Post-salvation, do you ever feel any condemnation, or ever struggle with it? A lot of people do, especially new Christians. I don’t want to seem super-spiritual or anything, but I don’t struggle with condemnation. I’ll tell you why, and maybe it would be encouraging.
Accused of being dogmatic all my life, I always saw things in black and white, right and wrong. People said that as I grew up I’d come to know that there are gray areas.
Do you see any gray there?
I mulled that over for a long time but rejected that notion, there is no gray area. There is only right and wrong, dark and light, good and bad, etc. The “seeking” of the rest of my life was to discover a philosophical construct which fit my innate sense of either/ors.
Buddhism seemed excessively complicated. Wicca seemed excessively simple but trying to be complicated. Islam, well, Islam is just crazy. Catholicism had too many rules, and they contradicted each other.
I found my dogmatism, my either-or perspective, satisfied in Jesus.
In Him there is law/grace, broad road/narrow road, condemnation/forgiveness, in Christ/out of Christ, heaven/hell. A great gulf is fixed. Everything with Jesus is clear and simple. Not simplistic, because Christianity is the most complicated and deep philosophy/religion/way of life one can ever study, but simple in its approach. The Gospel is often rejected because ‘it can’t be that simple’.
Let’s take a look at a scene. At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will have blinked out all the lights in the universe. There will be no moon, no sun, and no stars. Earth will be wrecked so probably no electricity. It will be dark. It will be dark for a while, because Jesus says no one knows the day or time the son of Man is coming. (Matthew 24:36). whoever does not believe is condemned already. John 3:18
Then all of a sudden a blinding light fills the sky. JESUS is coming in wrath, and with condemnation on His lips, and His glory is undimmed, unveiled, and no other light competes with it. It terrifies the inhabitants of the earth! They fall down and hide under the rocks and in caves, crying out
“Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (Revelation 6:16-17)
If I think myself condemned, or have done an action that Jesus would condemn, I think of that scene. Am I there? NO. I am not one of those unbelievers hiding under a rock and begging to escape the notice of the Lion of the tribe of Judah? NO!
Well, since Christianity is either-or, and if I’m not there, where am I? HERE:
“More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:11)
So I never struggled with condemnation, because it’s either-or. If I think about my sins, former or present, sure, I’d feel condemned. It is a heavy weight to know I fail Jesus even today, with the Spirit in me. But I don’t think about it. If I do, I’d be putting myself on the place of those poor blasphemers in Rev. 6 at the coming of Christ, hiding under the rocks and terrified of His approach. I’m not there, that’s not me. So, who am I? I am forgiven, in the light, embraced by Jesus who knew me before the foundation of the world. It simply isn’t profitable to think of being condemned, and we’re told not to:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
Not that we don’t feel bad when we sin. I certainly do. But the glory of Christ is His intimate relationship with us, and my opportunity to bring my mourning over my sin to Him and ask for forgiveness. He delights in His children and wants to forgive. As for the unnecessary feeling of condemnation?
It’s not complicated.
Jesus went through excruciating pain and agony in order to satisfy God’s wrath. He took our punishment so that we would not be condemned. Therefore I will not diminish His work by adopting an attitude of condemnation.
It’s not complicated.
If we have the faith of a child, we won’t overcomplicate the message. We’re co-heirs with Christ, in us there is no condemnation. (Romans 8:1). Why purposely burden my life with a gray area of endless options for feeling condemned in my sins when Jesus stripped it all down to two? We are either outside Christ and condemned or we are in Christ and forgiven. It’s that simple.
With all the world’s attention focused on the coup in Kiev, Ukraine right now, and the ongoing problem of Syria’s civil war, little news attention has been paid to uprisings in two other places: Caracas, Venezuela and Bangkok, Thailand.
Francisco Toro at the Caracas Chronicles wrote on February 20th,
The above was an analysis opinion, though backed with links. What do other news outlets say is happening in Caracas?
The Financial Times reports that “Caracas Protesters vow to turn Venezuela into another Ukraine“ “As the death toll from 10 days of violence rose to at least eight, at dusk on Saturday he was among the demonstrators in Caracas’s Plaza Altamira, an opposition stronghold, hurling rocks at security forces at the end of a march that drew in tens of thousands of people.”
Bloomberg news reports that Opposition Agrees to talks as Unrest rocks Caracas Anti-government demonstrations are in their second week after Lopez’s Voluntad Popular party on Feb. 12 organized marches to speak out against rising crime, the world’s fastest inflation and shortages of everything from milk to medicine. The protests have turned violent on a nightly basis as police clash with students, resulting in at least eight deaths.
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Meanwhile in Bangkok
Thai PM rules out resigning as bombs, gunfire punctuate unrest Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the target of anti-government protests in Bangkok, has been staying outside the city and on Monday ruled out resigning despite a series of deadly attacks heaping pressure on her administration. The protests have been punctuated by gunfire and bomb blasts, including one on Sunday that killed a woman and a young brother and sister. They are aimed at unseating Yingluck and erasing the influence of her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is seen by many as the power behind the government.
All this unrest in various nations is creating refugees and asylum seekers, who themselves are subjected to sometimes horrific conditions. Protests have been occurring where violence often breaks out. At the Australian-run asylum center on Papua New Guinea there was a riot to protest conditions, but authoritarian secrecy has locked the facility down, and there are at best conflicting reports of what actually happened. All they know is an Iranian woman seeking asylum died.
Of the unrest ongoing in the northern tier of Africa, many refugees flee to the island off Italy called Lampedusa, as they had been since the outbreak of the Arab Spring in Morocco and Tunisia in 2011. However, these facilities were never meant to handle the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing nations in unrest. Again, tragedies occur.
Turkey has set up refugee camps where more than half a million Syrians fleeing the three-year unrest in their native country have been living. Yet for many, there is no escape from the violence, there, either.
