THE TWO WITNESSES.

Two books.

A few days ago, I received a book, sent by my oldest son, an important book, a possible ‘breakthrough’ book.

So, what book was this?

It was: LIFE AFTER DOOM, written by a prominent Christian writer, Brian D. McLaren, who finally, FINALLY, admits that the earth where we live, is doomed. DOOMED. We, WE, have made it inhabitable. Every day we read of another unnatural’ disaster, taking the lives of thousands. Any day now, living somewhere in North America, you may get a registered letter, cancelling your home insurance, because your environmental risks are too great. No fire insurance means no mortgage, so down goes its value. 

When I survey the world, with wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with crucial elections everywhere, with right-wing thinking – against environment – gaining, then this book makes imminent sense.

LIFE AFTER DOOM, has as subtitle, Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart. Brian McLaren argues that we must read the Bible differently, a book, not about us and our souls, but about Creation, for whose restoration Jesus died to bring it back to its former glory, while we must be God’s co-workers in this process. 

Stefan Paas, another prominent thinker, professor of Mission, has come to the same conclusion. In his 400 pages Dutch book, VREDE OP AARDE (Shalom on Earth), he and McLaren are in full agreement: two prominent witnesses!

Both books point to Revelation 11.

Both books remind me of Revelation 11, where, suddenly, two mysterious witnesses appear, both initially received by the church with open arms. Then illusion sets in, and, just as sudden, the church turns against them.

I can now see how these two modern witnesses will meet the same fate. 

Why?

Because almost from its very beginning – see the apostle John’s letters – the church succumbed to Greek Gnosticism, separating body from soul, and promoting heaven at the expense of the earth, essentially causing our Climate Crisis.  My (Presbyterian) Hymnbook still exalts the merits of heaven, a notion so ingrained in most churches, that most people, dying with that notion, will be faced with the naked truth that not heaven, but the earth is where we end up.

Back to earth: the final Truth

From the first chapter of Genesis to its very last chapter in Revelation 21, Creation occupies the Biblical center. This is plain from the categorial statement that in the new creation: “There is no TEMPLE there.” No temple means no religion. No religion means no bible. 

Jesus did not favor religion: religion killed him. Jesus brought us LIFE, and LIFE means body, soul, spirit: total human involvement here, on the earth, God loves so much.

No temple also indicates that Organized Christianity has had its day. “There is no temple there’, suggests that we have to start moving that way now, and give our utmost effort and energy to the ‘cosmos’, to everything and anything God created in his wisdom, a world that we are uncreating.

Highly controversial.

Last Sunday our preacher was a Salvation Army Major. He preached on Romans 8. After the service, at the coffee hour, I expressed my full agreement with his presentation, centering on the birth of a new creation. 

Since nobody joined in my conversation, it dawned on me that, basically, for the biblically illiterate, church and sermons are often a waste of time, because people lack the Christ-centered framework and the biblical infrastructure.

That to me is again a sign of the very last days, as the emphases now focus away from the Bible and away from the soul-destined heaven. This again became plain to me when the father of two murdered missionaries in Haiti, as reported in the New York Times, expressed his confidence that his children now were in heaven, in spite of Jesus’ repeated statements (John3: 13) that ‘nobody can go to heaven except Jesus who came from there’. Till the very last, just before his Ascension, Jesus told his followers again that, where he is going, nobody can follow.

On the contrary.

The entire human and biblical histories have only one aim: THE NEW CREATION. Jesus’ death on the cross was not primarily for our sins: its immediate aim was to wrest creation from the clutches of Satan: see John 3: 16. When Adam and Eve sinned, they transferred ownership of creation, God’s Holy Work of Art, to God’s great enemy. Jesus’ death and resurrection restored that ownership. 

Still in doubt? Read John 3: 17:

 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

For these two witnesses the battle has just begun. The Church with Popes and Cardinals, Basilicas and Cathedrals, confessions and superstitions, will not lightly surrender its pomp and circumstance. 

THE ARK AND THE ARCTIC.

There’s nothing new under the sun: there are always people, their skin color may vary, perhaps today they are a tad taller, not necessarily better dressed, lately more women among them, with the newcomers having a lot of toys: iron horses; loud banging sticks, but, basically, no difference between ancient and recent, except, these later creatures are fatter! 

Where does this lead? 

I am trying to compare people thousands of years ago, in Noah’s time, a mere 400 generations away, to you and me. Are we smarter? Are we cleverer? I doubt it. Could we have pulled off building an ARK without chainsaws, without logging trucks, skidders and other power tools? In many ways, we are completely identical: then as now, evil rules us both.

ARK: the guesswork.

