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With the Increase in Earthquakes, What Should We Do? |
Greetings!
With the recent Earthquake in Haiti many people are asking the same questions we asked during the Indonesian Tsunami and Katrina calamities. When we see and hear of these devastating events it is very alarming and disheartening as we are forced to cope with the injuries and loss of human life.
The increase in these devastating calamities, bring even more of the reality into our lives via the instantaneous media coverage we receive. Just as importantly is the reality that we all have to internalize what we can do to help; the fact is that we all need to help in some fashion.
This Revelation Bulletin intends to help us scripturally cope with the reality of earthquakes and how we can handle them. The need for this information is vital as earthquakes will more than likely increase in many places, as we approach a shifting world on the pathway to Christ's return. Below are the topics in this Bulletin
1. Various Locations - May Prove God is not Judging
2. Biblical Proof Points about Earthquake.
3. God is working with Humanity, not against us.
4. How Can We Better Prepare for Earthquakes?
5. How Would You Handle an Earthquake in your Neighborhood?
6. Summary |
Earthquakes in Various Locations - May Prove that God is not Judging an Area |
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There is absolutely no scriptural evidence that God is working against any one area at this particular time in the history of events. What Scriptures does say, is that the earthquakes including the great earthquakes will be in various places. This means they may happen all over the place. In fact, if you look at the data provided by the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) there are approximately 100,000 earthquakes in the world each year that can be felt in some fashion, and at least 100 earthquakes a year cause some type of damage. The good news is that there are only a few 'Great Earthquakes' every year. It is a fact our earth is weathering as God prepares it for the great exchange that the Bible claims. Take a moment and view the earthquake data at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/.
To emphasize the point that God is not pin-pointing a city, region, or country let's examine the various nature of earthquakes around the world on any given day. The diagram on the right is the world earthquake map for January 16, 2010 provided by NEIC. Every colored 'square' represents an earthquake on January 16,  2010. There were 302 earthquakes in various places in the World on this date. They are in various locations, just as the Bible states they would be. In addition, the diagram below represents the earthquakes only in the USA on January 16, 2010. .
The amount of daily earthquakes in the world may be new to you, but it represents what God states in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 10 through 12. God states that the earth will 'weather' like a garment and eventually wear out. It will wear out because there will be an exchange with a new  earth. The amount of earthquakes explain why there are so many roads buckling, trees falling, and shifting of shorelines. Praise be to God we are in the continual process of the full redemption of humanity. Start thanking God, His Word is holding and proving true. Think about the passage in Matthew 5:18 "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." It is clear that the earth will eventually disappear.
Considering what is occurring, we can safely assume that God is not up in heaven with 'Earthquake Darts' deciding who should be next based on their behavior, location, or someone's opinion. What I see is much like a piece of glass where someone is tapping on the glass with a small hammer. They decide that the glass is flawed and they want to replace it with a new piece. However they know they do not want to just smash the glass. Rather they prefer to slightly tap on it. They know that the glass eventually will break, but they do not necessarily know how all the cracks will spread across the glass before the final break. It appears from the daily earthquakes happening around the world, that this is much the same concept. Who knows, the next crack may be my neighborhood ; but how will I handle it? |
Biblical Proof Points Concerning Earthquakes |
| The Bible is fairly clear when it comes to earthquakes. Below are a few proof points that help ease our minds and allow us to realize who is in charge when it comes to earthquakes.
- There is absolutely no Biblical evidence that God is using the current earthquakes to judge the areas that are experiencing the earthquakes.
- Earthquakes and "great earthquakes" will continue to appear in various places, simply fulfilling scripture. (Matthew 24:7; Luke 21:11)
- God is in the process of 'changing or exchanging' the world, and earthquakes are part of that process. (Hebrews 1:10-12; Matthew 5:18.)
- God is not willing that any people should perish (spiritually). (2 Peter 3:9)
- God creates both light and darkness; as well as good and calamity. (Isaiah 45:7)
- The earth including the waters and mountains respond to God's voice - and He is speaking. (Habakkuk 3:10-11.)
- Because nature simply responds to God's voice when he speaks globally; the elements of the earth are moving. For instance; in the beginning of time when God Spoke, nature responded via creation. When Christ died He said 'It is Finished' and there was an earthquake. When God speaks at the end of time through the angels and the trumpet sounds, nature will respond and the moon, sun, stars, water, and all elements will respond.
What do these scriptural proof points mean? The reality is that God states that 'Heaven and Earth as we know it will pass away, but not one bit of His Word will pass away.' This means that the earth and heavens are in the process of 'weathering' on their way to an ultimate exchange. And, because God's Word says there will be earthquakes in the early days of the last days, we can assume that the earthquakes are part of the weathering process. This process is explained perfectly in Hebrews 1:10-12. He also says, In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end
The great news is we can bridge the reality of earthquakes occurring with the fact that God is not willing that any should perish. |
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God is working with Humanity, not against Humanity |
| Considering the fact that there are over 100,000 earthquakes each year, with at least 100 causing damage we could take another view of things. For instance, if God is weathering the earth to prepare the new earth and earthquakes are shifting the earth at a rate of 100,000 a year, I should be extremely thankful that there are not more deaths, damage, and calamity then what we see. In addition, I should be extremely thankful that in every major earthquake area we find that God brought in some of the world's greatest missions teams, evangelists, preachers, and teachers to give people an opportunity to receive eternal life, before the big earthquake hit that particular area. This allows me to see my God as an amazing, loving, and patient God. I stand amazed to learn of the number of ministers who recently went to Haiti to tell the Gospel message.
