Category: signs

Posted in earthquake map, earthquakes, prophecy, signs, usgs

New Insight on the Nation’s Earthquake Hazards (USGS map is updated & released)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Excerpts from the information accompanying the new USGS earthquake hazards map, last update 2008. Thank you scientists for your hard work on behalf of the US population. Christians, we know the hazards are increasing and we know why. Be prepared.

The USGS recently updated their U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps, which reflect the best and most current understanding of where future earthquakes will occur, how often they will occur, and how hard the ground will likely shake as a result.

42 States at Risk; 16 States at High Risk

Students conduct the “drop, cover, hold on” safety procedure during an earthquake preparedness drill. Photo Credit: Jessica Robertson, USGS

While all states have some potential for earthquakes, 42 of the 50 states have a reasonable chance of experiencing damaging ground shaking from an earthquake in 50 years (the typical lifetime of a building). Scientists also conclude that 16 states have a relatively high likelihood of experiencing damaging ground shaking. These states have historically experienced earthquakes with a magnitude 6 or greater.

The hazard is especially high along the west coast, intermountain west, and in several active regions of the central and eastern U.S., such as near New Madrid, MO, and near Charleston, SC. The 16 states at highest risk are Alaska, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. [Since the last map, 2008] Several areas have been identified as being capable of having the potential for larger and more powerful earthquakes than previously thought due to more data and updated earthquake models. The most prominent changes are discussed below.

Changes: East Coast

The eastern U.S. has the potential for larger and more damaging earthquakes than considered in previous maps and assessments. As one example, scientists learned a lot following the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck Virginia in 2011. It was among the largest earthquakes to occur along the east coast in the last century, and helped determine that even larger events are possible. Estimates of earthquake hazards near Charleston, SC, have also gone up due to the assessment of earthquakes in the state.

Central U.S.

The New Madrid Seismic Zone has been identified to have a larger range of potential earthquake magnitudes and locations than previously identified. This is a result of a range of new research, part of which was recently compiled by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

West Coast

In California, earthquake hazard extends over a wider area than previously thought. Most notably, faults were recently discovered, raising earthquake hazard estimates for San Jose, Vallejo and San Diego. On the other hand, new insights on faults and rupture processes reduced earthquake hazard estimates for Irvine, Santa Barbara and Oakland.

New research on the Cascadia Subduction Zone resulted in increased estimates of earthquake magnitude up to magnitude 9.3.

Earthquake hazard also increased for Las Vegas because of new science.

Full report here

Posted in earthquake, end of days, prophecy, signs

Very Large Earthquake at Chile

Posted on by elizabethprata

The United States Geological Survey recorded a large 8.2 quake off the coast of Chile this evening. Chilean seismologists put it at 8.3. There have been several large aftershocks, including a quake at 6.2 magnitude. Tsunami watches and warnings have been issued for many nearby nations, and across the Pacific to Hawaii and Southern California. Though they expect the wave height to be mere inches by the time it reaches SoCal.

Tsunami waves of 6.5 feet have already been recorded at coastal Pisagua, Chile.

Here are some interesting graphics to help visualize the impacts

Brad Panovich, Chief Meteorologist in Charlotte, NC, wrote: The whole earth is shaking from this M 8.2 quake check out the local SC seismograph.

This graphic is from Mark Baden, writing on twitter, “Chile earthquake now upgraded to magnitude 8.2. Check out how rare this is. Thanks Wunderground for the graphic“:

The Chile 1960 quake was a 9.9 magnitude and the strongest event recorded on earth. The Alaska 1964 quake was a 9.2.
San Francisco 1906 was 7.2.
New Madrid Missouri quake swarm was estimated at around 7.4 to 8.1. This series of earthquakes were felt strongly over roughly 50,000 sq mi, and moderately across nearly 1 million square miles. The historic 1906 San Francisco earthquake, by comparison, was felt moderately over roughly 6,200 sq mi.

Here is a tsunami propagation map.

I read that so far there has been minimal damage in Chile, some injuries but no deaths- though electricity is off and phone lines are jammed. I have not read of any deaths so far, which is a blessing.

I always think of this verse when a large quake happens, especially as mentioned above, the NC weatherman mentioned the earth shaking as far away as South Carolina, and showed the seismograph to prove it.

The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.
~Isaiah 24:19-20

The LORD is patient with us, though our transgressions do lay heavy upon the earth. He is merciful. But He will not be patient forever. Please heed His warning, whether it’s a mega-quake or the stirring in your heart, and repent.

Posted in earthquakes, end of days, oklahoma, prophecy, signs

More than 150 earthquakes in the past week in Oklahoma "not normal" says OGS, issues position paper (Updated)

Posted on by elizabethprata

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 paper specifically 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 water disposal, 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).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Further Reading

The Beginning of the Birth Pains

The End of the Age

Opinion Editorial: The State of Oklahoma needs an earthquake task force

Posted in earthquake, oman, prophecy, rapture, signs

First of its kind earthquake hits Oman

Posted on by elizabethprata

This news from the Times of Oman:

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.

————————————-
Further reading

Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?”

Posted in earthquake, mount of olives, prophecy, signs

Large earthquake at Cuba felt in Florida from the Keys to Orlando

Posted on by elizabethprata

Quake off Cuba shudders folks from Keys to Orlando
January 10, 2014|By Robert Nolin and Adam Sacasa, Sun Sentinel

“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.)

