A current TV show entitled, 'The Survivor,' features a group of men and women who are placed in a remote, rugged environment with limited resources. They are tested by a variety of physical and mental challenges to see who copes the best under the stress of extreme conditions. Each week one of the contestants is eliminated as the least capable to cope. This process of elimination continues until only one is left as the survivor. The whole scene is well orchestrated with TV cameras recording every move.
Environmentalists today are quite concerned about the survival of what they call endangered species. Laws have been passed in an attempt to preserve certain areas of concern. Large tracts of wetlands. primeval forests, fragile coastlines, and certain rivers and lakes are protected in the form of national and state parks and recreational areas. Real estate developers must now obtain an environmental impact clearance before they can proceed with their projects. Lumber companies, road builders, hunters and fisherman have strict rules to protect wildlife. There is great concern worldwide about the effect on environment of the clearing of tropical forests, the draining of swamps, the cultivation of grasslands, and the damming of wild rivers. Some say that the pollution of our rivers, lakes, and air with industrial waste is becoming a problem of species survival.
Certain groups of humans have been at risk in the past, and some native cultures have actually perished and become extinct. The children of God have ever been an endangered species, and have been continually assaulted by enemies from within and without. Only eight persons were survivors out of an antediluvian population estimated at five billion. Abraham and his family were chosen out of the populous Babylonian civilization to regenerate the species. Only two persons out of the great multitude that escaped from Egyptian slavery survived to enter the promised land. Only two tribes of the twelve tribes of Israel survived to reestablish Israel after the Babylonian captivity.
The Christian church began with twelve disciples, and only one survived to old age, the apostle John. All the rest died as martyrs. But the blood of the martyrs has been the life of the church, and from that small beginning God's people have multiplied into millions around the earth. However, we know that in the last days shall come perilous times for the children of God. There will be a falling away of many travelers on the road to heaven. Many will be imprisoned, persecuted, and killed in the last great and terrible day of the Lord. Then there will be a time of trouble worse than any seen before. There will be a special group who go through this terrible experience, those who look up and see Jesus coming in the clouds will truly be "the last survivors."