Picture yourself alive in Noah’s time. Imagine, all the talk and rumors! Some doomster is constructing a huge boat! Says that the world will end! That torrential rains will drown as all. Why? Because we are evil. Evil? Come off it. We have some really smart people among us. They even came out of heaven, and, believe me, they are clever. They call themselves the Nephilim, (see Genesis 6) the ‘fallen’ ones, tall and talented: real leaders. Just the right guys to have around. As our new leaders they brought a lot of new ideas to us, became family, married our women, and introduced us to many innovative tactics. Progress, that’s what we wanted. None of this ‘listening to nature’ stuff. 

That mysterious visit.

It all started when a man I forgot his name, something like Jason, came calling one day, wanting to buy our cedar bush. We haggled a bit and settled for a steep price: No bargain, and he paid in gold. They wanted these specific trees: lightweight, and watertight. 

 The father, Noah, and his three sons, had a proper plan, had all the dimensions set-out, and once the basic structure was in place, with scaffolding all around, they used the bitumen, of which there was plenty around, to make the structure watertight. Watertight? The nearest river, the Tigris, was a three-day trip away! 

You know the rest of the story. The animals came in two by two. Then…

Today?

Ecclesiastes 1: 9 says it all:
“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” 

The Nephilim, the ‘fallen’ ones, are still with us. And they are? The big Oil Companies, just a few scores of multinationals cause the bulk of Green House Gases. Of course, we let them. We are their eager helpers, just as in Noah’s days.

The Ark, and the Arc-tic

I believe there is an intimate connection between Noah’s Ark and our very own Arctic. In Noah’s days people were just as mentally stagnant as we are today. Our constant news stream leaves us immune to the most shocking events. In Noah’s days, this was also the case. 

Enter Arctic News.

This time not God, but we will cause the entire earth to be cleansed of evil. Arctic News leads the way. I am inclined to write: leads THE WAY. 

Here is a direct quote from its May 13 bulletin.

Self-amplifying feedbacks and developments as discussed above, as well as crossing of these two tipping points, could all contribute to cause a temperature rise of over 10°C, in the process causing the clouds tipping point to get crossed that can push up the temperature rise by a further 8°C. 

Altogether, the temperature rise may exceed 18°C from pre-industrial by as early as 2026, as illustrated by the image on the right, from the extinction page.

Ample warning.

In 1896, Svante Arrhenius proposed a model predicting that increased concentration of carbon dioxide and water vapour in the atmosphere would result in a warming of the planet. In his model, the warming effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide and water vapour in preventing heat flow from the Earth’ s surface (now known as the “Greenhouse  Effect”) are counteracted by a cooling effect where the same gasses are responsible for the radiation of heat to space from the atmosphere. 

We are great at ignoring warnings. The reports from UN annual conferences on Climate Change are becoming increasingly alarmist, but sport scores and Trump’s performances are seen as more important. 

In Noah’s time, God directly intervened. Since then, God has drawn back. Deuteronomy 32: 20 reveals his wisdom:

I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.

The similarities are there: the Ark and the Arctic. God caused the flood. We will cause the final fire. Soon. Pray for grace.

A TALE OF TWO STORIES.

Some history

I grew up with Bible stories. My mother read them from our Children Bible, written by Anne de Vries, a master story teller. They influenced me. I recall a day at the seaside, some four years old. I was thirsty and wanted to drink the seawater, and when it proved unpotable, I went to my father asking him to throw a piece of wood in the salty water, as Moses did once for the desert-dwelling Israelites, faced with a similar experience.

 

At mealtime the Bible was read – no exception. Twice to church each Sunday. Christian School. The works. Yes, a degree of brain-washing. Well, so what. Brainwashing is more prevalent than ever.

 

Which is the better story? 

 

Modern life, with round-the-clock advertising has become a much more ingrained matter, its story told 24/7 everywhere. It is the biggest brainwashing scam ever, the ultimate March of Folly! Look, where has this present-day story has gotten us: The Guardian last week had this hair-raising headline: 

World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target.

Our Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds.

That’s today’s real-life story, inescapable. Give me the Bible anytime. True, it has some gruesome tales, but it is hugely human, unlike conditions today: devilish in all details.

Enter John 3: 16.

Back to the Bible, and – again – Stefan Paas, and his book PEACE ON EARTH. He too tells a story, a fascinating story, a story how we, Christians and no Christians alike, must start thinking about the future, the immediate future, I should add, an inescapable future, I should also add. 

