How the Earth Will Be Saved

IN SPITE OF the environmental gloom hanging over the earth, we would like to think that it will survive. After all, it is our home​—and hopefully the home of our children and their children. Is there anything we can do to strengthen that prospect?

The truth is that while most people are concerned about the environment, many think nothing of throwing trash on the ground, dumping garbage in a river, or leaving lights turned on when they are not being used. Such acts may seem like small things, but if each of the billions of individuals on earth were careful about how he treated the earth, it could make a difference. Such things as being conservative in the use of energy, cooperating with recycling programs, and disposing of trash properly make a contribution toward preserving the environment. By our habits we can demonstrate our care for the earth now.

Still, we cannot control the actions of most people around us. Does this mean that ultimately the situation is hopeless?

A Greater Solution at Hand

A comment by Thilo Bode of the Greenpeace organization, as quoted in Time magazine, touches on the core of the environmental problem: “Our principal aim has been that corporations should consider how their products are disposed of. They must think in terms of a trilogy: production, use and disposal.” Sadly, we are able to make goods, we know how to use them, but we do not dispose of them properly. In some cases humans simply do not know how to do so safely.

Humans are limited, but earth’s Creator is not. He has already demonstrated his excelling wisdom in the creations we see on the earth. He knows how to make, to use, and to dispose of things properly. Many of the systems he has made are automatic. A seed germinates, and a plant grows and produces fruit. It then dies​—with all of its elements breaking down in nonpolluting fashion, ready  to be reused. This is recycling at its best! No toxic pollution!

The Creator does not intend to let the earth deteriorate into an uninhabitable trash dump. In the Bible, at Isaiah 45:18, we read: “This is what Jehovah has said, . . . He 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.”

If God formed the earth to be inhabited, why has he let it reach this sad state? The Bible explains that man was originally put in a paradise. In fact, God purposed that this Paradise reach the ends of the earth and be filled with people. (Genesis 1:28) However, rebellion broke out. The first man and woman did not want to continue subject to God’s rule.

God allowed humans to try their own way of ruling. The results are what we see today, a disastrous failure. Humans have clearly demonstrated that they cannot solve their problems. The blame for what has happened cannot be put on God. What the Bible says is true of all human society: “They have acted ruinously on their own part; they are not his children, the defect is their own. A generation crooked and twisted!”​—Deuteronomy 32:5.

Nevertheless, God has not turned a blind eye to earth’s ruination. He will act before it is too late, before the earth becomes an uninhabitable wasteland. How do we know that? Revelation 11:18 explains: “The nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time . . . to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” The ruining of the earth will be stopped.

God’s original purpose for the earth, that it be a paradise, will still be fulfilled. God issued statements showing this. For example, he said: “My word that goes forth from my mouth . . . will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted.” (Isaiah 55:11) You may enjoy reading Isaiah chapter 35, where God describes the transformation of ruined lands into gardenlike parks and fruitful fields.

Even now, when pollution is stopped, the earth has shown a remarkable capacity to renew itself. God created it to do so. If the overloading of the earth with pollutants is discontinued, a wide variety of microorganisms in water and soil can heal much of the damage. Additionally, there is reason to believe that when God steps in and directs things, this rejuvenation process will be even more effective. He can provide the training and perfect direction that humans now lack.

Hence, the earth’s future is not hopeless. Plants and animals will be saved. Endangered species lists will be gone. Our air and water will be fresh again. Obedient humans will be there to enjoy it. Would you like to see that? You can. How? The Bible gives details on what to do. Why not make a systematic examination of the Bible to find out for yourself? Ask the publishers of this magazine to put you in touch with someone who can help you get started. Why pass up the opportunity to learn how you and your family could enjoy a pristine environment forever?