The Many Ways Mankind Can Be Destroyed
A Close Look At Matthew 24:21-22 in the Context of Present-Day Culture
Mathew 24:21-22 Gives a startling prophecy about the potential annihilation of humanity from the face of the earth. The prophecy is as follows.
“Then there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world [kosmos, “the earth and its system”] to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days shall be shortened there shall no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
Before we get into the means by which all flesh could be killed on earth, let me first comment on the word elect in verse 22. The word is the Greek eklektos, meaning “chosen out, selected, chosen as a recipient of special privilege.” While the word elect is used to describe the saints in verses 24 and 31 of Matthew 24, use of the word in verse 22 is possibly different because, even if the saints were to die along with the rest of humanity that would be no great tragedy, for they will be raised along with the rest of the saints at the resurrection. Their calling and election is predicted.
Can these elect be those whom God will preserve through the Tribulation from the seventy nations that populate the earth (Genesis 10)? Most people on earth will die during the end-time Tribulation — “Therefore the curse has devoured the earth … and few men are left” (Isaiah 24:6) — but in order to preserve descendants from all gentile nations He will cut short the time to preserve these selected gentile people … and then only those who will truly listen to the voice of Jesus and obey (Acts 3:23).
How Man Can Destroy Himself
As a former Army soldier during the Viet Nam War, I was taught in Basic Training the means to kill other people. They were (are) brutal and uncompromising, and involving an array of methods that a foot soldier is taught. The military on a macro scale, however, uses more efficient and devastating methods, beyond those that the foot soldier employs — shooting, stabbing, or bludgeoning the “enemy.”
Let us examine the methods that both mankind and God Himself can use to destroy all flesh from off the face of the earth.
Methods of Man
1. Radiological
Nuclear bombs. These come in the form of atomic (fission) and hydrogen (fusion) bombs. People are killed by the direct blast, but deadly radiation emitted by the blasts will kill people through radiation sickness. Also, fallout from harmful radioactive isotopes are swept up into the atmosphere and deposited downwind to contaminate people and food and water supplies, giving cancer and other diseases months or years later. The biggest threat of a nuclear attack is not the explosions themselves — though they would cause widespread, though not total, destruction and loss of life — but the “nuclear winter” they would trigger. If many massive explosions occurred, enough ash and dust would be thrust into the upper atmosphere to reflect sunlight and cause global cooling, greatly hindering crop production.
Nanotechnology can be employed by small groups of dedicated people to greatly speed the development of bombs by enhancing the ability to extract uranium from raw ores, and speed isotope separation.
Electomagnetic Pulse(EMP) weapons. These weapons, detonated at high altitudes over a nation, will send out tremendous electromagnetic surges that will knock out electronic components such as computer chips. Since most power grid, automotive, and industrial and home infrastructure and items are controlled by computers, the effect on society would be devastating, grinding to a halt the power grid, automobile, truck, and airplane functions, and the operations of businesses and individuals everywhere. Chaos and massive death would result.
Cell phone radiation. Cell phone towers and devices are known to cause cancer and other illnesses and disorientation. If the anticipated 5G system is installed, these negative health effects will be magnified, most likely leading to rampant disease outbreaks and mental disorders.
2. Chemical
Military distribution of toxic chemical agents delivered by missiles or ground equipment: nerve agents like sarin, soman, cyclosarin, tabun, and VX; vesicating or blistering agents like mustards and lewsite; respiratory agents such as chlorine, phosgene, and diphosgene; cyanides; antimuscarinic agents like anticholinergic compounds; and opioids.
Chlorine and fluoride in water supplies. These are already in use and have been for many years, and are mandated by law in many cities and states. They cause cancer and various other diseases over time.
Poisoning of the food supply. Already there is a multitude of chemicals that have been introduced into foods which cause long-term health problems: coloring agents, flavoring agents, emulsifiers, preservatives, and other compounds which are toxic to the human body.
Drug usage. A majority of the population of the United States uses one or more legal drugs, and many use two or more. These cause many health problems and shortened lifespans due to their side effects, while merely covering symptoms of disease and pain. Many people use illegal drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, heroin, LSD, methamphetamines, and others that greatly shorten one’s lifespan.
