…… Next, we’re going to talk about another aspect, which is one way that God has control of everything. This is how, after creating all things, He balanced the relationships between them. This is also quite a large topic for you. Balancing the relationships between all things—is this something that people can accomplish? Humans themselves cannot. People are only able to destroy. They cannot balance relationships between all things; they don’t have such great authority or power.
Only God Himself has the kind of power to do this kind of thing. God’s purpose in doing this kind of thing—what is it for? Just the same, it is closely related to mankind’s survival. Every single thing that God wants to do is necessary—there is nothing that He may or may not do. In order for Him to safeguard the survival of mankind and give people a favorable environment for survival, there are some indispensable, some important things that He must do to safeguard their survival.
From the literal meaning of the phrase “God balances all things,” it’s a very broad topic; it first provides you with a concept so you know that balancing all things is precisely His mastery over all things. What does the word “balance” mean? First, “balance” refers to not allowing something to be out of balance. Everyone knows about scales. When using scales to weigh something, you put it on one side of the scale and put weights on the other side. The final amount of the weights determines the weight of that thing—that’s called balancing. In order to balance it, the weight of the two sides must be the same. God created many things among all things—He created things that are fixed, things that move, things that are living, and things that are breathing, as well as those that don’t breathe. He created a great number of things—is it easy for all these things to achieve a relationship of interdependence, of mutual support and restriction, of interconnectedness? There certainly is a principle within all of this. Even though it’s very complicated, it’s not difficult for God. However, for people, it’s very difficult to research. It seems like a very simple word—balance. However, if people researched it, if people needed to create balance, then those brilliant academics would all be working on it—human biologists, astronomers, physicists, chemists and even historians. What would the ultimate outcome of that research be? Its outcome would be nothing. This is because God’s creation of all things is too incredible and mankind will never unlock its secrets. When God created all beings, He established principles between them, established different ways of survival for mutual restraint, complementarity, and sustenance. These various methods are very intricate; they are not simple or unidirectional. When people use their minds, their knowledge, and the phenomena they’ve seen to confirm or research the principles behind God’s control over all things, these things are extremely difficult to discover. It’s also very difficult to discover or gain any outcome. It can be said that it’s very difficult for people to get results. It’s very difficult to maintain balance by relying on human minds and knowledge to govern all beings created by God. Since people don’t know the principles of survival of all beings, they don’t know how to safeguard this type of balance. So, if people were to manage and govern all beings, they would be very likely to destroy this balance. As soon as it was destroyed, their environments for survival would be destroyed, and when that happened, it would be followed by a crisis for their survival. It would bring about a disaster. When humanity is living amidst disaster, what would lie in front of them? It would be an outcome that is difficult to guess, difficult to predict. This is just the kind of danger currently faced by the world.
Then how does God balance the relationships between all things? First, there are some places in the world that are covered with ice and snow year-round, while in some places, all four seasons are like spring. You’ll never see a patch of ice or a snowflake. There’s no winter—it’s always just like spring. This is one way—it’s from the perspective of the larger climate. The second type is when people see mountains full of lush vegetation, where all kinds of plants are covering the ground; there are swaths of forest and when walking among them you can’t even see the sun. In other mountains grass doesn’t even grow—there is layer upon layer of barren, wild mountains. Looking from the outside, they are both mountains of dirt stacked up. One group of mountains is full of lush vegetation, and the other is devoid even of grass. This is the second kind. In the third kind, you might see endless grasslands, a field of waving green. Or you might see a desert as far as the eye can see; you don’t see any living thing, much less any source of water, just the whistling of the wind along the sand. In the fourth kind, one place is covered by the sea, which is made up of vast areas of water, while in another place you are hard-pressed to find any springwater. In the fifth kind, in one land drizzling rain is frequent and it is foggy and humid, while in another land fiercely sunny days are very common and you won’t see a single drop of rain. In the sixth, one kind of place is a plateau where the air is thin and it’s difficult to breathe, and in another kind of place there are swamps and lowlands, which serve as habitats for various types of migratory birds. These are different types of climates, or the climates or environments that correspond to different geographical environments. That is to say, God balances mankind’s basic environments for survival from the aspects of the larger environment, from the climate to the geographical environment, from the different components of the soil to the amount of the water sources in order to achieve a balance in the air, temperature and humidity of the environments that people survive in. With these contrasts of different geographical environments, people will have stable air and the temperature and humidity in different seasons will be stable. This allows people to continue to live in that kind of environment for survival as always. This is speaking from the perspective of the larger environment. First, the larger environment must be balanced. This is done through the utilization of different geographical locations and methods as well as transitions between different climates for mutual restraint in order to achieve the balance that God wants and that mankind requires. This is from the perspective of the larger environment.
