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I wrote on this blog yesterday about the Colorado earthquake, 5.3 magnitude quake which was the largest in Colorado since 1967. It occurred in a nearly aseismic to large quakes area, making this one a surprise to geologists.
Then later in the day a "5.8 Virginia earthquake shakes East Coast, rattles residents" and in the Washington Pot article the writer noted "It was not a killer quake, nor even a particularly injurious one. But if it didn’t add up to a natural disaster, it was still a startling geological event, the strongest East Coast tremor in 67 years..."
It was a startling geological event. Thousands poured out into the streets in shock and surprise. The author went on to state that, "Any assumption that the region is seismically serene was corrected at 1:51 p.m..."
This blog entry is about God and earthquakes. Whenever a large or an unusual quake happens, my site doubles in traffic. People are intensely interested in earthquakes, and they know instinctively that quakes somehow relate to God and also to the end time. In one essay within a series I did last year called The Language of God, I wrote about the Language of God speaking through earthquakes. It is one of His vocabulary words.
If a person is not a believer then they will try to convince themselves that earthquakes are natural happenings based in science where strike-slip quakes, normal ones, or thrust quakes have logical scientific meaning and occur in places where underlying geology supports their particular kind of quake stress relief. (Though scientists cannot and have never been able to figure out why deep-focus quakes happen. These are quakes that happen in places where scientifically, none should occur.) Note that-
"This location was chosen for the express reason that seismic activity rarely if ever occurs there. Earthquakes occur hundreds of miles away on the Norwegian mainland, but they are low in magnitude. The largest one on the mainland [1200 miles away] was 5.4 in 1904 and most eq's on mainland Norway are less than 4.0. The quake occurred even though the vault's feasibility study assured that "there is no volcanic or significant seismic activity" in the area." (source).
God can cause an earthquake anywhere, any time, of any magnitude. Satan does not cause earthquakes. The antichrist does not cause earthquakes. Nature does not cause earthquakes. There is nothing that happens on the earth that God does not permit. Nothing. There is nothing happening on earth that He does not know about. We read in Luke 12:6-7, "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."
Earthquakes vary in kind. Some as mentioned are the mysterious deep-focus kind of quakes. There was a deep-focus quake lately, in the Philippines. As a matter of fact, there were three high-magnitude deep-focus quakes in fast succession. Read more here. Another kind of strange quake was the quake in Florida USA. I wrote about it here in a blog entry titled "Now the ground is shaking for no reason."
Remember the mysterious kind of quake that happened with Korah?
"Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that The Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then The Lord has not sent me. But if The Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated The Lord with contempt."
"As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!" (Numbers 16:28-34).
This kind of earth opening then closing is reminiscent of an incident that will take place in the tribulation. It is described in Revelation 12:13-16--
"When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth."
Jesus said that there would be earthquakes in diverse places in the Tribulation (Matthew 24:7). The Greek translation of "diverse" places is "against, down from, daily, day-by-day." So if we substitute diverse for against as the Greek indicates, the verse takes on new meaning. "There will be earthquakes against various places." Even more specifically, the Strong's Concordance says the definition originates from a "preposition, properly, "down from, i.e. from a higher to a lower plane, with special reference to the terminus." Earthquakes against various places from on high to a specific place or terminus. Hmmm.
As we see, Jesus will cause earthquakes against a location. He uses them for warnings and as judgments.
In the Tribulation, there will be many earthquakes. They will kill millions. Billions even. A third of the population dies almost immediately and then another third of the remainder are killed by the various judgments. (Not only earthquakes but pestilence, beast, famine, and sword (His for sore judgments; Ezekiel 14:21).