John MacArthur said in his sermon “The Grim Reality of the Last Days“,

“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)

Posted in earthquake data, earthquakes are increasing, prophecy, signs

By The Numbers 2013: how many earthquakes this year?

Posted on by elizabethprata

As the New Year enters and the old year departs, it is time for me to produce my annual By The Numbers, year in review. It has no particular meaning, other than it demonstrates that either I have too much time on my hands, or I enjoy research and manipulation of data as a hobby. Both, I think!

A few years ago I became interested in the schism between what I saw were definite increased numbers of global earthquakes and the US Geological Survey’s equally definite insistence that quakes were not increasing. I decided to look into the data, using their own numbers, benchmarks, and search engines. Well guess what? Earthquakes were increasing.

Jesus said that His coming would be preceded by signs. Some of these signs are emotional, such as men becoming greedy, loveless, brutal, etc, as listed in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Some of the prophesied signs are religious, such as apostasy rising among the professing church, false doctrine being accepted, and a loss of discernment, as many verses in 1 John, 1 Thessalonians, and other passages tell us. Some of the signs would be geophysical or celestial. There will be earthquakes in diverse places, the seas will be roaring, there will be signs in the skies and so on.

Most of those signs mentioned in the passages, notably Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Revelation 6, are going to occur in the Tribulation period. However, the signs Jesus enumerated and are listed elsewhere in the Old and New Testaments are for the entire church age and will continue into the Tribulation. The church age is between the moment Jesus ascended (Acts 1:11) and when He calls for His bride, ending the Age of Grace. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). The Tribulation period will begin the moment after the rapture and finish when Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives. (Zechariah 14:4). His signs of return are spread throughout the church age and then are clustered heavily well into the Tribulation.

As Jesus likened the signs to birth pangs, and birth pangs increase as the event nears, so will the signs increase. I could look at numbers of baptisms to determine if apostasy is rising, or number of crimes to see if lovelessness is increasing, but there is a large element of subjectivity to them. Instead I just concentrate on the geophysical signs presented in hard data because there is a lesser amount of subjectivity included in the results. It is in that context that I put together an annual look at the data than can be quantified.

One final caveat: we don’t need signs to tell us Jesus is coming, because He said He is coming and that is all we need to know. I do this out of curiosity and interest, not because we need validation from scientific sources for the certainty of His appearing.

Meanwhile we can learn from the lessons every disaster gives us. John MacArthur’s church is in California. In January 1994 a tremendous earthquake occurred. It is known as the Northridge quake. The earthquake had a “strong” moment magnitude (Mw) of 6.7, but the ground acceleration was one of the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America.

The epicenter was practically underneath Grace Community Church. Five days later, Dr MacArthur delivered a sermon titled “Lessons from the Earthquake.” It is a tremendously relevant and insightful sermon, and I urge you to read to or listen to it. Here are the main bullet points he shared. In every calamity, there are many lessons for the Christian, and many other, separate lessons for the non-Christian. He preached 7 lessons for each.

Lessons for Christians
God is sovereign,
What is eternal can’t be destroyed,
Disaster produces dependence on God,
Adversity enriches fellowship,
Suffering makes us long for the perfect kingdom,
Calamity strengthens us to serve others,
What is the greatest calamity can bring God the most glory.

Lessons for not Christians
For those unprepared to die, lesson number one, life is fragile,
There are limits to self-protection,
Death is inevitable,
We live in a cursed world,
Temporal disasters are only previews of coming attractions,
God uses calamity to call people to repentance,
Time is limited to heed the warning.

Time is limited. All of history is dwindling down to the moment when Jesus will return, and judge the living and the dead for all eternity. THAT is the main lesson I share with you. Repent, while there is still time. Let these statistics and notes be a lesson to you and to us all through the year: life is fragile, and to enter death unprepared is an eternal tragedy.

WEATHER

“The 2013 extreme weather events included several all-time temperature records in Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The February extent of snow cover in Eurasia and North America was above average, while the extent of Arctic ice in the same month was 4,5% below the 1981–2010 average.” (source)

There were lots of record high temperatures, and record lows. It snowed in Cairo Egypt, and in many other places in the usually arid and snowless Middle East. Typhoon Haiyan was the largest storm on record. “With sustained wind speeds of more than 310 kilometres per hour, Haiyan was the most powerful tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded history. … Unusually warm subsurface Pacific waters appear to have endowed Haiyan with the energy that made it the strongest typhoon ever known to make landfall.” (source)

TORNADOES

Though the top deadliest tornadoes occurred in the 1800s and the early part of the 1900s, tornadoes in the new millennium have some notable aspects.