He discusses one of my favorable Bible text, John 3: 16, the words well worth repeating, because they touch on the core of our life: 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Dr. Paas gives two explanations, two stories, and I translate:

1. The first one could be called, the ‘lifeboat’ approach. Here the world is seen as a sinking ship, however God has provided for a lifeboat, Christ’s reconciliation on the cross. Salvation means that as many as possible are rescued from the sinking vessel by the proclamation to accept Christ’ offer. Those who will deny Christ’ free gift, will perish when the boat disappears under the waves, together with the entire world. This does not mean that no attention is given to combat poverty, or provide good education, or fill hungry stomachs, but such activities are merely seen as supportive. These ‘horizontal’ activities really are not part of the essential mission of Christendom, but are conditional: they remove obstructions for the proclamation (an empty stomach has no ears), either that, or they create a favorable atmosphere for the church.
2. However, nowhere does the Bible say that God’s creation will disappear. On the contrary, ever since the beginning, the churches have confessed that “God will never abandon the work of his hands” (Psalm 138:8). It makes more sense to read these texts in the context of the coming promise that permeates the entire New Testament, not that this world is a lost cause, but that it will be repaired and renewed. (2 Corinthians 5: 17). With Jesus’ birth, life and resurrection, God decidedly has allied himself with his creation, and has made a start with its renewal. Reading John 3: 16 in that way is not a matter of being rescued from this world, but, actually, means being partakers in the salvation of this world. This, almost as a matter of fact, entails not only a much broader definition of ‘salvation’ and ‘mission’, but also throws a different light on the concept of ‘lostness’. ‘Being engaged with lostness’, in the manner of which the apostle Paul speaks, means engagement with a lifestyle of domination, of being power-hungry, of competition, the sort of life in which there is no room for God’s Kingdom. To keep the metaphor of a ship, those are lost who don’t care for their fellow crew members, who stymy the repair crews, who contemplate mutiny, and sabotage mechanical means, and undermine morale. 

To sum up: to be lost means living a life that is not future-oriented.

That summary illustrates an entire new story line, away from Capitalistic thinking, away from the story we ‘Minute to Minute’ are engaged in, living a life that leads to death. Our future is portrayed in the Bible loud and clear: Revelation 21: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away”.

The tale of two stories. I recapitulate: God’s people are among those who now live the life oriented to the New Creation to come. Soon I might add.

NOTHING IS SURE, ANYMORE.

Everything is up for grabs. Yes, it includes the church. There have never been more people in the world than today. In the Western world there have never been fewer people going to church. There has never been more need for divine intervention in the world than today, yet fewer prayers rise up to heaven asking for forgiveness how we have ruined God’s creation.

This makes me wonder whether there still is a need for the church.

Is there still a need? Yes, an unambiguous ‘yes’. But I hastily add: not the church as it functions in its present form and expression. The church today, too, is at odds with itself. Its major part, especially outside Europe, is strictly ‘spiritually’ inclined, not at all interested in Creation, the cosmos God loves beyond anything else.

But a change is coming: a radical change, now challenging the church’s teaching.

In the Netherlands, Dr. Stefan Paas, professor of Missions at a Christian University, relying on sources world-wide, advocates a new approach where the emphasis changes from personal piety to communal and environmental action, with God’s creation as the focus, an element my readers recognize as my long-time objective as well. But is has thrown ecclesiastical enterprise there into total confusion. The question arises – hinted at in his book, PEACE ON EARTH (The translation of the Dutch title, VREDE OP AARDE) – whether the customary Sunday sermon should be replaced with an occasional ‘walk in the woods’, under the guidance of a ‘nature’ expert. Most certainly more conducive to physical health, spiritual wellbeing and essential knowledge. After all, God’s people are destined to spend eternity here on this very earth, so a bit of exposure to ‘nature’ is eminently necessary, I believe.

Has the church become an obstacle to salvation?

I may be wrong, but slowly I see the church becoming a hindrance to the coming of the Lord, an obstacle on the way to eternity, an impediment to reaching the truth, a pious diversion away from creation, contrary to the aim of Christ, who, in John 10: 10, unambiguously tells his followers that he came to bring earthly LIFE and that to the FULL. After all, Jesus did not start ‘religion’ of any kind: he taught us how to live, in a world for whose redemption he gave his life. Jesus’ life shows that. The pious Pharisees accused him of being a glutton and a winebibber: they saw how he loved being alive and relished in its fruits.

The church is a mirror of today, as we are entering the unknown.

I believe the confusion in the church mirrors the confusion in the world at large. The entire world waddles in uncertainty. AI – Artificial Intelligence – has placed the world’s working population on an edge: “Which jobs will be eliminated?” The war in Ukraine is testing Western resolve. Can it both wage a war against the Russia-China-India axis, and still support the welfare state by paying for Old Age pensions and healthcare? How will the weather play a role, as the entire world brazes for severe storms, hellish heat, melting Poles, failing crops, rising inflation?   

