TSUNAMI

TERROR!

On December 26, 2004, a gigantic earthquake struck just a few miles off

the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Before the whole story is told, deaths

from the disaster may soar over half a million human beings, counting

deaths to come from starvation, disease epidemics, and plague, spawned

in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami that struck eleven nations in

the region. Worldwide, it seems natural disasters are occurring on a more

frequent and greater scale than ever before. Why? What is happening

to our planet? Is God unhappy with mankind?

William F. Dankenbring

On December 26, a horrendous earthquake of over 9 on the Richter scale occurred in South Asia, triggering a Tsunami wave that rose to over 45 feet high in some beach areas. The toll of the victims has gone over 280,000, with 132,000 still missing, as of the end of January. The final death toll could approach one million.

The death toll in Aceh, Indonesia, the region worst hit by the tsunami, may exceed 400,000 as many affected areas could not be reached for search and rescue operations. This estimate was based on air surveillance by Indonesian authorities who found no signs of life in places like Meulaboh, Pulau Simeulue and Tapak Tuan. It was discovered that several islands off the west coast of Sumatra had simple “disappeared.”

Aerial surveillance found the town of Meulaboh completely destroyed with only one building standing. The building, which belonged to the military, happens to be on a hill. There were about 150,000 residents in Meulaboh, which was located about 100 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake while Pulau Simeuleu had a population of 76,000.

Staggering Signs of the Times

Is God trying to tell the world something? Noah W. Hutchings in Prophetic Observer, notes that “Most major earthquakes are caused by shifting plates 15 to 20 miles below the earth’s surface. The 9.0 earthquake that occurred on December 25, 2004, 8:38 p.m. CST time, started five miles below the Indian Ocean approximately 100 miles off Sumatra when the Indian Ocean plate pushed underneath the Asian plate, suddenly pushing the Asian plate upward 100 feet along a 700 mile rip in the ocean floor. A resulting tsunami wave effect spread outward inundating areas along thousands of miles of coastlines in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, thousands of islands, and as far away as Somalia, 3,000 miles from the earthquake epicenter. The depth of the wave averaged from 40 to 60 feet, completely destroying villages, towns, and cities near the ocean” (January 2005 issue).

Prior to the giant tsunami, a number of “signs” seemed to herald that something was in the offing.

On December 16, 2004, strange lenticular clouds were seen over the Mount Erebus volcano in Antarctica, near the Ross Ice Shelf which is currently breaking up and clogging the sea with icebergs (one as large as the state of Rhode Island).

December 19 a massive explosion occurred over Jakarta, Indonesia, as a fire ball streaked through the sky. December 20 a rash of UFO sightings occurred over Indonesia, China, and Australia. Thousands of people saw amazing signs in the heavens. There were over 700 official reports made of flashing fire balls in the sky, and a strange spinning object dashing across the sky.

Meanwhile, on December 21, Dr. John Anderson of the Pasadena Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that “something funny is going on with gravity.” His tests indicated that gravity appears to be weakening on the earth. He admits that he doesn’t understand it, yet careful monitoring using space probes shows that something definitely is happening!

December 24, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 shook the seabed 625 miles from Tasmania, near Australia. Meanwhile, volcanoes were showing signs of erupting and shaking in New Guinea and Hawaii, and powerful earthquakes struck in Italy and Japan, Algeria and Trinidad, Alaska and northwest California, Greece, Turkey, and the islands of Sumatra and Java.

What’s going on?

In the middle of December the Soputan volcano in Indonesia erupted, and the Nyiragongo volcano in the Congo, Africa, blazed to fiery life. Powerful earthquakes struck in Hokkaido, Japan, Taiwan, Morocco, Portugal, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Caymans, El Salvador, Chile, and elsewhere.

Is the earth being prepared for some “grand smash” shaking?

The earthquake on December 25-26 (depending on where you live), sometimes called the “Christmas Day” earthquake, struck at exactly 00:58:53 UTC (universal time). A tsunami wave over 30 feet high and traveling 500 miles per hour struck 11 nations, causing unprecedented havoc and destruction over a vast region. Interestingly, in India’s Andhra Pradesh state, 32 moon-worshipers were gathered together, in moon worship, when the giant wave picked them up, carried them off to sea, and then returned their lifeless bodies to the very site where they had been worshiping the moon – dead.

