upgraded June 23, 2008
The earth was originally created by God to function perfectly, and to exist infinitely. Since the time of the earth's creation, the earth has been changed. Something occurred that has disturbed the earth:
Romans 8:22 (NIV) For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Everything on earth functioned perfectly within God's imposed order until man sinned. The cause that has effected the creation to "groaneth and travaileth" referenced above is that man sinned. The wickedness of man disturbs the earth. In God's perfect order, the penalties for wickedness were built into the universe from the time of its creation.
In Jesus' teaching to His Disciples concerning His Second Coming, we learn from Matthew 24:12 printed below that there is an "increase of wickedness":
Matthew 24:1-13 (NIV) Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Because sin disturbs the earth, the more wicked that man becomes, the more that the creation will be disturbed.
Matthew 24:6-8 (NIV) You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
How did Jesus know that there would be wars and rumors of war, nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, and earthquakes? Jesus knew because Jesus is God; God is omniscient and knows all things. Because God knows all things, God knows that in His perfect order, it is the increased wickedness of man that is perpetrating these wars and rumors of war, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and is effecting famines and earthquakes. The wickedness of man is effecting increased hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, hail, tsunami's...
There exists today a theory that global warming is effecting the increased violence of nature. If global warming proves to be an accurate theory, then the increased wickedness of man is the cause that is effecting the global warming.
The wickedness of man's thoughts are being evidenced in the wickedness of man's actions. The wickedness of man's actions are assaulting the order that God originally established when God created the universe. Rebellious man is trying to reverse the order of God and return the universe to the state that it was in prior to God imposing Himself on the universe. Rebellious man is subconsciously trying to return the earth to the godless state of being "without form and void" (Genesis 1:2) Rebellious man is trying to eliminate all evidence of God.
When a man builds himself a home, he is imposing his will and his order on nature. If that man fails to continue to impose his will and his order on nature by doing the maintenance on that house, that house and the materials that the house was built out of will immediately begin returning to the condition that they were in prior to the man imposing his will and order on them. This example is an elementary paradigm of the order of God. If the laws and order of God are being violated, nature will begin returning to its original condition of being “without form and void”.
The continued development and testing of nuclear weapons, and the abuse of the environment is damaging and scaring the earth. The damage to the earth is being done generation after generation. Like the human body, once damaged, the earth will never be the same. Verify with any professional football player how irreversible damage is to the human body. Consider if you were to attempt to use the same human body to play professional football generation after generation. You would quickly damage your body to the point of non-function. So is being done to the earth. The discharge of nuclear weapons are like bullets being shot into the body of the earth. The body of the earth may adjust and recover, but the damage and scar tissue will continue to inhibit function, and will remain until the death of the earth.
It is the wickedness of man that will effect the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls of God's Wrath being poured out on the creation. God is not going to give a command to begin the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls of His Wrath; the triggers that will effect God's Wrath being poured out are already built into the universe. When man steps across certain wicked thresholds, man will trigger God's Wrath being poured out, just as the wickedness of man at the time of Noah triggered the Flood.