Let me emphasize these last two points: we are in a new period of global history, with everyone casting around for new bearings, where there are none. I haven’t even mentioned a probable Trump tragedy. 

A look back.

The postwar period (after 1945) was followed by the post-Wall period, but that lasted only from 9 November 1989 (the fall of the Berlin Wall) until 24 February 2022 (Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine). In history, as in love, beginnings matter. What was done in the five years after 1945 shaped the international order for the next 40 years, such as the structure of the UN, to this day. 

For 80 years, ever since 1945, when World War Two ended, we have gradually, then ever more rapidly, treated the earth as our inexhaustible source of riches, now reaching the ‘limits to growth’.

Two colossal choices.

We now confront two major questions: Are we willing and still able to sacrifice our present unprecedented standard of living to 

1. Help the people in Ukraine to withstand the Russian threat, risking World War, and 
2. exchange our current state of wellbeing at the expense of the totality of nature/creation, for a sustainable tomorrow, in order to save ourselves and the future of our children?

No past generation has ever been required to make such mind-dumbing moves, trading a world pampered, spoiled, unhealthy, having lost all notion of divine guidance, saturated with nuclear weapons, for a state of peace and balance.

My bet is prayer: Maranatha, Lord, Come.

How long, before God pulls the plug?

I am an avid surveyor of the daily news, always on the lookout for items that pertain to creation, God’s work of art, which he has entrusted to us for safe-keeping. In this I follow Karl Barth’s advice: Interpret history from two sources: The news channels and the Bible.

After the Flood God promised never to destroy the earth again, knowing full well that, next time, we will do the job. In several places the Bible tells us that we have entrusted the world to God’s adversary. 1 John 5:19 comes to mind. Here it is: We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. For the sake of his children, God will intervene!

Nevertheless, we have been Satan’s eager helpers, especially since most church people see their future in heaven, leaving the earth to be exploited, even while personal piety prevails. Daily I pray for Christ’s return to earth, as suffering has become universal, affecting us and all God’s creatures everywhere. Yes, God suffers too!

Take the Antarctic.

Take the Antarctic, where, far from human occupation late last year the beach should have been teeming with harems of fertile females and enormous males battling one another for dominance. Instead, it was “just carcass upon carcass upon carcass,” recalled Dr. Uhart, who directs the Latin American wildlife health program at the University of California, Davis. There, H5N1, one of the many viruses that cause bird flu, had already killed ten of thousands of South American sea lions along the continent’s coasts in less than a year. Also, pups of all ages, from newborns to the fully weaned, lay dead or dying at the high-tide line. Sick pups lay listless, foam oozing from their mouths and noses.

Dr. Uhart called it “an image from hell.”

Or take trees.

Just one example: in Italy olive trees, because of drought, slowly choke to death, wither and dry out. They die en masse, leaves dropping and bark turning grey, creating a sea of sad sameness. Since scientists first discovered Xylella fastidiosa in 2013 in Puglia, Italy, it has killed a third of the region’s 60 million olive trees – which once produced almost half of Italy’s olive oil, many of which were centuries old. Farms stopped producing, olive mills went bankrupt and tourists avoided the area. No cure for drought! Only more fires!

Or take the world’s tropical regions.

Unusually high temperatures have caused disruption to education and agriculture across the Asian region: Bangladesh, for instance, was forced to close all schools this past week after temperatures soared to between 40C and 42C in some areas. The same is true for much of Africa as well.

Will Bird flu hit us?

The bird flu epidemic that has whipped around the world since 2020, has prompted authorities on multiple continents to kill poultry and other birds by the millions. In the United States alone, almost 100 million been culled in a futile attempt to deter the virus.

There has been no stopping H5N1. Avian flu viruses tend to be picky about their hosts, typically sticking to one kind of wild bird. But this one has rapidly infiltrated an astonishingly wide array of birds. So far there is only one confirmed human case. Rick Bright, an expert on the H5N1, said that this is the crucial moment. “There’s a fine line between one person and 10 people with bird Flu,” he said. “By the time we’ve detected 10, it’s probably too late” to contain.

Then there is Trump: Satan Incorporated, claiming “I am your retribution”, an expression that has religious overtones. 

The Next 6 months.

Looking ahead 6 months: Trump may be re-elected. Already Atmospheric wars are intensifying. Already hot military wars are becoming hotter. Already many nations are close to spending more on interest payments on the debt than on social provisions. The current inflation, due to increasing natural disasters, will jump, signalling economic collapse. It happened to the Hapsburg Kingdom, to Spain, to the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire and pre-revolutionary France. Will it now happen to the world economy?

