Islands promote Genesis
by Russell Grigg
The Republic of Palau, also spelled Belau or Pelew, is an islands nation of 15,000
people, located 800 kilometres east of the Philippines and 1,000 kilometres north
of West Irian. It has its own Constitution, elected President, and Legislature.
About 25% of the population is Protestant and 40% is Catholic. A further 28% are
followers of the Modelene movement—a syncretism of Christianity and magic.
Reproduced with permission.
The stamps shown above were issued by the Palauan Postal Service on June 5, 1992,
to commemorate the United Nations Earth Summit Conference on Environment and Development,
held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1-12, 1992.1
The focus of attention on God as the Creator of the world in these stamps is a needed
balance to the emphasis of many scientists and politicians today who say that it
is the Earth and its animals which are in grave peril, rather than mankind. Mankind,
contrary to the tenets of evolution, is a spiritual being, made in the image of
God (Genesis 1:26-27) and responsible to his Maker for all he does and says, and
to whom he will one day have to give an account (Revelation 20:12; Matthew 12:36).
God's perspective with respect to animals is that no sparrow falls to the ground
unbeknown to Him (Matthew 10:29). His perspective with respect to human beings is
that it was for sinful humanity in rebellion against God that Christ died on the
Cross and rose again from the dead.
The Bible has little to say about environmental pollution, as this is very much
a derivative of the industrial revolution and the rise in urban populations over
the past two centuries. However, it does refer to three acts which cause a land
to be polluted. These are murder (Numbers 35:33), idolatry (Ezekiel 36:18), and
adultery (Jeremiah 3:1). The emphasis of the Bible here is on the spiritual rather
than on the physical, and on how the spiritual affects the physical.
The Palauan creation stamp issue is thus a very timely reminder of what is essential
to and what should be of primary concern for mankind above all other issues—the
need for each one of us to be reconciled to God and then to live in a right relationship
with Him.
Footnote
-
The stamps were designed, with the approval of Palauan authorities, by American
artist Neil Waldman, in a style consistent with Palauan culture and traditional
arts style. Thirty thousand sets were printed by The House of Questa, London, England.
Information kindly supplied by Pauline A. Cianciolo, Inter-Governmental Philatelic
Corporation, 460 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001, USA, to whom requests for
copies of stamps should be sent, if unavailable from local stamp dealers.
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