Another news report told of parents who were missing their 6-month-old baby, so they prayed and cried out to God in heaven; while they were still praying, a mattress floated up to them, with their baby lying on it totally unharmed!

Is something strange going on, on planet earth?

Noah Hutchings wrote, “On December 28, 2004, Ken Hudnut of the U.S. Geological Survey reported: ‘Based on seismic modeling, some of the smaller islands off the southwest coast of Sumatra may have been moved to the southwest, [and] Sumatra [the largest island] shifted to the northeast by 120 feet.’”

Said Hutchings, “A CNN report estimated the power of the Sumatra earthquake was equal to one million nuclear bombs, and another report from MSNBC indicated that the power was equal to 23,000 atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima.” Other reports compare the power of the tsunami to 500 atomic bombs – but who’s really counting?

The force was so great that it caused the earth to wobble at its poles, and changed the map of the world, altered coastlines, moved islands, changed sea depths, and the fact of a large tectonic plate diving downward toward the center of the earth has also caused the speed of the earth’s rotation to increase a slight amount.

If God is beginning to judge the world and its inhabitants, you can’t run, and there’s no place to hide.

What Does It All Mean?

Global cataclysms have occurred in the earth’s past, which have shaken the nations to their core. But the modern world largely is in ignorance of or denies the existence of an all powerful God, the Creator, who rules, sustains, and governs His creation, and who is very interested in the affairs of mankind, their actions, and their governments.

In the time of Noah, we are told in the history of the book of Genesis, mankind had become so wicked and violent, that God Himself intervened in the course of human affairs, and sent a devastating plague – a global Flood – to punish mankind for their wickedness.

We read, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen.6:5-8, NIV).

Not only the simple account of the book of Genesis, but legends of mankind from nations around the world, attest to a devastating flood that wiped out all mankind except for a few survivors!

Does God really cause what mankind considers mere “natural disasters”?

God RULES!

The prophet Daniel told ancient king Nebuchadnezzar, in explaining the meaning of a terrifying dream the king had experienced, “This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. . . . Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue” (Daniel 4:24-27, NIV).

The fateful time came, and king Nebuchadnezzar lost his senses, and lived like an animal in the field for seven years. At the end of the time, he was restored to sanity and to his office, and he praised the Lord God Most High, saying, “His dominion is an eternal dominion, his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Dan.4:34-35).

The king saw the light. He saw the truth. And he declared, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (verse 37).

The king himself had been walking in pride. God taught him a vital lesson by humbling him with seven years of personal disaster!

The truth is, in the greater scheme of things, there is no such thing as a “natural disaster” and we should not look upon such horrifying events in that manner, that denies the Hand and the Role of Almighty God, who uses these events to teach mankind lessons and to drive home the reality that life is often beyond our human control, but there is a Divinity that shapes and rules over our lives.

What we often think of as mere “cosmic chance,” or “sheer luck,” has nothing to do with chance or luck at all!

“Cosmic Dodgeball?”

One commentator, Eric J. Fry, in the wake of the Tsunami disaster, wrote, an article entitled “Cosmic Dodgeball.” He declared, “In the span of a few terrifying minutes last Sunday morning, 120,000 human beings perished beneath a fatal wall of water. That's more than double the number of American soldiers who died in a different sort of Asian cataclysm four decades earlier. But manmade disasters like the Vietnam War bear no resemblance whatsoever to natural disasters. Manmade disasters, despite their horrific consequences, seem almost tame and rational alongside the natural variety. In other words, the brutality of war is shocking, but not unexpected by those involved. The brutality of nature is alarming, precisely because it is so unexpected and so completely random.

“A soldier pinned down in a firefight on the beaches of Vietnam knows he may not see another sunrise. But a tourist relaxing on the gentle sands of Patong Beach does not doubt he will watch that evening’s sunset. Fate sometimes foils expectations and delivers utterly imaginable outcomes.