Notable events for the 2013 tornado year were-
–A general under-performance of tornado activity continued for the second straight year across the United States during 2013,
–The largest tornado outbreaks occurred in times typically not noted as the main tornado season,
–Two confirmed violent tornadoes that passed through New Minden and Washington, IL. are “the only violent tornadoes on record in Illinois during the month”. (Tornadoes.com)
–On May 20, 2013an EF5 tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma – the first EF5 tornado to occur in nearly two years. (Wikipedia)

Notable events for the tornado year 2011 were:
–553 people in the United States died, compared to 564 US deaths in the prior ten years combined. (Wikipedia)
–The April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak is the most prolific tornado outbreak in US history. It produced approximately 358 tornadoes, with 209 of those in a single 24-hour period on April 27. (Wikipedia)
–The May 22, 2011 Joplin MO tornado is the 7th deadliest US tornado on record, with 162 deaths

General note:
–Four of the top ten costliest tornadoes occurred in the last two years. Costliest tornadoes number 1 and 2 were the April-May 2011 Joplin MO and Tuscaloosa Alabama tornadoes, and 3rd, the May 2013 Moore OK, and 4th, Hackleburg, Alabama in April 2011.

2004, 2008, and 2011 were the highest number of tornado years. Click to enlarge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LIGHTNING

I know the men at the Weather Service have been working for many years to get lightning information out to people. I think – hope- this graph shows their efforts are working.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dave Barry wrote a laugh out loud, hilarious review of the year. I mean Laugh. Out. Loud. In it, Barry said, “the economy’s been recovering for years now without actually getting any better.” He’s right. But at least the bank bailout has been successful. Fewer banks are failing. But there are still more failing in this decade than at the beginning of the millennium.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VOLCANOES

The go-to database for searching eruptions is Smithsonian Volcano Project. However, they shut their database down recently for searching with filters. So I can’t get good volcano information. Here is an article from The Atlantic, though the first sentences drive me crazy:

2013: The Year in Volcanic Activity
“This been a particularly eventful year for the world’s volcanoes. Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava.”

OK…so if this was a ‘particularly eventful year’ and 50 volcanoes erupt every year, how does this year compare?? Did 60 volcanoes erupt? 70? 1000? How many eruptions over 50 qualifies as a ‘particularly eventful year?’ But the article does have lots of beautifully photographed volcano eruptions.

This was interesting, from Dec 29: El Salvador’s Chaparrastique volcano erupts for first time in 37 years , and there was this

Seven Volcanoes In Six Different Countries All Start Erupting Within Hours Of Each Other “A new island has appeared in the Pacific. A submarine eruption just off Nishino-Shima Island Japan has erupted for the first time in 40 years. The Japanese Navy noticed the explosions as boiling lava met sea water giving rise to plumes of steam and ash.“

The Extinction Protocol person published a volcano report which got a lot of attention, and I looked into it but can’t see where he got his data from. Caveat Emptor:

2013 marks record year for the number of volcanoes erupting across the planet (as of Dec 5, 2013)
“This year will go down on record, as seeing the most volcanic eruptions recorded in modern history. The previous number was set in 2010, at 82 volcanic eruptions for the year. The number of volcanoes erupting across the planet has been steadily rising from a meager number of just 55 recorded in 1990.”

He also said that all the planet’s supervolcanoes are in a phase of simultaneous inflation, but…I dunno. Caveat Caveat Emptor.

EARTHQUAKES

Here is the updated chart of the global number of earthquakes in various magnitudes. USGS benchmarks are seen in the left-most column. Numbers in red indicate meeting or exceeding those benchmarks. Click to enlarge.

This science researcher named “R. Webb” in the UK looked into long, long-term trends, over centuries. He reports of earthquake trends,
“Apart from the “long-term” trends… which show an ongoing persistent increase, it is perhaps more stark to record that earthquakes across the planet show a marked increase in activity since 1997. There are more major earthquakes occurring now, and this on an ever more frequent basis. 

Trends since 1986

 For example, between 1986 and 1996 (incl), a period of 11 years, there were “just” 15 earthquakes listed by USGS of magnitude 7.0 or greater. This is not markedly different (albeit a slight decrease) from previous (similar periods) of 20th century, where an average of about 18 might be expected.

 But between 1997 and 2007 (incl), a period of only 11 years, there were 99 earthquakes with magnitude 7.0 or greater : This is more than a six-fold increase on the previous similar period – and is a stark increase on any earlier decades in 20th century too.

His estimation of there being 190 quakes greater than 7.0 magnitude during the 38 year period between 1977 and 2014 was grossly underestimated. There were 583! (as of Dec 31, 2013)

 The trends in nature here, particularly from 1997 support the wider realisation of prophesy about the “End Times”, namely that an increase in earthquake activity is a per-requisite for the “second coming of Jesus Christ” foretold in the bible. It does not indicate how close we are to this event, but suggests it is not too far away. …Although Jesus is clear that no one will know the day or the hour, and his return will indeed happen “when you do not expect”, he does give us broad pointers, one of these being natural events – like earthquakes. (source)

Broad pointer…I agree. And as John MacArthur advises, there are lessons to be learned in each and every calamity. These aren’t just numbers on a page but lives affected, deaths injuries, lives changes. As always, be in prayer for the people affected by disasters, and be in prayer that the Lord should come soon. May 2014 be the year of the rapture.

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.  
2 Timothy 4:8

 

Posted in news, prophecy, pulpit, sermons, signs

Should pastors do news-prophecy updates?

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been thinking a lot about pastors who do prophecy updates. This is when pastors speak from the pulpit regarding current events of the day, such as the Syrian civil war, or a major earthquake, or the eclipses coming up, or Egypt’s coups, etc. The speak about this news from the pulpit during service and relate the news back to the bible.

