When gold was discovered in California by John Sutter in 1849, the resulting gold rush resulted in a massive immigration from all over the world to El Dorado, the golden land. A similar gold rush occurred in Alaska, and thousands of prospectors converged on the frozen tundra of the Yukon seeking to strike it rich. Nowadays, ghost towns dot the desert and mountains of the west as monuments to the futility and elusiveness of quick wealth. However, God had used man's lust for riches to rapidly populate a vast, relatively unentered continent, which led to "fifty, nifty" states that would coalesce into what is now the United States of America.
God, in His foreknowledge, saw the need for rapid transportation facilities for this wide spreading land, He foresaw the invention of automobiles, diesel engines, and jet planes, and He provided the necessary fuel for them. During the great Flood He buried millions of marine and land animals and covered their carcasses with rock, and under tremendous pressure and temperature produced a black, oily liquid, sometimes called black gold. that has become a vital element in our modern mechanized civilization. This oily substance oozed out of the ground in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and it was discovered to be flammable and a source of heat and light. A crudely rendered derivative, kerosene, became the standard fuel in lanterns and heaters. Then came Henry Ford and his model-T car and a demand for a more volatile fuel; and from this humble beginning has come our modern refinery where raw oil is converted into many fractions by a process called fractional distillation. Along with high test gasoline, heavier oils are produced such as kerosene, cleaning solvents, and finally heavy tar is the residue.
Today, oil is considered a primary source of energy. and along with another fossil fuel, coal, has been provided by an all-wise God to meet the needs of our modern culture. The Bible speaks of rivers of oil: "Then will I ...cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God" (Ezek. 32:14), "Will the Lord be pleased ...with ten thousands of rivers of oil"? ( Micah 6:7). Perhaps these are prophecies of the rivers of oil that pour from the Arabian Gulf, South America, Alaska, and Mexico to the western industrialized nations to slake the thirst of our machines. The Bible also speaks of the treasures of oil (Jer. 41:8). I am sure that, if you discovered oil in your back yard, you would consider it quite a treasure. Oil is also pictured by Paul in a direct quote from Psalms 45:7 as having a highly symbolic nature. It was used in Bible times as a healing emollient by the Good Samaritan, and for light in the sanctuary. It is used to anoint those who desire a restoration of health by divine healing, and it is used by God to anoint those that love righteousness and hate iniquity with "the oil of gladness."
