Is an apocalyptic earthquake imminent?
Secular writers are beginning to use the word apocalyptic to describe events like the ones we are seeing with earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes, and now volcanoes. Since the beginning of time, these events have always been a fact, but we are seeing them with greater frequency and intensity in the last decade.
In order not to be illiterate, it is convenient to look at what the best-seller of all time says. The Bible quotes Christ’s response to the disciples’ question of him about “the end of the world.” Christ said that we would hear of wars and rumors of wars and that all these things had to happen, but the end is not yet, for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be pestilences and famines and earthquakes in various places. All this is the beginning of sorrows. Matthew 24:3,6-8.
An overlooked event at the beginning of the Apocalypse is probably an earthquake that split “the things that [John saw]Revelation 1:19. Verse 11 shows Christ as “Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.” Using the first use of the word “trumpet” that John began (verse 10), we find “trumpet” in Exodus 19:13, 16, 19 when the mountain shook in a mini Judgment Day scenario, a confrontation with God in what seemed like a life or death situation.
The book of Revelation also describes the last of the seven churches as materialistic with lukewarm Christianity like we have today. Christ wanted them hot or cold. He said he would “call”. It is a historical fact that the Laodicean church ended in an earthquake that destroyed the city around AD 63. Was that type with us as the antitype?
“The Lord’s day” is a phrase used in the Old Testament. Several passages relate it to an earthquake, Isaiah 2:12,21; Joel 2:10,11; Zephaniah 1:8,10; Zechariah 14:1,5. The apostle Paul reminds us that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night with sudden destruction. 1 Thessalonians 5:2,3.
Paul reminds us that when God brought Israel from calamity in Egypt to a covenant relationship at Sinai, those events were types for the time of the end. All those things happened to them for example [orypes] and they are written for our warning upon whom the ends of the world have come. 1 Corinthians 10:1,11.
The key point for America, which professes “In God We Trust,” is that if our material things are destroyed in an earthquake, we should not focus on how we can rebuild. Rather we should ask ourselves, is God in this image in any way? If so, what does He want from us? Israel’s history suggests that He wants a relationship with us like the one He had with Israel when He brought them from calamity in Egypt to Sinai, where they made a covenant with Him. He later said, “I am married to you,” Jeremiah 3:14 .
Making such a covenant may be an overlooked context for the parables of Christ’s wedding that seem so different from each other. But they also support an impending calamity. The “midnight cry” in Matthew 25:6 is related to the calamity in Egypt by the Rule of First Use cited above. That calamity carries a message, “the groom is coming!” Taking a page from history, we should expect Him to seek out a covenant relationship that we should initiate.
Nothing is better than marriage if we are ready, but nothing is worse if we are not. Our problem is that we haven’t been thinking about it. Maybe we should. If and when an earthquake (larger than any yet) hits the United States, our response must be biblical:
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify the fast, call a solemn assembly; Assemble the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, assemble the children… Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and say: Forgive, O LORD, your people.” This is the context of an earthquake that initiates “the day of the Lord”, Joel 2:10-17.
Summary: An earthquake may be imminent. If one occurs that is unprecedented, we must remember what the Bible teaches and seek a covenant relationship with God. He will be happy to answer, but he will test our answers, as marriage tests us.
Leave a Reply