For instance, David Wilkerson's Son, Gary Wilkerson held a pastors conference in May, 2009 in Haiti. In that conference there were over 1,400 pastors attending with the sole purpose of reaching Haiti with the Gospel. I can choose to believe that God used this to prepare pastors to spend the last 6-8 months spreading the Gospel to fulfill God's Word ... that none should perish. In fact one pastor just reported that for decades this type of outreach to pastors was impossible, and then it all came together in 2009, just seven months before the earthquake. What an amazing God ... fulfilling His word in both manners; 1) That the earth would weather, and that 2) none should perish spiritually.
I can also choose to believe that because the earthquakes are in various places, that God had His eye on Haiti and sent billions of dollars to Haiti and hundreds of thousands of missions and humanitarian people to Haiti over the last ten years.
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How Would You Handle an Earthquake in your Neighborhood? |
I believe that there will soon be a shift in how we as Christians begin to prepare and view earthquakes. Below is a suggested list of some of the common spiritual sense items; followed by a prayer request.
- The first thing we can do to prepare and respond to earthquakes is to stop blaming God. He is simply fulfilling His Word; which He will do, whether I agree with the manner He chooses to do it or not. I cannot be a Christian of good faith and demand that God not fulfill His Word.
- Considering the number of earthquakes, choose to be thankful for the number of earthquakes that are not damaging and/or cause no death.
- Choose to be thankful for the generosity of so many countries, people, and organizations that immediately respond to the 'Great Earthquakes'.
- Choose to be thankful for the ministries that focus on the gospel message in the preceding months to a devastated area or region.
- Choose to be thankful for the faithful ministers and missionaries who were faithful in warning the area of impending danger in advance of the danger. In every situation many ministers tell the after the fact story of a 'prophetic warning;' to that particular area well before it occurred. Knowing this allows me to see God as loving and gracious. God is always warning and helping so that it might be possible that no-one should perish.
- Choose to be thankful that so many millionaires and billionaires have had the urge to help under-developed countries during the last decade. I am so thankful that God is taking the wealth of so many people to help out poor nations, areas, and people. I am thankful that God allows recent famous individuals to have a desire to use their wealth to help the poverty and calamities of the world.
There are probably many other things we could each think about doing in preparation of another earthquake. However, a very serious prayer matter is that we get more serious with the primary task of spreading the gospel before the earthquake, during the earthquake, and within the 72-hours following major earthquakes.
My heart breaks as the Media networks cover the real-time event of people trapped in buildings, suffering physical harm, or breathe their last breath. During these times I realize that there are not enough people available to ask them if they know Jesus as their personal Savior before it is too late. I really believe that the Church needs to arise and work with God on not wanting any human to die without eternal salvation. I have challenged myself to play out what I will do if the next major earthquake is in a place I happen to be. I have prayed that I would do the following:
- Within the 72-hours of critical life and death of any trapped, suffering, or dying person I will quickly ask them to accept Christ as their savior, just in case they do not make it.
- Within that 72-hour window of life and death I will stay open to the leading of the Lord to see who I might heal, and which miracles he might want me to be a part of.
- Within that 72-hour window of life and death let humanitarians do what they do best, feed and rescue the physically perishing, while I stay focused on rescuing the spiritual lives of as many as I can, before it's too late.
- Realize that one of two things will happen to me personally. I will either die and go into eternity to be with the Lord, or I will stay and work His spiritual plan on earth.
I pray that I will be aligned with God's Word which states that even though there will be earthquakes, that He is not willing that anyone spiritually perish. He is working with and for humanity, so that no one has too spiritually perish! |
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Summary |
| I hope that this Revelation Bulletin has helped you see a Biblical point of view. I also hope it allows you to better cope with the graphic depiction of the earthquakes that are happening, and will continue to happen. Most of all, I hope that I have challenged you to grab hold of your own personal vision for 'What you will do, if the next earthquake hits my neighborhood or city.'
My personal vision is to see the greatest team effort between spiritual and physical rescuers merge into a new dimension. Imagine with me that during the next 'Great Earthquake' that Anderson Cooper from CNN is live on the scene and reports the following scenario.
"Folks we just landed in the Midwest and are amazed at what we are witnessing in this current disaster. It is a scene we have yet to witness during the last two calamities here in America. We are seeing new forms of assistance that we have never witnessed before. At four of the buildings we visited we saw men and women tapping on the outside wall and asking if the people trapped on the other side had ever accepted 'Jesus' as their Lord and Savior. They would say a simple prayer with them and ask for them to tap three times if they accepted Christ, then they moved on to the next building. At the same time this was occurring, the military was digging tirelessly to free them from the debris. As we were waiting for the military to drop water and food we witnessed about 20 miracles of super natural strength. A few men and women were walking around making statements like 'Food and water have I none, but what I have I give to you; in the name of Jesus push on the wall and watch it be moved.' The wall would literally be moved as the trapped person pushed on the wall. It was almost as if the wall disintegrated and the person came out from the other side."
This may sound a little over the top spiritually, but let's at least try and see what a Supernatural God may decide to do when we put spiritual things front and center. Just maybe, God will choose to manifest His glory to the entire world on CNN, FOX, CBS, NBC, and every foreign TV station. The sons and daughters of God may begin to manifest the signs and wonders of God in real life, and not in a pre-fabricated church service. (Romans 8:17-25.) Surely we can start to closely replicate in real life that which we think should happen in Church, especially when life and death are in the balance.
Considering that God controls the earth, and His voice commands nature to react, just maybe a supernatural act by His people can counteract a supernatural disaster. Yes, all the humanitarian efforts need to continue, but the spiritual acts by God can assist as well.
Let's continue to support all humanitarian and spiritual efforts in Haiti.
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