Should pastors do this? Should they refrain from updating their parishioners on the news?? It is a difficult question. As with all hard questions (and easy ones too) let’s look at the bible first. The role of pastor is to include:

–Care to those whom he has been entrusted (1 Peter 5:2-3).
–A pastor is a shepherd of God’s flock who is to instruct, teach, and protect the people under his charge. In John 21:15-17, Jesus said to Peter, feed My sheep, tend My sheep, feed My sheep.
–Acts 6:4 those who lead the church are charged to give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
–Acts 20:27 declare the whole counsel of God
–2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Though pastors have many duties as defined by the bible, teaching and preaching the word of God to the flock is number one. It is the major way they tend the sheep, and feed the sheep. They also protect the sheep from wolves, by guarding the congregation from false doctrine and the people who bring it. Feeding the lambs with the bread of life is uniquely given to elders/overseers.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:31. The only enduring thing in this world are the words of Jesus, and shepherds are entrusted to pass them to the people, to explain, to use as encouragement and rebuke, for training in righteousness.

Prophecy is part of that general mandate. Too few pastors preach the prophetic passages or even mention them in passing. Somehow prophecy has gotten a bad reputation. This is likely because so many crazy people have set dates and brought shame onto Christianity by being a fringe element. Others are too shamefully gleeful at the wrath parts of judgment in prophecy and do not demonstrate the love of Christ by counterbalancing His wrath with talk of His grace and mercy. Or, many pastors don’t want the ‘taint’ that has besmirched prophecy in general to taint them, so they shy away. Oftentimes, it is also because seminaries do not teach pastoral students the importance of prophecy or preaching the prophetic passages, calling them unknowable, or controversial, and they ignore them altogether. Thus, new pastors don’t feel equipped to preach on them and they never do, even as they mature.

Frontspiece to “America A Prophecy”
William Blake 1793

As for the sheep, us, many have gotten discouraged by the hype that too many eager pastors have promoted with prophecy. Or, they have picked up on the general taint and they frown meanly from the pews when or if a pastor preaches it.

Yet the bible says to preach the whole counsel of God. Preaching the prophetic is encouraging because it shows God’s sovereignty, His careful attention to detail, and His everlasting covenants. When was the last time you heard a good sermon from, say, Obadiah? I listened to Phil Johnson preach from Nahum last weekend, and I loved every minute of it.

However that said, there is a difference in preaching prophecy and preaching secular news. As an example, John MacArthur has been preaching for 46 years, 44 of them at one church. All of his sermons he’s preached since 1969 are online. I’ve listened to a healthy sampling of them from each decade, including the ones from 1969, from the 70s, and 80s and 90s and 00s and beyond. In a bare few, he mentions current events. For the most part, he simply does what the bible says, preach the word. The word is always fresh. When he expounds on it, I literally cannot detect which era the sermon is from. It is as fresh as if he delivered it today than when he did 45 years ago. It is all edifying.

I applaud and honor those pastors who occasionally relate something happening in the culture or the world to the bible. John MacArthur did this in 2012 when he preached two sermons pointedly on America’s downward slide into immorality. They were “sermons on the spiritual and moral decline being championed by our country’s leaders.” The introduction to that two-part series states,

“If you’ve followed John MacArthur’s teaching for any length of time, you know he rarely says much about politics, culture, or society. It’s not that he’s uninformed on those topics. It’s that they’re often an intrusion upon the teaching of God’s Word. Evangelical Christians are already too easily distracted from the Great Commission in order to engage in partisan politics.“

However, sometimes mixing the current news and the bible is called for. Dr MacArthur stated

“I’m not one to talk about politics as such, but I was essentially amazed that one of the historic parties here in the United States adopted the sins of Romans 1 as their platform. This is a new day in our country. Parties which used to differ on economics now differ dramatically on issues that invade the realm of God’s law and morality.”

Even at that, the bulk of those two sermons were mainly focused on the Word of God and not the news of culture. And the rest of his sermons are focused totally on the word of God.

In the few cases if a secular news event is mentioned in an older sermon I am listening to, it’s jarring. It dates the sermon and makes it seem old and creaky. It kind of ruins the whole thing. Tying news into preaching is a bad mix, kind of like the iron and clay toes in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar that will not stay together.

There are some pastors who choose to speak a prophecy update each week, or quarterly. I have more concerns about these. I truly thank these preachers for doing weekly prophecy updates, I know their heart is in the right place. I know they love the Lord. But to work news back into the bible and claim meaning from it regularly is a dangerous activity, in my opinion. When a pastor has committed to a weekly prophecy update that includes the news of the world, their attention is necessarily divided.

I believe pastors should walk a fine line when it comes to preaching the news. They spend time reading newspapers instead of reading the bible. Tying news articles to the word means we think we can see what the Lord is doing or that we know his ways. But His ways are far above our ways. The pulpit is for God’s word.

Pastors should be excited about His appearing though, and talk much of our new home based on what the bible says, and look forward to the era to come. But they throw ALL prophecy out with the bathwater and never mention that this earth isn’t our home! Instead of preaching news stories from the pulpit, they go too far in the other direction and never preach the bible’s prophetic passages, either.

As far as news goes, we have come to the prophetic brink so often since 2008 and then the Lord saw fit to retreat the world from the prophetic brink. Russia is rising, Middle East is inflamed, the world economy is tanking, Damascus is dying, Egypt is failing, we can see the prophetic indicators.

