life as we know it is impossible without it. Many have swallowed the idea that if there is water, there may be life. Of course, this fails to take into account the complexity of life and how it is mathematically impossible to create life from non-living material.

Michael Denton pulls the cover off the idea of a “simple cell” when he wrote:

Although the tiniest bacterial cells are incredibly small… each is in effect a veritable micro-miniaturized factory containing thousands of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery… far more complicated than any machine built by man and absolutely without parallel in the non-living world…. The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable, event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle (Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, pp. 250, 264).

The creation of life needs more than water, but water is far more important to life than merely quenching our thirst. Perhaps you have wondered why so much of our planet is covered by oceans composed of salt water—which is not fit, as it is, for our drinking. The oceans make up approximately seventy percent of our planet, but do you realize how important these bodies of water are? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA, informs us of their many benefits. Here are only a few:

Scientists estimate that roughly half of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean. The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton—drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize. One particular species, Prochlorococcus, is the smallest photosynthetic organism on Earth. But this little bacteria produces up to 20% of the oxygen in our entire biosphere. That’s a higher percentage than all of the tropical rainforests on land combined (“How much oxygen comes from the ocean?” OceanService.noaa.gov, August 22, 2023).

Wow! Half our oxygen comes from the oceans and 20% of total oxygen comes from one tiny organism. In addition to pumping oxygen into the atmosphere, NOAA explains that our oceans moderate global temperatures by transporting “heat from the equator to the poles, regulating climate and weather patterns.”

The ocean’s water is constantly circulated by currents. Tidal currents occur close to shore and are influenced by the sun and moon. Surface currents are influenced by the wind. However, other, much slower currents that occur from the surface to the seafloor are driven by changes in the saltiness and ocean temperature, a process called thermohaline circulation. These currents are carried in a large “global conveyer belt...”

This circulation brings warmth to various parts of the globe and also carries nutrients necessary to sustain ocean life...

The circulation process begins as warm water near the surface moves toward the poles (such as the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic), where it cools and forms sea ice. As this ice forms, salt is left behind in the ocean water. Due to the large amount of salt in the water, it becomes denser, sinks down, and is carried southwards in the depths below. Eventually, the water gets pulled back up towards the surface and warms up in a process called upwelling, completing the cycle (“What Is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)?” OceanService.noaa.gov, January 1, 2023).

There are many more critical life-sustaining benefits provided by our oceans. Huge amounts of water evaporate, forming clouds that drift over land and provide needed rain. And consider the massive amount of food that comes from our oceans.

But our oceans are not always so benevolent.

They sometimes produce storms that cause great destruction in the form of hurricanes and cyclones. And when undersea earthquakes occur, they can produce devastation on a grand scale. In less than ten years, the world experienced two tsunamis. The first in 2004 killed more than a quarter million people along coastal Indian Ocean areas. The second was in Japan, which took as many as 20,000 lives in 2011. Why, if God is a god of love, does He allow such powerful forces on this planet? Can He not prevent them? Or is all this a matter of chance?

When Does God Control the Weather—Including Natural Disasters?

So far, we’ve noted that our home here on earth is beautiful and diverse. How different it is from any other celestial object we’ve been able to observe.

Its oceans, its temperature range, its 24-hour day divided into light and darkness, all shout the message that this planet was made for life—not life as a result of chance, but life by design. But, as we have also noted, there are powerful forces that bring devastation and disaster: volcanos, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and cyclones, droughts and floods, fires and tornados.

The question is, if God is a loving Creator, why do we see such contrast on earth between the beautiful and the ugly, the beneficial and the destructive? To answer that question, we must go back to the beginning.

God Gives Us the Ability to Make Choices

The Bible tells us that our first parents were placed in a beautiful garden filled with wonderful foods of all sorts. Man was made in God’s likeness and image for a grand purpose. He was given a mind to think, to reason, to invent and innovate, to make decisions far above what any animal kind can do. But these decisions go beyond how to make and construct. Mankind must make decisions on how to relate to others—in other words, moral decisions. Adam and Eve were thus tested to see whether they would trust God’s judgment as to what is good and what is evil, or whether to strike out on their own and determine good and evil for themselves. Adam, who was not deceived by the serpent, chose the latter and mankind has been doing the same ever since.

As a result, God said, in effect, “If you want to do it your own way, have at it, but don’t expect me to bail you out of every jam you get yourself into.”

However, despite our rebellion, God does care for all of His potential children. Note what Jesus said as recorded by Matthew:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He [that is God] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:44–45).

Yes, God even gives rain to the unjust. He has not left our environment totally to chance. But notice also that God does manipulate our weather from time to time based on our behavior. To Israel He said,

If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely (Leviticus 26:3–5).

God Promises Blessings for Obedience and Curses for Disobedience

Can we not see that the God who created the entire universe, can change weather patterns for the good—that is, if we obey Him—but also withhold the good if we despise Him? Here is the result of the latter:

But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you… (Leviticus 26:14–16).

Now the first thing He said would happen is that He would give His people over to terrorism and disease epidemics. But also:

I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit (Leviticus 26:19–20).

Or, as we read in Deuteronomy 28:24:

The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed (Deuteronomy 28:24).

We see that God makes it possible for the righteous and the unrighteous to survive on earth—giving sun and rain to produce food for man and beast alike.

Expect Worsening Natural Disasters in the End Times

Our home is teeming with life forms of every sort—soaring birds, fleet-footed animals, and creatures that live in our waters. Then there is plant life coming in all shapes and sizes. We’re overwhelmed by the natural process of mountains and islands being formed by volcanic activity. We’re awed by lightning and thunderstorms. But volcanos, severe storms, earthquakes, floods, and droughts can be frightening and devastating. So, I have asked the question, if God is a god of love, why does He allow such destructive forces to plague mankind?

