In a recent visit to a familiar boundary between sea and land, I had an opportunity to observe the incoming waves on the beach. The peaceful morning led to the little sketch below. On our local travels in the same area we saw hundreds of homes built on stilts due to the occasional threat of storms that are famous for removing homes from foundations every once in awhile. Sometimes a Class V hurricane can temporarily relocate a whole city population and take 10-20 years for recovery of damage inflicted in a few hours. People living near oceans and seas are always in the news somewhere because of storm and earthquake effects.
The ocean is big business in terms of real estate, tourism, and industries. If a person is affected by all the hype in weather reporting, which sells big when disasters are happening or predicted, it would seem that the boundaries for land and sea are fluid and temporary. There is cause, of course, to be prepared for localized catastrophic disasters, especially as population densities become higher in the very areas where coastlines can be affected. However, the widespread notion of dramatic changes in coastlines and boundaries is vastly over-rated in importance. Why? Because the Boundary Maker set the rules, the boundaries, and the time table. In a related subject, I have had children and adults seriously ask me to comment about the popular notions of world wide destruction from storms, comet collisions, widespread earthquakes–on the scale that continents are re-arranged or the earth meets its end.
Here is the short answer: it won’t happen until the Day of the Lord. Who knows when that is? The answer is simple: the Father. The Bible has serious warning about being prepared for it, but preparation has nothing to do with putting houses on stilts. It has everything to do with repentance from our own ways, turning to God, and experiencing salvation. That message has not changed over time; neither has the character of regional disasters. I can say with certainty that we are closer to the Day today than the early church in Acts. When that Day of the Lord happens, the minor re-arrangement of a local coastline from a regional disaster will look like nothing in comparison. Until it happens, you can expect localized disasters and should be prepared for them, but they are local “ticklers” to stimulate us to remember the One who made the ocean-land boundaries in the first place. That is the point of local blessing or cursing, famine or plenty, war or peace, disease or health: to remind us to turn to God, or, if we have turned to Him, to thank Him for Him mercy, steadfast love, and His reach to us.
Why am I so certain? The Bible is pretty clear. There was probably a single land mass before the Flood of Genesis, but things in the hearts of men got very bad. God said He had enough, made a way to save one family and significant kinds of land animals, and initiated the Flood. It re-arranged the earth’s land and water boundaries. God said He won’t do that again to eradicate mankind (Genesis 9:15-17). The verse reference in the sketch alludes to the same event in describing the limits of the seas set in its aftermath. When He sets something or declares a limit, it stands firm…until the Day comes. In the meantime, the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ continues to be offered. He says a lot about how to live life and how not to live it for those who know Him. Forgetting Him is not a good thing.
If you believe otherwise, it probably comes out of an evolutionary worldview rather than a Biblical worldview. The earth’s beginning and potential end in an evolutionary construction, where no God-effect or mention is permitted, are entirely different.
So what do you do when local disaster strikes and ruins the perfect peaceful day on the beach? Thank Him for His mercy. He awaits any who will call on Him. He is aware of every event and thing that affects us in the meantime. What ever you do, do not forget Him. He is the Boundary Maker, the Creator, and the Judge.
For further research, see www.creation.com site and try a search. Plenty of scientists and specialists provide papers and references to review. For a free study, go to the downloadable courses section of the CHRISTWORKS MINISTRIES site (www.cwm4him.org) and get the Creation Study. If you have questions, use the ‘contact us’ page. If you have a little time, grab a Bible and read the first 11 chapters of Genesis and 2 Peter 3. The Book’s content was provided by the Boundary Maker.