“Whenever epic disasters occur, nature seems indifferent to both the laws of probability and to our human sense of fair play. Epic disasters just don’t seem right, but they happen nonetheless. And whenever they do, it feels as though we humans are engaged in a kind of cosmic dodge ball – a ‘game’ in which the balls are invisible to the human eye until the moment they strike. The object of the game, of course, is to avoid getting hit. But as the balls are invisible, we are never really sure how we should be bobbing or weaving” (from Rude Awakening, December 31, 2004).

Notice several things I highlighted in the above text. The author assumes that natural “disasters” are “completely random.” And therefore inexplicable. Just due to “Fate,” as he calls it. But these assumptions deny the reality of and the power of Almighty God and His deep concern and interest in all human life!

Jesus Christ declared to His disciples, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7).

God is deeply concerned about ALL human life! There is no such thing as “fate” or “chance” in the cause of disasters. God is IN CONTROL! He RULES!

Isaiah put it this way: “I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light, and create darkness, I bring prosperity and CREATE DISASTER; I, the LORD, do all these things” (Isaiah 45:6-7, NIV).

Disasters, when they come, are caused by, created by, or allowed by, the direct purpose of Almighty GOD! He could stop them, if He chose to do so. He could avert them; He can change the paths of hurricanes. He can stop tornadoes in their tracks. He can cause Tsunamis to “disappear.” He can cause, or stop, earthquakes.

He RULES in the affairs of men!

But men don’t seem to understand this fact. Very few men even begin to KNOW God, and most even seem to doubt His very existence! Christ Himself said, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

The big question, then, ought to be, “WHY does God allow such things to happen?” If it isn’t just “fate,” or “bad luck,” or “bad karma,” then WHY do these things occur?

If life isn’t just a big game of “Cosmic Dodgeball,” and you must sometimes learn to “dodge” even when you can’t see the ball coming right at you – then what IS life all about?

Why Does God Allow Such Disasters?

Although God’s actions may at times seem cruel, callous, and indifferent to the rules of what men call “fair play,” even though God’s actions may at times seem to be capricious and unknowable, and epic disasters just don’t “seem right,” that doesn’t make it true. God’s ways are far above and beyond man’s grasp and limited understanding. He doesn’t have to “answer” to men. We must learn that WE must answer to HIM for all our actions, deeds, and thoughts.

Isaiah wrote, about these things, and WHY God allows certain things to happen in our lives. He declared, “SEEK the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:6-9, NIV).

When disasters occur, there is a divine purpose behind them. There is a REASON – a cause for every effect.

Job learned this lesson in his life. He was rich and prosperous, and had a wonderful family around him. Life seemed so good – so grand.

But then one day, disaster struck suddenly. Raiders came and stole all his cattle and donkeys, and killed his herdsmen. While he was still digesting the first message, another messenger came and told him lightning struck from the sky and killed all his sheep and their shepherds. Before that messenger finished, a third arrived with the horrible news that Job’s own children were all killed by a sudden tornado!

What grief! What calamity!

How did Job react to all this bad news? Did he assign it all to bad luck or random chance?

“At this Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:20-21).

Did Job foolishly ascribe the cause of these disaster to God? Was his blaming God and laying the cause at His footstool wrong of Job?

“In all this Job DID NOT SIN in charging God with wrongdoing” (verse 22). “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly” (KJV). The Hebrew means, Job “did not attribute folly to God.” He accepted these disasters as being from the hand of God.

But like all of us, when these things happened, Job did not see the REASON for them. He merely understood, by faith, that God allowed them, and that God knew the reasons for their occurrence. So He did not attribute folly or wickedness to God. He accepted these things from God’s hand, and worshipped God.

Of course, the book of Job goes on to tell the full story. Write for our article, “The Saga of Job,” which explains these things and the causes of woe and suffering – why righteous men even suffer and receive “evil,” and why innocent people, even children, often suffer and die unexpectedly.

Hard Knocks Teach Hard Lessons

The simple truth is, Job had lessons to learn. He was a righteous man, but he was in great need of spiritual instruction, in order for him to become even more righteous, holy, and to have his character purified and perfected!

