Earthquake: At what point do the warnings end and the Tribulation punishments begin?

Let's discuss a bit more of the effects from this morning's earthquake. I posted quickly after I awoke and turned on the laptop to discover that a devastating earthquake had occurred, followed by a tsunami of global proportions, damage, radiation leakage, fires, shell-shocked wandering thousands, and all the other attendant effects. Since then, scientists have discovered more about the quake and the effect it had on the earth. There are two effects of high significance. After we explore those, we'll delve into what the bible says.

From the Italian newspaper Corriere, we learn "The impact of the earthquake that hit Japan this morning shifted the earth's rotation axis is nearly 10 inches. It's the preliminary result of studies carried out by INGV, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. According to Richard Gross, a geophysicist at NASA, the Earth's rotation rate is increased causing a shortening of 1.6 microseconds duration of the day. A microsecond is one millionth of a second." This quake was so powerful the entire island of Japan was moved 8 feet to the east.

TEN INCHES! That is one huge quake. I read earlier today that this quake was thirty times stronger than the famous in in 1906 at Frisco. God is powerful. No, it was not a "natural disaster". It was God. Psalms 104:32- "He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke."

Speaking of smoking hills, in Russia, Kamchatka volcano exploded. Translated from Russian, "Almost simultaneously with the strong shock that hit Japan and triggered a giant tsunami in the Pacific, two Russian Kamchatka volcanoes erupted. Eruption was accompanied by earthquakes. In the Russian Far East, there has been a strong volcanic eruption. The air got a great cloud of volcanic dust, which can pose a threat to air traffic in the region. In both cases, the volcanoes that threatened the outbreak of several days or even months." Mount Karangetang volcano in Indonesia erupted at the same time, as well. More here.

He toucheth the hills, and they smoke...

Another effect from the Japan quake was that the earth ruptured. "David Applegate, a senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards for the U.S. Geological Survey, said the 8.9-magnitude quake ruptured a patch of the earth's crust 150 miles long and 50 miles across."

"The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken." (Isiaiah 24:19).

God is in charge of the earth. He formed it, He created it, and He will renew it after destroying it in a fervent heat. (2 Peter 3:10). What we should be taking away from this day is the knowledge, certainty and power of an Almighty God. He is shaking us, warning us. Yes, these are still warnings. But this is really bad, you say. Yes, today is really bad. But they are still warnings.

Imagine how terrible the day will be when THIS happens: "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place." (Rev 6:12-14)

I've often wondered about how bad things will get before we are called to meet Him in the air. (1 Thess 4:16-18). How bad will the birth pangs get and what will that look like? The church is not destined to be on earth for the Tribulation, that is a fact. The angel told Daniel in Daniel 9:24 the 6 reasons God will make a Tribulation, and one of them is to punish, and end the iniquity on earth. Church age believers are not destined for punishment, our sins are pardoned and we are free from accusation. (Col 1:22). But for the Christians in Japan, if there are any, it must certainly feel like punishment. So this is how I decided to think about it.

Today's events were the first global event of the birth pangs. Remember, the prophesied birth pangs began at Jesus ascension and will end when He returns in Glory. The nature of pangs is that they begin almost unnoticed and increase to an unbearable pitch, accompanied by screaming. Today's quake has affected every continent and all the oceans. It is a cataclysm that we as humans on one planet are all experiencing. In the past and even in the recent past, there have been cataclysms but they have been localized. Katrina. Indonesian earthquake, Australian drought. Pakistan floods. But today, we are all affected. I think that means that we are near the tipping point from His warnings during the Church Age, to punishment for the unbelieving masses in the upcoming Tribulation. I do not know the mind of God, only what He shared with us in the bible. But He has told us that He will call us, and call us, and call us to Him, but there is a limit to His patience and His calling. It will not go on forever. Christians the world over can feel that time nearing, when He will stop calling and begin punishing. You can just feel it.

Today's events really make us see how easily a day like that one in Revelation 6, still future, can come about. It makes us see how powerful God is, and how loving. Yes, loving. I hope that the events of today caused some to re-think their faith or beliefs. What a blessing that would be. If those beliefs do not include Jesus as number one and ourselves as sinners whose destiny should be hell, then you need a radical re-think. Jesus is love and He is shaking us. He wants to see you, and you, and you in the place He is preparing for you in New Jerusalem. I hope the events of today caused Christians to witness like there's no tomorrow. Because there might not be.

Comments

  1. Hey Elizabeth, I had made a comment about this a couple of days ago but it got swallowed by the internet. I was wondering when you think the rapture could happen? I would be utterly shocked if we were still here in 5 years because we'd have to be here for some terrible times at the rate things are going. I'm not really trying to get you to time set but I guess i'm just interested :)

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  2. Also, I cannot stop listening to How Great is Our God!!!

