Perhaps you have never seen sulfur, but it is a pale-yellow, chalk-like element often mined underground. Sometimes it is found as pure sulfur, and other times it is mixed with other substances from which it is separated at chemical companies. Often, instead of digging it out of the ground, it is first melted by hot water piped into it and then pumped into tanks and vats, where it dries into powdery form for various uses.
The word “sulfur” is not used in the Bible, but where brimstone is mentioned, it is the same thing. Remember the time God was angry with the wicked people of two cities and burned them with fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:2424Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; (Genesis 19:24))? Also in Isaiah 34:99And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. (Isaiah 34:9), at another time of His judgment on the wicked, it says, “The dust thereof [shall become] . . . brimstone, and the land . . . burning pitch.”
Sulfur is used in fertilizers and also sprays for plants to destroy insects and pests that are harmful. It is also used in such things as match heads, gunpowder, rubber and even medicines. Sometimes it is placed in pools that sheep and cows are compelled to walk through in order to kill insects that get into their wool and hides.
Actually the chief use of sulfur is in compounds such as sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid, which are necessary in many factories in manufacturing various products. But these sulfuric items have to be carefully handled, for just a drop of sulfuric acid on a person’s skin can be very painful.
Liquid sulfur dioxide is usually stored in iron tanks and its principal use is in bleaching cloth (removing colors). It is also used in making sulfuric acid, which is one of the most common acids in all countries. Workers often wear face masks and protective clothing as a necessary protection from harm to their bodies. It is important to remember always that these sulfur products, while they are valuable and useful in many ways, should not be handled carelessly.
Sulfur is one of the things reminding us that the earth was not just soil, sand and rocks when God created it. No, He knew the things that would be needed in our lives and included not only great supplies of food and water, as well as sunshine, rain and the air we breathe, but also much, much more. Sulfur is one of the important things, along with coal, oil, iron, copper, gold, silver and many more.
How important it is to believe what God tells us about how all these things came into being. God’s Word, the Bible, is always true, including the verse, “By Him were all things created, that are in heaven [sun, moon, stars and planets] and that are in earth [sulfur included], visible and invisible” (Colossians 1:1616For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)).
ML-09/04/2005