In the end of the book of Job, we read the words of Elihu, a young wise man, who said to Job, “See, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him?” (Job 36:22).

He went on, “Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, ‘You have done wrong?’ Remember to extol his work, of which mortals have sung. All people have looked on it; everyone watches it from far away. Surely God is great, and we do not know him; the number of his years is unsearchable” (Job 36:23-26, NRSV

At the end of the book of Job, God Himself begins to reveal Himself to Job, by showing Him His own might and power. It seems Job did not really grasp the awesomeness and greatness of God, in the beginning of the book, but after all the trials and disasters struck, and after he had time for an “attitude adjustment,” and began to see himself as God saw him, he came to a much fuller, deeper, more penetrating repentance of sin. He finally “saw” the truth. And he exclaimed, to God, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). “I abhor myself,” the King James Version has it. “Therefore I loathe [my words] and abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Amplified Parallel Bible).

You can equate it this way: God sends mighty trials and afflictions to teach us enormous lessons of great importance. If we only have the wit to learn! Nothing on this scale happens by mere chance. There is indeed a cause for every effect!

What could be the lesson as to why God sent the horrendous tsunami in South Asia?

It has been noted that the resort locations catered to the rich and elites of many nations. It has also been noted that many of those areas are world infamous for prostitution, child prostitution, and promiscuous sexual license. And it has been noted that the nations involved worship pagan gods and filled with gross superstition and idolatry, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. None of these religions acknowledges the truth of the Bible, the Word of the Creator God.

Bottom line – why does God allow such horrendous events to occur?

Repent – Or PERISH!

Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha Moshiach – the Messiah Himself explains it. He gave the answer in crystal clarity, with powerful words of truth. We read: “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you REPENT, YOU TOO WILL ALL PERISH” (Luke 13:1-5, NIV).

Every action has its consequences. Evil actions bring evil results. Sin and iniquity breed disaster and death!

The great Tsunami was a “sign” – that unless this world takes heed to its rampant sins and gross idolatries and lawlessness, it will suffer far worse than the disaster which struck the nations of South Asia! The Tsunami was only a very striking “warning.”

As the prophet Micah declared, “Does disaster befall a city, unless the LORD has done it? Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophecy?” (Amos 3:6-7, NRSV).

Christ said to the Jews of His time, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the SIGNS OF THE TIMES” (Matt.16:2-3).

What about you, dear reader? Can you discern and really see the “signs of the times”?

The Mount Olivet Prophecy

Some of these signs, leading up to the coming of the Messiah, are listed in Matthew 24, the famous Mount Olivet prophecy. Yeshua declared, speaking about the days before His second coming, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and EARTHQUAKES in various places: all this is but the BEGINNING of birth pangs” (Matt.24:8). The “birth pangs” of the New Age!

Can you discern the stormy clouds that lie on the horizon of the world?

Can you see that judgment is not far off, because of the litany of mankind’s growing array of sins and lawlessness, violence and evil?

The horrendous Tsunami in South Asia was merely a foretaste – a warning – a very serious warning. God seeks to get the attention of the whole world. His day of judgment is fast approaching! As the apostle Paul wrote, “While God overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to REPENT, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged . . .” (Acts 17:30-31).

Why did He mention earthquakes? Obviously, something would have to be unusual about them. Earthquakes were prophesied to occur in a manner unusual or different from normal times, as if they were more violent, and more prevalent – otherwise, why would Christ have even mentioned them?

Noah Hutchings points out that “It is obvious that the annual average of occurring earthquakes has greatly increased, almost TRIPLING in the past 17 years. It may be claimed that the increase in the total number of earthquakes is due to better science equipment and reporting, but such logic will not account for the equal percentage increase in earthquakes of 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 magnitude. . . . Statistics clearly prove that earthquakes are not only increasing in number, they are increasing in the number of higher intensity earthquakes” (The Prophetic Observer, “The Christmas Earthquake of 2004: Its Prophetic Relevance,” January 2005).

As evidence that powerful earthquakes have been increasing in both numbers and severity, the following chart from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that there definitely is an increase in both categories.

The earth is beginning to rock and roll as never before!