6.5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Syria; 2.4 million Syrians Displaced to Neighboring Countries.
50 largest refugee camps “The legacy of the world’s conflicts can be seen in the scores of camps for refugees around the world. This story profiles the 50 most populous settlements administered by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Contrary to popular belief, many of these settlements are far from temporary, and most of the largest ones are in Africa and South Asia. In total, these camps are home to over 1.9 million uprooted people.“
The world’s unrest is making a restless population. Not only are those within the nations affected but also the ones who flee are affected, and the places they flee to are affected. I am reminded of the prophecy:
“Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” (Luke 21:10)
Nation against nation means two things. The word for nations as it is used here is ‘ethnos’ meaning nation, as in Syria against Israel, for example. It also means a race of people, as in Sunni against Shia, or Tutsi against Hutu.
There is another verse which comes to mind also.
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,” (Luke 21:25)
I’ve often thought that the reference to the sea here is to peoples. It absolutely could mean actual sea. No doubt. But I always wondered why the peoples will be perplexed as to why the seas are roaring. So I began to believe that the restless sea (peoples) are being referred to. There is precedent that sea means mass of people as a metaphor. In Isaiah, the sea is actually defined as a metaphor of restless peoples.
But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.” (Isaiah 57:20)
In Revelation 13:1 the first beast (antichrist) is described as coming out of the sea.
“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.” (Revelation 13:1)
The first beast rises out of the sea. In that verse it is obvious that it is a metaphor, because it is highly unlikely that the antichrist rises from the actual sea as a man, dripping with sea water and entwined with seaweed.
So I believe the word sea there is a use of the old metaphor for the restless nations. I don’t think it is too far a stretch to say that the ‘distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, are the wicked in the nations.
In any case, there is global unrest that is prolonged and affecting millions upon millions at this moment. Entire nations are almost being uprooted and masses of people expelled. The wicked, teeming mass of humanity in many nations is being oppressed and displaced. The global psyche is very tenuous right now.
“Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.” (Ecclesiastes 4:1)
There are many blessings about living in this time. We see the Spirit at work, we see prophecies unfolding, we can pray in joyous anticipation for the Lord’s return. However there are also many sad parts to living in this time also. We mourn for these displaced people and for the children affected by all this national and sectarian violence. We know that many don’t have the joy of resting in Jesus, they don’t know Him. We mourn those who die, and are in hell right now because they didn’t know Jesus. We know that it is only going to be harder each day. Our brethren are persecuted and killed at a rate unheard of in any previous time. It is going to continue to get darker before it gets better.
Because the Church won’t be going through the Tribulation, we know the Lord will call for us any time. We may have one day left on earth or several more years. At least we know that we have a great joy to look forward to. You can have great joy as well.
If you don’t know Jesus and are depressed at the way the world is going, then repent of your sins. Jesus will save you from the wrath to come- both the wrath on this earth (1 Thessalonians 5:9, Romans 5:9) and the wrath in hell. (John 3:36). Repent and turn to Jesus, the only One who can save. He is building His church, He is preparing a place for His bride, and will return soon to take us to where He is.
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3)
In January of 2012 I wrote a report of the global sky sounds people have been hearing. Variously called sky hums, sounds of the apocalypse, or sky quakes, they have appeared recently and have not only been heard by many, but have been recorded and reported on by mainstream news. I wrote:
Strange noises in the sky: hums, booms, and other apocalyptic escapades
“The noises are usually a low pitched hum that veritably drives the residents crazy, or a boom from the sky that people liken to a sonic boom. When they occur, the authorities receive dozens to hundreds of phone calls asking if there had been an earthquake. In most cases, the boom is not related to a military activity nor aeronautic exercise, not to a quake, and not to drilling or explosives. These things are checked out and the usual explanation is usually absent, leaving residents to wonder what is the cause of the noise. That’s why they are termed mysterious.”
Since the general emergence of these sounds; a few years ago, they have continued to perplex and frighten. Just this week in St. Paul, Minnesota, another spate of sounds frightened the residents there.
St. Paul Residents Ponder Loud, Mysterious Noise Heard Thursday Morning
“A loud, strange noise early Thursday morning woke up some residents in St. Paul and frightened others. People heard it for about an hour, in and around the Highland Park and Mac Groveland neighborhoods. KSTP called Ramsey County dispatch and sent a crew to investigate. Dispatch said they received about 10 calls from homeowners wondering what the noise was. They sent out a few officers to investigate but they couldn’t find anything. The howling traveled for miles, right through the walls of homes.”
Now, there is a difference between these particular sounds, and other sounds that normally occur and startle residents. For example, the transformer in front of my house was struck by lightning and blew up, and it made an enormous sound which scared me (and the cats) like to death. However, it was the suddenness of the sound and the loudness of the sound and not the sound itself which was startling. I recognized it as a normal, if very loud sound. The same with a thunderclap and the same with the boom associated with the earthquake that happened near GA this week, and the same with sonic booms that occasionally happen as jets takeoff at the Air Force Base some distance away. We have a catalog of sounds in our head and when we hear one we classify it. The brain immediately categorizes those sounds as infrequent but normal.
Not so with these sky booms. They aren’t even particularly loud, but it seems that is it the quality of the sound that spooks people. They are unclassifiable. Here are some quotes from people who heard the St. Paul noise-
Howling sound ‘creeps out’ St. Paul –“It was kind of a howling, kind of a scraping, kind of a metallic sound,” said Aaron Buesing. –Trudy Moloney explained it as “kind of a somber music and eerie sounding.”
Quite often, the noises are described as metallic, spooky, and eerie. They describe them as chains clanking or sometimes, something straight from hell.
