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THE
CRY OF HIS COMING
December
2009 Issue
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EARTHQUAKES:
WILL THERE BE A
SUPERQUAKE?
What
Does The Bible Say?
by Pastor Max Solbrekken
HISTORICAL
RECORDS SHOW EARTHQUAKES BECAME MORE FREQUENT AND MUCH MORE INTENSE
DURING THE 20TH CENTURY
According to
historical records, earthquakes greatly escalated in
intensity, frequency and geographical diversity during the 20th
Century!
Jesus Christ gave us
a comprehensive, flawless prophecy concerning end-time phenomena
including war, famines, pestilence and “earthquakes in divers
places” in answer to His disciples query “What shall be the sign
of Thy coming and of the end of the world”?
EARTHQUAKES
SPEAK FOR GOD, and have done so since the beginning of time;
earthquakes are a sign as well as a message from the Almighty to us
all! Often, earthquakes are a WAKE-UP CALL for us to repent &
get right with God - earthquakes can be a warning of impending
judgment and a call to righteousness!
THE
FIRST SCIENTIFICALLY MONITORED EARTHQUAKE HAPPENED ON MAY 20, 526 AD
The FIRST
scientifically monitored earthquake
occurred at Antioch,
Syria on May 20, 526 AD and took the lives of 250,000 people.
There is no record of its magnitude, but it was certainly great to
create so much havoc and death!
Another powerful
earthquake (9.0) shook Shensi,
China on Jan. 24, 1556 claiming 830,000 lives and on Oct. 11,
1739, Calcutta, India was rocked by a mammoth earthquake leaving
300,000 dead. Again, we have no record of its magnitude!
The Lisbon
earthquake shaker claimed 20% of the population on Nov. 11, 1755
registering 8.6 on the Richter Scale and this horrific earthquake
was felt many miles away from its epicenter. 60,000 PEOPLE WERE
KILLED!
Even though only 503
died in San
Francisco’s April 18-19, 1906 earthquake, this earthquake
registered 8.3 on the Richter Scale and much of the city was
destroyed with $500 million in damages! In 1989 another
earthquake, known as the Loma
Prieta earthquake, measuring 6.9 on the richter scale hit San
Francisco.
On Sept. 1, 1923 an
8.3 magnitude earthquake took 200,000 lives in Yokohama,
Japan and another severe earthquake with the magnitude of 8.3
shook NanShan,
China on May 22, 1927. On Dec. 26, 1939, a unbelievable
earthquake shook the earth again with great intensity - 7.9 on
Richter Scale - in Erzincan,
Turkey taking 30,000 lives.
In the 1950’s &
1960’s, earthquakes were recorded in India,
Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, Morocco, Chile, Yugoslavia and Alaska
with intensities as great as 8.7 and as low as 5.8. The Alaska earthquake
occurred on March 27, 1964 and took 131 lives.
On May 31, 1970 an
earthquake with the magnitude of 7.7 shook
Northern Peru and claimed 66,796 lives. The Feb. 4, 1976 quake
in Guatemala brought great destruction and death claiming 22,778
lives. It registered 7.5 on the Richter Scale, and on July 26 of
that same year, 242,000 people died in the 8.2 horrific killer quake
that hit Tangahan, China.
In July 1976, the
Tangshan Earthquake also known as the Great Tangshan Earthquake. The
Tangshan earthquake is believed to be the largest earthquake
of the 20th century by death toll.
SOME
RECENT EARTHQUAKES
The Global Volcanism
Network of the Smithsonian Institute has provided us with the
following information.
Earthquakes in 1993
& 1994 have struck Bolivia (8.2), Columbia (6.8), Indonesia
(7.3), California (6.8), Papau New Guinea (7.0), Mexico (7.2), Guam
(8.0), Fiji (6.7) and Japan (7.0).
On June 15, 1999
central and southern Mexico was struck by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake
which killed a number of people and injured hundreds more.
In August and
September, 1999, three powerful earthquakes hit Turkey (7.4), Greece
(5.9) and Taiwan (7.6). There was great loss of life and property in
both Greece (Sept. 9) and Taiwan (Aug. 17) while the earthquake in
Western Turkey was responsible for the deaths of upwards to 60,000
people!