Here are scriptures that show He is in control, He holds the earth with gentle hands as gently as holding a sparrow, knowing even the numbers of hairs on your head, but also showing that He will shake the earth violently to show His displeasure in sin and rebellion against Him. After I read all these I came away with a sense of awe and humility in seeing without a doubt how much He is in control. And yet He loves us. He wants us to dwell with Him in heaven...please repent so that you will be there. Confess to Him that you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive the wrongdoing you've engaged in over your lifetime. He will forgive you. He died so that it would be possible. Now He is risen and waiting to hear your confession. Meanwhile, please enjoy these awesome verses illustrating His power on the earth:
GENERAL SCRIPTURES ABOUT QUAKES
Job 9:6
He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
Psalm 18:7
The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.
Psalm 46:2
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
Psalm 46:3
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Psalm 104:32
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
Nahum 1:5
The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it.
VERSES ABOUT QUAKES AS PROPHESIES
Matthew 24
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Revelation 6:12
[The Sixth Seal—Terror ] I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
Revelation 8:5
Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Revelation 11:13
And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Revelation 11:19
And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Revelation 16:18
And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.
Ezekiel 38:18-20
This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.
Zechariah 14:4
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
VERSES OF QUAKES AS JUDGMENTS
Psalm 18:15
The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
Psalm 60:2
You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
Isaiah 13:13
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.
Isaiah 24:19
The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken.
Isaiah 24:20
The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.
Isaiah 29:6
the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
Nahum 1
1 A prophecy concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
The LORD’s Anger Against Nineveh
The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.
I am glad I stand as His friend and not His enemy. How about you? Are you friend or foe of God?
Tweet
Then later in the day a "5.8 Virginia earthquake shakes East Coast, rattles residents" and in the Washington Pot article the writer noted "It was not a killer quake, nor even a particularly injurious one. But if it didn’t add up to a natural disaster, it was still a startling geological event, the strongest East Coast tremor in 67 years..."
It was a startling geological event. Thousands poured out into the streets in shock and surprise. The author went on to state that, "Any assumption that the region is seismically serene was corrected at 1:51 p.m..."
 |
| source |
If a person is not a believer then they will try to convince themselves that earthquakes are natural happenings based in science where strike-slip quakes, normal ones, or thrust quakes have logical scientific meaning and occur in places where underlying geology supports their particular kind of quake stress relief. (Though scientists cannot and have never been able to figure out why deep-focus quakes happen. These are quakes that happen in places where scientifically, none should occur.) Note that-
Most earthquakes are shallow. They are concentrated no deeper than 20-25 kilometers down. However, a few extremely deep quakes rumble at depths of about 600 kilometers. Geophysicists are really not certain what causes the very deep quakes, because at 640 kilometers rocks are so hot that they flow rather than snap under geological stresses. The more common, shallow earthquakes are generally created when rocks snap and fracture. sourceAnyway, Bible Believers love science but know that God is not beholden to science. If He wants to cause an earthquake, He will. There is no place that is 'seismically serene.' There is no place that is 'aseismic'. I thought it was ironic and amusing when the Powers that Be decided to build a seed vault to store seeds in case of a cataclysm. They spent millions to search for and then build a perfect place that was remote, could be protected, and was safe from earthquakes. They chose Svalbard Norway, atop a tiny rock atop a tiny island in the remote north Atlantic, above the Arctic Circle. It was supposed to be a seismically free zone. The day they opened the vault and had their bigwig ribbon cutting party, there was a huge earthquake. It was the largest in Norway's history, a 6.2.
"This location was chosen for the express reason that seismic activity rarely if ever occurs there. Earthquakes occur hundreds of miles away on the Norwegian mainland, but they are low in magnitude. The largest one on the mainland [1200 miles away] was 5.4 in 1904 and most eq's on mainland Norway are less than 4.0. The quake occurred even though the vault's feasibility study assured that "there is no volcanic or significant seismic activity" in the area." (source).
God can cause an earthquake anywhere, any time, of any magnitude. Satan does not cause earthquakes. The antichrist does not cause earthquakes. Nature does not cause earthquakes. There is nothing that happens on the earth that God does not permit. Nothing. There is nothing happening on earth that He does not know about. We read in Luke 12:6-7, "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."