In this report from the UK, also from last week,
Coventry residents left baffled by mystery ‘Independence Day’ noise
“Reports have come in describing a loud noise in the sky which lasted around one minute and was heard by residents in Whitley, Walsgrave, Stoke and Wyken. Mitch Wise, 19, from Walsgrave, said the noise was so loud he could hear it inside his house despite all the windows and doors being closed. He said: “I did think it sounded like something out of Independence Day, that kind of noise.” [Independence Day, the alien invasion movie]
Or this from Kentucky, also this week:
Booms in the Night; Officials scurry to locate source; MSU professor offers explanation for strange sounds
“A series of strange noises awakened Murray-area residents in the pre-dawn hours Friday, causing law enforcement agencies to answer several calls related to mysterious sounds that were being reported. Dr. George Kipphut, chairman of the Murray State University Department of Geosciences, said he is relatively certain that a phenomenon known as a frost quake is the cause of the eerie resonance…. I’ve never heard one, and this is unusual for this climate we live in,” Kipphut said. Kipphut said frost quakes — officially known in the geological community as cryoseisms — are more associated with the extreme northern portions of the United States into Canada.”
Even when the loud booms and explosions are heard and there is likely a natural explanation, like cryoseisms, it seems that there exists something weird with these, as well. In the above story, they are happening in places where they don’t usually. In the article below, they are happening much more frequently than they ever have.
A cryoseism is a frost quake. As Wikipedia explains, “They may be caused by a sudden cracking action in frozen soil or rock saturated with water or ice. As water drains into ground, it may eventually freeze and expand under colder temperatures, putting stress on its surroundings. This stress builds up until relieved explosively in the form of a cryoseism.”
This past January in Vermont, apparently several cryoseisms occurred. As Gib Brown, who works as both a geology and physics educator, explains, “I thought a tree fell on my house,” Brown recalled. “I looked outside, I looked up and down the street, couldn’t see anything. It had to have been a cryoseism.” Brown likened the phenomenon to the way potholes can be formed by freezing water, except under the earth, where their invisibility adds to their mystery. Brown called the frost quakes fairly rare but not wildly unusual. “I would say the numbers this year are way above average,” Brown said.” [underline mine]
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Let’s turn from the fact of these noises and the reaction to them … to the Bible. I’d said in the blog essay I wrote two years ago that the Bible specifically does not address the noises as a sign. Though officials have searched for an explanation (airplanes, drilling, ice, etc) they have come up empty. Neither biblical nor secular explanations seem to be coming to the fore. So from this paragraph forward there is only speculation on my part. However there is perhaps an application to the end times that I want to share.
First, there are these verses from Jeremiah 25:30-31
You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
“‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
and shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against the nations;
he is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the Lord.”
Verse 31, ‘the clamor’ also is translated ‘a noise.’ Pulpit Commentary says of ‘a noise’, the word is used elsewhere for the tumultuous sound of a marching army, or the roar of waters.
Many people say that the noise they’ve been hearing includes a clanking or a metallic sound. I’ve said before that I often wonder if it is leak-through from the unholy angels gathering for the great unleashing upon the world. When prophet Elisha asked God to open his servant’s eyes, I wonder if in addition to seeing the angelic army … if he heard anything too.
Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:17)
The fear.
There is fear of the LORD, which isn’t a scary fear for a Christian. CARM says of the fear of God:
Yes, we should fear God because He is the Almighty Creator who can discipline us should we rebel against Him. He is so holy and so awesome that being in His presence brings an inspiring fear. … When anyone experiences the Majesty of the Lord, he naturally is humbled and the awesome greatness of God automatically produces a normal and healthy fear.
But we do not need to fear God’s judgment. As for satan, we need not fear him because Jesus has already overcome satan. We only need resist satan and he will flee from us. (James 4:7).
The unsaved don’t fear God. They do not fear satan either. They unknowingly serve satan. If they happen to have encounters with the supernatural, often times satan’s ministers appear as angels of light, (2 Corinthians 11:14-15) or in new age terms, ‘spirit guides.’ Since satan chooses either to allow himself to be culturally diminished (as in a pointy horns and a red tail made fun of on Halloween) or as a gentle spirit guide, muse, or another kind of other worldly helper, the unsaved don’t fear satan.
What would people think whose incorrect notion of satan or spirit guides were to be unmasked and they say the demons as they really are?
I believe they are getting a taste of it with these sky noises. If these people who heard the sky noise for one second and were frightened out of their wits, what will happen when they see the very demons of hell unleashed?
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.a 2He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. (Revelation 9:1-3)
Read the rest of Revelation 9.
These demons are allowed to torment any person during the Tribulation who does not have the seal of God on their foreheads. How would you feel to see a demon chasing you? Biting you? Tormenting you? The Greek word for torment in the verse is literally “torture”.
These sky booms have no liken in the world. They aren’t made naturally. They frighten people, and I believe the sounds are made supernaturally.
Matthew Henry said of the Jeremiah verse, “Who can avoid trembling when God speaks in displeasure?” And who among the unsaved can avoid trembling when the demons of hell sound their chains their appearance?
You know how it energizes the arena when Queen’s “We will rock you” STOMP STOMP CLAP comes over the loudspeakers? Of course it would incite the demons’ maniacal glee to know the time is near. Because they know. (Matthew 8:29). I wonder if the restless demons in gloomy dungeons (Jude 1:6, 2 Peter 2:4) are chanting “we will, we will bite you!” CLANK CLANK CLAP
It’s interesting to think hypothetically of the sky booms as a demonic version of this:
The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus paid it all, and we no longer need fear God in a bad way nor fear what satan can do to us. If you repent, nothing on earth can frighten you. Not an eerie noise, not a demon masquerading as an angel of light, not even satan.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
Yesterday I wrote a blog essay covering the news that a “first of its kind earthquake” had hit Oman. I also reported about the large-ish quake that had struck the UK, where quakes occur, but not all that frequently.
