God�s commands

Steven Collins

May 22, 2008

 

A reader of my website sent me the attached link below, which I found interesting. It relates that three Catholic theologians have denounced �terminator seeds� as �grossly immoral� for economic, ecological and biblical reasons. I agree with them, and the development of such �terminator seeds� actually helps fulfills a warning that Jesus Christ gave us concerning the latter days before his Second Coming.

 

Terminator seeds refer to genetically-modified plants created in a laboratory to be �sterile� (i.e. unable to reproduce themselves via any of their seeds). When you read the link below and research this subject, it seems more than likely that the motivation for the development of these genetically-manipulated crops is to make farmers permanently dependent on the agribusiness firms which make such seeds. There would be tremendous financial incentives for making such seed monopolies. Many readers have heard of �Round-Up ready� soybeans and other crops which are genetically altered to not die when in contact with poisonous herbicides which would normally kill any living plant. These genetically-modified crops are becoming increasingly common in the USA, but European nations seem more resistant to the idea of these �frankenfoods� (a term applied to them by critics).

 

When a horse and donkey interbreed, the result is a mule. The mule is a mutant which cannot reproduce itself. Crops which cannot reproduce themselves are �mutants� in the world of flora even as mules are mutants in the world of fauna. These �mutant� crops are being rapidly marketed to the world to replace the normal crops which God created to reproduce themselves normally. Like many homeowners, I use an herbicide chemical spray like Round-Up to kill weeds and plants which grow in unwanted places. A plant which could survive being sprayed by Round-Up would be one bizarre plant. Yet those kinds of plants are being planted on millions of acres of cropland now. Any normal plant created by God would die from the chemicals which bioengineered crops can survive. I can�t help but wonder if God even considers such plants to be �plants� or alien creations made by a wayward mankind.

 

In Genesis 1:11-12, God created every living plant and designed ALL of them to reproduce via the production of fertile seeds. All plants belonging in God�s creation were said to �yield fruit after his kind whose seed is in itself� (KJV). This entire interdependent ecosystem was designed to function together by the Creator. When mankind removes or alters parts of the overall ecosystem, the entire ecosystem can be endangered. For example, insects, birds and animals feed on and pollinate plants and their pollens. One wonders how/if genetically-altered crops with �terminator seeds� (designed to stop the plants from giving life to any other plants) affect other living things. Many media articles have been written about the �colony collapse disorder� which has scientists mystified re: the mass die-off of honeybees so vital to pollinating crops. The honeybees are dependent on normal pollens from normal plants for their survival. Could the honeybee collapse be caused because the genetically-modified crops no longer provide bees with functional pollens which can support normal hive activity, bee navigation, etc. Many possible causes have been considered, but none have proven to be a provable cause yet. I suggest that the introduction of bioengineered crops be investigated as one more possible cause.

 

In Matthew 24:37, Jesus Christ prophesied that the civilization which would exist on the earth immediately prior to his return would directly mirror the civilization that existed just prior to the Flood in Noah�s time. Genesis 6:5-7, 11-12 reveal that mankind had so perverted and corrupted both itself and the earth that God actually regretted even making mankind! If it had not been for Noah�s uprightness, God may have simply cancelled his grand plan involving the creation of mankind (Genesis 6:9).

 

The pre-Flood society had a complex division of labor civilization which had agricultural industries, full-time musicians, metallurgical craftsmen and a population explosion on the earth as mankind�s numbers grew (Genesis 4:20-22 and 6:1). It also  was a violent society (Genesis 6:13) so wars and crime had to be common. Does any of this sound familiar to today�s societies? There is another huge parallel. Daniel 12:4 prophesied that the end-time civilization would have rapid and readily-available forms of transportation and would experience a �knowledge explosion.� Since Jesus Christ said the end-time civilization would be like the pre-Flood society, it indicates the pre-Flood civilization had these same characteristics too! While not in the canon, book of Jasher was once an accepted book of inspired scripture (Joshua 10:13 and II Samuel 1:18). The book of Jasher is still available but the current form clearly includes spurious additions and some technical conflicts with biblical accounts. However, a core of truth is likely there as well. I personally find the book credible up to the time of its accounts about Moses and error-prone afterwards. One thing the book of Jasher discusses is the pre-Flood world of Noah. In Jasher IV, 18 (a parallel account to Genesis 6), it is stated this about pre-Flood mankind:

 

��and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, and the beasts of the field and fowls of the air, and taught the mixing of animals of one species with the other, in order to provoke the Lord�� (Emphasis added.)

 

In other words, pre-Flood mankind was also doing genetic manipulation of all kinds of animals to create chimera species. If they were doing it with all kinds of animals, it is hardly a stretch of the imagination to grasp that they were doing the same thing with plants and even with mankind. Obviously, one cannot get diverse species to mate and produce any �chimera� offspring, so they had to do it the same way modern mankind is doing it�in the lab! Pre-Flood mankind had to have all the technologies necessary to map and categorize the genomes of every creature, do genetic splicing of the DNA sequences, etc. To do what Jasher IV, 18 records, the pre-Flood society had to be as advanced technologically as our society (or even more so).

 

The fact that modern mankind is now doing with animals and crops the same kind of genetic manipulation that pre-Flood societies practiced should be a major cause of concern. The pre-Flood society so angered God that he finally destroyed it. Malachi 4:5-6 warns the same thing would be close to happening at the end of our age, and Matthew 24:22 warns mankind will be close to �being terminated� at the point that Christ�s returns stops the imminent extinction of mankind. Jasher IV, 18 fits very well with Christ�s prophecy in Matthew 24:37.

 

Do you think such worries are no concern? British lawmakers have just paved the way for legally making genetic combinations of humans and animals (see second and third links below). Think where this could lead in future decades. The book of Jasher also mentions half-human, half-animal beings (LXI, 15) although it places it in a time context where such a creation would make no sense (the post-Flood period rather than the pre-Flood context where Jasher IV, 18 relates genetic manipulations were occurring). Mankind�s mythology includes minotaurs, centaurs, etc. which were human-animal hybrids. These mythological creatures may have existed in the pre-Flood world when mankind was mixing up the DNA of species, and their inclusion in mythological tales may preserve a memory of such pre-Flood creatures. Genesis 11:6 says that soon after the Flood, mankind had again reached the technological �tipping point� where it was about to do �whatever it imagined.� God stepped in and, literally, put all mankind �in the stone age� by confusing their languages so no one could read or understand the pre-Babel language. Nor could the nations speak each other�s post-Babel languages. Mankind is again �imagining� to create human-animal hybrid creatures. We are truly living in the latter days which are re-creating the pre-Flood world�which was designated for termination by the Creator.