The pastor’s role is to preach the word in season and out, ALL of the word, and this is on them- when

St Bernard preaching from a pulpit,
G. Martini, 1470

they do not preach prophecy passages from the bible they are not fulfilling the command to feed His sheep the whole counsel of God. But the word does not command shepherds to feed us news. So many pastors unwittingly get drawn away when they include secular news to their sermons from the pulpit. They start looking at the news and not expending their precious time on learning the word. Satan will take anything, even something good, and make it bad. If they feed us the word then we will understand and see the times. Jesus chastised the Pharisees for being able to tell the weather from signs but not His appearing from the fact of His appearing! (Mt 16:3). And Paul said –

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thess 5:4-5)

So the pastors preach the word, the whole word, and the Spirit illuminates the times for us.

It is a shame that so few are excited about His appearing. Paul mentioned it constantly! I talk about it a lot at church. I think He is coming soon. Not because the news indicates He is coming back soon but the bible says His return for His bride is imminent. It is something to get excited about! Not the news but simply the eagerness of going to our new home or the fact of His coming to get us. It is a sad thing that too few Christians look eagerly to that moment. If Paul and the early Christians did, how much closer is it today! Every NT book except Philemon mentions the prophetic future of our being raptured to Him and the new era. Christians who long for His appearing even earn a crown! And that is a shame, that so many brethren won’t share the joy of anticipation. I speak it from the bible, though, not from the news.

I do believe that the Lord is returning soon. I believe the rapture will be any day. I have believed this since I read it in the bible. The events today look to me like they are pointing to our last moments on earth under the Age of Grace. But, it’s been 7 years since I first thought that and it could be two years from now or another ten or I could die tomorrow and go to heaven anyway. We just don’t know. We look at the seasons and we look for His appearing and this should give us urgency to witness. But when I go to church I want to hear His word explained, there is no better way to spend time than hear the word. It is the only enduring thing on this earth.

What’s your opinion on the matter?

Posted in bolide, meteor, peru temple, rock art, russia, signs

(UPDATED) Meteor in Russia astounds. Incredible video!

Posted on by elizabethprata

You might be interested in knowing of all FOUR astronomical events that occurred yesterday. Turns out, the Russia meteor was not the only one. I wrote about them here, and posted video too.

————————————————
Hundreds injured by meteor explosion in Russia
“MOSCOW — A meteor streaked over the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia’s Ural Mountains on Friday morning, producing a blast that injured hundreds, caused minor damage to buildings and temporarily disrupted Internet communication, officials said. Yelena Smirnykh, deputy information chief of the Emergency Situations Ministry said 474 people sought medical assistance after the explosion. “Five of them were hospitalized, most of the injuries being cuts by shattered window glass,” she said. Roskosmos, the Russian space agency, said it had not launched any objects on Thursday or Friday, Smirnykh said. “At this point we are confident that we are dealing with a meteor rain resulting from the explosion of a large meteor causing flashes and sound shock waves in the Chelyabinsk region and observed in three other regions of Russia too.”

Nature reports some interesting facts:
“A meteor that exploded over Russia this morning was the largest recorded object to strike the Earth in more than a century, scientists say. Infrasound data collected by a network designed to watch for nuclear weapons testing suggests that today’s blast released hundreds of kilotonnes of energy. That would make it far more powerful than the nuclear weapon tested by North Korea just days ago and the largest rock crashing on the planet since a meteor broke up over Siberia’s Tunguska river in 1908. “It was a very, very powerful event,” says Margaret Campbell-Brown, an astronomer at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada…”

UPDATE: the injuries reported in the area affected have risen to 1,200. There are thousands of windows blown out, which is a serious thing in Russian severe winter frigidity. Some of the impact sites have been discovered. One of them formed a crater almost 20 feet in diameter. Chelyabinsk administration’s website said nearly 3,000 buildings were damaged to varying extents by the meteor shower in the city, including 34 medical facilities and 361 schools and kindergartens. The total amount of window glass shattered amounts to 100,000 square meters, the site said, citing city administration head Sergey Davydov.  Russia Today has much more

The following video is a composite of amateur and police video of the meteor posted on the newspaper Russia Today. It is incredible. The lowness of the meteor and the brightness, it is really, truly amazing, and one of he most astounding videos of a meteor I’ve seen. No wonder it produced panic among the people of the Urals!

“And I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; (Acts 2:19)

Peter preached that at Pentecost about the Day of the Lord. That will be the time when God personally intervenes on earth to deal with sin and sinners through His wrath. That “Day” has not begun, but with signs like this meteor, it certainly seems near.

The meteor was not caused by the near fly-by of the coming asteroid, either, in case you were wondering, said NASA. The incoming asteroid 2012 DA14, which will fly a record-setting close encounter of 17,200 miles of Earth when it passes safely by our planet today, had nothing to do with the meteor.

In archaeology news, The Scotsman reports that a retired silversmith has ­uncovered the largest collection of ancient rock art ever found in the Highlands on a remote hill overlooking the Cromarty Firth. The carved rocks – some ­almost 10ft across – have been discovered scattered across a hillside near Evanton, in ­Ross-shire. Douglas Scott, the amateur archaeologist who has recorded the remarkable find, believes the “cup-marked” rocks – dating from up to 5,000 years ago to the Neolithic or Bronze Age – form part of a “ritual centre of some significance” where ancient people worshipped the sun and performed rites connected to the ­underworld.