Us and the Bible.

Here are some verses, “The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds”. Micah 7: 13. 

Or 

“The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore—Revelation 18: 11.

This text hints at ‘stagflation’ something that may happen this fall, when rising inflation and a stalling economy will cause the world economy to collapse something the Bible calls, “The Fall of Babylon”, signalling Christ’s Return, the Parousia, the Second Coming!

With all this suffering, ours and God’s/Creation, our fervent prayers should be: Lord! Return!

THE SILENCING OF SILENCE.

In September 1975, now almost 50 years ago, our family moved from urban St. Catharines, Ontario, a city close to Niagara Falls, to rural Tweed, half-way between Toronto and Ottawa, both some 200km away. Several factors led to this radical move. I troubled. Not financially, fortunately. I was dissatisfied. Not in our marriage, thank God.

I moved because I was at odds with my life for three reasons: The church, the Club of Rome (Limits to growth), and fed up with my insurance business. 

But first some background.

In 1962-3, I built our first house, 1,800 square feet, brick, on a large lot on one of the city’s main thoroughfares. It had 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, family room, dining room, fireplace, a roomy office: a comfortable place. In 1975, when I sold it, it’s value had increased by more than 150%. I also found a buyer for my insurance business at a good price, so when I moved, I had sufficient funds to buy 50 acres and build an energy-efficient 2 storey dwelling, into a southerly-sloping hill, with large windows facing south, passive-solar, in other words: environmentally friendly, and funds to take time off.

Why this drastic move?

My beefs: (1) The church.

One of my employees had given me a book which had opened my eyes to eternity. It was badly written, but with a relevant message: “Our future, after death, is not heaven, but a New Earth”. That for me, pious Egbert, was an eyeopener. The church I attended had a very conservative, traditional minister, totally inapproachable and closed to any dialogue and new thinking. It was easy to leave this church.

My second worry: The Club of Rome, and its publication, Limits to Growth.

A friend gave me the book. Now 50 years old. To me it was a revelation. I had never given it a thought, but it dawned on me that we live on a Finite Earth: there are limits to our resources. The book, especially in its graphs, showed what would happen – 50 years from now: today in other words – when we disregard these limits: A New Lifestyle is needed. Me, consequential me, acted.

Fed up with my insurance business.

I had a very good secretary. Smarter than me. She quit. This gave me the incentive to move, which we did. 

2024, 50 years later.

Now it is 50 years later. In 1975-78 I built up a large garden, went back to school to qualify as a Professional (Real Estate) appraiser, taking courses at Queen’s, Trent and York Universities, and earned my designation upon completing three 100 pages theses, one on a single-family dwelling, one on a 12-unit apartment building, and one on a commercial building. In 1978 I gained my accreditation, and started Hastings – the county I lived in – Appraisal Services, which I sold to my senior employee in 1993, when I retired at 65.

The sounds of silence, then.

In 1975 I would wake up in our 2 storey house – living on the second floor – by the sounds of bullfrogs emanating from the large beaver pond, some 400 meters to the east, a sound compounded by the rapid hammering of whip-poor-wills, repeated for hours at the time. After a long rain, the highway on which we lived, 5 km north of the village, would literally be covered with thousands of frogs, taking the shiny road surface for a fast-moving stream. 

Decades later, these sounds and those amphibians have disappeared: the natural world has falling silent. Had we lived in the city, I would never have noticed this. 

These birds and those frogs are telling us that something serious is happening in the woods and in the waters. The same applies to wild life: Deer, pheasants, grouse, foxes: where are they?  I read that 70 percent of wildlife world-wide has vanished. 

God is concerned. 

The book of Jonah ends with God’s concerns for the many cattle that roamed Nineveh, the aim of Jonah’s preaching. God, too, worries about the conditions of life stock. Today it is poultry. 

An outbreak of H5N1 that began in 2020 has led to the deaths or killing of tens of millions of poultry. Most recently, the spread of the virus within several mammal species, including in domestic cattle in the US, has increased the risk of spillover to humans. The virus has caused large outbreaks in mink and foxes, and wiped away thousands of marine mammals, especially in South America. Scientists have tracked the virus along migratory routes and stopovers, among wild birds in rural areas and commercial poultry operations and, most recently, among cattle on dairy farms.

The foregoing reminds of “The Sound of Silence,” written by a 21-year-old Paul Simon in 1954! 

“And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was formingAnd the sign said, “The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence”.

Now the whispering sounds of silence, no longer muted, have been silenced. Please, Lord: Come!