In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth in six days. After these days of creation, the Lord rested and the world was in a state of perfecting, both in nature and humanity. Very little is known about this epoch of earth history and much can be hypothesized and speculated about the state of things, such as predation and ecology, in a perfect world.
Unfortunately, Adam and Eve sinned and brought death, among other unpleasant things, into the world. The world became more like what we know today in a practical sense, but it was still very different. When God created the world, he separated the waters above from the waters below and there was a massive water canopy of sorts suspended in vapor form as part of the planet’s atmosphere. This created a world of tropical and, at higher elevations and closer to the poles, subtropical climate. Thus, habitats unlike those of today thrived, often with their own sorts of otherworldly vegetation. It was in some of these habitats that one would have seen the dinosaurs and other large reptiles long since extinct. Indeed, even the mammal species were often outlandishly strange. These unique ecosystems, however, would fall with the first great catastrophe of the cursed world.
The global flood, brought on to destroy primarily wicked men, was a dramatic event that, though brief in an ecological sense, dragged on through the individual lives of the creatures trapped in it. Many died violent and painful deaths and, even after their environment had been stripped of greenery, they trekked for miles across mud flats and rolling hills of giant ripples. Every living thing on earth, except those taken on the ark, died. Most died, ultimately, from the tsunami-sized waves that ravaged their land, others fell to the horrific volcanic activity greater than any that has been documented since, and still others met a suffocating death as their lungs filled with the ash thrown up by a giant asteroid that struck somewhere near where the Gulf of Mexico is today. It was a dramatic reminder of our sin and its effect on the environment.
This disaster put the earth at unrest and parts of the supercontinent Pangaea became impatient. The climate also suffered a dramatic change as the once warm planet found its ozone layer deprived of its greenhouse-like layer of water that had fallen during the global flood. Now that moister rose as condensation within the atmosphere precipitation became a far more common occurrence in the following years. Much of it fell as snow at the poles and solidified into massive glaciers. The brief moist age came to a close at the onset of the ice age. Animals had begun to repopulate areas and ecosystems became established once again but it was still a harsh world. At about this time, early in the ice age, the continents gave way and caused a new series of massive disasters as volcanoes exploded into the air, blocking the sun and further cooling the environment. The giant reptiles could not survive this, and nearly all died out quickly, failing to refill the earth.
The ice age itself was the setting of a short period of stability in earth history and true biomes and habitats were finally established. Giant mammals thrived in the new cool climate and species that had previously been very rare made appearances as key species in mammal dominated ecosystems. Included were the saber-toothed cats and the mammoths.
Unfortunately, since the flood, climate change has been a part of earth history. Returning to a more stable state, the climate began to warm and creatures that had just made their comeback suddenly found themselves in danger of extinction again. The lower water levels of the ice age had not only provided opportunity for nature to spread but also allowed for the sin-bearers to cross into places since untouched, like the young continent of North America. These people also played a role in the extinction of many megafauna.
For years after this initial cooling, the world became what the pioneers and age of exploration knew. Swarms of birds rose in the sunrise and massive herds of animals grazed open places as a callback to the ice age. These were the golden years of nature, displaying the resilience of nature. The countryside of the world displayed the dramatic scars of a violent past with sweeping mountains and grand canyons. But these times of peace wouldn’t last forever.
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Grandeur landscapes, though spectacular, are a reminder of our sin and God's
righteous power. This fall is one of today's places that remind us of the golden
age of nature. Most mountains rose during and after the flood. |
As mankind spread, so did his effect on nature. Wherever he goes, he brings his sin with him. Europe suffered through the middle ages and beyond. As America grew, the wild world shrank. Herds shrank and birds would never sing like they did, praising the mercy of God, though many held on long after the odds had turned against them. Now there is little left to those golden years. Extinction is escalating to points that might rival those of the pre-ice age years. Polluting gasses fill the air, even poisoning their producers. A ball of man-made trash the size of Texas rests in the Pacific Ocean, snaring the last large and small animals of the seas. I ask, “Will the world always be at the mercy of sinful man?”
The answer is, “No.” God has promised that he will restore the world to its former self of perfection. Creation groans to him, crying for the onset of this promised age of earth history. People will once again live in perfect harmony with their natural world, a notion that is only legend to most people, seemingly impossible. Our understanding of ourselves denies that such a miracle will ever happen, but God promised it. He does not lie. This will be the final, everlasting stage of Earth History.
Jesus, we trust you will do as you have said. Right our wrongs. You died on the cross so we no longer have to be subject to our own sinful will. Help us do your will. We know that mankind will destroy what you have made, but we also know that you will make a new world to replace this one. Help us make a difference now so that your next judgment on sin can be a victory for more of us. I love you, my savior.