Here is another story about it too. Fascinating!

Still covering archaeological news, in Peru an ancient temple was discovered.
“Archaeologists in Peru have uncovered what they believe is a temple, estimated to be up to 5,000 years old, at the site of El Paraiso, north of Lima. Inside the ruins of the ancient room, which measures about 23 feet by 26 feet, there’s evidence of a ceremonial hearth, where offerings may have been burned, archaeologists say. The temple also had a narrow entrance and stone walls covered with yellow clay, on which traces of red paint were found, according to a statement from Peru’s Ministry of Culture.”

Isn’t it interesting that for 5,000 years, almost the length of time that the bible says man has been upon the earth, we find in the secular and archaeological record that humans have worshiped? They worship false gods, but the inclination to worship has always been within us.

I often used to wonder about that as I mused about God and faith, before I was saved by the grace of Jesus. I’d wonder that there had to be a God, because there is evidence that the urge to worship is inside every man, in every culture, across epochs. It stood to reason that if worship was a cultural thing, some cultures would be absent evidence that worship took place. Yet all cultures worship and always have. I concluded that if men worshiped in all cultures across all times, the source had to be external to man, not internal to men or inherent in a changeable culture. Worship was the one constant. I decided there had to be a God, but it took many years to sort out which God. Fortunately God took care of showing me the right way because I would never have found Him in my depravity. The right way is Jesus, Who is the only way: Jesus.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

That meteor sure was incredible. Imagine when the people who dwell on the earth see Jesus at the rapture! (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Imagine when sinners in the Tribulation see Him return to earth! (Matthew 24:27). It will be amazing!!!!!

Posted in flooding, japan, poland tornadoes, pravda on Obama, prophecy, signs

News: NY Swing Party, Israel snubbed, Poland tornadoes, Meteors, drought, waterfalls of rain in Japan

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is today’s news for you. —-UPDATED below to include new link of photos and videos of wild tornado outbreak.—-

Swing party interrupted
“Swingers’ sex party in the penthouse of the Mondrian SoHo came to a premature end on Saturday night, following a clash between hotel security and organizers. Sources tell us guests at the “SiN White Party,” thrown by Behind Closed Doors and School of Sex, were just getting into the swing of things when hotel guards demanded to police the event. Once they got a look at the racy goings-on, the party was shut down, and all were ordered to leave — including one overly amorous couple carrying on in the balcony of the penthouse overlooking the New York skyline.”

We are surely ripe for judgment when we engage in public sex and set up schools on how to be perverse and mock God by naming the sex parties Sin. “Sexual sin promises satisfaction, but it can’t deliver. Instead lust leaves you with an unsatisfied, intense, unbridled sexual desire for more. Paul describes it “the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts” (Ephesians 2:3). Where the heart is “darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more” (Ephesians 4:18-19).” (source)

Israel left out of terrorism summit
“If there’s one nation on Earth that knows what it is to be a victim of terrorism — and how best to combat it — it’d be Israel. So you’d think. Unless you’re the Obama administration. Once again, Israel was excluded from one of Team Obama’s pet projects — the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, a group of 29 nations that met this week in Spain. Israel was not only not invited — Turkey objected — it also was completely ignored.”

It it so weird that no one these days holds Israel as a legitimate nation with something to contribute, but only a minor territory to be carved up and given to the wolves, and otherwise ignored. This thinking is satanic. Look at this picture from Zechariah. Zechariah is given a vision. Remember that one of the LORD’S favorite names for His people is Jerusalem. Using it does not necessarily mean He is only speaking of the city itself. And Joshua here is usually interpreted as symbolic of the Jewish people and not just the man.

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.” (Zechariah 3:1-5).

How beautiful! You know, the Hebrew word for filthy garments means human excrement. That is how sin-filled Israel is. Satan stands by, accusing. He is perpetually maligning God’s people, saying in effect, ‘they’re filthy, what do want with those people anyway?!’ And God rebukes satan, and says ‘I have chosen them, and that’s that!’ he doesn’t go back on His word! But satan has to hope He will, because His word says also that the Lake of Fire is satan’s ultimate destination!

But this brand will go through the fire first,

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.” (Zechariah 12:2-3).

Meteorite Madrid 2012: a falling star lights up the night fragment of the Peninsula
This article is google-translated from Spanish.

“If you live in the center of the peninsula and last night I was awakened by a loud sound and saw how the sky suddenly lit up, it was a dream. About 2:10 in the morning and about 30 or 40 miles above Earth, stellar fragments disintegrated in the atmosphere somewhere between Toledo and Madrid. “Everything points to a fragment of a comet,” he told The Huffington Post Jose Maria Madiedo, professor of the Faculty of Experimental Sciences of Huelva. “It was like a flash in the sky like a beacon light that came from heaven,” said Rafael Rojas, a journalist who saw while working at his flat in Madrid and immediately tweeted what happened in search of an explanation, a little scared. His reaction is not surprising: “It was almost as bright as the sun…”

Cool! Jesus said there shall be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars. (Luke 21:25). I hope people who saw that were reminded of heaven, and remember our Holy God who will return, and prompts them to get right with Him by repenting!

