Did God make lots of fish die? Or did we?

Did you see all the fish that died on the beaches in Texas? And have you seen the stuff on how this points to the end of the world? I have a different question. Did God make lots of fish die? Or, did God know that we were going to make all those fish die? And does it matter?

The picture here shows one dead fish on a beach. But think miles and miles of dead fish on the beach and in the ocean at the edge of the beach.

Then consider a prophecy in Hosea, in the Old Testament.

And another prophecy in Revelation, at the End of the New Testament about the end of the world.

And now, consider what we know about why so many fish are dying in the waters on the ever hotter planet earth. Ever hotter because of us, not because of God.

It then seems reasonable to ask – did God make all those fish die? Or did God know we, people, were going to kill all those fish ourselves? And do His warnings to us, in some way, relate to what we’re doing to His creation?

We’ll examine this by looking at:

• What happened in Texas? Lots of fish die
• Crabs and other sea creatures dying
• A prophesy in Hosea
• A prophesy in Revelation
• A command in Genesis
• How might these all tie together?

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How might these all tie together? – why are lots of fish dying?

It might seem like I’m going down three different tracks here. One for the way we don’t take care of God’s creation. One for Global warming. And another for not following God.

But they aren’t different. Not at all. They’re very much intertwined. Here’s why. Do you remember the mention of the priests in Hosea? I didn’t underline them above. But now I do want to draw attention to them.

^{Hos 4:7} The more the priests increased,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful.

^{Hos 4:8} They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.

^{Hos 4:9} And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.

Remember, this is from the Old Testament. Today, we tend to think of priests as Catholic Priests. Some Christians will make a connection to ourselves. But it cannot be either of them. Neither existed back then. Here’s a comment on those who were actually with the reference to “priests”.

While it may look at first sight as if the Lord is speaking of the nation, growing in sin as it grows in size, the ‘they’ of verse 8 means certainly the priests; therefore these men are surely the subject of verse 7 as well. ‘The more priests there are,’ as NEB puts it, ‘the more they sin against me.’ And we can recognize the picture. A protected and exclusive group will easily grow arrogant, and then cynical and shameless. Added to this there was the tempting fact that the sin-offerings, which were prime lambs or kids, were priestly perquisites: ‘the priest who offers it for sin shall eat it’ (Lv. 6:26).

So the charge of verse 8, ‘They feed on the sin of my people’, may be quite literal. To a degenerate set of priests, the more sin the better: there would be all the more fresh meat. The fact that the sin-offering was ‘a thing most holy’, ‘given to you’ (as Moses reminded Aaron in Lv. 10:17) ‘that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them’, would mean nothing to them. On the other hand, since in times of moral decadence consciences grow hard, and sacrifices scarce, the meaning may be metaphorical: simply that the priests love and relish the prevailing wickedness.

So comes the blunt prediction, ‘like people, like priest’—a saying which, taken on its own, might either brand the priests as, so to speak, clerical chameleons, for ever matching their colour to their social context (a phenomenon by no means obsolete), or else, as the Hebrew idiom would equally allow, it might imply the converse: that the people would be sinking to the level of their priests. But in fact it is a saying about judgment: a warning that there will be no exemptions.

No privilege will shelter this supposed élite. There is a strikingly similar prophecy in Isaiah 24:1–3, speaking of the end time, where the same Hebrew phrase, ‘like people, like priest’, heads a list (‘as with the slave, so with his master’, and so on) which demonstrates the equal exposure of us all to the day of God.  ³

The priests are the ones giving “spiritual guidance” to God’s people. But let me ask you a question. Who do many so-called Christians get their spiritual guidance from? Far too often, it’s either from a political leader, or from a pastor whose view of God seems to be defined more by their political party than by God’s Word, the Bible.

Then, when these so-called Christians play key roles in who gets elected and comes into power, we have almost a race to the bottom. A mob syndrome takes over, where positions by the leaders, the political pastors and the so-called Christians keep taking more and more extreme positions.

That forces the other political side, with its leaders, political pastors and so-called Christians to take positions that are ever more distant from their opponents.

And then both sides end up with their “priests” being their political leaders, their political pastors, and their political friends.

And who suffers? The people suffer. God’s creation suffers. God suffers, by watching us.

Eventually, we get to the point where Revelation begins.

Prologue – Revelation

^{Rev 1:1} The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

There are two points in there to notice:

1. We need the Holy Spirit to truly understand not only this topic but everything in the Bible
   • Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
2. The things Jesus told John in Revelation will take place “quickly”.
   • The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.
   • It’s unfortunate that the NIV, and other translations, chose to use “what must soon take place”.
   • Young’s Literal Translation uses more appropriate words: “come to pass quickly”.
   • So it’s not a question of the passage of time before the prophecy takes place. Rather, it’s that once it does begin, events will unfold quickly.

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Conclusion – Did God make lots of fish die? Or did we?

So, did God make lots of fish die? Or did we, people, make all those fish die? Or, somehow, are both true?

I submit, the most likely scenario is it’s both.

As Christians, we should believe God is all-knowing. In other words, as God told us in His own words, the Bible, God knew everything that would happen even before time began.

If God already knew what we would do to His creation, the prophecy in Hosea, make sense. Not that God made global warming happen, we did. In the same way, God didn’t kill the fish, we did. Our failure properly care for God’s creation led to the destruction of that creation.

Our actions also seem to have led to the signs of the time that Jesus referred to.

However, Revelation makes it clear that God does step in and take action in Revelation. To bring justice to us, for what we did. What we did to His creation What we did to each other. What we did by turning away from Him. The last one is critical, because every sin we commit is a sin against God. Even we if try to claim that what we do isn’t a sin, if God said it is a sin, then it is a sin. Period.

So, did God give us these warnings with no chance to avoid the coming destruction and justice? And to see the new heavens and the new earth?

Once The End begins, it will not be stopped. The world, as we know it, will end. And a new world begins.

What about the people? We do have some hope. Not as a hope for humanity, but as in hope for the few individuals who will turn to Him during the events of the End Times. God did leave us something about and for those who will be alive during the End Times. It’s in the form of letters to seven different churches.

If we fail to return to God at that point, we have, as Jesus told Nicodemus, condemned ourselves.

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