Mass animal deaths are mentioned in the Bible (see scriptures below the story). Although the Bible does not give exact dates as to when such things are said to occur, scripture does predict that the end times will include an increase of noted natural disasters, many of which have been occurring for the past several decades.
CBSNews: Thousands of birds fall from the sky. Millions of fish wash up on the shore. Honey bee populations decimated. Bats overtaken by a deadly fungus. Piglets die in droves from a mysterious disease.
It was tragic stories such as these that prompted a group of researchers from the University of San Diego, UC Berkeley and Yale to embark on a broad review of all the reports of large animal die-offs in the scientific literature since the middle of the last century.
They turned up 727 such papers documenting “mass mortality events” (MME) of 2,407 global populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and marine invertebrates — like the thousands of starfish that perished in North America in 2014.
Their analyses, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that not only are these events becoming more frequent, they’re also increasing in magnitude, with the number of fatalities higher for birds, fish and marine invertebrates. Thirty-five events completely or nearly wiped out an entire population.
Over the last 70-plus years — between 1940 and 2012, when the researchers ended their data collection — there has been about one more MME per year.
“Going from one event to 70 each year is a substantial increase, especially given the increased magnitudes of MMEs for some of these organisms,” said Adam Siepielski, University of San Diego assistant professor of biology and the study’s co-lead author.
The cumulative death toll reaches into the billions.
The number one cause was disease, which was responsible for 26 percent of the mass killings, followed — no big surprise — by human activity, mostly traceable to environmental contamination. Toxic algal blooms, like the one that has plagued Lake Erie in recent years, have also emerged as a leading killer.
“Mass die-offs result from both natural and human-driven causes,” said study coauthor Samuel Fey, a Yale researcher who studies how extreme temperatures can affect biological populations. Read More here.
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WHAT THE BIBLE HAS TO SAY
In the book of Hosea, God’s steadfast love is portrayed as the long-suffering husband of the unfaithful wife (symbolic of the unfaithfulness of Israel to God through idolatry) Hosea 1:1-3:5.
Hosea 4:1-14:9 contains the condemnation of Israel, for the worship of idols, and her eventual restoration.
- “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
- Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.” Hosea 4:1-3
The Hebrew translation (Strong’s Concordance) for languish is: bring low, dry up, be emptied, be not equal, fail, be impoverished, be made thin. A primitive root (compare dalah); to slacken or be feeble; figuratively, to be oppressed.
Hosea 4:1-3 is saying that because of man’s sin, not only will the land mourn, but everyone who dwells on the earth will languish (weaken, be brought low, be thinned out, be emptied, fail).
The prophetic message of Hosea foretells the coming of Israel’s Messiah, and how God’s love once again restores His children as He forgets their misdeeds when they turn back to Him with a repentant heart (Hosea is quoted often in the New Testament).
- “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.” Hosea 2:18
Zephaniah also Prophesies coming Judgment and Restoration
Zephaniah pronounces the Lord’s judgment on the whole earth, on Judah, on the surrounding nations, on Jerusalem and on all nations.
This is followed by proclamations of the Lord’s blessing on all nations and especially on the faithful remnant of His people in Judah.
Zephaniah’s message of judgment and encouragement contains three major doctrines:
- God is sovereign over all nations.
- The wicked will be punished and the righteous will be vindicated on the day of judgment.
- God blesses those who repent and trust in Him.
Zephaniah states the following in Chapter 1, verses 2 and 3 (NIV):
- “I will sweep away everything, from the face of the earth, declares the LORD. I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea—and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”
In the New Testament, Jesus was clear when he told his followers to watch for signs of His return. He said that no man, not even the Son of Man (Christ), knows the exact date and time of the promised Second Coming.
The book of Revelation does not speak to unknown events in the distant past. It warns of colossal events that spring from world troubles affecting the masses of humanity alive now.
We are living in the time of the end, when God wants His servants to understand the last events preceding the Return of Christ.
Grasp that the Day of the Lord is the towering centerpiece of the entire book of Revelation.
- Revelation 11:18… ‘And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.’
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