Oh how can the United States not be in prophecy? people ask. How could Russia exceed, outpace and excel over us to be the star player in the Ezekiel Prophecy (Chap 37) and appear so mighty! Here is how. (It’s from Russia’s newspaper Pravda).

Exposing Obama would reveal the depth of US Government corruption
“The solution for the United States is not to elect more “good” people to government because they are quickly co-opted and compromised by the corrupt political system. It may sound cynical, but the solution is to make it politically advantageous for bad people to do the right thing. It is not now politically advantageous for either the Democrat or the Republican Party to tell the truth about Barack Obama; that he is an illegal President and very likely a felon, who has a forged birth certificate, a forged Selective Service registration and is using a Social Security Number not issued to him. Both parties are steadfastly protecting Obama to protect their investment in the corrupt political status quo. The formula is simple. To keep themselves permanently in office, members of Congress collect taxes nationwide, they then use the proceeds to repay wealthy financiers with tax loopholes or government loans and buy constituent votes through local tax-funded projects. The American people have given Congress a credit card with no limit. Rather than themselves being financially penalized for their largesse, members of Congress simply pass the debt along to ordinary Americans and future generations, while they enrich themselves through the power granted them to spend our money. The larger the federal government, the greater the number of opportunities arise for politicians to benefit from the scam.”

Is that not a brilliant synopsis of how things are in the US now? I grew up with Pravda, the Russian propaganda machine publishing lies to oppress the people and maintain Communism. Now it speaks the truth while our media publishes propaganda to oppress the people and maintain Socialism. It is all upside down. We’re done folks. Stick a fork in us.

The ‘freak’ weather continues. The Japanese media reported that the rain was like waterfalls from the sky.

250,000 evacuated in Japan, massive flooding, landslides
“Heavy rains in Japan have triggered the evacuation of a southwestern region, affecting a quarter of a million people. At least 22 people have died in the deluge, which began three days ago, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK. Japan’s meteorological agency is warning of torrential rains this weekend due to a warm mass from the south. In fact, more than 31 inches has fallen on a section of Kumamoto Prefecture since Wednesday. Evacuation orders have been issued for more than 250,000 people in the Japanese island of Kyushu, as rains pounded the region Saturday.”

A quarter of a million people evacuated!!

Freak wave of tornadoes kills 1, injures 10 in Poland
“WARSAW, POLAND (BNO NEWS) — A freak wave of powerful tornadoes tore through northern and western Poland on Saturday evening, killing one person and destroying dozens of buildings, officials said on Monday. Several others were injured. The most powerful of the storms tore through the Tuchola forest in northern Poland, destroying several kilometers (miles) of trees and killing a 60-year-old man when his summer house collapsed on him. The tornado was reported to be some 800 to 1,000 meters (0.5 to 0.6 mile) wide, destroying 21 houses and 13 other buildings. “I’ve been a forester on this land for 37 years, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” resident Janusz Kaczmarek, who was not at home when the tornado hit, told Polskie Radio. “I live in the centre of the damaged area. The whirlwind spared my home, but all of the houses in the area have lost their roofs.” As many as ten other people were also injured as a result of the tornadoes on Saturday. Poland has historically been vulnerable to tornado outbreaks, but they rarely result in casualties or cause significant damage.” Videos and photos her of the wild tornado outbreak

U.S. Declares Drought-Stricken States to Be Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever “The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared over 1,000 counties across 26 states to be natural disaster areas. This year has been the one of the worst years since the 1930s for drought in America. Drought, along with extreme heat, has prompted the USDA to declare these territories the largest natural disaster area in American history.”

I was looking at rare photos of the Dust Bowl yesterday. Oh, those poor farmers. No water, drought, winds blowing all the topsoil off. I saw one picture of a worn-looking mom of four hoeing her dusty garden…for the second time. A big wind had came and blown away all her seedlings the first time. I mourned because I know the coming Dust Bowl will be much worse. Our poor groaning earth.

With bible study, prayer, and watchfulness. I can see the pieces the LORD is putting down that will easily lead the the conditions we read about in Revelation. The drought’s continuation into August as predicted will not only allow the corn and soybean crops to fail, but will dry the soil and lead to massive tracts being useless for planting. There will be no food and no way to get food grow food, and likely with power outages, no way to produce or prepare food. Food will soon be an issue. We are seeing the late stages of a prophetic preparation that any ONE event could tip it into the famine category. (Rev 6:6; Matthew 24:7)

The Middle East’s pieces are also coming together. Damascus endured the heaviest fighting yet. Chemical weapons are alleged to be moved around, while the Obama Administration meets with the terrorist Egyptian President Morsi, while Israel is ignored and Turkey wields clout (another Gog Magog participant). All the nations prophesied to have a major part in the Tribulation wars are stepping up to the prophetic plate. All of them. It would not take much to ignite a cataclysm there, and today’s shooting by the US Navy at a small boat in the Persian Gulf won’t be taken lightly.

But as in Zechariah, He chose His people the Jews and he chooses us, His Church. he won’t cast any one of us out and all we need to do is stay strong until the last person fills His church and away we go. What kinds of things are you looking forward to in eternity, after being with Jesus of course? Asking Paul how it felt to be stoned and left for dead?” Or Abraham if he was scared to leave Ur of the Chaldees? Jonah what it was like int he whale? Would you thank your pastor for sharing the Gospel with you? Enjoy fellowship with mission field converts? There is so much we will enjoy in glory.

