The Earth Is Being Ruined—What Does the Bible Say?

“We are on a fast track to climate disaster. Major cities under water. Unprecedented heatwaves. Terrifying storms. Widespread water shortages. The extinction of a million species of plants and animals. This is not fiction or exaggeration. It is what science tells us will result from our current energy policies.”—Speech by António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, concerning the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report issued on April 4, 2022.

“Scientists are raising the alarm that in the coming years destruction related to climate change will reach nearly all 423 national parks [in the United States], which are particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures. The litany of threats read like a biblical reckoning: fire and flood, melting ice sheets, rising seas and heat waves.”—“Flooding Chaos in Yellowstone, a Sign of Crises to Come,” The New York Times, June 15, 2022.

Can the earth’s environmental problems be solved? If so, who will solve them? Consider what the Bible actually says.

Environmental harm foretold

The Bible says that God will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Revelation 11:18) This Bible verse teaches us three things:

1. 1. Human actions will significantly harm the earth.

2. 2. The ruining of the earth will end.

3. 3. God, not humans, will solve the planet’s environmental problems.

The future of our planet is secure

The Bible states that “the earth remains forever.” (Ecclesiastes 1:4) It will always be inhabited.

• “The righteous will possess the earth, and they will live forever on it.”—Psalm 37:29.

The health of our planet will be completely restored.

• “The wilderness and the parched land will exult, and the desert plain will be joyful and blossom as the saffron.”—Isaiah 35:1.