Intro:
1. The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) recently released new data on the number of people worldwide that are being affected by the world food crisis, and that number is exceeding 1 billion for the first time in human history. To make matters worse, the WFP also announced that the amount of food aid currently available for those most in need is at a twenty year low, and the organization is currently facing a $4.1 billion budget shortfall.
Food prices have increased dramatically around much of the world as a result of the recent financial crisis, and an estimated 150 million people were added to the ranks of the chronically hungry in 2008 alone. There have been food riots in many of the hardest-hit countries, and the situation is only expected to get worse.
Recent food shortage statistics released by Oxfam are disturbing:
* Chronic hunger, or the lack of a sufficient amount of nutritious food, currently affects 1 in 6 people worldwide.
* 13 million children are born every year with growth and development issues due to the mother’s malnutrition.
* Many of the world’s poorest people spend 80% or more of their annual income just for food, and even this is often not enough to provide them with adequate amounts of food.
* More than 24,000 people die every day due to hunger related causes.
* The percentage of overseas development assistance allocated to agricultural development has dropped dramatically in recent years - from almost 20% in 1980 to less than 3% today.
* In the developing world, 50% to 60% of all childhood deaths are hunger related.
* More than 5 million children die every year simply because they do not have access to adequate amounts of food and water.
2. Who is responsible for food shortages - man’s rebellion against God! God never created a world with food shortages.
3. Day three - the InExhaustible supply of food.
Trans: The Self-Existent God not only brought ever thing into Existence - including a planet made just for mankind; not only did He turn on the lights; not only did He make a perfect climate; but He put an inexhaustible supply of food for mankind. Gen. 1:9-13
I. FIRST, APPEARING OF THE EARTH MAKING FOOD POSSIBLE.
9-10
9 Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. 10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good - the water must be removed before human beings can benefit from the earth that God created for them.
The water went into underground reservoirs, rivers, lakes, and seas.
"Some of these reservoirs were open directly to the waters descending from above, others were formed as great subterranean chambers within the crust itself. All were interconnected by a complex network of tubes and waterways, so that in essence they were all "gathered together unto one place."
Although in one "place," the waters had assembled in numerous distinct basins, so that God called this "gathering-together of the waters Seas" (i.e., a plural term). These were, of course, not the same as our present seas, since the antediluvian arrangement of continental and marine areas was completely changed at the time of the Flood." [The Genesis Record]
The dry land appeared, "Surveys of the ocean floor and the mid-Atlantic rift indicate that all the continents were once joined together in a supercontinent, which fits verse 9. Some believe the changes that came at the time of Noah’s flood may have broken the single land mass apart." [Complete Biblical Library Commentary]
This is another example of God’s power and sovereignty. He can make the sea stay in their place; He can part the Red Sea or Jordan rivers; He can bring universal judgment on the entire planet in the Flood.
"8 "Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; 9 When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, 11 And I said, ’Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?" Job 38:8-11 (NASB)
"7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. 9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." Psalm 33:7-9 (NASB)
"7 At Your rebuke they fled, At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. 8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which You established for them. 9 You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth." Psalm 104:7-9 (NASB)
Should we not stand in awe before such a powerful God?
"’Do you not fear Me?’ declares the LORD. ’Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it." Jeremiah 5:22
Canute the Second, who reigned during the 11th century, was the first Danish king of England. In this famous tale, he proves to be a man who knows how to control his pride.
Long ago, England was ruled by a king named Canute. Like many leaders and men of power, Canute was surrounded by people who were always praising him. Every time he walked into a room, the flattery began.
One day he was walking by the seashore, and his officers and courtiers were with him, praising him as usual. Canute decided to teach them a lesson.
"So you say I am the greatest man in the world?" he asked them.
"O king," they cried, "there never has been anyone as mighty as you, and there never will be anyone so great, ever again!"
"And you say all things obey me?" Canute asked.
