Revelation and climate change?

[B-A-C]

Climate change isn't really mentioned in the Bible, well not exactly.

We don't ever have to worry about "the end of the world". At least not from asteroids, space-aliens, or even pollution.
The Bible says the Earth will still be here, and there will still be plenty of people around when Jesus returns.
So... try as we may, with nuclear bombs, man made viruses, and even war, the Earth will remain until Jesus returns.

But the Bible does mention many catastrophic events. There will be a tribulation, and a lot of bad things will happen.
Some people believe the tribulation has already started. So what are some of these things?

It's hard to know where to begin... but I will start with Revelation 8.
Revelation is a difficult book to decipher, I've heard dozens of speculations and hypothesis of what preachers think it all means.
But there are some things they do all agree on...

Rev 8:7; The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The fire, blood, and hail.. what is this? I'm not entirely sure to be honest. But one thing I do know, a 3rd of the earth will be burned up. A 3rd of the trees will be burned up. ... and (all?) the green grass will be burned up.
Maybe the fire, blood, and hail are plagues, maybe there really will be some kind of hail that falls from the sky mixed with blood and fire, I don't know. But whatever it is, it will cause a lot of trees and grass to be burned up.
I live in the Pacific northwest part of the US. Admittedly this isn't the entire Earth, it's not even a large part of the Earth, but just in the last 2 weeks we've had 3 millions acres of forest fires here. The smoke is so thick
you can't see more than a block or so. No one can go outside for more than a few minutes. The sky is very dark even in the day time, you can barely tell where the sun is. It may not be the apocalypse just yet, but it sure looks like it.

Rev 8:8; 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,

Again, it's hard to tell what this is exactly. Perhaps this is a metaphor, or perhaps it is a real physical mountain that will fall into the sea. Either way, a 3rd of the sea will become blood.

Rev 8:9; and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.

This could be a chicken and egg verse here. Is the sea bloody because the sea creatures died, or did the blood cause the sea creatures to die? It says here that a third of all the creatures in the sea
will die. A third of all the fish, this will be quite a hit on the fishing industry. I imagine good sea-food will be hard to find, and very $$$ if you do find it. A 3rd of all the ships will also be destroyed.
I am told at any given minute, there are over 3 million sea vessels traveling somewhere around the world. If we count all ships and boats that are docked or in harbors, this could literally be millions
of ships. Fishing ships, oil tankers, cargo ships, military ships, cruise ships... a 3rd of them will be destroyed.

Rev 8:10; 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 waters.
Rev 8:11; The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.

Again, what is this great star? A meteor or asteroid? A man-made device of mass destruction? I don't know. But I do know it will ruin a 3rd of the rivers, springs and small lakes
(not to mention a 3rd of the sea is already blood) It says here many men will die from (drinking?) these waters. It seems bottled water is all the rage these days, maybe we should "stock up"?

Rev 8:12; The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.
Rev 8:13; Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"

All this to say.. these things WILL happen. The Bible says they will. So nothing we can do will prevent them from happening. Call it global warming, call it climate change, call it whatever you want.
But God has decreed these things will happen. I'm not saying we shouldn't be responsible. I'm not saying we should trash the Earth and pollute it, but I am saying despite our best (or worst) efforts,
these things will happen. Now maybe these verses cause fear for some. The Bible seems to indicate that believers that are around during this time will be spared most of these things. The point here
isn't to scare anyone, I trust in God. But one of the points here is.. man will not make himself extinct. We won't run out of food (not that there won't be shortages and famine), we won't blow up the Earth
(not that there won't be wars) and we won't make the air unbreathable (at least not for most of the Earth).

.. to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

So far we have a 3rd of the rivers, lakes, seas, and trees being destroyed or burned up. Mankind in general isn't really mentioned yet.

Rev 9:15; And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.
Rev 9:16; The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17; And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.
Rev 9:18 A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths.

Again, what are these 200 million horsemen? Are they meta-physical, spiritual beings? Are they literally men on real horses? (It seems unlikely that these are natural horses)
But whatever they are, they will kill a 3rd of mankind. If the population of the Earth is about 7.5 billion, a third of that would be 2.5 billion people!! It will be the greatest "disaster" of all time by far.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

So we can hug the trees, attend conservationist seminars, and protest off-shore drilling if we want to. None of that is going to make any difference in the end.
We can all quit driving motor vehicles, we can shut down all the coal plants and manufacturing. We can plant more trees, all these things are noble causes and I have no problem
with doing those things if your conscience leads you in those directions, but in the end, it won't matter. A 3rd of the Earth WILL be destroyed, not to worry, a new heaven and new Earth
is coming.

Matt 24:6; "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
Matt 24:7; "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
Matt 24:8; "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Mark 13:7; "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.
Mark 13:8; "For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

We can have peace summits and treaties, we can make promises and pacts with nations all over the world. What is it that every Miss America contestant always wants? World peace.
In the end, it won't matter. The Bible says there WILL be wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

Natural disasters will continue, volcanoes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes will continue. The two passages above say there will be earthquakes in various places.

[KJV]
Mark 13:8; For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

King James says "divers" places. Dangerous places or different places. This seems to indicate there will be earthquakes in places that they don't normally occur, also it could mean they will be larger
and more dangerous than they typically have been in the past.

These verses say there WILL be famines. Perhaps this is due to a 3rd of the fish being ruined, and 3rd of the grass, trees and crops burning up.
There is already famine and hunger in the world, but there is less than there has ever been before. There are dozens of hunger relief organizations and farming and crop volunteers.
But it sounds like it's going to get worse. Maybe you live in a country where food and water is plentiful, but that could change quickly. How quickly have we seen the world change
in this year alone?

The verses above say "do not be frightened". This is Jesus speaking here. We can worry about these things, or we can trust God to do what the Bible says will happen.
But either way, these things WILL happen one day.

 

[B-A-C]

Rev 6:6; And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."

Good news and bad news here. A loaf of bread (quart of wheat) will cost about a months wages (given inflation over the last 2,000 years). You can get 3 times as much barley for the same price. (A plus for beer companies)
But it seems the oil and wine will not be affected by these things. Here on the west coast of the US wineries are popping up like weeds. I literally know where about 200 wineries are, that weren't there 20 years ago.
Fruit orchards are being burned down and replaced with vineyards. What is the oil here? Petroleum for our furnaces and vehicles? Or cooking oil for our pastries and popcorn? This verse seems to be about food
in the context of the other items mentioned here.

 

[Brad Huber]

Rev 8:8-9 I would "guess" is an asteroid that has split up, the bigger piece falls into the sea (oceans?) and another piece which is smaller and perhaps a day behind it mostly burns up in the atmosphere but in pieces falls in several rivers that are not far from each other. This is just man's logic trying to apply to words that could well be more spiritual in nature, but thats my guess.

 

[B-A-C]

Rev 6:12; And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

It seems there have been no "great" earthquakes in a while. I'm not sure what constitutes a "great" earthquake, but I would suspect one than is greater than most.
I haven't seen the sun turn pitch black yet, but there were days when the smoke made the moon look pretty bright red.

 

[Brad Huber]

Rev 6:12; And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

It seems there have been no "great" earthquakes in a while. I'm not sure what constitutes a "great" earthquake, but I would suspect one than is greater than most.
I haven't seen the sun turn pitch black yet, but there were days when the smoke made the moon look pretty bright red.

I have wondered if perhaps this earthquake spoken of is what levels so many mountains and makes the mount of Olives the tallest. That would have to be such an earthquake that it would affect the world, perhaps something like the caldera in the western US blowing, causing earthquakes all over the world on the fault lines.