And two strong
earthquakes (6.0 and 5.3) hit Greece on May 24 and 26, 2000 but
caused little or no damage or injuries because their epicenters were
located under the seabed, south of Kalamata and northwest of Athens,
respectively!
In India,
10,136 people, according to official estimates, were killed and
hundreds of thousands were rendered homeless when a tsunami
triggered by the 2004
Indian Ocean earthquake near the Indonesian island of Sumatra
hit the southern peninsular coast on 26 December 2004. The
earthquake registered 9.0 in moment magnitude and was the biggest in
five decades. This was followed by strong aftershocks, including a
7.1 magnitude quake in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
In January 2010 the
most horrific earthquake hit HAITI on such a strong scale and 5-6
strong aftershocks followed in the week after. HAITI has been
devastated by this earthquake and to this date, January 20, 2010 the
death toll has reached over 100,000 people with many other people
still buried beneath the rubble and thousands of people not
accounted for.
EARTHQUAKES
OVER 6 ON RICHTER SCALE
1880-1890 1
1940-1950 4
1890-1900 1 1950-1960 9
1900-1910 3 1960-1970 13
1910-1920 2 1970-1980 46
1920-1930 2 1980-1990 53
1930-1940 5 1990-2000 ??
(Excerpted
from Prophecy in the News)
In the list of signs
pointing to Jesus Christ’s soon return - given by Jesus Christ
Himself - listed is earthquakes occurring in many diverse places!
As you can see by
World Almanac statistics which we have included in this article,
EARTHQUAKES are increasing in magnitude, intensity & varied
geographical locations across our troubled world!
For years, all eyes
were on the expected Super Quake which has been predicted to occur
along California’s fault lines. And earthquake watchers are
continuing to keep a close eye on Los Angeles, San Francisco &
other cities in California!
The focus of the
earthquake watchers, however, has shifted somewhat recently and
informed minds are saying that the next ‘Big One’ or superquake
could be in Tokyo or another city in Japan!
On December 28, 1974
an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 literally shook Northern Japan
- about 95 miles from the nearest city - with very little damage or
loss of life due to its isolated location. In 1994, several strong
tremors - 6.5 to 8.0 on the Richter Scale - occurred in ocean
regions surrounding Japan.
Earthquake watchers
(experts) are fearful that a large earthquake may strike Tokyo in
the near future. If an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 occurs in
the Tokyo area, because of the geographical structure of the ground,
Tokyo would literally sink, burying millions in the wake of its
power!
On January 17, 1995
an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck the Kobe area in
Southern Japan with thousands killed & wounded. News sources
stated that it was the most powerful earthquake to happen during the
past 50 years!
Going back to July
28, 1976, ‘History’s Most Disastrous Earthquake’ struck Tang
Shan, China. The grim facts from the Tang Shan earthquake are that
242,000 died and hundreds of thousands were injured. According to an
Associated Press report, Jan. 17, 1995: a total of 800,000
fatalities (and possibly as many as 1 million) occurred at the time
of the earthquake and as a result of injuries incurred!
WHAT
KIND OF A MESSAGE ARE THESE EARTHQUAKES SENDING US?
An in-depth study of
God’s Word confirms that Satan is the “Prince of the Power of
the Air”, and can engineer catastrophic events to bring about his
evil work of death, destruction & confusion - like in the case
of Job’s children being killed by a ‘devil engineered storm’.
Earthquakes however,
have been used by the Lord to convey a message to a wicked society
that they must repent & turn around!
HERE ARE SOME CLASSIC
ACCOUNTS OF GOD SPEAKING TO US THROUGH EARTHQUAKES & WHY:
God manifests His
greatness, power & glory in the earthquake. Man is brought low
when God shakes the earth. God speaks through the earthquake and His
message brings man to his knees!
NO. 1
- ON MOUNT SINAI!
