On February 23, 2024, time.com headlined an article, titled, “The Odysseus Lunar Landing Brings NASA One Step Closer to Putting Boots on the Moon.” It went on to say: “‘Today, for the first time in more than a half century, the U.S. has returned to the moon,’ said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a livestream that accompanied the landing. ‘Today, for the first time in the history of humanity, a commercial company and an American company launched and led the voyage up there.’
“Ever since NASA established its Artemis program in 2017, the space agency has made it clear that the new era of exploration will be much more ambitious. The goal is in part for American astronauts to establish at least a semi-permanent presence on the moon, with a mini-space station known as Gateway positioned in lunar orbit, allowing crews to shuttle to and from the surface. NASA also plans to create a south pole habitat that the crews could call home. And all of this will be done by a much more diverse corps of astronauts, with women and persons of color joining the all-white, all-male list of astronauts who traveled to the moon the first time around.”
On the nasa.gov website, we read this statement:
“WHY WE ARE GOING TO THE MOON
“We’re going back to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation of explorers: the Artemis Generation. While maintaining American leadership in exploration, we will build a global alliance and explore deep space for the benefit of all.”
While there is much positivity about such activities, Amitai Etzioni – an adviser to the Carter administration – countered some of the arguments for colonizing Mars and other planets in the Solar System (as put forth by luminaries such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk). Addressing the argument that humanity needed to do so to survive long-term, Etzioni wrote:
“[W]hat the droughts, the fires, the hot summers, and the melting glaciers call for is not an escape from Earth, but a redoubling of the efforts to save it… What is needed are major technological breakthroughs that will allow for protecting earth while sustaining a healthy level of economic activity… To make such breakthroughs we need major concentrations of research and development resources, talent, and leadership, all of which are in short supply. Hence, any serious Mars endeavor will inevitably cut into the drive to save Mother Earth.”
There are arguments and counter arguments on the matter, and it is indisputable that there have been many benefits that space flights and exploration have brought with the ability to study earth from outer space. Analysing weather patterns and GPS tracking would be just two.
It is a huge subject with many varied and differing views on the matter, and this is not the forum to address those in a single Q&A. But we would like to state, in passing, that the claim that no moon and Mars landings took place, is false, and that this is not the teaching of the Church of the Eternal God and its affiliates. Many will recall Herbert W. Armstrong’s often-repeated statement that this world has achieved incredible progress, such as sending man to the moon and back, but that the world is also filled with appalling evils. In fact, in his book, “Mysteries of the Ages,” he wrote in the introduction on page 8 of the hard-cover edition, copyright 1985:
“We send men to cavort about on the moon and return them safely back to earth. Unmanned spacecraft land on Mars and send back to earth close-up photographs of the Martian surface. Other unmanned spacecraft fly close to Jupiter and send back astonishing pictures of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.”
Mr. Armstrong never doubted that man went to the moon and walked on it, and neither do we doubt this today.
However, it is interesting, but not surprising, that whenever articles and statements about moon and Mars landings are aired, God never seems to get a mention!
Does the Bible have anything to say about the matter?
In Acts 17:26 we read: “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges makes this simple statement: “…where they can dwell and where they cannot.”
In 1960, the Worldwide Church of God produced a booklet entitled, “Who Will Rule Space?,” which was also written by Mr Herbert W. Armstrong. The opening comments were:
“Who will rule Space? World leaders know the first nation to conquer SPACE will RULE THE WORLD! Fantastic advances are made almost daily in the race to send men to the moon but what does it all mean? WHY the expenditure of BILLIONS on the Space race? Is Space exploration only innocent ‘science’ seeking to further its fund of knowledge concerning man’s environment? Here are the shocking answers.”
We will give some selected information from this booklet which we feel may be helpful to the reader.
“Because we have left God out of the picture-ignoring the plain statements of Biblical prophecy-we are ignorant of the real danger, and looking to the wrong source for protection.”
“Meanwhile, WHAT’S HAPPENED TO GOD? We never see Him mentioned or referred to in any manner in this frantic race to control SPACE.”
“In your Bible is One-speaking in the first person-who claims to be the RULER of this entire world, and-the RULER OF ALL SPACE!
“Men, in their feeble efforts-concentrating on physical and material sciences-scurrying frantically here and there, searching for the acquisition of new MATERIAL knowledge, are striving frantically to RULE SPACE!
“Mankind-utterly incapable and totally inadequate to solve his own problems on this Earth here below, besmirching it and befouling it with his filth and vile practices, is now thinking of carrying his decaying society into all of the far-reaching areas of the unsearchable universe!’
“CONQUER SPACE? Ridiculous! No, man will never RULE Space-but he can intrude into it! Actually-the very fact of man’s almost daily new discoveries in the realm of science is a thundering, ominous warning that the end of man’s self-governing society upon this Earth is drawing rapidly near! Then who WILL rule Space? God has decreed: ‘The heaven, even the heavens, ARE THE ETERNAL’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men!’ (Ps. 115:16.) God has decreed the heavens belong to Him!…
“Your Bible reveals the startling, glorious truth that human kind can, through the Plan Almighty God is working out here below, become God kind!