Today KOCO of Oklahoma City published a news article about the earthquake swarm that has been going on in Oklahoma. The KOCO article had the following headline:
OGS: 150+ quakes in one week in Oklahoma “There have been more than 150 earthquakes in the past week in Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS). That’s not normal. Before 2009, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported Oklahoma would typically get three or fewer 3.0+ magnitude quakes a year. In the last few years, the average jumped up to about 40 significant quakes a year. Less than 2 months into 2014, Oklahoma has had more than 25 quakes registering 3.0+ magnitude in Oklahoma. Michael Lewchuk, an earthquake expert with Casady School, told KOCO, “For Oklahoma that is an unusually large amount. We typically have somewhere between 50-100 in one full year.”
The quake swarm is so perplexing and problematic (for geologists AND for homeowners/residents) that the Oklahoma Geological Survey has released a position paperspecifically addressing it.
There has been a significant increase in seismic activity (earthquakes) in Oklahoma since 2009. And although the majority of these earthquakes are not strong enough to be felt, the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) recognizes that the increase in “felt” seismic activity is of interest to the citizens of the state. … –Since 2009, the earthquake activity in Oklahoma has been approximately 40 times higher than in the previous 30 years. –Based on reported “felt” earthquakes prior to the establishment of the OGS network, this recent level of seismicity is significantly greater than the past 100 years. –The energy released by earthquakes is thousands of times greater than the energy that may have been added by waterdisposal, which demonstrates that the earthquakes themselves are, ultimately, the result of the release of natural stresses. [Ed Note: as opposed to fracking] —The “Jones Earthquake Swarm” appears, in part, to have shown some activity that statistically deviates from the regional stresses and other general observations of seismicity in Oklahoma. “The earthquakes keep coming in Oklahoma. Many of Oklahoma’s temblors are too small to be felt by humans, but their frequency and intensity seems to be growing.” (source)
So the upshot is, since 2009 Oklahoma has had a monster increase in earthquakes. The Geologic Society recognizes that residents are spooked. They are looking into it. They haven’t come to a reasonable conclusion as to why OK is jumping and cracking.
“According to the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS), there were more than 2,800 earthquakes in Oklahoma in 2013. That’s twice the previous high, established in 2011.” (source)
If these unusual quakes aren’t part of the birth pangs, then I don’t know what! (Matthew 24:8).
Muscat: A tremor which occurred in a Muscat suburb on Tuesday evening was the first of its kind and can be classified as a “non-warning” earthquake, the Director of the Earthquake Monitoring Centre at Sultan Qaboos University said in an interview. … The epicentre of the tremor, which occurred at 08:06 p.m. on Tuesday, was about 30 km from the city of Muscat and felt by part of the population because it was shallow,” Dr. Issa Al Hussein said. The earthquake was recorded 2 on Richter Scale by the Seismological Centre of the Sultan Qaboos University.
I don’t know what is meant by “non-warning” earthquake, unless it means the residents don’t need to be warned because another quake is not expected…but then again, quakes never are expected. And I don’t know what they mean by first of its kind in the headline when the article later says that the mountain range in the area had experienced tremors in 2010. If you go to the short article, you’ll see.
However, there was a concerted effort to collect data as to the seismicity of Oman and “through these efforts, it has been established that a major fault exists in the Gulf of Oman (offshore Muscat).” (source .pdf paper, Earthquake Hazard Potential in Oman). The paper goes on to report,
“There are practically no instrumentally-recorded earthquakes in Oman. The global database, however, lists an earthquake of magnitude 5.1 (Richter Scale) in AI-Kamil area in 1971. There are numerous reports of felt earthquakes in Oman (Table 1).”
I’m focusing on Oman because seismicity, or any activity, in the prophetic epicenter is always highly interesting and important to monitor. You might recall in Dec. 2011 I reported a new island had emerged in the Red Sea. In June of 2011 a spectacular volcanic eruption took place in Eritrea, where the previous eruption had occurred way back in 1861. To say the 2011 eruption was sudden and surprising is an understatement
In other earthquake news, there was a quake in the UK today.
Devon earthquake: Biggest tremor in the UK for SIX YEARS shakes the South West “The nation was hit by its biggest earthquake in six years today, shaking homes and leaving residents frightened and confused. The 4.1 magnitude quake was felt over hundreds of miles, with thousands of people caught in the tremors across the West Country and South Wales.“
As always I believe that earthquakes are an important warning sign from God- whether He directly caused it or allowed it to happen. Keep watching the signs. Yes I know I’m a broken record, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. One of these days the rapture will happen. Meanwhile the anticipation of both living for Christ on earth and looking forward to glorified life with Him in heaven is what it’s all about. Do you long for His appearing? I hope so.
There was a terrible volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Fifteen people died as the pyroclastic flow overcame them. A heartbreaking photo of an ash strewn roadway with an empty and overturned motor scooter told the story of vainly trying to outrun the fiery flow that swept away fifteen lives.
Sinabung, the volcano that erupted, is one of many on the volcanically active nation. As of this week, the authorities placed 19 other volcanoes on alert.
Above, location on google maps of the Indonesian volcano Sinabung
Below is James Reynold’s video of Sinabung erupting and also spawning two ash tornadoes. He said on twitter that it was “Two amazing forces of nature at work, twisters AND eruptions! Sinabung volcano’s incredible dust devils” but we know it wasn’t Mother Nature but God.
UPI reports, 19 more Indonesian volcanoes placed on alert category “Indonesia Tuesday added 19 more volcanoes to its second-highest alert level status following the eruption of Mount Sinabung that killed at least 15 people. Besides the 19 volcanoes, three others — the Lokon and Karangetang in North Sulawesi and the Rokatenda in East Nusa Tenggara — already have been on the high alert status since last year, the Jakarta Post reported.”
