Major oil leak causes state of emergency: 800,000 gallons spilled UPDATED

Sad news today from Lake Michigan/Kalamazoo River

Oil spill update: State of emergency declared as 800,000 gallons of leaked oil begins flowing through Kalamazoo County
Kalamazoo County officials declared a state of emergency Tuesday afternoon as more than 800,000 gallons of oil released into a creek began making its way downstream in the Kalamazoo River “I just came from Fort Custer and you can smell it now,” Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Pali Matyas said. “... It’s all rolling downhill and there are a lot of complications.”

This article reports, "U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Mich., said he discussed the spill Tuesday with President Barack Obama at the White House. He called the spill a "public health crisis," and said he plans to hold hearings to examine the response. "The company was originally slow to respond and it is now clear that this is an emergency," Schauer told reporters on a conference call." Caption "A worker lifts oil-covered debris from the Kalamazoo River in Battle Creek Tuesday. A pungent odor is hanging over the Battle Creek area and the Kalamazoo River valley a day after 840,000 gallons of oil leaked into a creek that feeds into the river. The oil leaked Monday from a 30-inch pipeline that carries about 8 million gallons of oil per day from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario, in Canada. AP credit"

This MI situation is not minor. And of course the Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill isn't minor either. In addition to these large and visible spills, there has been a spate of pipe breaks, leaks, and explosions spilling gas and oil onto land and water lately, from the upper Midwest to PA to TX to the Gulf. You can do a search on this blog for "explosions" and many results will come up, if you want to see the previous articles.

I have been thinking about today's bible reading. He had led me to Obadiah. This is another of those chapters that have prophetic proclamations, then historical fulfillment of the events described, and are also waiting for its double fulfillment in the future. Here, Edom (Jordan) was a thorn in the side of Judah and Israel, often cheering on armies like the Assyrians when they battled the Israelites. More often, Edom allied with them, and worst, would pick and plunder the stuff that was left behind from previous plunderers. Edom laughed at Israel, and shouted self-confidently from their clefts in the rock (the great city of Petra). God saw this and made some promises in passages that not only spoke of retribution but exact retribution for exact deeds.

In verses 5-9 it describes thieves and pickers and robbers cleaning out Edom just as Edom had picked and robbed and stole from Judah. Even more clearly, God spelled it out in verse 12:

The Day of the LORD and the Future
"For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head." (NASB)

These verses are cross-referenced to Habakkuk 2:8, "Because you have looted many nations, All the remainder of the peoples will loot you." There is no escaping divine and exact retribution, It is repeated again in Jeremiah:

"Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel." (Jer 50:29) Perfect justice. Like-judgment for like-sin.

I was musing all day about what would be America's fitting justice. Though we are not under judgment yet, because His wrath (judgment) has not begun and will not until the rapture and later Rev 6, we are still approaching that Day. The Day of the Lord is spoken of or referenced in almost every New Testament book. It is a time that most of the bible points to. That Day will come and America will be one of the nations to have perfect justice fall on her, as long-promised and as long-deserved. As we peek around the prophetic corner to that Day, perhaps we can already see some of the precursors and signs of what kind of judgment awaits the unbelieving left behind.

Would it not be fitting for a gluttonous and wasteful oil gobbling nation to be awash in oil that cannot be used? Would it not be fitting for us, who are so polluted by perversity and garbage, to have our lands become corrupted and trashed? I don't know what the LORD has in mind for America nor any nation in particular in terms of exact judgment, but we KNOW that we will be repaid as we have done. And that is scary enough.

UPDATE
At 5:57 an update was posted regarding another spewing well...

Tug vessel hits abandoned gas well in Barataria Waterway
JEFFERSON, La. -- The Coast Guard and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office are maintaining a two mile safety perimeter around a damaged wellhead in the Barataria Waterway south of New Orleans.
A mix of natural gas, contaminated water and light crude oil is spewing 100 feet in the air. According to the Coast Guard, the tug vessel Pere Ana C while pushing a dredge barge struck the abandoned wellhead around one Tuesday morning. "The issue for the region right now is we have gas coming out of an uncontrolled well head," said Coast Guard Captain John Arenstam. "We don't want to introduce into the region is an ignition source."

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