Before entering into this very important subject, two words need to be defined. Scripturally, the word “earth” refers to the round globe consisting of dirt, rock, water, vegetation, etc.  that mankind calls home. “World,” on the other hand, refers to the various interpersonal systems/nations/societies man has created which characterize humanity in the many forms in which it has organized itself. This brings up an important question: does man own and operate the various nations/systems/societies found on earth? Is man the director of the various entities and their widely differing political, economic, educational, military, religious and social systems? Has the world always been as it is now? If not, how did it come to be this way?

The Scriptures speak repeatedly of kingdoms, each consisting of a particular political, economic, religious, military and social system. A kingdom requires a king–someone to rule the people of the kingdom. Is there an overall ruler who rules ALL of the kings and kingdoms of the earth? If so, who is it? Can any singular personage actually in charge of such a conglomerate? Or do the various geographical entities practice total self-governance? Has rulership changed over time? If so, when, why and in what way? This series will go to the primary Source of all such information and glean from it the answers to these questions. For those who know and believe God’s Word, the answers will come as no surprise. To others, a shock to the spiritual system might be forthcoming.

Let us begin with the present–the world into which we are born. Each generation inherits everything that has gone on before it. We do this without giving much thought as to how our inheritance came to be as it is. Look at the world a newborn is thrust into today. It is a world of incredible scientific and technological inventions and discoveries. It is also a world of political and social turmoil, terrorism, dictatorships, crime, illiteracy, broken homes, divorce, abandonment of children, kidnapping, rape, murder, floods, famines, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. These realities are what fill the screens on the evening news and the front pages of newspapers and magazines. Has it always been this way?

Many people never ask why things are as they are during their lifetimes. Having little, if any, information about the ancient past, they assume that their world is the way it is because, well, that’s just the way it is–“It’s just a thing.” But there has to be a reason for a particular “thing.” And even the least religious among us will eventually lay the world condition at God’s feet. Religious “two-timers”–people who go to church on Christmas and Easter–know nothing about the God they acknowledge. Yet they, like their more knowledgeable counterparts, will eventually ask: “Why does God allow so much human suffering? Is He not all-powerful? If He is the God of love He claims to be, why does He allow all these horrible things to go on?” The question is a legitimate one. To answer it we must return to the distant past, to the recorded beginning of creation, then move forward to the present. By doing so we will learn why the world is the way it is, who made it the way it is and where it is going. To answer those questions we must begin with God’s original creations–angels. L.J.