"THE SCALE" PRINCIPLE OF LIFE AND SALVATION

     The Bible gives many promises. Each of which holds true for the future of man, whether for life or death as each is given their freedom to choose. The prophecies assigned to our future are proven trustworthy by the previous prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past—exactly as foretold: The four final kingdoms of Earth’s history in Daniel 2 & 7 being one example, forecasting pagan/papal Rome as the final rulers until Christ comes.

     There are many promises assuring our salvation through Jesus Christ as a legal fact in heaven (Jn.5:24), while the prophecies assigned to our generation forecast a most challenging future that the child of GOD must endure before “the coming of the Lord” (Ja.5:8). This study will cover one obvious aspect of man’s immediate future in this present world.

     To begin: Engineers have always worked with scale models in their designs, whether of ships, cars, or airplanes. What works on one scale theoretically works on all scales, with only minor engineering changes. It is on this principle that we want to examine the prophetic value of this verse: “The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness” (Joel 2:3) and what is its lesson for us today?

     A simple fact of history clues us in. A long time ago the Middle East was once fertile terrain. Forests and wildlife dominated the landscape. The LORD foretold the children of Israel of the lush character and life’s abundance in ‘the promised land’ that they were about to enter. The scouts who went in to see the land for the first time returned with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two men to carry it (Nu.13:23). This is how fruitful the land began for the children of Israel. GOD gave specific guidelines for farming and care for the land that if followed it would forever lavish its abundant harvest (Lev.25:1-6).

     But as is historically typical of insatiably greedy men who lust for power over all others, their disobedience to GOD'S guidelines for Israel's prosperity and preservation became the dominant force in government. The fallen character of man has always bucked at the wisdom and will of GOD to bless his children (Prov.1:20-31). So within a short span of time, and because "the love of money is the root of all evil (I Tim.6:10), the land stopped producing abundant harvests. And over time the struggle for life’s simple needs continually increased. As a result, many people were backed into the corner of desperation. And the disobedience that brought the hardships in the first place were continued by the landlords ignoring GOD’S counsel that would’ve healed the land. The Israelites increased their raping of the land and spread their cancerous values over broad areas.

     In the days of the prophet Elijah GOD used a simple lesson to teach the children of Israel their danger: the lesson how a famine in the land displays a spiritual famine among the people. The Words of the LORD are clear: "And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD." Amos 4:6-8. And ever since the days of the prophets this warning lesson has been repeated without any acknowledgement from sinful men.

     Thus, what we see today in the Middle East is the consequence of man’s foolish judgment: the ruin of the land once “flowing with milk and honey” (Ex.3:17). The Bible’s prophecies on the future of our world tell us that this lesson from the Middle East is a microcosm: a scaled-down illustration of what man is doing today on a global scale. A perfect illustration of this principle is when we compare tiny islands with a forest covering vs. those with no trees. Clouds will cover as a canopy the islands with trees, producing rain and harvest. But the islands with no trees only bear a cloudless sky, and the little life that is there barely survives. In summation: man denies GOD’S safe-haven of Bible guidelines for the preservation of life. And the pace leading our world to a global wilderness is increasing as man’s stripping of the Earth’s resources increase. But again, this is all being brought about by the same foolish, greedy and perverted judgment as seen in ages past. The proverb is being fulfilled before our eyes: “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” Prov.26:11.

     The lesson here is simple: GOD wants His children to repent of sin and live. And He places obstacles in our path to hedge up the way that we not perish in our sins. Man can read maps and roadsigns, plotting a course and accurately estimate arrival times. But the roadsigns GOD gives as a blessing are viewed as happenstance, coincidence, and have no moral lessons to learn. Despite the willfully blind, GOD'S message is clear to His children on life's journey: "The bridge is out! Don't continue on this road of sin. It will kill you my beloved children. I created you to live, not to die. Only My Son, Jesus was born to die."

     In closing, for those who may still have some doubt of this thesis being viable, there is one Bible verse that cements the theme of this discussion to the truth “as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph.4:21). It is the prophecy of "the last day:" "the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:" “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Jn.6:44; Mal.4:5; Rev.11:18.

     GOD prophesied from the beginning what sinful man would do to the world that GOD entrusted him with: "And the LORD God said , Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat , and live for ever." Gen.3:22. Because of man's indulgence in sin he is destroying the Earth. But “God in Christ” has made a way of escape! The Rescue will come for all who have lived in faith in GOD for a better world and honored His lawful ways that always bless the dignity of life.