Category: japan earthquake

Posted in encouragement, japan earthquake, paris, sin, wicked

Paris terror attack, Japan earthquake

Posted on by elizabethprata

At this time Japan is recovering from a 7.0 earthquake at its southern end and Paris is aswarm with sirens and police as multiple apparent ISIS attacks are being carried out. Many are dead and the city is in chaos and lockdown. Days like these, especially coming at the end of a long, draining workweek when emotional levels are at low reserve, make for a trying evening of tears and prayer to the Lord. It’s always hard when many go home not to meet their maker but to be separated from their maker as chaff and goats. Nevertheless, God’s word refuels and restores equilibrium. Peace will reign again in a heart heavy with grief for the world.

Japan earthquake; small tsunami triggered

I read about the terrorist attack and the earthquake and I’m trying to process so much sin in the world. It is very upsetting. I prayed a while then decided to do what comes naturally- take a nap and become unconscious to the world for a bit.

Afterwards, I decided to do my bible reading and opened to the next chapter in Genesis which I’m going through, chapter 24 was next. I prayed and asked the Lord to comfort me in His word. Privately I wondered how a chapter in ancient Genesis would be able to be applied to my mind in comfort to the Paris attacks. But I trusted the Lord to do it.

It was about Abraham’s servant Eliezer being charged by Abraham to go to his homeland to get a bride for Isaac. And Eliezer met Rebekah at the well and Eliezer worshiped the LORD and Rebekah agreed to become Isaac’s bride. It was really beautiful how the providential ordination of events played out. It was a comfort to read how God is SOOO in control, since time immemorial to now, even with the seeming chaos of the current attacks and natural disasters.

The great thing about God’s word is that no matter what you read, the Holy Spirit has a way of energizing our mind with it and comforting our heart. The Word IS living and active and it’s a miracle how He can use God’s word in any situation to instruct, comfort, rebuke, or convict, even using Rebekah’s meeting of Eliezer at the well with camels to comfort this ole lady in Comer GA about a Paris in chaos and Japan under tsunami threat!

Landon Chapman at Entreating Favor wrote the following and it’s good. Please be comforted by it. For the ultimate comfort and re-fueling, pray and read your Bible. It really does help.

When the darkness of the world surrounds us, we need to be the light (Matt 5:14, Eph 5:8). Consider the stars which, during the day, remain in the sky but since there is so much light you cannot see them. However, at night, the stars shine brightly able only to be seen because of the blackness around them. Brethren, be the light for the dark, unbelieving world at all times, and especially in times of great tragedy and crisis.

Terrorism continues to grow throughout the world. We will be faced with times of tragedy and crisis. When your unbelieving friends and family come to you seeking answers, don’t be me 14 years ago. Rather, be prepared to comfort, warn, and share the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud. (Isaiah 57:20 NASB)

Posted in end time, japan earthquake, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

Earthquake: At what point do the warnings end and the Tribulation punishments begin?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Let’s discuss a bit more of the effects from this morning’s earthquake. I posted quickly after I awoke and turned on the laptop to discover that a devastating earthquake had occurred, followed by a tsunami of global proportions, damage, radiation leakage, fires, shell-shocked wandering thousands, and all the other attendant effects. Since then, scientists have discovered more about the quake and the effect it had on the earth. There are two effects of high significance. After we explore those, we’ll delve into what the bible says.

From the Italian newspaper Corriere, we learn “The impact of the earthquake that hit Japan this morning shifted the earth’s rotation axis is nearly 10 inches. It’s the preliminary result of studies carried out by INGV, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. According to Richard Gross, a geophysicist at NASA, the Earth’s rotation rate is increased causing a shortening of 1.6 microseconds duration of the day. A microsecond is one millionth of a second.” This quake was so powerful the entire island of Japan was moved 8 feet to the east.

TEN INCHES! That is one huge quake. I read earlier today that this quake was thirty times stronger than the famous in in 1906 at Frisco. God is powerful. No, it was not a “natural disaster”. It was God. Psalms 104:32- “He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.”

Speaking of smoking hills, in Russia, Kamchatka volcano exploded. Translated from Russian, “Almost simultaneously with the strong shock that hit Japan and triggered a giant tsunami in the Pacific, two Russian Kamchatka volcanoes erupted. Eruption was accompanied by earthquakes. In the Russian Far East, there has been a strong volcanic eruption. The air got a great cloud of volcanic dust, which can pose a threat to air traffic in the region. In both cases, the volcanoes that threatened the outbreak of several days or even months.” Mount Karangetang volcano in Indonesia erupted at the same time, as well. More here.

He toucheth the hills, and they smoke…

Another effect from the Japan quake was that the earth ruptured. “David Applegate, a senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards for the U.S. Geological Survey, said the 8.9-magnitude quake ruptured a patch of the earth’s crust 150 miles long and 50 miles across.”

“The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken.” (Isiaiah 24:19).

God is in charge of the earth. He formed it, He created it, and He will renew it after destroying it in a fervent heat. (2 Peter 3:10). What we should be taking away from this day is the knowledge, certainty and power of an Almighty God. He is shaking us, warning us. Yes, these are still warnings. But this is really bad, you say. Yes, today is really bad. But they are still warnings.

Imagine how terrible the day will be when THIS happens: “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” (Rev 6:12-14)

I’ve often wondered about how bad things will get before we are called to meet Him in the air. (1 Thess 4:16-18). How bad will the birth pangs get and what will that look like? The church is not destined to be on earth for the Tribulation, that is a fact. The angel told Daniel in Daniel 9:24 the 6 reasons God will make a Tribulation, and one of them is to punish, and end the iniquity on earth. Church age believers are not destined for punishment, our sins are pardoned and we are free from accusation. (Col 1:22). But for the Christians in Japan, if there are any, it must certainly feel like punishment. So this is how I decided to think about it.

Today’s events were the first global event of the birth pangs. Remember, the prophesied birth pangs began at Jesus ascension and will end when He returns in Glory. The nature of pangs is that they begin almost unnoticed and increase to an unbearable pitch, accompanied by screaming. Today’s quake has affected every continent and all the oceans. It is a cataclysm that we as humans on one planet are all experiencing. In the past and even in the recent past, there have been cataclysms but they have been localized. Katrina. Indonesian earthquake, Australian drought. Pakistan floods. But today, we are all affected. I think that means that we are near the tipping point from His warnings during the Church Age, to punishment for the unbelieving masses in the upcoming Tribulation. I do not know the mind of God, only what He shared with us in the bible. But He has told us that He will call us, and call us, and call us to Him, but there is a limit to His patience and His calling. It will not go on forever. Christians the world over can feel that time nearing, when He will stop calling and begin punishing. You can just feel it.

Today’s events really make us see how easily a day like that one in Revelation 6, still future, can come about. It makes us see how powerful God is, and how loving. Yes, loving. I hope that the events of today caused some to re-think their faith or beliefs. What a blessing that would be. If those beliefs do not include Jesus as number one and ourselves as sinners whose destiny should be hell, then you need a radical re-think. Jesus is love and He is shaking us. He wants to see you, and you, and you in the place He is preparing for you in New Jerusalem. I hope the events of today caused Christians to witness like there’s no tomorrow. Because there might not be.
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js