No More Weather Disasters!

“MODERN MAN has lost respect for the earth in his greed for comfort, speed and commercial gain.” So reads the jacket for the book 5000 Days to Save the Planet. We are living with the results of man’s greed. And whether theories about global warming prove true or not, one thing is sure​—man is damaging our beautiful planet. Our only hope is the fulfillment of the Bible’s promise that God will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”​—Revelation 11:18.

God will replace the corrupt system of human rulership with an entirely new system. Before brushing off that idea as religious nonsense, consider this: Who would know more about the needs of earth’s environment than its Creator? Does he not have a vested interest in what happens to this planet? The Bible makes it clear that he does, saying at Isaiah 45:18 that Jehovah is “the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited.” To fulfill that purpose, God can and will intervene.

God will do this by bringing in a new government, or kingdom, to manage the earth. When Christians pray the so-called Lord’s Prayer and say, “Let your kingdom come,” they are asking for this government to take over. (Matthew 6:9, 10) God’s Kingdom, or government, will demonstrate an understanding of earth’s intricate natural cycles. It will thus be able to restore areas of the earth that have been ruined by pollution and environmental abuse. Isaiah 35:1, 6 says: “The desert plain will . . . blossom as the saffron. . . . For in the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain.”

Until God Intervenes

After the floods of 2002, Helmut Schmidt, former chancellor of West Germany, wrote: “No one can prevent natural elements from breaching the dams. Disasters keep on happening.” True. And when destructive weather strikes, humans are able to do little more than cope as best they can. For all the distress such catastrophic events cause, however, they can have a beneficial effect. They  can move people to demonstrate love and concern for their neighbors. (Mark 12:31) The European floods, for example, seemed to have this effect upon some. One newspaper wrote: “Eager volunteers have come from all over Germany to tackle the job [of relief]. It is the largest volunteer operation since World War II.”

Included among these volunteers were many of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The following article discusses the relief work carried out by Witnesses in four different lands that were hit by violent storms. The conduct of these Christians is a foregleam of life under the rule of God’s incoming government, in which love and brotherly concern​—not avarice and selfishness—​will prevail.​—Isaiah 11:9. *

Christians can take comfort in the promise God made to the ancient Israelites: “I also shall certainly give rain for your land at its appointed time, autumn rain and spring rain.” (Deuteronomy 11:14) That promise will also prove true for those privileged to live in God’s new world​—a world that will be free of weather-related disasters.

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Perfect Weather Control

In God’s new world, people will not have to fear having their home or crops wiped out by freakish storms. (2 Peter 3:13) The Bible makes it clear that God and his Son, Jesus Christ, are fully capable of controlling the weather. Consider the following texts.

▪ Genesis 7:4: “In just seven days more I am making it rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”

▪ Exodus 14:21: “Jehovah began making the sea go back by a strong east wind all night long and converting the sea basin into dry ground, and the waters were being split apart.”

▪ 1 Samuel 12:18: “Samuel called to Jehovah, and Jehovah proceeded to give thunders and rain on that day, so that all the people were greatly in fear of Jehovah and of Samuel.”

▪ Jonah 1:4: “Jehovah himself hurled forth a great wind at the sea, and there came to be a great tempest on the sea; and as for the ship, it was about to be wrecked.”

▪ Mark 4:39: “With that he [Jesus, empowered by God] roused himself and rebuked the wind and said to the sea: ‘Hush! Be quiet!’ And the wind abated, and a great calm set in.”

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In God’s new world, we will not have to fear dangerous weather conditions