3. Biological. The military is well-known for its secret programs to develop diseases (enhanced smallpox, cholera, etc.) that can kill off large populations over a short period of time. These can be distributed by missiles, city water supplies, or ground distribution The organisms are usually genetically engineered for maximum lethality and communicability.
4. Food supplies. A goodly portion of the foods offered to the American public are processed, refined, and contain chemicals and genetically modified grains or produce. Hybrids are usually grown for their higher yields than open-pollinated varieties, but nutrients are diluted and nutritional quality is reduced. Food is also treated to maintain a long supermarket shelf life, the results of these various modifications being diets bereft of proper nutrition — “foodless foods” — giving rise to various illnesses.
5. Vaccines. While promising to eliminate various diseases, vaccines are essentially not effective, and because of their contents cause a number of ailments from allergies to autism to the disease itself and death. Mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, chemical preservatives, fetal cells, and live organisms are among the components of vaccines.
6. Reduction in population growth. Birth control agents, abortion, vaccines, genetically modified foods, cell phones, sex robots, and even an organization called Voluntary Human Extinction are conspiring to reduce the birth rate below the replacement rate. One estimate shows that at present replacement rates for countries like Germany and Italy, man would be extinct by the year 2,400 A.D. The United Nations has published documents encouraging a plan to reduce the worldwide population by 90% in the near future.
7. Terrorist attacks on power grids. By blowing up electrical generation facilities and disrupting power distribution systems, the entire nation or part of the nation would see its industry, transportation, agriculture, and governments grind to a halt, since all depend on electricity to function.
8. Takeover of society by robots (Robopocalpse). Though still only a theoretical possibility, robot development is rapidly advancing such that robots could conceivably be given the wherewithal to decide for themselves to turn against mankind and take over society. The robots would be soulless, showing no pity or remorse, and might even become inhabited by evil spirits to give them “consciousness.” War robots are already a reality.
9. A scientific accident. It is possible that an experiment using a particle accelerator or some other matter-affecting device might set off a chain reaction that would incinerate wide areas of the earth. For example, when the first atomic bomb was exploded in the desert Southwest, it was not known for certain whether or not a chain reaction would ignite nitrogen and destroy the atmosphere.
10. Nanotechnology. Some people have theorized that certain nanotechnologies might create self-replicating robots that would take over the ecosphere and replace production food plants with useless “gray goo.” Gray goo is a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all biomass on earth while building more of themselves, a scenario that has been called ecophagy (“eating the environment,” more literally “eating the habitation”).
11. CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). CRISPR is a family of DNA sequences found within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and archaea. These sequences are derived from DNA fragments from viruses that have previously infected the prokaryote and are used to detect and destroy DNA from similar viruses during subsequent infections. Hence these sequences play a key role in the antiviral defense system of prokaryotes. However, this gas-modification technology can be used to alter the inheritance of any organism, and could possibly be applied to the human genome, or those of the plants that feed him, and cause unknown diseases or disruptions that would threaten mankind’s health and food supply.
Methods of God
1. Solar storm. A violent solar storm could shower the earth with subatomic particles similar to an EMP weapon, knocking out the electrical grid and causing widespread societal chaos and death. Such a solar storm may have been what caused the infamous Chicago Fire in 1871 that started mysterious fires throughout Chicago and up into Wisconsin (see Mrs. O’Leary’s Comet by Mel Waskin, Academy Chicago Publishers, 1985).
2. Asteroid or comet collision. See Revelation 8:7-12. “The first angel sounded, and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Then the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Then the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. Then the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.”
3. Weather upsets. Drought, excessive rains, hailstorms, and other disruptions can reduce food output and lead to famine. See Revelation 6:5-6, 8. “When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come and see.’ So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. and I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.’ So I looked, and behold a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”
4. Disease epidemics. See Revelation 6:8 above. Some authors have theorized that diseases can originate from space, as evidenced by studies of the Black Death during the Middle Ages which could not have spread merely through human vectors. See Diseases from Space by Fred Hoyle and N. Wickramasinghe (J.M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., London, 1979).
5. Incitement of war. See Revelation 6:2-4, 8. “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, ‘Come and see.’ Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”
6. Supervolcanoes. These eruptions, such as from the Yellowstone Caldera or Mount Rainier, could wipe out huge populations, and if large enough could cause famines due to global cooling, much like would atomic explosions.