“And mount Sinai
was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in
fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and
the whole mount quaked greatly.” (Exodus. 19:18)
“See that ye refuse
not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that
spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from
Him that speaketh from heaven.” (Hebrews 12:25)
“The earth shook,
the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself
was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.” (Psalms
68:8)
God revealed His holy
presence on Mt. Sinai through thunder, lightning, a cloud and the
loud voice of the trumpet that continued growing louder as smoke
came from the mount as a great furnace & THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN
QUAKED GREATLY. Man was brought to his knees & convicted of his
wickedness as God issued His Ten Commandments. God is holy and we
must not forget that!
NO. 2
- ON MOUNT CALVARY!
“And, behold, the
veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and
the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; Now when the centurion, and
they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and
those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this
was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:51,54)
An EARTHQUAKE made
the earth tremble & shake at the moment of Jesus’ death on
Golgotha. Three hours of darkness covered the earth just prior to
His death during which time God judged His Son because of our sin.
When Jesus cried, “It is finished”, salvation was complete and
the “fountain was opened” for sin & uncleanness. (Zechariah
13:1)
When Jesus Christ
died on Golgotha’s hill for our sins, the veil in the temple was
rent in twain - from the top to the bottom - thus proclaiming that
the death of Jesus had effectively REMOVED THE BARRIER BETWEEN GOD
AND MAN. No more priests or high priests mediating between God and
sinner would be needed. Jesus Christ Himself became the mediator
between God and sinning humanity!
GOD SENT THE
EARTHQUAKE as a message to sinning mankind that the “Man on the
Middle Cross” was none other than God the Son, Who at that moment
was reconciling the world to Himself through His efficacious and
substitutionary death!
NO. 3
- AT THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST!
“In the end of the
Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And, behold,
THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE: for the angel of the Lord descended
from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and
sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and His raiment
white as snow: And for fear of Him the keepers did shake, and became
as dead men.” (Matthew 28:1-4)
When the angel of the
Lord appeared at the tomb of Jesus, the guards who were standing
watch, fell like dead men! God sent an EARTHQUAKE simultaneously,
which made the earth to shake. The guards were overcome by the
awesome presence of God’s messengers. An angel rolled away the
stone and sat upon it.
When the believing
women arrived, the angel said, “Fear not for I know you seek
Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He
said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and
tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead...” (Matthew
28:5-7)
The Bible declares
that Jesus Christ was “declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the
dead”. (Romans 1:4)
God sent His holy
angel with a shattering earthquake to impact the world both
physically and spiritually at the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
NO. 4
- AT AN APOSTOLIC PRAYER MEETING!
“And now, Lord,
behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with
all boldness they may speak Thy word, By stretching forth Thine hand
to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of Thy
holy child Jesus.
“And when they had
prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of
God with boldness.” (Acts 4:29-31)
Jesus is the head of
the Church and knows how to encourage His people. The disciples who
were forbidden to speak or to teach in His Name, “went to their
own company” of believers and repeated the threats which the chief
priests and elders had made.
As they prayed, the
Holy Ghost fell upon them and God sent an EARTHQUAKE to shake the
place, demonstrating His all-power!
They were filled with
Holy Spirit power, and instead of being intimidated they were
“bold as lions”!
NO. 5
- FREEING PAUL & SILAS FROM PRISON!
“And at midnight
Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners
heard them.
“And suddenly there
was a GREAT EARTHQUAKE, so that the foundations of the prison were
shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s
hands were loosed.
“And the keeper of
the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors
open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself,
supposing that the prisoners had been fled.” (Acts 16:25-27)
God also knows how to
surprise His people. He used an earthquake to free His servants,
Paul & Silas!
As these men of God -
who had been beaten and chained - began praying & singing
praises to God, suddenly He came onto the scene in mighty power!
An EARTHQUAKE shook
the prison. The doors were opened and “everyone’s hands were
loosed”.
This great exhibition
of God’s power resulted in the conversion of the jailer and his
family. And Paul & Silas’ release from prison!
NO. 6
- AS A SIGN OF COMING OF CHRIST AND END OF AGE!
“For nation shall
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be
famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
(Matthew 24:7)
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there
shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of
sorrows.” (Mark 13:8)
“And great
earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;
and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”
(Luke 21:11)
God is showing His
mighty power in this end time age and will continue to do so in even
a more dramatic way than He has in the past.