Meanwhile, in South America, Ecuador’s Tungahura erupted. This volcano is in the Valley of the Volcanoes and it specifically about 80 km from the bustling capital of Quito.
Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano spews lava and rocks “Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano erupted three times over the weekend, sending huge clouds of ash and smoke into the sky, authorities said. Two moderate explosions on Saturday were followed by a third of greater size. Local reports say the blast created a column of ash of about 8kms (5 miles) above the volcano, which is located in Penipe province.”
Here is geology professor Erik Klemetti with a weekly roundup of all the ashy activity
Eruption Update for February 5, 2014: Indonesia, Ubinas, Tungurahua, Kavachi Perú: In South America, Perú’s Ubinas is again showing signs of new activity. Since the end of January, seismicity has increased at the volcano, with 100+ earthquakes under the volcano per day. Small steam and ash plumes have been noted at Ubinas as well, but all the activity over the last few months has been attributed to water seeping into the heated interior of the volcano (i.e., no new magma involved so far).
Ecuador: Tungurahua remains on high alert after the weekend’s large explosive eruption. The volcano remains restless, with earthquakes are continuing at the volcano along with small explosions. The eruption over the weekend did dust the capital of Quito and a large swath of Ecuador with ash. Work has been started to reopen the roads around the volcano that were blocked after the eruption as they are some of the few escape routes for people who live near Tungurahua. If you’ve ever wondered what it might look like to be directly under a large volcano plume (see above), check out this video taken from Baños during the February 2 eruption. Be sure to check out this time-lapse of the eruption as well.
Did you know that there are volcanoes in the contiguous US? And I’m not talking the Cascades. Yellowstone is a supervolcano and the Old Faithful geyser is actually part of that underground network of magma movement and steam release and uplift and all that jazz.
Over at Yellowstone, Yellowstone Geyser Erupts For First Time in Years “Yellowstone National Park’s Giantess Geyser is erupting for the first time in two-and-a-half years, park rangers said today. The usually quiet geyser is shooting off bursts of water that reach 50 feet (15 meters) into the air, said Annie Carlson, the supervisory park ranger at the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center. Giantess Geyser is nearby the more famous Old Faithful, but it is far less regular.”
This awakening of this Giantess geyser isn’t the only volcanic-related activity in the Park. There has seemed to be an increase in activity and magma movement, but the USGS is dampening those reports by saying the stories circulating reporting abnormally strong earthquake activity in Yellowstone National Park are wrong. The USGS says “earthquake activity in Yellowstone has been at normal levels for the past several months. The story appears to be based on a misinterpretation of public “webicorders”, which are graphics depicting seismic data, on the University of Utah Seismographic Station (UUSS) web site (UU operates the Yellowstone Seismic Network). Therefore, the USGS is hosting a live streamed talk, headed by Jake Lowenstern, scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. He will talk at 6 p.m. on Thursday about what is happening.
Though the bible doesn’t say anything specific to my knowledge about volcanoes, we do see some verses which could indicate volcanic eruptions. As in this from Nahum 1:5-
The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it
Or this from Psalm 97:5- The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
We see in scripture perhaps the results of an eruption, also.
Revelation 6:12 says, “And I beheld when He had opened the Sixth Seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.”
After particularly violent eruptions, the sun or moon look like they are surrounded by a hairy short, this is known as dry fog. The Icelandic volcano Laki erupted in 1783. It was such a violent eruption that the world climate changed for over a year. Gilbert White recorded his perceptions of the event at Selborne, Hampshire, England:
The summer of the year 1783 was an amazing and portentous one, and full of horrible phaenomena; for besides the alarming meteors and tremendous thunder-storms that affrighted and distressed the different counties of this kingdom, the peculiar haze, or smokey fog, that prevailed for many weeks in this island, and in every part of Europe, and even beyond its limits, was a most extraordinary appearance, unlike anything known within the memory of man. By my journal I find that I had noticed this strange occurrence from June 23 to July 20 inclusive, during which period the wind varied to every quarter without making any alteration in the air. The sun, at noon, looked as blank as a clouded moon, and shed a rust-coloured ferruginous light on the ground, and floors of rooms; but was particularly lurid and blood-coloured at rising and setting. All the time the heat was so intense that butchers’ meat could hardly be eaten on the day after it was killed; and the flies swarmed so in the lanes and hedges that they rendered the horses half frantic, and riding irksome. The country people began to look, with a superstitious awe, at the red, louring aspect of the sun. (source)
The Lord holds the earth in His hand. All things will come to pass. As the earth decays and eventually melts in the great destruction, volcanoes will surely play a part in hastening the earth’s demise. (Revelation 21:1, 2 peter 3:10, (Isaiah 24:20). Praise Him that He has prepared a place for us, and we will dwell with Him forever. (John 14:3).
If you would like to enter your name for consideration on the rolls of the heavenly citizenship, then repent of your sins, and ask Jesus to forgive them. If you are sorrowful, knowing that the sins are blasphemes of an enemy against God, then He will justify you, declaring you righteous. And that is all it takes to become a child of God and dwell in heaven with Him forever.
‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. “I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you. (Ezekiel 38:3-6)
The LORD God told Ezekiel to record a prophecy about the last of the last days. Russia and other nations will attack Israel. The allied nations that will join Russia in this surprise attack will be Iran, Ethiopia, other northern African states, Armenia, part of the Baltic States (the -stans), and Turkey.
Turkey has spent the last 20 years aiming to meld with the west, to show the West up, even, diplomatically, politically, and economically. In past decades, the nation of Turkey had subdued its rabidly Muslim religious tendency in favor of a more tolerant, democritized attitude. It had sought to join the European Union, revive itself as a player in the Middle East, and to be friend to both Muslim nations and democracies near and far.
It has failed.