U.S. Geological Survey – National Earthquake Information Center

Number of Earthquakes Worldwide and Mortality Figures for 1987-Sept.2004

Of course, the great earthquake of 9.0 or higher in December is not listed on this chart, nor its casualty figures.

If we compare the total quakes and mortalities of the first year, 1987, we find number of quakes were 11,290 and deaths were 1,080. For all of 2004, the number of earthquakes were over 29,189, and total deaths surpassed 300,000, including the Indonesia quake and tsunami disaster!

A Warning of Things to Come

A British researcher warns that it is only a matter of time before another killer tsunami like the one that swamped south Asia hits New York and the American East Coast.

The stage for this potential monstrous mega-disaster was set in 1971, when an eruption loosened a 12-mile-wide chunk of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Islands. If and when the 500 billion tons of barely hanging rock finally crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, the resultant disaster could make the South Asian tsunami look like a popcorn popper. Says Prof. Bill McGuire, of the Benfield Hazard Research Center at University College in London, the largest tidal wave ever experienced would race across the Atlantic at up to 600 mph and strike New York as well as shorelines from the Caribbean to Boston. Towering waves up to 75 feet would smash into the city, traveling miles inland, destroying everything in their way.

Dr. McGuire says that it would take the wave a mere eight to 10 hours to race across the Atlantic after the massive volcano chunks plunge toward the bottom of the ocean.

Meanwhile, a Russian scientist has warned South America that massive tsunamis like the one that devastated south-east Asia could also strike in places like Ecuador, Peru, and Columbia.

Yevgeny Dolginov, a professor of geological studies at the Russian University for Peoples’ Friendship, estimated the risk to areas around the world using a theory based on tectonic plate movements. He declared, “I feel it is necessary to warn the embassies of countries located around the equator about the possibilities of massive earthquakes in the near future.” Among other possible danger zones, he said, are Equatorial New Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria and Gabon, on the African coast.

The recent earthquake and tsunami, United States scientists say, was strong enough to shift islands in the oceans from their places.

Satellite images showed that the movement of undersea plates off the northern tip of Sumatra moved the Nicobar Islands and Simeulue Island out to sea by an unknown distance, declared U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Ken Hudnut.

The scientific data showed that plates more than 12 miles beneath the ocean’s surface moved dramatically. Was this merely a “warm up act” for the greater events prophesied to follow shortly

Large earthquakes in the last decade in Kobe, Japan, and Golcuk, Turkey, deformed the coastlines and rendered their ports inoperable after the crises, Hudnut said.

In fact, the 9.0 or 9.2 earthquake that shook Sumatra was strong enough to make the earth itself wobble, according to U.S. scientists. The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth's rotation -- shortening days by a fraction of a second -- and caused the planet to wobble on its axis.

Richard Gross, a geophysicist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, theorized that a shift of mass toward the Earth's center during the quake on Sunday caused the planet to spin 3 microseconds, or 3 millionths of a second, faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis.

When one huge tectonic plate beneath the Indian Ocean was forced below the edge of another “it had the effect of making the Earth more compact and spinning faster,” Gross said. Gross stated that changes predicted by his model probably are too minuscule to be detected by a global positioning satellite network that routinely measures changes in Earth's spin, but said the data may reveal a slight wobble.

The Earth’s poles travel a circular path that normally varies by about 33 feet, so an added wobble of an inch is unlikely to cause long-term effects, he said. “That continual motion is just used to changing,” Gross said. “The rotation is not actually that precise. The Earth does slow down and change its rate of rotation.” When those tiny variations accumulate, planetary scientists must add a “leap second” to the end of a year, something that has not been done in many years, Gross said.

Scientists have long theorized that changes on the Earth’s surface such as tide and groundwater shifts and weather could affect its spin but they have not had precise measurements to prove it, Caltech seismologist Hiroo Kanamori declared.

“Even for a very large event, the effect is very small,” Kanamori said. “It’s very difficult to change the rotation rate substantially.”

It may seem “difficult” for men to imagine, but it is nothing to Almighty God, Creator of the heavens and the earth!

Prelude and Opening Act?

