What about the earth? “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry” (Psalm 18:7). God controls earthquakes. “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, because He was angry” (2 Samuel 22:8). God controls the severity of earthquakes. “Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants” (Isaiah 24:1). God can rearrange His creation when and how He wants to accomplish His will.
“Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has made desolations in the earth” (Psalm 46:8). God controls where life grows. “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). God controls where food will grow. “The earth shall answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil” (Hosea 2:22). God controls where grain, wine and oil is produced on earth. Oil is a natural source for energy and it comes from God. I guess environmentalists would say God polluted the earth.
So why does a good God (Psalm 136:1) allow natural disasters to deface His creation, including killing humans in some cases? If you recall, creation was perfectly made and God saw that everything was very good, not just good (Genesis 1:31). Sin entered the world through the fall of Adam and Eve, resulting in the curse of thorns and thistles on His creation and a physical death to all living things. Sin has consequences! “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope” (Romans 8:20). Futility means devoid of truth, perverseness and depravity.
Nature and the animal kingdom were forced into corruption and bondage by the free will of man to disobey God. The end result? The earth, awaiting a new birth, groans in agony and pain as a consequence of man’s sin (Romans 8:22). However, Jesus is the truth and all of creation’s hope because everything seen and unseen was made by, for and through Him. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
This is why it is important to accept salvation from the Lord today, even more urgent than that … now! We are not guaranteed our next breath. We are guaranteed to be in His presence upon death if we accept Jesus as Savior. “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). It’s not by coincidence that the great commission follows Jesus’ declarative statement of all power, control and authority given to Him. “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-19).
What about the constellations? “Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night” (Jeremiah 31:35). Everything God controls gives. The sun gives light. The moon and stars do the same. Rain gives nourishment for grass, plants, trees and food. God the Father gave His Son. Jesus gave His life for us. His sacrificial blood gives those who believe eternal life. “Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12). By contrast, Satan is a taker. “The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have prepared the light and the sun” (Psalm 74:16). “He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down” (Psalm 104:19). God controls the sun and moon. There is nothing mankind can do to prevent the intensity of the sun’s energy or where and when it shines its light on earth.
To drive the point home about absolute control, authority and power over His creation, God can supernaturally alter celestial objects – the earth and heavens. “So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped … So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day” (Joshua 10:13). God can stop time since He is the author of time. In this case God even gives us a clue that the earth rotates on an axis and around the sun (“the sun stood still”) and the moon rotates around the earth (“the moon stopped”). If the sun moved around the earth, it would also need to be stopped.
Nicolaus Copernicus has been credited in discovering that the earth orbits the sun in the 16th century. The Book of Joshua was approximately written between 1400 and 1370 B.C. It took someone close to 3000 years after the above inspired scripture is penned to put two and two together. During battle, Joshua prayed to the Lord for the sun and moon to stop, so he would have extra daylight to finish the task. The result was time (earth and moon) stood still for hours. “The sun and moon stood still in their habitation” (Habakkuk 3:11).
Not only can God stop time, He can also reverse it. “So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward” (2 Kings 20:11). King Hezekiah was sick and near death when he tearfully prayed to the Lord (2 Kings 20:1-3). God’s response via the prophet Isaiah was to heal Hezekiah and add fifteen more years to his life (2 Kings 20:4-6). God controls every breath you take!
Not just taking Isaiah’s word for it, Hezekiah wanted a sign from God he would be healed (2 Kings 20:8). “So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down” (Isaiah 38:8). God caused the earth to rotate backwards on its axis and orbit around the sun in reverse for approximately 40 minutes. Imagine sunset, dusk is upon you, and the sun disappears over the horizon only to come back up and shine its light upon you for another 40 minutes. “He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals off the stars” (Job 9:7). That is a sign. That is control!
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NOTE: The preceding excerpt was taken from the book, “God on Climate Change: Worshipping creation instead of the Creator” by Jim Wear (the author of this blog)… available in paperback at Amazon.