"Absolutely!" they said. "The world bows before you, and gives you honor."
He sat down and surveyed the ocean before him. "I notice the tide is coming in. Do you think it will stop if I give the command?"
His officers were puzzled, but they did not dare say no. "Give the order, O great king, and it will obey," one of them assured him.
"Very well," cried Canute, "Sea, I command you to come no further! Waves, stop your rolling! Surf, stop your pounding! Do not dare touch my feet!"
He waited a moment, quietly, and a tiny wave rushed up the sand and lapped at his feet.
"How dare you!" Canute shouted. "Ocean, turn back now! I have ordered you to retreat before me, and now you must obey! Go back!"
And in answer another wave swept forward and curled around the king’s feet. The tide came in, just as it always did.
"Well, my friends," Canute said, "it seems I do not have quite so much power as you would have me believe. Perhaps you have learned something today. Perhaps now you will remember there is only one King who is all-powerful, and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. I suggest you reserve your praises for him."
And some say Canute took off his crown soon afterward, and never wore it again. [Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations: Signs of the Times]
II. FINALLY, THE PRINCIPLE OF GROWTH ENSURING THAT FOOD
WOULD BE PERPETUAL. 11-13
A. The Spoken word.
Then God said - God just speaks and things happen! And it doing so God never loses a speck of power!
Tony Evans, "This is because God’s power is self-generating. It can be compared to a generator that always runs and never needs fueling or fixing. God never needs anything outside of Himself to generate or sustain His power. His omnipotence is such that by His speaking the word, "the heavens were made" (Psalm 33:6). "He spoke, and it was done" (v. 9), because God generates His power within Himself.
One of the best examples of God’s power is the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary in Luke 1. Let me paraphrase the conversation. The angel said, "Mary, you are going to have a baby. And what’s more, He will be the Son of God!"
Mary pondered this and said, "How can this be? I’m not even married."
The angel continued (and now I’m quoting), "The power of the Most High will overshadow you" (v. 35). Then he added, "Not only are you going to have a baby as a virgin, but your cousin Elizabeth is going to have a son in her old age, even though her womb is barren."
How could all of this happen? The angel had the answer: "Nothing will be impossible with God" (v. 37). The virgin birth could happen because it was God’s virgin birth. If you take Him out of the picture, it’s impossible. But once you include God, it’s a whole new situation.
The disciples had a hard time grasping the power of God. They once watched a rich young man approach Jesus and then go away sorrowful (Mark 10:17-22). Then they heard Jesus say, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (v. 25).
That was too much, so they asked, "Then who can be saved?" (v. 26).
Jesus answered, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God" (v. 27).
People often say that God has to show them His power before they’ll believe.
But He has shown us His power. The evidence of it surrounds us. God asked Job a very interesting question: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth!" (Job 38:4). God was saying, "I didn’t have to get advice or help from you to pull any of this off."
Think about this. It takes no more effort for God to create a universe than it does for Him to create an ant. All He has to do is say, "Ant be," and you’ve got an ant. He says, "Universe be," and You’ve got a universe. No effort is involved here.
Some time ago, I came out to my kitchen late at night and found a roach on my counter. But this was unlike any other roach I had ever seen. This was a "jump bad in your face, get down" roach. I walked up to the roach, but this brother didn’t run away. He just stood there as if to say, "Look, this is my house."
I couldn’t believe it. It was amazing to look at this thing. I would move my hand in front of it, and it did not move. Obviously, he did not know who I was, because I squashed that boy flat!
That’s what autonomous man does. He gets "roachy" on God. He pops back like he is someone, like he has a little power. He’s got a little degree behind his name. He’s got some machines that can take him into outer space, and he thinks he’s got some power. But it’s suicide to "jump bad" against God. He has unlimited power." [Understanding God]
B. The System - Trees produce seeds, which produce more trees...
11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day - This guaranteed that the food supply would continue.