God will send terrible calamities on those who repeatedly reject Him

As we’ve already seen, it’s man that has rejected God, and essentially said, “God leave us alone. Don’t tell us what to do.” And so, He has. But we’ve also seen that He hasn’t left us entirely alone. He makes the sun shine and the rain to come upon both the just and the unjust.

We have also seen that He blesses those who strive to obey Him with rain in due season, but He directs unfavorable weather patterns upon those who despise His commandments. In this portion of today’s program, we’ll see that God will use disasters of unimaginable proportions in the very near future to get our attention. The book of Revelation describes a number of so-called natural disasters.

The Seven Trumpets of Revelation

Revelation describes a scroll sealed with seven seals, and when the seventh seal is opened, seven angels are given seven trumpet plagues to blow upon the earth. Now let’s look at three of them. We read of the first disaster in chapter 8, and verse 7:

The first angel sounded: and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up (Revelation 8:7).

Now it’s difficult for us to know the precise means of this disaster, but it will be of God, and will be devastating beyond what the world has ever known. The second disaster may be more easily defined.

Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed (Revelation 8:8–9).

This would appear to be a super-volcano, a mountain exploding and tossed into the sea. We may even speculate, that it will be one of the known, or currently unrecognized, super-volcanoes in or around the geologically volatile South China Sea, as it would have to be near busy shipping lanes.

Now note this:

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that roughly 80 percent of global trade by volume and 70 percent by value is transported by sea. Of that volume, 60 percent of maritime trade passes through Asia, with the South China Sea carrying an estimated one-third of global shipping. Its waters are particularly critical for China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, all of which rely on the Strait of Malacca, which connects the South China Sea and, by extension, the Pacific Ocean with the Indian Ocean (“How Much Trade Transits the South China Sea?” ChinaPower.csis.org, August 2, 2017).

The next natural disaster is described in verse 10:

Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water (Revelation 8:10).

We often refer to a meteor as a “shooting star.” Scientists know that many large meteors and asteroids cross Earth’s path on a regular basis. A few have struck the earth with devastating effect in the past, but God has protected our planet for our sake. However, according to this passage of scripture, a large asteroid striking the earth appears to be in our future.

The Bible has much more to contribute to our understanding of natural disasters, and that is the reason we are offering a free resource that explains why a loving God allows, and at times even causes, terrible disasters to occur on earth. Yes, there are powerful natural forces that affect our planet, but there is a God who controls whether and when they strike mankind. They remind us that we are not nearly as much in control of our lives as we sometimes think we are.

God Will Get Our Attention Before He Gives Us a Safer World

So-called natural disasters have been a part of mankind’s experience from the beginning. Some of these are the result of a dynamically changing planet. Some are the result of time and chance upon humanity—the result of our rejection of God. But, as shown in the previous segment of this program, there are great calamities in our future, and those disasters will not be so “natural.” However, there is good news regarding the future. There is coming a time when rain will come in due season, when God will protect His creation from devastating floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornados.

Quoting from Acts of God: Why Natural Disasters?:

Could God stop natural disasters? Could He give adequate warnings so people could get out of the way while He builds a new island or mountain? Could He direct the wind to take a course away from His children? (p. 22).

The obvious answer to anyone who truly knows God is:

Of course He could! Who created the dirt under our feet? Who created the law of gravity, the strong force and the weak force? Cannot the God who created the universe and life on this planet protect us? (p. 22).

So why do these things happen now? Our resource continues:

Scientists understand that our universe did not always exist. So how did it come to be? We are so arrogant we conclude that it all happened by chance—so God is allowing us to live in a world of chance. The disasters that “time and chance” throw at us should get our attention (p. 22).

Sadly, our attention span is short. But God will get our attention. When we come to the end of our rope, Jesus Christ will return to save us from ourselves, as explained in Zechariah 14, verse 4.

And in that day His feet [the Messiah—Jesus Christ] will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south (Zechariah 14:4).

After Jesus Christ returns, a river of living waters will heal the earth.

Following that earthquake, a river of living waters will flow both east and west from Jerusalem and bring healing to today’s polluted seas and rivers. Ezekiel describes this river, obviously also a type of God’s healing spirit, flowing out to heal our damaged planet.

Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes” (Ezekiel 47:8–9).

Isaiah describes a future time of climate change when today’s deserts and wildernesses will be transformed. Notice it in Isaiah 35:6.

For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes (Isaiah 35:6–7).

Isaiah continues a few chapters later:

I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it (Isaiah 41:18–20).

The God who created the universe and our tiny planet in it, is more than capable of controlling the forces that shape this earth. He has given us time to prove to ourselves that our ways do not work. He’s allowed us to live by time and chance to remind us that we are not as high and mighty as we think, but once He gets our attention, He will show us how things could have been from the beginning if we had chosen to trust in Him.

Be sure to order your free copy of Acts of God: Why Natural Disasters?, and be sure to come back next week, when Richard Ames, Wallace Smith, Rod McNair, and I explain the prophecies of the Bible, proclaim the good news of Christ’s coming Kingdom, and help you understand the world in which you live today. See you next time.

I hope you profited from this video.

If you found it helpful and want to learn more, be sure to get your free copy of our booklet “Acts of God: Why Natural Disasters?” by going to TWTV.ORG/Disasters.

We here at Tomorrow’s World want to help you understand our world through the pages of the Bible. So be sure to like, subscribe, and hit the bell so you don’t miss another video.

Thanks for watching! See you next time.