Envirnmentalism
& the Bible

"O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!" (Jeremiah 22:29)

I. Before sin entered the picture, this earth God created was not plagued with disease, pestilence, catastrophic weather patterns, etc.

          Genesis 1:31 "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."

II. With sin came death and a disruption of all creation, including sickness, environmental disorder, etc. 

          Genesis 3:17 "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." 

          Deuteronomy 28  "...because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee.... The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning... And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:... Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.... If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law...; Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance....."

          Psalm 82:5 "...all the foundations of the earth are out of course." 

             Psalm 60:2 "Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh." 

          Isaiah 24:5, 6 "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left." 

              Haggai 1:10 "Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit." 


III. The earth is unstable and growing old. 

          Isaiah 51:6 "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment..." 

          Isaiah 24:4 "The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away..." 

             Isaiah 24:19 " The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly." 

             Isaiah 33:9 "The earth mourneth and languisheth..." 

          Romans 8:22 "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now."

              Isaiah 24:20 "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again." 

IV. This earth will be destroyed.

          2 Peter 3:11 "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness"

              Romans 8:21 " the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." 

              Isaiah 13:13 "Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger." 

               Isaiah 24:1 "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof." 

                Isaiah 24:20 " The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed... and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again."

                Jeremiah 4:28 "For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it." 

                Jeremiah 10:10 "But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation."

                Joel 2:10, 30 "The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.... And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke." 

                Zephaniah 3:8 "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." 

                Haggai 2:6 "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land"

                 Isaiah 28:22 "Now therefore be ye not mockers, ... for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth." 

                  Revelation 16:1-2 "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. [2] And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." 


V. God will make a "new" earth, in which all creation will be at peace and orderly again.

              Isaiah 65:17 "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." 

                 2 Peter 3:13 "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 

                 Isaiah 66:22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain."

                  Habakkuk 2:14 "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 

                  Revelation 21:1 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea."

Related Link:
          Al Gore's Religious Environmentalism (an expose on his book, Earth in the Balance)


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