Jesus declared that
EARTHQUAKES would be one of the outstanding signs of His Second
Coming and God’s judgment upon this wicked world.
Some of the other
signs He gave are wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences,
backsliding and persecution, as well as mighty revivals across the
world!
God alone is to be
exalted! Man must recognize this and come before His All Powerful
Presence in humility, repentance and faith!
NO. 7
- OPENING OF SIXTH SEAL!
“And I beheld when
he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a GREAT EARTHQUAKE;
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
as blood.
“And the stars of
heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely
figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed
as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places.
“And the kings of
the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man,
hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
“And said to the
mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him
that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the
great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
(Revelation 6:12-17)
Wondrous and
apocalyptic phenomena will accompany the opening of the sixth seal.
The sun will be darkened, the moon will turn to blood, stars will
fall from the heavens, the sky will roll away like a scroll.
There will be a GREAT
EARTHQUAKE and every mountain & island will be moved out of
their places. WHAT A WARNING TO PUNY MANKIND!
God will bear His
mighty arm and His great wrath will be poured out upon Christ
rejecters and God haters, during the awful ‘Great Tribulation’
period!
NO. 8
- BEFORE THE SEVEN ANGELS SOUND THEIR TRUMPETS
“And the angel took
the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into
the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightning's,
and an earthquake.” (Revelation 8:5)
As the seven angels
prepare to sound their trumpets, an angel will take a censer which
is filled with fire from off the holy altar of God and cast it upon
the earth.
There will be voices,
thunderings, lightnings and an EARTHQUAKE! This will happen just
prior to God’s Final Judgments falling upon the earth. And when
the seventh angel sounds his trumpets there will be lightning's,
voices, thunderings, great hail & another earthquake!
“And the temple of
God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark
of His testament; and there were lightning's, and voices, and
thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” (Revelation
11:19)
NO. 9
- WHEN TWO WITNESSES ASCEND!
“And the same hour
was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell,
and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the
remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
(Revelation 11:13)
There will be a great
EARTHQUAKE when the two tribulation witnesses - who shall be slain -
will rise from the dead and ascend up to Heaven in a cloud!
This will happen at
the close of the ‘seven years of Great Tribulation’. One tenth
of the city will be destroyed and 7000 men will die. God is the
great judge and recompenses just judgment for iniquity!
NO.
10 - THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE AT SEVENTH SEAL!
“And the seventh
angel poured out his vial into the air, and there came a great voice
out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, IT IS DONE.
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightning's; and there was
a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth,
so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
“And the great city
was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell:
and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her
the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
“And every island
fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men
a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a
talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail;
for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” (Revelation 16:17-21)
WHEN THIS GREAT
EARTHQUAKE SHAKES THE WORLD, THE CITIES OF THE NATIONS WILL BE
UTTERLY DESTROYED, EVERY ISLAND WILL VANISH, THE MOUNTAINS WILL
DISAPPEAR AND GREAT HAILSTONES WILL FALL FROM HEAVEN, AS GOD POURS
OUT HIS WRATH!
Without doubt, the
Coming of the Lord draweth nigh and earthquakes are another SIGN
pointing to His nearness. This corrupt, immoral, perverted, unjust
& evil world will one day receive her just rewards!
Satan, the false
prophet and the anti-Christ will all be judged and damned forever
along with those who have believed their lies!
The recent (June 6,
2000) magnitude 7.9 quake that rattled Sumatra, Indonesia, leaving
dozens dead and thousands homeless, again speaks to us that God’s
Word is flawless and prophecy is being fulfilled to the letter!
WITHOUT DOUBT, JESUS
IS COMING SOON!
It behooves us all to
make doubly sure that we have our “wedding garments on” and that
we are ready for the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb”!
You may ask as did
the Philippian jailer, “ What must I do to be saved?”
My answer is their
answer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (as your personal
Savior) and thou shall be saved”. (Acts 16:31).
May the Lord Bless
you, my Friend !
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