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There Shall Be Earthquakes
by Tom Stewart
August 19, 1999
On August 18th 1999, the Associated Press reported on the recent
earthquake near Istanbul, Turkey: "Terrified
earthquake survivors sought the safety of open ground Tuesday as the enormity of
Turkey's Monday night tragedy became clear: more than 2,000 people killed, thousands
injured and 10,000 more missing, and incalculable damage after an overwhelming show
of nature's power." This very event was predicted by the
LORD Jesus Christ, more than 1,900 years ago. "For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be
earthquakes in divers [or, various] places,
and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows" (Mark 13:8). The U.S. National Earthquake Information Center reported that
Turkey's earthquake was "one of the most
powerful recorded in the 20th century", having been initially
reported by U.S. scientists with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale. The San
Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a 7.9 temblor. "I
will shake the heavens, and the Earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will
shake all nations, and The Desire of All Nations shall come: and I will fill this
house with glory, saith the LORD of Hosts" (Haggai 2:6-7).
Earthquakes have the reputation of causing the greatest amount of death and destruction
in the least amount of time, i.e., landslides, mudslides, tsunamis, and collapsing
man-made structures. "For we know that
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (Romans 8:22). An earthquake is "any
abrupt disturbance within the Earth that is tectonic or volcanic in origin and that
results in the generation of elastic waves. The passage of such seismic waves through
the Earth often causes violent shaking at its surface"
(from Britannica CD 99). "He looketh on
the Earth, and it trembleth: He toucheth the hills, and they smoke" (Psalm 104:32). Scientists postulate that earthquakes are caused by plate
tectonics, where the Earth's surface is composed of large, rigid plates that move
relative to one another, often interacting violently at their boundaries. "Then the Earth shook and trembled; the foundations
also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth" (Psalm 18:7). Seismographs measure the oscillation of the ground using
the Richter scale, where each increase in magnitude of one unit represents a 10-fold
increase in earthquake size. "What shall
we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). An earthquake of magnitude 8 is 10,000 times as large as
one of magnitude 4. But, "I will shake
the heavens, and the Earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD
of Hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger" (Isaiah
13:13).
The following was written in my "Commentary on the Book of Revelation" ---New Window , concerning the Church of Philadelphia.
That church was located in Asia Minor, which is modern day Turkey, in the region
affected by Turkey's August 16th 1999 earthquake, whose epicenter was Golcuk (pronounced
GULjik):
- "Revelation 3:7- 'And
to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith He that is holy,
He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth;
and shutteth, and no man openeth;'
The Philadelphia of the Revelation, the city of brotherly love, is now a small village
known as Alasehir. It is situated in modern Turkey, about 28 miles southeast of Sardis
and 75 miles from the Aegean Sea coast. Numerous pagan temples dotted the skyline
of the ancient city, with their columns dedicated to noteworthy citizens. An earthquake
that devastated Sardis in 17 AD did the same to Philadelphia. During the ensuing
years, Philadelphia was plagued with recurring quakes.
Revelation 3:12- 'Him that overcometh will
I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will
write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is New
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven from My God: and I will write upon him
My New Name.'
Remembering the earthquakes of ancient Philadelphia, you can easily imagine the frightened
citizens of Philadelphia scurrying out of the temples, whose pillars were inscribed
with their names, with each after shock. By comparison, our LORD 'will write upon' the esteemed inhabitants
of the New Jerusalem, His 'New Name'-- signifying His ownership, for we 'are
bought with a price' (1Corinthians 6:20), and signifying a
New Chapter in our lives, for 'He will dwell
with' us forever (Revelation 21:3). And, the dwellers of New
Jerusalem 'shall go no more out'. This is perfect tranquility. 'Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth
in Thee' (Isaiah 26:3)."
While seismologists and geologists grapple with the scientific
mechanics of earthquakes, we ought to consider the spiritual reasons for why God
shakes the Earth. God uses earthquakes to execute His Judgments. "5 The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the
Earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. 6 Who can stand before
His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured
out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. 7 The LORD is good, a Strong Hold in the day of trouble;
and He knoweth them that trust in Him. 8 But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end
of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue His enemies"
(Nahum 1:5-8). The LORD of All the Earth (Joshua 3:13) uses all the power of His
created planet to accomplish His purpose of Judgment. "19 The Earth is utterly broken down,
the Earth is clean dissolved, the Earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The Earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy
upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again" (Isaiah
24:19-20).
How man responds to God's Judgments demonstrates his heart before God. The True Saints
rejoice in God's Judgments. "It is joy
to the just to do Judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity" (Proverbs 21:15). The impenitent of Noah's day were irretrievably lost
to any sense of repentance or appreciation of God's Judgments. "5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually...
7 And
the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the Earth;
both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth
Me that I have made them" (Genesis 6:5, 7). But, some
may actually pause to consider their ways, and turn to the Salvation that is in the
LORD Jesus Christ. "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 27:54).
Maranatha!
.
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