Looking at the details, such as vegetation, how is it possible to have that achieve balance? That is, how can vegetation be allowed to continue to survive within a balanced environment for survival? It is by managing the lifespan, growth rates, and reproduction rates of various types of plants to safeguard their environment for survival. Take the tiny grass as an example—there are spring shoots, summer blooms, and autumn fruit. The fruit falls to the ground and that grass dies. The next year, the seed from the fruit sprouts and continues according to the same laws. The lifespan of the grass is very short—it’s alive from the spring to the fall, then it dies. Every seed falls to the ground, grows roots and sprouts, blooms and produces fruit—this process only occurs over the spring, summer, and fall, and all kinds of trees also have their own lifespan and different periods for sprouting and fruiting. Some trees die after just 30 to 50 years—they have a lifespan of 30 to 50 years, but their fruit falls to the ground, which then grows roots and sprouts, flowers and bears fruit, and lives for another 30 to 50 years. This is its rate of recurrence. An old tree dies and a young tree grows—this is why you always see trees growing in the forest. But they also have their proper cycle and process of birth and death. Some trees can live for over a thousand years, and some can even live for three thousand years. They are that type of plant. No matter what type of plant it is or how long its lifespan is, generally speaking, God manages its balance based on how long it lives, its ability to reproduce, its speed of reproduction as well as its amount and rate of reproduction. This allows them, from the grass to the trees, to be able to continue to thrive, to grow within a balanced ecological environment. So when you look at a forest on earth, no matter if it is trees or grass, it is continuously reproducing and growing according to its own laws. It doesn’t need mankind’s help; it doesn’t need any additional work from mankind. Only because they have this kind of balance are they able to maintain their own environment for survival. Only because they have a suitable environment for survival can these forests, these grasslands continue to survive on earth. Their existence nurtures generation after generation of people as well as generation after generation of all sorts of living things with habitats in the forests and the grasslands—birds and beasts, insects, and all kinds of microorganisms.
God also controls the balance of all kinds of animals. How is this balance controlled? It’s similar to plants—He manages their balance and determines their numbers based on their ability to reproduce, their quantity and rate of reproduction and the roles they play among the animals. For example, lions eat zebras, so if the number of lions exceeded the number of zebras, what would the fate of the zebras be? They would become extinct. And if the quantity of reproduction of zebras was far less than that of lions, what would their fate be? They would also become extinct. So, the number of zebras must be far greater than the number of lions. This is because zebras don’t only exist for themselves; they also exist for the lions. You could also say that every zebra is one part of the zebras, but it is also the food in a lion’s mouth. Lions’ speed of reproduction can never outstrip that of the zebras, so their numbers can never be greater than the zebras’ numbers. Only in this way can the lions’ food source be guaranteed. Even though lions are natural enemies of zebras, people frequently see them leisurely resting within the same area. Zebras will never be reduced in number or go extinct because the lions hunt and eat them, and lions will never increase their numbers because of their status as “king.” This balance is something that God established long ago. That is, God established laws of balance between all animals so that they can achieve balance, and this is something that mankind is able to see. Are lions the only natural enemies of zebras? Crocodiles also eat zebras. Have you ever seen a crocodile eat a zebra? The sight of a crocodile eating a zebra is also brutal. Zebras seem to be a really helpless type of animal. They don’t have the ferocity of lions, and when facing one, this formidable enemy, they can only run. They cannot even resist. When they cannot outrun the lion, they can only allow themselves to be eaten by it. This can be seen frequently in the animal world. What is your impression when you see this kind of thing? Do you feel sorry for the zebra? Do you detest the lion? The zebras look so beautiful! But the lions, they are always eyeing them greedily. And foolishly, the zebras don’t run far. They see the lion there waiting for them, just casually waiting in the shade of a tree. Who knows when it will eat them. Do they know this in their hearts? They do, but they still won’t leave that piece of land. This is a marvelous thing. This marvelous thing contains God’s predestination, His rule. You feel sorry for that zebra but you are unable to save it, and you feel that lion is detestable but you cannot get rid of it. The zebra is food that God has prepared for the lion, but no matter how the lions eat them, the zebras will not be wiped out. The number of offspring that lions produce is really small, and they reproduce very slowly, so they cannot outnumber zebras. No matter how much they eat, their numbers will not be greater than those of the zebras. This is a type of balance.