During the time of Turkey’s upward trajectory, it seemed impossible that the nation would join in a dastardly alliance and attack the only other democracy in the Mid-East. Their pinnacle of world favor was reached a few years ago, but now it seems all of Turkey’s goals are slowly unraveling. Since Turkey is a major player in the area specifically concerned with last days prophecy, let’s take a look at the following news stories and see how Turkey is doing:
Turkey’s once-worldly aims falter, even close allies concerned From a political perspective, defending Turkey’s blend of political Islam and neoliberal economic policies was not terribly difficult a decade ago. After all, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan helped build the 17th largest economy in the world and what would be the sixth largest among European Union countries. His plan was to be a top-10 economy by 2023, and operating under free-market fundamentals, Turkey was quickly tacking toward that goal. Externally, Turkey seemed to be the perfect partner for Washington. She was the second-largest troop contributor to Afghanistan, backed the invasion of Libya, armed the rebels in Syria, denounced the military coup in Egypt and came to the rescue of countless Tsunami-stricken regions from Indonesia to Japan. Internally, however, the country was falling apart.”
The article goes on to show that internal corruption, crackdowns and a power-hungry Prime Minister has all combined to plummet Turkey’s standing with other nations in both the east and the west.
In the economic areas, Turkey isn’t faring much better.
A Leader Shows Vulnerability in Turkey’s Cash Crisis “First, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the bold move by Turkey’s central bank this week to raise interest rates sharply to halt the decline in the country’s currency, telling reporters that higher borrowing costs would lead to inflation — an argument that contravenes accepted economic logic. Mr. Erdogan’s economic adviser, Yigit Bulut, then did little to reassure skittish investors, suggesting that the prime minister would do something that would be “very positive for the markets,” but did not say exactly what Mr. Erdogan’s plans were. The remarks only added to jitters in financial markets, which have battered the Turkish stock market and in recent weeks sent the currency, the lira, to historic lows.”
“Officials in Western capitals, including President Obama, came to see him as the prime example of a leader who could meld democratic values, Islam and economic prosperity. But much of the money was funneled to a group of insiders who made fortunes while building malls and other developments that increasingly lacked sound economic underpinnings. Now, with bond investors fleeing and interest rates rising, Mr. Erdogan’s economic turnaround is in jeopardy of unraveling in a toxic stew of bad loans, accusations of cronyism and the appearance of seat-of-the-pants economic stewardship.“
Turkey is a powerhouse in the region. Its fortunes are changing, and in my opinion the new conditions for Turkey show more closely it is being readied to fulfill prophecy. Any nation at this junctue in time on a downward spiral should be watched closely, and more so becase of the ptomise of Turkey’s activity in coming against Israel inthe last days.
Keep an eye on the nations that are specifically mentioned in prophecy (Ethiopia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, etc) and also of course keep an eye on the region in general. (the peace talks between Israel and Palestine led by Secretary of State Kerry, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda…). God is always at work and it is a wonder to know that he is, and when it’s possible, to actually see His works.
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” (John 5:17)
God raised up Pharaoh so that God’s glory would be shown. Pharaoh lived many, many years and who would have guessed at the time of the plagues and the confrontation of Moses that all the prior years of raising up it was for a specific time such as that and for the specific reason. It is the same now with the kings of the earth earth.
But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:16)
Has God raised up Erdogan…Putin…Netanyahu…Morsi…to show His works and His glory for the fulfillment of the long-ago prophesied deeds? Or will they be other men at a future time when the prophecies come to fulfillment? Time will tell, but never fear, the Father is working.
I’m reading through Kings. I finished 1 Kings and I’m up to chapter 12 of 2 Kings. It is taking me a long time. I am not super-spiritual and I’m not super-smart and the going is slow.
There were quite a few kings of Israel. The history behind them all is daunting, never mind simply keeping the names and family lines straight. Without context it’s hard to keep it all from running together. Oh well, I’ve got to read through the first time, don’t I, and then I’ll have context for the second time, and so on.
In chapter 11 we meet Athaliah. She was Queen Regent for 6 years over Judah. She was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and she was just as zealous that Baal worship be re-instated as the official worship as her mother had been. BibleGateway has a summary of her life, titled “The Woman Who Was a Notorious Murderess“
Athaliah, as depicted in Antoine Dufour’s Vie des femmes célèbres, c. 1505; in the Dobrée Museum, Nantes, France. Giraudon/Art Resource, New York
Why was she a murderess? She killed all who could lay claim to the throne, even grandchildren. Well, almost all.
“And Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal seed.” (2 Kings 11:1)
The Bible Gateway summary is interesting and good, and it’s not long. Here are a few excerpts from Bible Gateway’s life of Athaliah.
—She was the granddaughter of Omri, 6th king of Israel, “who waded through slaughter to a throne he never inherited.” –After reigning for eight years Jehoram died, unmourned, of a predicted incurable disease. While he reigned, he was dominated by Athaliah who had the stronger character of the two, and who, having inherited from her evil mother strength of will and fanatical devotion to the worship of Baal, made Judah idolatrous. –After putting to death her young grandsons, Athaliah reigned for six years, and was the only woman to reign as queen of Judah. –The daughter of a king, wife of a king, mother of a king, she is now queen. –During her reign part of the Temple of Jehovah was pulled down and the material used in the building of a temple of Baal. –Unknown to Athaliah as she set out to massacre all her grandsons, the youngest was hid from the orgy of destruction. –Athaliah was left in a horse-path, to be trampled upon. Like her mother she died a queen, but without a hand to help her or an eye to pity her.