Earthquakes vary in kind. Some as mentioned are the mysterious deep-focus kind of quakes. There was a deep-focus quake lately, in the Philippines. As a matter of fact, there were three high-magnitude deep-focus quakes in fast succession. Read more here. Another kind of strange quake was the quake in Florida USA. I wrote about it here in a blog entry titled "Now the ground is shaking for no reason."
Remember the mysterious kind of quake that happened with Korah?
"Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that The Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then The Lord has not sent me. But if The Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated The Lord with contempt."
"As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!" (Numbers 16:28-34).
This kind of earth opening then closing is reminiscent of an incident that will take place in the tribulation. It is described in Revelation 12:13-16--
"When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth."
Jesus said that there would be earthquakes in diverse places in the Tribulation (Matthew 24:7). The Greek translation of "diverse" places is "against, down from, daily, day-by-day." So if we substitute diverse for against as the Greek indicates, the verse takes on new meaning. "There will be earthquakes against various places." Even more specifically, the Strong's Concordance says the definition originates from a "preposition, properly, "down from, i.e. from a higher to a lower plane, with special reference to the terminus." Earthquakes against various places from on high to a specific place or terminus. Hmmm.
As we see, Jesus will cause earthquakes against a location. He uses them for warnings and as judgments.
In the Tribulation, there will be many earthquakes. They will kill millions. Billions even. A third of the population dies almost immediately and then another third of the remainder are killed by the various judgments. (Not only earthquakes but pestilence, beast, famine, and sword (His for sore judgments; Ezekiel 14:21).
Here are scriptures that show He is in control, He holds the earth with gentle hands as gently as holding a sparrow, knowing even the numbers of hairs on your head, but also showing that He will shake the earth violently to show His displeasure in sin and rebellion against Him. After I read all these I came away with a sense of awe and humility in seeing without a doubt how much He is in control. And yet He loves us. He wants us to dwell with Him in heaven...please repent so that you will be there. Confess to Him that you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive the wrongdoing you've engaged in over your lifetime. He will forgive you. He died so that it would be possible. Now He is risen and waiting to hear your confession. Meanwhile, please enjoy these awesome verses illustrating His power on the earth:
GENERAL SCRIPTURES ABOUT QUAKES
Job 9:6
He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
Psalm 18:7
The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.
Psalm 46:2
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
Psalm 46:3
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Psalm 104:32
he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
Nahum 1:5
The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it.
VERSES ABOUT QUAKES AS PROPHESIES
Matthew 24
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Revelation 6:12
[The Sixth Seal—Terror ] I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
Revelation 8:5
Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Revelation 11:13
And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Revelation 11:19
And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Revelation 16:18
And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.
Ezekiel 38:18-20
This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.
Zechariah 14:4
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
VERSES OF QUAKES AS JUDGMENTS
Psalm 18:15
The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
Psalm 60:2
You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
Isaiah 13:13
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.
Isaiah 24:19
The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken.
Isaiah 24:20
The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.
Isaiah 29:6
the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
Nahum 1
1 A prophecy concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
The LORD’s Anger Against Nineveh
The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.
I am glad I stand as His friend and not His enemy. How about you? Are you friend or foe of God?
Tweet
I love your blog! Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge and wisdom. God bless! Jane
ReplyDeletehttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/epic/epic_global.php
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you've tried using this app. I put in some numbers and came out with this:
Earthquakes 4.0 thru 9.5
1/1/1990-12/31/1999 = 77,058
1/1/2000-12/31/2009 = 119,041
1/1/2010-8/25/2011 = 23,680
Of course, there are a whole lot more sensors in place in the US now than there were in the 90's. And more have been put in place around the world as well. But I thought the numbers were interesting none-the-less. You can adjust the paramenters in several different ways.
The Washington Monument and the National Cathedral were damaged; symbols of our country and our relationship with God. Maybe He's telling us they're both 'cracked'?
ReplyDelete