"11 Then God said, "Let the earth produce plants—some to make grain for seeds and others to make fruits with seeds in them. Every seed will produce more of its own kind of plant." And it happened. 12 The earth produced plants with grain for seeds and trees that made fruits with seeds in them. Each seed grew its own kind of plant. God saw that all this was good." Genesis 1:11-12 (NCV)
Seeds are fasinating things:
A seed taken from a 600-year-old rattle necklace in South America has germinated and grown into a plant. The seed was imprisoned in a nutshell, as part of the rattle necklace taken from a tomb in Santa Rosa de Tastil. The seed germinated in 1968 and has grown to six feet and flowered. [Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations: Signs of the Times]
Some years ago a vase hermetically sealed was found in a mummy-pit in Egypt, by the English traveler Wilkinson, who sent it to the British museum. The librarian there, having unfortunately broken it, discovered in it a few grains of wheat and one or two peas, old, wrinkled and hard as stone.
The peas were planted carefully under glass on the 4th of June, 1844, and at the end of thirty days these old seeds were seen to spring up into new life.
They had been buried probably about three thousand years ago, perhaps in the time of Moses, and had slept all that long time, apparently dead, yet still living in the dust of the tomb. —Gaussen
In 1973, archeologists uncovered a cache of date palm seeds in ancient Masada, Israel. Scientists estimated that the seeds were produced about 70 AD. The Romans called it Phoenix dactylifera—"the date-bearing phoenix"—because it never died and appeared to be reborn in the desert where all other plant life perished.
The seeds were stored at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University where they remained for the next thirty years.
In November 2004, Dr. Sarah Sallon approached the university and asked for some of the seeds.
"When we asked if we could try and grow some of them, they said, ’You’re mad,’ but they gave us three seeds," Sarah said.
Sarah’s friend, biologist Dr. Elaine Solowey also didn’t have much faith that the seeds would germinate, but Elaine carefully prepared the seeds for planting. First she soaked the seeds in hot water to make them once again able to absorb liquids. Then she soaked them in a solution of nutrients followed by an enzymatic fertilizer made from seaweed.
Tu B’shevat, a Jewish holiday known as the New Year for Trees, fell on January 25, 2005. Elaine chose that day to plant the seeds in new potting soil, hook them up to a drip irrigation system, and then she left them locked up.
Elaine occasionally checked on the plants for a few weeks, and in March 2005, she noticed a sprout.
By November 2005, the sprout had turned into a sapling that was 3 feet high with nine leaves. Nicknamed Methuselah, the seeds is oldest seed to ever germinate.
Graham R. Hodges writes:
"When I was a boy milking several cows each morning and night, I dreaded the cocklebur season. In late summer, this prolific weed turned brown, and its seed pods, each armed with dozens of sharp spines, caught in the cows’ tails until the animals’ fly switchers were transformed into mean whips. One hard switch of such a tail in the milker’s face made him lose considerable religion. So I learned to hate the cocklebur.
Later, comfortably removed from the dairy industry, I learned a remarkable fact about the cocklebur: its sticky seed pod contains several seeds, not just one. And these seeds germinate in different years. Thus, if seed A fails to sprout next year because of a drought, seed B will be there waiting for the year after next, and seed C the year after that, waiting until the right conditions for germination arrive."
William Jennings Bryan got more than refreshment from a piece of watermelon:
"I was eating a piece of watermelon some months ago when I was struck with its beauty. I took some of the seeds and dried them and weighed them, and found that it would require some 5,000 seeds to weigh a pound; and then I applied mathematics to that 40-pound melon.
"One of these seeds, put into the ground, when warmed by the sun and moistened by the rain, takes off its coat and goes to work; it gathers from somewhere two hundred thousand times its own weight, and forcing this raw material through a tiny stem, constructs a watermelon. It ornaments the outside with a covering of green; inside the green it puts a layer of white, and within the white a core of red, and all through the red it scatters seeds, each one capable of continuing the work of reproduction.