“So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king’s house.” (2 Kings 11:20)
I took two things away from my reading this morning. One is, like Jezebel, Athaliah was a near-perfect fulfillment of the curse of Eve and the promise that God made in the Garden:
“Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16b). Both Jezebel and Athaliah sought power. They did not submit to their husbands and thereby did not submit to God. They both ruled over their husbands and their husbands let them. Abandoning one part of God’s best (Ephesians 5:22) will inevitably lead to abandoning more parts of God’s word and then all parts. Both women, left to their sinful desires, fully served Baal and not God.
Secondly, Athaliah sought to wipe out the line of David. You want to know what satan is like? Like this: he kills babies without a second thought. Just as satan tried to wipe out Noah’s line, which remained perfect in his generations, (Genesis 6:9), and as Herod tried to wipe out the babe Christ in the massacre of the Innocents (Matthew 2:16–18), Athaliah tried to wipe out the Davidic line. However, the Word of God will never be undone by man nor women!
“The previous deaths of Jehoram’s brothers and Ahaziah’s brothers and relatives (2 Kings 10:12-14, 2 Chron 21:17, 21:14), left only her grandchildren for Athaliah to put to death to destroy the Davidic line. Though the LORD had promised that the House of David would rule over Israel and Judah forever, Athaliah’s purge brought it to the brink of extinction.” (source MacArthur Study Bible).
Only one little grandbaby was left of the Davidic line, it all came down to one child. And Jehosheba, Ahaziah’s sister, hid Joash and did so successfully for 6 years until Athaliah was ignominiously killed. The LORD is mighty to protect and is perfect to fulfill His word.
In the midst of all that murder and plotting and Baal-worship, the ultimate glory of the passage for me today is that the Lord is will fulfill what He says He will fulfill, no matter what machinations satan and man throw in His way.
“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.” (Psalm 12:6-7a)
The world is going crazy. Things are deteriorating at a pace that older people have never seen happen so fast in previous generations. People who don’t believe in Jesus even are noticing this. Many people are asking, “What’s going on?”
This is where prophecy comes in. Prophecy is the future told in advance. In order for the future to be told with such detail accuracy in its fulfillment, only God, who is outside of time and the author of history, can do so.
“There is no way to explain the Bible’s ability to predict the future unless we see God as its Author. For example, the Old Testament contains more than three hundred references to the Messiah of Israel that were precisely fulfilled by JesusChrist (Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah). Peter Stoner, a scientist in the area of mathematical probabilities, said in his book Science Speaks that if we take just eight of the Old Testament prophecies Christ fulfilled, we find that the probability of their coming to pass is one in 1017.” (source)
God said that this world will end. This affects every human being living at the time of when it happens. During the Tribulation, it will be a time of UNcreation, when the orderly creation account we read in Genesis is reversed but in a chaotic and horrific way. For example, every island will flee away and every mountain will be thrown down. (Revelation 16:20). This prophesied event will affect every person living on the planet. For those who are not alive during this period when God’s wrath descends to earth, affecting everyone on it, He said that some will be awakened to everlasting life and others to everlasting wrath. (Daniel 12:2). Either way, prophecy has meaning for every person who ever lived or is living at the time of fulfillment, believer in Jesus or not a believer. Therefore, prophecy is of utmost importance.
The purpose of prophecy
Considering such weighty emphasis upon prophecy in the Scriptures, we may properly ask regarding its purpose in God’s unfolding plan. Why did our heavenly Father cause so much of his word and revelation to consist of prophetic utterances that spoke of future times, circumstances, and events? All Scripture, we understand, “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). But what is the special role that prophecy holds in influencing the life of the believer?” (source)
All scripture is profitable. (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Since two-thirds of the bible is prophecy, it is obvious that God put the words of prophecy in the bible to profit us for His purposes.
Prophecy exists to reveal the glory of God: “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done” (Isa. 46:9, 10).
Prophecy exists to establish the bible’s credibility and to authenticate the biblical speakers of prophecy, including the Triune God and the men that God designated to speak His words. (2 Peter 1:21).
Prophecy exists to enlighten the believer and to stimulate to activity. (Mark 13:23). (source)
I hope you understand by now how important prophecy is to the believer and non-believer alike. So the next question is,
What does God say is going to happen?
God has been working since before the foundation of the world. He is still working. (John 5:17). After He created humans there was an entire span of time He was doing works that will result in His glory. But then Jesus came. In the days of His flesh (Hebrews 5:7) Jesus taught and performed signs and miracles to prove who He was. Then He was killed and nailed to a cross and absorbed all God’s wrath for sinners. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 53:5-6).
Pleased with His son’s obedience, God raised Jesus on the third day and soon after, Jesus ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of the Father. (Hebrews 12:2). When Jesus ascended, the Spirit came and thus began this present age, the age where Jesus is building His church. (Matthew 16:18).
When the church is complete, Jesus will call His church to heaven in an event known as the rapture. (Romans 11:25, 2 Thess 2:1-12, 1 Thess 4:16, 1 Corinthians 15:52). All those who have come to saving faith in Him since He began building His church will arise from their graves or from their live bodies, be glorified instantly and meet Jesus in the air. He will lead us to heaven, where we will enjoy the Bema Rewards ceremony where our works we performed while int he flesh will be tested. Then we’ll having received our crowns for works done in His name on earth that stood the test.
During that time in heaven there will be ceremonies and activities and hallelujahs and praise. But back on earth, there will be Tribulation. (Matthew 24:21). This tribulation will involve Israel, and the whole world. Since all believers will have been taken to heaven at the rapture, and along with them, the indwelling Holy Spirit, His restraining ministry will cease.
Did you know that the Spirit restrains man from the worst they can do? Did you ever wonder why there isn’t a Hitler or a Jeffrey Dahmer every day? Man are totally depraved and sinful, but they don’t do their worst because the Spirit restrains us. (Genesis 6:3). When Jesus calls us to Him in heaven the Spirit will still draw men to belief but He won’t restrain sin. Sin will be loosed to run fully rampant. (Daniel 9:27).
