All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree. – Isaiah 34:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 25, 2017): Isaiah 34:4

Mars and Venus are strange planets. They both share the distinction as probably being the only other planets in our solar system that might have been able (at least at one time) to support life. But both planets suffered planet wide disasters. It is these planetary disasters that stop scientists in their tracks when they consider the future of the world on which we live. The question that they want to ask is – “Is it possible that the earth is due for a planetary collapse such as has already happened to our closest neighbors in our Solar System?

For Venus, the planetary disaster was a naturally occurring but rampant Green-House Effect. If you wonder why some people get a little excited about the Green-House Effect that we seem to be inviting into our neighborhood, it is because we have a very clear example of what a Green-House Effect can do to a planet living right next door. The Green-House Effect makes Venus the hottest planet in the solar system. The average temperature on Venus is 462 C (or 863 F). Compare that temperature with Mercury, which at its hottest point in the middle of the day at the equator of the planet reaches only 427 C (or 800 F) - but at Mercury’s poles, the temperature never exceeds -93 C (or -136 F). What makes Venus so hot is its dense atmosphere and the Green-House Effect from which the planet has suffered. In every other way, Venus is very much like Earth, but an ecological disaster keeps Venus from being able to support life.

Mars is different. There is evidence that at one point the planet had an atmosphere and may have even had water running over the surface of the planet. But both are long gone. With Mars, the problem seems to have been a massive collision – as wells as many smaller clashes - with other objects in space. The surface of the Red Planet is battered. It is likely that one of the larger collisions ripped away much of the planet’s atmosphere – and likely parts of the planet went with the atmosphere. The result is a planet-wide disaster that has forever changed the face of Mars forever.

So as scientists ponder our future, they see both of these planetary disasters as being the very real dangers that lurk in our future. Both of the circumstances that caused the death of Venus and Mars are very real possibilities for Earth. It is enough to keep some people up at night.

This passage in Isaiah has been interpreted very literally as an end time prophecy – or a “this is how our planet will end.” It is not a prophecy of what precisely might happen in the last days, but when the last day for the earth finally comes, it will be a global catastrophe that ends our time on the earth. The image that Isaiah wants to leave us with is that in the last day, the stars will dissolve from the sky. The prophecy is global in its scope. In other words, it is not just my stars that are going to disappear; it is our stars that will leave the sky. According to Isaiah, in that day, the final judgment of the earth will be made clear to everyone. And as has already happened to both Venus and Mars, on that day the Earth will no longer be able to support life.

Originally Published on December 7, 2013

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 35