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  3. LOL, I was awakened this morning with "Shall We Gather At the River" in my head and I can't stop listening to it.

    Here is what Paul said about timing:
    "The Day of the Lord"

    1Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.1 Thess 5:1-10

    He is talking about the Day of the Lord, a time period of wrath known to us as the Tribulation. But we can extend the point, I think, without twisting the scriptures, to include the timing of the rapture immediately preceding the Day. I mean, Jesus gave us signs to look for when it is getting near, in Matt. 24:3-35

    I think today marked a change. I mentioned in the blog entry that previously, the signs/pains were localized. Today was a global event. I think this change means the tipping point from warnings toward punishment is imminent. In plain language, every second the Church is still on earth I am surprised. I think it will be any second, any minute, any day, any week. Certainly by the end of this year. I do not know His mind and I do not know the timing, and I am still planning things for this Sunday, this summer, next school year. I am witnessing more urgently and appealing to Jesus for strength to keep running the race. But I think we see the finish line ahead,and I think the 4 Horsemen are saddling up.

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  4. Hi Elizabeth,
    With the hearing about the quake and the effect on our earth I felt a desperate urge to write a letter to my non believing family and friends.
    I have learned when I get this deep urging inside of me that is God telling me to move.

    Blessings,
    <><

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  5. Elizabeth, this comment was not appropriate or kind: "But for the Christians in Japan, if there are any, it must certainly feel like punishment." I know several Christians in Japan and each one of them is suffering along with the unsaved. There are American Christians there and there are Japanese Christians there. I personally know two American Believers in Christ Jesus who are very, very concerned for their extended family living in Japan - Japanese people. Please be careful with your words in your passion. God has His children in every country around the world and we suffer with the nationals when these things happen. Is God punishing us along with the unbelievers? No - but He IS sanctifying us and causing us to grow up more in Christ. Our prayer should be that God will continue to use disasters like these to draw people to Himself, people whose hearts are more open now because of what has happened. Pray that the Christians there will show His love and compassion toward those in need, and that many will come to know Christ through this natural disaster (yes, it is a 'natural disaster', even though God has caused it and is in control of it).

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  6. I'm sorry you took offense to my comment. It was not inappropriate nor unkind. The Japanese are the second most unreached group in the world. In the area hit by this disaster, I do not know if there are any Christians there. Christianity is a minority religion in Japan, with less than 1%and possibly less than one-half of one percent of the Japanese population. Most of those, live in western Japan, and the quake struck the east. So odds are, there may not be any Christians in the worst hit areas. It wasn't an indictment, only a fact.

    Secondly, I think you misunderstood the comment about punishment. We are not being punished. I made that statement a couple of times in the essay. But when your town is swept away by a tsunami, it must FEEL like punishment. When a nuke reactor blows up next to you, it must FEEL like punishment. But it's not. However, we have to remain strong in faith to remember that it is not punishment, but warnings that He is wroth and will cease His loving calls to us soon, when the Church Age is over, and it almost is.

    Your sentence here: "Our prayer should be that God will continue to use disasters like these to draw people to Himself," echoes what I said here,"Today's events really make us see how easily a day like that one in Revelation 6, still future, can come about. It makes us see how powerful God is, and how loving. Yes, loving. I hope that the events of today caused some to re-think their faith or beliefs. What a blessing that would be. "

    The end of the essay reminds us all that He loves us and wants to see us. ALL. In your haze of grief, please don't read into what isn't there. It is not a time for any of us to be over-sensitive, me nor you. It is a time for unity.

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  7. Hmmm....is it me or does it seem like since the start of 2011, many biblical prophecies are being unfolded? If that's so, I am very excited!

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  8. Hi Child of God,
    I am so glad that you listened. I pray that He will show you the fruits of your obedience and the work of the Spirit when we get there!

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  9. Thanks for posting this. The part about the earth moving 10 inches is insane! Do you think that these huge birth pains could be turning the earth in a way to shift the poles?

    I was thinking what if these huge disasters kept happening more frequently until the north and south poles completely switched.

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  10. Luke, I don't know if a pole shift will occur or not, but according to the scientists who study these things, one seems to be already underway. The effects described in Revelation certainly support that kind of devastating activity. I wrote about the pole shift here with citations from British Geo Survey-

    http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2011/01/british-geo-survey-says-southern-pole.html

    and here is another article about it from Scientific American
    http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=why-is-the-north-magnetic-pole-raci-2010-12-24

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