What is God’s goal in maintaining this kind of balance? This has to do with people’s environments for survival as well as mankind’s survival. If zebras, or any similar prey of a lion—deer or other animals—reproduce too slowly and the number of lions sharply increases, what kind of danger would human beings face? Firstly, the chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs raised by people would become prey for the lions. This is because they live outside, so they would be the lions’ first prey. Are those things enough for the lions to eat? Some households have two pigs. If a lion came down from the mountains and ate them, would it just leave after it was done? It would think: “There’s nothing to eat on the mountains, I’ll just stay here. This family has pigs—there will be a few humans now that I’ve eaten them. There’s nothing for the next meal—isn’t it all prepared? The people are just sitting inside—they can’t stay in there forever!” As soon as the people come out, it will eat them with one snap of its jaws. People have no ability to resist. Wouldn’t this be a tragic thing? Lions eating zebras is a normal phenomenon, but if a lion ate people, it would be a tragedy. This tragedy isn’t something predestined by God, it’s not within His rule, much less what He has brought for mankind. Rather, it is what people have brought upon themselves. So as God sees it, the balance between all things is crucial for the survival of mankind. Whether they are plants or animals, they cannot lose their proper balance. Plants, animals, mountains, and lakes have prepared for mankind a normal ecological environment. Only when people have this kind of ecological environment—a balanced one—is their survival secure. If the ability to reproduce of a tree or grass was not very good or its speed of reproduction was very slow, what would the soil do? Would the soil lose its moisture? If the soil lost its moisture, would it be a problem? If the soil lost its vegetation and its moisture, it would erode very quickly, and sand would form in its place. The soil would no longer be healthy and it would become sandy, and when the soil deteriorates, people’s environment for survival is also destroyed. Along with this destruction would come disasters. Without this kind of ecological balance, without this type of ecological environment, people would frequently suffer from disasters due to these imbalances between all things. For example, an environmental imbalance leading to an increase in the number of frogs in a certain place—their ecological environment is destroyed, they all gather together, their numbers sharply increase and people even see frogs crossing the streets in cities, and large numbers of frogs on the roads. If large numbers of frogs occupied people’s environment for survival, what would that be called? A disaster. Why would it be called a disaster? These small animals that are beneficial for mankind are useful for people when they remain in a place that is suitable for them; they maintain the balance of people’s environment for survival. As soon as they become a disaster, they will impact the orderliness of people’s lives. All the things and all the elements that frogs bring along with them can influence people’s quality of life. Even their physical organs can be attacked—this is one of the kinds of disasters.
Another type of disaster, which is something that humans have experienced frequently—is the appearance of great numbers of locusts. Isn’t this a disaster? This is a frightening disaster. It doesn’t matter how capable humans are—people can make airplanes, cannons, and atomic bombs—but when the locusts encroach on mankind, what solution do they have? Can they use cannons on them? Can they shoot them with machine guns? They can’t. Then can they spray a pesticide to drive them out? That’s not easy either. So, why would those tiny little locusts come? To eat grains. Wherever locusts go the crops are completely obliterated. They specifically eat crops and grains. Wherever they pass through, any grains are just gone! Under a locust invasion, in the blink of an eye, the food that farmers rely upon—a year’s worth of grains—could be entirely consumed by the locusts. And what is the arrival of locusts for humans? It’s not only an irritation—it’s a disaster.
Locusts are a type of disaster, so what about mice? If mice reproduce too quickly and there aren’t any owls or hawks to eat them, they will multiply very rapidly, faster than you can imagine. And if mice spread unchecked, can humans lead good lives? They can’t. So what is that humans would face? (A pestilence.) Just a pestilence? Mice will eat anything! They’ll even gnaw on wood. If there are two mice in one house, everyone in the entire household will be irritated. Sometimes they steal oil and eat it, sometimes they eat the grains and chew on clothing—this is the trouble that mice bring to people. They’re just tiny little mice, but people have no way of dealing with them. They’re even bullied by them. Sometimes they’ll climb up onto the dish rack—can those dishes still be used? The dishes can’t be used, disinfecting them doesn’t work and even if you do disinfect them you won’t feel at ease, so you just throw them out. And the things that they don’t eat they just chew to shreds and turn them into a complete mess. They chew on clothing, shoes, wood, furniture—they chew on everything. There’s no need to even speak of a whole group of mice—just a pair of mice is enough to cause a disruption. If they were to become a disaster, the consequences are unthinkable.