“When that is accomplished, when the last, final human being has had opportunity to CHOOSE which way he will go, when God has increased His own family by millions and millions, Paul reveals ‘then cometh the end [the total end of man’s way of life, of his organized society on this Earth], when he [Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power!’ (I Cor. 15:24.)
“THEN comes the inspiring thunder of the voice of the Great Creator of all things who says, ‘Behold, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW … HE THAT OVERCOMETH SHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son!’ (Rev. 21: 5-7.)
“Can you now begin to understand? God is offering YOU, not through the promises of science, not by travel in a Spaceship, not by military, political or man-made means, but by the very power of God, through being BORN of Him, as His OWN SON, RULERSHIP OVER SPACE!
“Yes-it is the saints, the reborn SONS OF GOD, who are going to RULE the entirety of the universe under God, the great Ruler over all!
“Don’t be caught up in the excitement of man’s feeble physical effort to ‘conquer’ Space. Man’s effort is only another MILITARY and POLITICAL plan to extend his power-without right knowledge. Learn God’s Truth. Begin to equip yourself God’s way-and you will be ‘MORE THAN CONQUERORS!’ (Rom. 8:37.) God wants YOU to rule Space!”
While these comments by Mr Armstrong were made in 1960, they are still relevant today.
We know from the Word of God what happened when man tried to get ahead of himself in a previous age. Around 2,200 BC, a momentous event took place that has affected mankind right down to today. We read in Genesis 11:1-9 about the desire of man to make a name for ourselves and build a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us review a few of these verses:
“1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech…
“4 And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’
“6 And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
“7 ‘Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’
“8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
“9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”
Their aspirations came to nothing, and people were scattered abroad across the earth.
As those involved are, apparently unaware of biblical prophecy and the Plan of God, they plough ahead with their schemes. If they knew that we had been allotted 6,000 years and that time is about up, they would realise that there is no time left to fulfil their lofty ambitions. Please see our Q&A on this topic: “Do you teach that modern man is only about 6,000 years old? Do you believe in a 6,000-year plan of God?”
However, if there was sufficient time left, there would be so many problems with this approach anyway.
- Man’s war-like proclivities would accompany him to other planets if it were to ever get that far. To think that man would behave any differently on another planet is folly; there would be the usual scrambling for power and domination and violence would follow as it has done for 6,000 years.
- The sheer logistics are mind boggling. We were given the earth to live on and man was to “dress and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). All of the natural resources were available. On another deserted planet there would be no such availability and transporting resources, equipment and everything else that such a venture would require would be enormous if not impossible.
- We know that other “dead” planets don’t have the conditions to allow life to exist as we know it, and that would be a major difficulty.
- The costs of all of this ego- fueled activity is enormous and much could be accomplished on earth if this money was diverted to more pressing projects on our own planet.
We know that proponents would answer these concerns in a positive way stating that all things would be possible. Jesus said that “with God all things are possible (see Matthew 19:26) but not with men as God has restricted what we can do at this time.
When mankind ignores the Bible, such projects can, and are, implemented, but when God’s Master Plan of Salvation for mankind is properly understood it becomes a complete non-issue as the people of God will rule on and over the earth, following their resurrection to eternal spirit-born members of the Family of God. And it goes even further than that.
We read in Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’ And in Revelation 3:21 we read: ‘To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’ Therefore, as Jesus will have been given all authority over heaven and earth and that we are to be with Jesus Christ on His throne, it follows that the earth and the heavens will be that with which we will be involved – through the Master Plan of God not the plans and schemes of man!
In our booklet “Heavens and Earth…Before and After the First Man!,” we read on page 88 about beautifying the earth and then on page 89 about beautifying the Universe:
“Beautifying the Universe
“First, we will reign under Christ over man. But once God’s plan for physical mankind has been completed and all human beings who have qualified will have become immortal God beings (while those who committed the unpardonable sin will have been burned up in the lake of fire), then what will be the next step in God’s great master plan? It appears that we will begin to rule over and beautify the vast universe. Romans 8:18–23 tells us that “the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility in hope; because the creation itself [the entire universe] also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption [or “decay,” compare New International Version and Revised Standard Version]… into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now…””
“This passage indicates that once we are God beings and full members of the God Family, we will participate in the process of beautifying and finishing the creation of the presently unfinished universe. The universe is in a state of decay—the planets are, from all that we can tell, waste and empty. But it is our human potential to become a member of the God Family and, under the leadership of God the Father and Jesus Christ, to free the universe from decay and corruption.”
Finally, the Bible tells us, as explained in our before-mentioned booklet, that God will create new heavens and a new earth, consisting of spirit, and we will rule over them under God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Great things are just ahead of us but it will not be by man’s doing but by that of the great Creator God.
Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)
