You
have probably seen this picture of the first underwater Baker nuclear
detonation at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean on July
25, 1946. It was said that the government had detonated a 23-kiloton nuclear
bomb known as Helen of Bikini in 90 feet of water, creating a column
over 6,000 feet in height and 2,000 feet in width. It is estimated that some 2 million tons of sand
and water were lifted skyward. On the far right of the column, you can see a
naval vessel going vertical. It makes you wonder if the fish swimming around
the atoll today glow in the dark?
It
looks harmless from a distance, but this umbrella produced radioactive fallout everywhere
from the radioactive sea spray, contaminating everything. Incidentally, it is
claimed; that due to a 12-year period of nuclear testing on Bikini and Enewetak
atolls, these areas are more radioactive today than Chernobyl and Fukushima1 though,
according to my calculations, it has been over 74 years since this underwater
nuclear detonation took place.
I
have come across this photo several times over the course of my life. It never
ceases to amaze me of its destructive potency, and the lengths man will go
through to destroy one another more effectively. We refer to this man-made
monster as a weapon of mass destruction today.
Before
I was born, all testing aside, the term ground zero (GZ) referred basically to
the point of detonation on the ground and associated with the deployment of
nuclear weapons during a state of war against two Japanese cities: Hiroshima
(August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945).
Now the phrase ground zero is not limited to the hypocenter of nuclear fission or fusion explosion; its meaning has jumped off the technically restricted nuclear tracks to include non-nuclear activities with the collapse of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center by Islamic terrorists on 9.11.2011 in lower Manhattan, New York City. Ground Zero is indelibly embedded in the psyche of Americans (of those not wanting to erase American history, that is) with Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the World Trade Center.
One
of the things that Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the World Trade Center share in
common is a rapid, intense, and violent change. This could embrace a whole host
of things that fit that bill, including earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.,
but nothing like a nuclear explosion. This would mean that there could be
mobile and multiple GZs, which kind of gets away from the “point of detonation.”
However, for convenience, we will go with the flow here and make some
adaptation of our own in the spiritual realm.
If
the enemies of our nation flew two airbuses ladened with jet fuel and crashed
into our city or town killing people we knew or loved ones or friends, we would
probably had felt the same way the New Yorkers did, devastated by “the look and
feel” of a nuclear explosion without the radiation. It is fitting that the site
of the former WTC and surrounding area is generally defined as Ground Zero.
Source: unknown
Imagine,
if a 15 megaton (15 kilotons of TNT) thermo-nuclear warhead had been dropped in
Lower Manhattan as was used in Hiroshima (estimates run 12-18 kilotons of TNT
fell on this city). The effects of blast, heat, and nuclear radiation would
have created widespread death and destruction throughout the city of Manhattan
on 911 with an estimated population of 1.5 million in 2001, including the
surrounding boroughs. The kilotons of TNT estimates are greater with Nagasaki
(18-23 kilotons of TNT)!
It
is one thing to see images on television of GZ, but being physically there to
witness the devastation is quite another perspective. Being there and looking at the path of destruction produced by an EF5 tornado is more startling, graphic, and surrealistic! I saw on
television the path of a lesser tornado that came through our town. When my
wife and I visited the impacted area, we were saddened by the destruction and
awed by its sheer power. Fortunately, there was no loss of life at this GZ.
Large
trees had been snapped in two like a toothpick. Some of the homes looked as if
they went through a tree shredder. Even more frightening is imagining being there
in the area as the twister touched down! When I lived in Georgia, I recall an
early morning visit by a tornado. It was 0400 hours when I heard the sound of a
freight train from my master bedroom passing close by. We were many miles from
the nearest railroad tracks.
At
first light, I went out and discovered that three very large pines had fallen.
Our bedroom was approximately 100 feet away from the touchdown of the tornado.
It came across the lake and “brushed” our neighbor’s home (minor damage), and then
jumped from there and touched down again on those three pines near the edge of
our property and vanished into thin air; there was no further evidence of its
path. After piecing the puzzle together on what happened that early morning, I
just thanked the Lord for His watch care.