So, if tiny little ants became a disaster, what would it be like? The damage they would do to mankind could not be ignored. Ants chewing on wood to the point that a house collapses is not a strange thing. Their strength cannot be overlooked. So, if termites or termite eggs are discovered inside of a wooden house, in the United States, this is a major event. You have to find a professional company with technical staff who have professional means of killing them. If you don’t kill them, that house will be difficult to sell and it will be a huge problem. Did you hear about the colony of ants that ate a horse? There was a colony of ants swarming all over a large horse, and all that was left of the horse was a skeleton. Is that frightening or what? And when the horse rider saw that, where did he escape to? There was a lake nearby, so he ran toward the lake and swam to the other side. He survived that way. But after he had seen that, for the rest of his life he was unable to forget how those tiny little ants unexpectedly had such strength. They had nearly eaten him. If he hadn’t had a horse, the ants surely would have first eaten him, and because there was water between them, the ants weren’t able to make a bridge in time to go eat him. If the water hadn’t been there both the horse and the person would have been eaten together. The strength of the ants can’t be overlooked.
And if different kinds of birds turned into a disaster it would also be a frightening thing. That is, no matter what kinds of animals or living things they are, as soon as they lose their balance, they will grow, reproduce, and live within an abnormal scope, an irregular scope. That would bring unimaginable consequences to mankind. That would not only impact people’s survival and lives, but it would also bring disaster to mankind, even to the point of people suffering complete annihilation, suffering the fate of extinction.
When God created all things, He used all sorts of methods and ways to balance them, to balance the living conditions for the mountains and lakes, to balance the living conditions for the plants and all kinds of animals, birds, insects—His goal was to allow all kinds of living beings to live and multiply within the laws that He had established. All beings cannot go outside of these laws and they cannot be broken. Only within this type of basic environment can humans safely survive and multiply, generation after generation. If any living creature goes beyond the quantity or scope established by God, or if it exceeds the growth rate, frequency, or number under His rule, mankind’s environment for survival would suffer varying degrees of destruction. And at the same time, mankind’s survival would be threatened. If one type of living creature is too great in number, it will rob people of their food, destroy people’s water sources, and ruin their homelands. That way, mankind’s reproduction or state of survival would be immediately impacted. For example, water is very important for all things. If there are too many animals—if the numbers of mice, ants, locusts, and frogs are too great and they need to drink water—when there is an excessive number of animals, the amount of water they drink will also increase. As the amount of water they drink increases, within this fixed scope of sources of drinking water and aqueous areas, people’s drinking water and water sources will be reduced, and they will lack water. If people’s drinking water is destroyed, contaminated, or is decimated because all kinds of animals have increased in number, under that kind of harsh environment for survival, mankind’s survival will be seriously threatened. If there are one type or several types of living beings that exceed their appropriate number, the air, temperature, humidity, and even the content of air within mankind’s space for survival will be poisoned and destroyed to varying degrees. Similarly, under these circumstances, humans’ survival and fate will still be subject to the threat of that type of environment. So, if people lose these balances, the air that they breathe will be ruined, the water that they drink will be contaminated, and the temperatures that they require will also change, be impacted to different degrees. If that happens, mankind’s native environments for survival will be subject to enormous impacts and challenges. Under this type of circumstance where humans’ basic environments for survival have been destroyed, what would mankind’s fate and prospects be? It’s a very serious problem!
Because God knows what all things are to mankind, the role of every type of thing that He created, what kind of impact it has on people, and how great of a benefit it brings to mankind—in God’s heart there is a plan for all of this and He manages every single aspect of all things that He created, so for humans, every single thing that He does is very important—it is all necessary. So whether you see some ecological phenomena among all things, or some natural laws among all things, you will no longer be doubtful of the necessity of every single thing that was created by God. You will no longer use ignorant words to make arbitrary judgments on God’s arrangements of all things and His various ways of providing for mankind. You also will not make arbitrary conclusions on God’s laws for all things that He created. Isn’t this the case?
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