We start with the word ‘chariot’ as used throughout the Old Testament which refers either to ‘a seat in a vehicle’, ‘a vehicle’ or ‘a rider’ of some sort. Then we move on to Nahum 2:3-4 which is about the best description possible of the modern automobile, by someone who had never actually seen one.
Nah 2:3-4 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. 4 The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.
From Daniel we know that there will be a great increase in transportation towards the time of the end.
Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro , and knowledge shall be increased.
Living in that time with the vantage of hindsight we know that this was facilitated by crude oil in its various forms, of which the Bible says was provided by the Lord. Oil is not a ‘fossil fuel’ it was placed exactly where it is by God at creation to bring about His purposes.
Hos 2:8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil , and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
Oil is referenced as an energy source for creating light several times, below are just a few.
Ex 39:37 The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light,Ex 27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.
The idea that there was oil contained in rock (underground reservoirs of crude oil are porous rock) was revealed back in the time of Job, so it is not a new concept, what is new are some the ways in which we have put it to use.
Job 29:5-6 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me; 6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil
One of the most interesting purposes is that the Lord planted the descendents of Ishmael over a very large portion of oil because of Abraham’s request.
Gen 17:18-20 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishmael , I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Side note: God nearly always used Babylon as the tool for inflicting judgment on unrepentant Israel. I think one of the most fascinating portions of scripture regarding the descendents of Ishmael is Hab 1:5-2:3 where God declares He will use them for the same purpose in the last days, except this time it will be on the unrepentant gospel bearing nations (UGBN). For reference please see what happens to Israel in Deut 28:49-57 as the prototype of what will happen to the UGBN.
Since it is the Lord who provides the oil, it is Him alone who determines how much is available, and there is biblical precedent both for Him letting it flow, and for Him restricting it.
Prov 21:20 There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.Hag 1:11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil , and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
Joel 1:10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
My understanding based on current production numbers, is that we are soon to enter the period of God restricting the flow of oil to the UGBN as detailed below. Notice the ‘I will’s’…
Mic 5:10-15 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. 14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
The horses in verse 10 are the energy source for the chariots, and will be cut off.
To determine the time and place for this we back up to verse 8 to see that it is when ‘the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people’. This has not been fulfilled in any time up to and including 70AD where Israel was still gathered together. This is not to be fulfilled during the time known as Jacob’s trouble when all the descendents of Jacob are gathered together again in Israel. This is not even meant to be a judgment of Israel, as stated in verse 15 it is to be ‘vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard’. The Lord is speaking favorably unto the remnant of Jacob until the end of verse 9, from that point on the speaking turns from favorable to unfavorable because the Lord is speaking to a different people. I believe it is to be applied to the UGBN; this will require some explanation so I must digress a moment or two.
When Christ came the first time the visible Jewish church was in total apostasy, even crucifying the Lord of Glory, when He returns the second time the visible Gentile church will be in a similar condition. There will be a few saved here and there, but the great mass of visible Christendom will be entirely corrupted from the truth, so much so that during the Great Tribulation most of those left behind will receive the mark of the beast, being deceived into thinking they are being sealed of God (compare Rev 7:3 and Rev 13:16). The doubters among you at this point may guffaw, but it is recorded that the punishment of those who merely played church will be much greater than that experienced by Israel. The judgment that will fall on the UGBN will be much more severe than that which fell on Jerusalem in 70 AD; in fact Jerusalem will look like a picnic compared to what happens to the UGBN.
Heb 10:28-29 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Abundant supply of a cheap energy source is the very foundation of the way of life in the UGBN. It has allowed us to live where we want, work where we want, and specialize into jobs that don’t require producing our own food and shelter. We are now completely dependent on a constant supply of energy since the just-in-time concept of supply has worked its way through the entire system. Someone may say surely there will be another form of energy or something to fill in the gap, I will say there is always a minute possibility, but based on the current information available, the probability is extremely low.
The effects of oil depletion on the UGBN along with the rest of the world are scattered throughout the book of Revelation along with the books of the prophets, where more is written about Christ’s second coming than His first. When you read the Bible, look for the phrase ‘the day of the Lord’, most often it refers to the time between the rapture of the saints and the end of the millennial reign of Christ. Some of what you see will be pleasant which refers to what happens during the millennial reign, and some will be unpleasant which refers to the period known as the Great Tribulation. From the mention oil’s importance gets in Rev 6:6 at the beginning of the tribulation, as well as its mention of it’s unavailability in Rev 18:10-14 towards the end of the tribulation, oil or scarcity thereof, will be a major contributing factor to the events that precede the revelation of Jesus Christ.