Is this a prelude of things to come?

In the book of Revelation, we read of another earthquake which is destined to “move islands” and make others disappear. “And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were upon the earth, so violent was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. . . . And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found” (Rev.16:18-20).

This massive earthquake is foretold for the day when the heavens open and the Messiah returns to this earth! Write for our articles, “The Book of Revelation Decoded,” and “Daniel’s Mysterious 1260, 1290 and 1335 Days Revealed!”

Prophesied to Occur

Skeptics may scoff and jeer, but the plain truth is we haven’t seen anything yet! The earthquake mentioned in Revelation will exceed anything in the history of the human race in magnitude and destructive power. It will level cities around the globe. The earth itself will shake and roll and stagger.

Staggering times lie ahead. Massive earth orogenies are foretold in the Scriptures.

The prophet Isaiah asserted, “See, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy its sinners from it . . . I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and lay low the insolence of tyrants. . . . Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the LORD of hosts in the day of his fierce anger” (Isaiah 13:9-13, NRSV).

Isaiah declares, in a dramatic warning: “The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. THEREFORE A CURSE DEVOURS THE EARTH, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindle, and few people are left” (Isaiah 24:5-6, NRSV).

“Terror, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! Whoever flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit; and whoever climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

“The earth is utterly broken, the earth is torn asunder, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunkard, it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.” The words “utterly broken” in Hebrew (ra’a) means “spoiled, literally by breaking in pieces,” “to make good for nothing.” The words “torn asunder” in Hebrew here is parpar and means “break up, break asunder, dissolve, divide, bring to nought,” or even “split apart.”

“On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven in heaven and on earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be abashed, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders he will manifest his glory” (Isa.24:17-23, NRSV).

Are You Ready for the “Day of the Lord”?

These things are coming soon. God’s prophet Habakkuk declared, “I will stand at my watchpost and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

“Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay” (Hab.2:1-3).

Few understand these things, and few believe in Biblical prophecy. Many have their heads buried in the sand. But the awesome day of the LORD is coming upon the earth, and it is coming soon!

The prophet Isaiah spoke of this coming time of terror and destruction upon the earth. He declared, “Enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. On that day people will throw away to the moles and to the bats their idols of silver and their idols of gold . . . to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts in the crags, from the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. Turn away from mortals, who have only breath in their nostrils, for of what account are they?” (Isa.2:19-22).

The Amplified Bible has this passage, “Then the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. . . . when He arises to SHAKE MIGHTILY AND TERRIBLY THE EARTH” (Isa.2:17-19). Men will throw away their prized possessions, money and gold, in that day, out of fear, and flee to hide in caves and clefts of rocks, to escape, when God “rises to shake mightily and terribly the earth” (vs.20-21).

Where will you be in that day?

Jesus Christ Himself cried out, in warning, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).

Says the Amplified Parallel Bible: “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity [without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn] at the roaring (the echo) of the tossing of the sea, men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and caused to totter.”

Christ warns, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation [that sees these things] will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:29-36, NRSV).

What about you? How serious will you pay attention to these warnings from God? Can you interpret the ominous signs and disasters that have been occurring with greater and greater frequency and amplitude?

Remember the story about the Sadducees and Pharisees, who were the religious leaders in Israel during the time of Christ. “Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up to Jesus, and they asked Him to show them a sign (spectacular miracle) from heaven [attesting to His divine authority]. He replied to them, ‘When it is evening you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a gloomy and threatening look. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times” (Matt.16:1-3, Amplified Parallel Bible).

What about you? Are your ears open? Are you eyes open? Are you watching and listening, carefully?

Can you discern and comprehend the “signs of the times”?

The Messiah rebuked that generation, because they sought after a sign, and rejected all the evidence He presented showing that He was indeed the Messiah. He said to them, “A wicked and morally unfaithful generation craves a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (verse 4).

Our generation, too, is morally wicked and unfaithful, beyond measure. It also seeks after signs and wonders – but rejects the signs and the evidence which God sends to it as divine warnings and alerts, to give us a “head’s up” before disaster strikes.

Will we pay attention?

Will you?