It will be a time of unparalleled evil in the world. Murders and heinous acts and death and disease and horror and hell on earth. It will be a time of the uncreation of the world. Volcanoes, earthquakes, heat, hail, drought, bloody waters, and more. Demons marauding and putrid corpses. Hell.
This tribulation will begin immediately after the rapture. It will last 7 years. Most of the world will die.
Then at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will return. He will rescue His remnant left on earth, kill the armies assembled against Him at Armageddon, and install His throne on earth. peace will reign for 1000 years. This is called the Millennial Kingdom, because it will last 1000 years. Ezekiel 41 onward has the scene.
At the end of that time, satan who had been bound for the 1000 years, will be loosed so as to deceive the nations one last time, and many will follow him. Jesus will squash the rebellion, he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, and all who ever lived will be resurrected to face their judgment. This is known as the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) and it will occur at the end of time. Glorified bodies will be given to those who are raised from death, so that those who are destined for hell can withstand their eternal punishment, and those who are destined for eternity with Jesus can withstand looking Him full in the face with all His glory. The eternal state will begin as the earth melts away. (2 Peter 3:10). The bible doesn’t say what comes next.
So if you have followed along, the rapture is the next event in God’s long, long plan for humankind. Please be on board with all that is required to join Jesus in the air. You don’t need your money. You don’t need your works. You don’t need baggage or clothes, those will be provided. All you need is faith in the work and person of Jesus Christ, to lay your sin down at His feet, sorrowful for your blasphemies against Him. This is called repentance. He will forgive you of those crimes and invite you to His abode in heaven, He will give you His spirit as a seal of the guarantee of your place.
“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thess 5:6).
“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).
“A rare but moderate earthquake off the Cuban coast shook buildings and rattled residents from the Keys to Orlando on Thursday afternoon. The 5.1 magnitude quake occurred just before 4 p.m. in the ocean about 24 miles north of the Cuban city of Corralillo, more than 100 miles east of Havana. … Becky Herrin, spokeswoman for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, felt her building shake. It was the only quake she’s experienced in 28 years in the Keys. “It’s certainly unusual,” she said. “I haven’t heard any reports of damage or injuries so that’s really fortunate.” Still, the ground shook as far north as Central Florida, nearly 400 miles from Cuba. … Thursday’s temblor happened in a region not known for earthquakes. “It is an uncommon area for a quake,” he said. But in 30 years, in a 150-mile radius of Thursday’s quake, only two other weak ones have occurred, Abreu said. In 1982, a 4.5 magnitude quake struck, and in 2005, there was a magnitude 4.1 in the area. Florida, far from the margins of the earth’s tectonic plates, is traditionally not subject to quakes.“
Jesus said that in advance of His second coming there would be signs. This was in answer to the Disciples’ question in Matthew 24:3, “As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?””
Verse 24:4 begins, “And Jesus answered them…
One of the signs He said would occur is that there will be earthquakes in various places. (Matthew 24:7b).
It is important to know that the “last days”, the “last times”, the “end time” is now, and it has been since Jesus ascended. Paul warned Timothy of the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1, Peter did in 2 Peter 3:3, Paul again in 1 Timothy 4:1, and Jude did in 1:18 for example. They all repeat the warning of the last days. These were not warnings of some far-off time, they were warnings for the Church at that time until Jesus returned. What they didn’t know was that there would be a 2000 year gap.
In my opinion, the warning of the last days in Jesus’s Discourse in Matthew 24 (AKA The Olivet Discourse, because He delivered it atop the Mount of Olives) can be sectioned off into parts. When Jesus begins to answer, He offers some warning signs from Matthew 24:4-8. Even twice within that short time frame, He said that the end is not yet. Then He launched into a section from verse 9-14 of a kind of overview of the entire Tribulation. Then Jesus backtracks and gives specifics of the Great Tribulation from verse 15-28. This part is aimed mostly at Jewish believers living during those days who will have converted by that time. At the passage’s end He speaks of the signs of His actual, physical return. (Vv. 29-31.)
“Luke’s account says great earthquakes, seismos megalos, mega quakes, like the 9-point quake 80 miles off the shore of Japan. Through history, millions and millions, countless millions have died in earthquakes. I read this week that there are one-half million earthquakes a year every year. You are on a shaky place. A hundred thousand of them are felt. But half a million register on Richter scales. … And the worst is yet to come. …[O]ur Lord says, “Those things…in verse 7…must take place but that’s not yet the end.” It’s the nature of living in a cursed planet. It’s not yet the end. In fact, if you will look at the end of verse 8 it says they’re merely the beginning of birth pangs.
That’s an analogy of a woman’s contractions. They are separated, they are mild, and they intensify and intensify and intensify to a great degree just before birth. What we’re seeing in human history is just the beginning, is just the mild contractions. Wait till you see what’s going to happen just before the very end. Two thousand years of these milder contractions will explode in the end, in the time of Tribulation described starting in verse 14.“
The verse is clear when it says earthquakes will be in various places. Other translations say diverse places. In my opinion the quake near Cuba the other day qualifies for being in a diverse place. It did to the USGS. They highlight quakes on their list that are significant. Though the 5.1 magnitude quake wasn’t a mega-quake like the March 2011 9.0 magnitude off Japan, it was listed as significant anyway. USGS explains,
“List items with a red background have been identified as “significant”, based on a combination of magnitude, PAGER alert level, and the number of Did You Feel It? responses.“
The location of the quake surprised officials. As we saw in the data Dr MacArthur provided, there are a great many quakes occurring each year on this planet. As the time draws nearer to the return of Jesus, scientists, officials, and humankind will discover that there is no place that is earthquake-free. There will be more and more frequent quakes and they will occur any place at all. Just as the Cuban quake did.
Pray for the return of Jesus.
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.” (Revelation 22:7)