We are His bride. He dressed us in clean garments, we are no longer filthy. We are waiting the Blessed Hope!

Posted in end is near, signs

The end is so close, but don’t relax

Posted on by elizabethprata

The signs of the end are unmistakable. Though the signs Jesus warned us about (wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, apostasy, false messiahs…) have always plagued man, the rush of prophetic activity the Lord has been doing the last 50 years is unlike any other in history. The headlines we are reading were unthinkable even 10 years ago. The last two weeks have been so crowded with activity of a startlingly prophetic precision! As Pastor JD Farag said, we wonder what will the next two weeks hold?

It is not time to get ready, it is time to be ready. The schoolbus is not in the next neighborhood, it is not down the block, it is not even at the next house. It’s downstairs honking, and the time is now to be ready to get on board. We need to be already packed and ready to go.

Sometimes I read in the news, or see in a novel, a particularly tragic event that happens in a war. I am thinking particularly of WWI, where a famous armistice was the prelude to the final peace treaty. An armistice is a cessation of hostilities as a prelude to peace negotiations. The armistice in WWI was signed on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month. The commemoration of WW1 Armistice Day is now known to Americans as Veterans Day. It is different from a truce and it is not a treaty, but it is effectively the beginning stages of the end of the war. Did you know that though the 11-11-11th 1918, is held to be the official end of the First World War, final peace with Germany was not ratified until 1919, and peace was not finally ratified on all fronts until January 1920?

Anyway, the when the news of Armistice got around, soldiers started to relax because they knew they were going home soon. The war is almost over. Almost.

It is such a tragedy when a soldier dies after the armistice is signed. In France, 3,500 casualties occurred between the armistice signing and the official end of hostilities.

Here is an article about the aftermath of those deaths. It is a good article that explains the thinking of the commanders and generals and what happened to cause so many to die when the end was so near. Were those soldiers’ lives wasted?

Wasted Lives on Armistice Day
“On November 11, 1918, Armistice Day, the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front in France suffered more than thirty-five hundred casualties, although it had been known unofficially for two days that the fighting would end that day and known with absolute certainty as of 5 o’clock that morning that it would end at 11 a.m.”

General John J. Pershing, in a Congressional hearing a year after the armistice period, said, “When the subject of the armistice was under discussion we did not know what the purpose of it was definitely, whether it was something proposed by the German High Command to gain time or whether they were sincere in their desire to have an armistice; and the mere discussion of an armistice would not be sufficient grounds for any judicious commander to relax his military activities….”

You see, although the soldiers and commanders knew that the end was near, they were not sure what the enemy was going to do, whether it was a feint or not. They remained vigilant because they knew that the enemy was likely still out to kill and destroy.

Besides, the thinking went, the word had not gotten to all the soldiers that the end was near. They could not relax because some of their compatriots were not relaxing their guard. They were all in this together, one unit, even though strewn on different battlefields. The article continues with Pershing’s testimony:

“No one could possibly know when the armistice was to be signed, or what hour be fixed for the cessation of hostilities, so that the only thing for us to do, and which I did as commander in chief of the American forces, and which Marshal Foch did as commander in chief of the Allied armies was to continue the military activities.”

My grandfather, serving in WW1, British Army, Royal Leicestershire Regiment

It makes sense, doesn’t it, if the soldiers didn’t know the day or hour, then they were duty bound to continue the good fight.

“Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander in chief of Allied forces in France, issued on November 9, to keep up the pressure against the retreating enemy until the cease-fire went into effect. …Foch had described to his staff his intention ‘to pursue the Feldgrauen [field grays, or German soldiers] with a sword at their backs’ to the last minute until an armistice went into effect.”

Keeping up the pressure on the enemy, pouring ourselves out as a drink offering… As Paul said in the bible, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24).

Pershing continued, on the notion that the very idea of an armistice was repugnant, because the enemy was still fighting. The enemy was still the enemy, after all:

“‘Their request is an acknowledgment of weakness and clearly means that the Allies are winning the war,’ he maintained. ‘Germany’s desire is only to regain time to restore order among her forces, but she must be given no opportunity to recuperate and we must strike harder than ever.’ As for terms, Pershing had one response: ‘There can be no conclusion to this war until Germany is brought to her knees.’ “

Pershing is right to say that the war is not over until every knee bows and all acknowledge the victor.

“that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”(Philippians 2:10.)

“Pershing saw his army akin to a fighter ready to deliver the knockout punch who is told to quit with his opponent reeling but still standing. Conciliation now, he claimed, would lead only to future war. He wanted Germany’s unconditional surrender.”

That’s right. Unless the job is done thoroughly, the enemy comes back stronger than before.

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” (Mt 12:43-45).

I hope by now you have caught the metaphor. Though we old prophecy soldiers can see the signs that the end of our war in the spiritual realms is near, we cannot relax. “And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)

source

It feels so close, doesn’t it! But the enemy is still on the field and actively engaged. We won’t go home until the Commander in Chief calls for us, and until then, we continue to fight the good fight with all due vigor and attention. Until we hear the Trump of God, carry on, soldiers! (1 Thess 4:6).