I
want to suggest a spiritual GZ that is entwined with the physical realm that involves
rapid, intense, and violent change. This word “violent” may be misleading
because we associate violence with human activity, not natural causes, but as
in the case of Job, his perpetrator involved a fallen angelic being by the name
of Lucifer, aka, Satan (cf. Job 1:7, 1:9, 10 (Satan was aware of Job!); 1 Pet
5:8) who utilized wicked people (Job 1:15, 17), severe lightning (Job 1:16), a whirlwind
(Job 1:19; cf. Isa 21:1), medical maladies
(Job 2:7), someone very close to Job (Job 2:9), and let’s not forget the three self-righteous
friends of Job (Job 2:11).
By
looking at Job’s situation, we gain insight into the nature of spiritual
warfare. We should keep in mind that the book of Job is one of the oldest, if not
the oldest book of the Bible, and here we are in 2020 involved in the same
conflict between the Light and the darkness. GZ for Job covered a large area
since he was the richest and most influential man in the East; the attack was
on everything pertaining to Job, his family, his health, his servants, his
wealth, and his holdings (Job 1-2).
Many
reject God’s involvement in calamities, as in the case of Job, because of the
rationale that “my God would not allow such a thing to happen.” In actuality,
such a position challenges the veracity of the book of Job! Insurance carriers
have no problem describing weather-related events as “acts of God” or “force
majeure,” but where is the outcry of such a description by those who maintain
that God is a God of love, and would never sanction things like that!
The
same God of love who would never send anyone to hell, right (contrast Mt 25:41,
46)? Actually, the lost send themselves to hell by their own choice due to a strong
love for the darkness rather than Jesus (Jn 3:19). Nonetheless, it is clear
that God is omniscient and omnipotent, and His will cannot be circumvented, and
yes, Yahweh did give Satan permission to attack Job but with certain constraints.
Jesus’
GZ was at Golgotha. We will never know how terrible it was when Jesus cried out
to the Father, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me (Mt 27:46)? When Judas left the
last supper to do his infamous deed (Jn 13:30), it would appear that Jesus’
message on love was drowned out (Jn 13:34-35), at least for the meantime, due
to the startling news of His departure, I shall be with you a little while longer…. Where I am going, you
cannot come….
(Jn 13:33).
Right
after Jesus’ “love one another” command, Simon Peter immediately inquired where
He was going (Jn 13:36a). The “going” was alluding to the cross, none of the
disciples picked up on it, yet; you can’t follow what you deny (cf. Jn 13:36b-38).
Jesus calmed their troubled hearts concerning His going (Jn 14:1-4, “your” and
“you” are plural). Keep on believing in God and in Me in Jn 14:1 is key.
When
our world is rocked, we are to keep on
believing whenever we cry out amidst the chaotic circumstances of life, “THIS
IS NOT HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE!” Even when we foolishly question the love of
God, we are to keep on believing that God never stops loving us (Rom 8:38, 39);
He will never vacate the throne (Heb 1:3; 12:2), and that all things work together for good even though not everything is good (Rom 8:28).
He
will never abandon us; the appearance of absence doesn’t mean He is absent (Heb
13:5). Beware of anti-biblical perspectives; they are illusions projected by
the evil one. Yahweh remains Sovereign through and through the various disappointing,
discouraging, disheartening, damaging, and devastating ground zeros that occur
in our lives (Heb 13:8). When the good or what we perceive as good is taken
away, praise often leaves our lips (contrast Job 2:10; 1 Thess 5:18).
The
gearshift of Romans 8:28 is never knocked into neutral accidentally. All things
are continually working for good to those who love God, even if it’s the last
verse we want to hear during a GZ moment!
In
regards to that verse, not everyone is ready to hear this reassuring passage quoted
to them during a crisis at GZ, particularly after losing all ten of his
children (7 boys/3 girls) like Job, to a tornado, anachronistically speaking!
But Paul never said that all things were good, but God is sovereign in the good
or the bad, yes? Speaking of good and bad, read what Job said to his distraught
wife after she implored him to let go of his integrity and curse God and die,
You
speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God,
and shall we not accept adversity (Job 2:10)?
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1.
https://www.livescience.com/65949-marshall-islands-more-radioactivity-chernobyl.html