"Who drew the plan by which that little seed works? Where does it get its tremendous strength? Where does it find its coloring matter? How does it collect its flavoring extract? How does it develop a watermelon?
"Until you can explain a watermelon, do not be too sure that you can set limits to the power of the Almighty and say just what He would do or how He would do it."
C. The Supply of food for man.
"29 Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so." Genesis 1:29-30
"Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food;..." Genesis 2:9 (NASB)
"The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;" Genesis 2:16 (NASB)
Later God would include meat on the menu:
"Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant." Genesis 9:3 (NASB)
God is the source of our supply of food and we should be grateful for it: "and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." Acts 14:17 (NASB)
Thanking God For Everyday Things
There is so much we have in life
For which we cannot pay
The things we take for granted
In our journey day by day.
From early in the morning
Until the day is done,
We ought to count our blessings
And name them one by one.
Health, peace, happiness;
Love of kin and friends;
Birds, trees, flowers, seas;
A list that never ends.
Summer, autumn, winter, spring,
Each brings something rare,
And we accept what comes our way
Without a thought or care.
We really ought to think a bit
Of what we have, and why.
There is so much belongs to us—
The stars, the moon, the sky;
The very air we breath each day,
And food upon the board;
And the only way we can ever pay—
"Our thanks to Thee, O Lord."
What so sad is that we have a generation that doesnt even understand where their food comes from! Many are like the fifth grade boy in school. After being told about the "food chain" the class was given for their weekend homework to write a sentence showing they understood the meaning of the term.
On Monday morning, one student handed this in: "Burger King is my favorite food chain." Food comes from the grocery store or some food chain but few recognized it all ultimately comes from God.
D. The ReStriction.
After its kind - vv. 21,24,25 Henry Morris, "Implanted in each created organism was a "Seed" programmed to enable the continuing replication of that type of organism. The modern understanding of the extreme complexities of the so-called DNA molecule and the genetic code contained in it has reinforced the biblical teaching of the stability of kinds. Each type of organism has its own unique structure of the DNA and can only specify the reproduction of that same kind. There is a tremendous amount of variational potential within each kind, facilitating the generation of distinct individuals and even of many varieties within the kind, but nevertheless precluding the evolution of new kinds!"
Con:
1. The InExhaustible supply of food has been replaced by food shortages - not because of God but man’s sin.
2. The good news - we are headed for a world in which there will be no need for food, but a delightful supply will be given anyway!
Jesus in His glorified body ate food:
"41 While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42 They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; 43 and He took it and ate it before them." Luke 24:41-43 (NASB)
We will eat in glory also:
"in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Revelation 22:2 (NASB)
"While the literal and the symbolic seem to be combined in this tree, there is no reason why it could not be an actual tree with literal fruit. The practical effect would be to continue physical life forever. While the verse does not state that the fruit can be eaten, this is presumably the implication."
[The Bible Knowledge Commentary]
"There is a continuous supply in abundance and variety. In eternity man will eat and drink. That is a great relief to many of us, I am sure." [J. Vernon McGee’s Thru the Bible]
Obviously throughout eternity we are going to be supplied with a food that is going to make our glorified taste buds jump for joy! Many times I wish there was a new food! It’s chicken, hambugers, pizza, steak, fish, chicken...one day something new and wonderful!
As we look at the creation before the Fall, and see the world around us - it should make us homesick for where we are heading, a place that is not only better then this place, but a better place then Adam even knew before the Fall.
An American sailor was killed in the Persian Gulf, when an Iraqi pilot hit their ship the USS Stark with a missile. Newspappers carried a picture of his 5 year old son, John Kiser.
Little John’s husband said, "I don’t have to mourn or wear black, because I know my husband is in heaven. I am happy, because I know he is better off."
No matter how bad or good things are, the believer lives knowing that he is one day going to be much better off!
Johnny Palmer Jr
www.StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
