The precision of prophecy
On Thursday, March 10, 2011, the Earth sang a deadly dirge as an eerie gloom casted it ominous shadow on “The Land of the Rising Sun,” the island nation of Japan. When a record 8.9 earthquake rocked the country thousands of lives were unceremoniously snuffed out. It has been described as being ‘hundreds of times worse’ than the earthquake that rocked Haiti.
The “Ring of Fire” that includes Japan not only strangled our dear Japanese brothers and sisters, but it also spread its noose around the globe as the news of the earthquake placed a stranglehold on the world’s attention. Disturbingly, experts say “Japan’s ‘great’ quake may be yet to come.” This echoes seismologists’ sentiments about California. Could a collective mega quake be what the inspired apostle John saw in a vision relative to our day when he said “a great earthquake occurred such as had not occurred since men came to be on the earth, so extensive an earthquake, so great”?-Re 16:17-21, New World Translation.
Enemy Earth?: Though some well-meaning organized protesters take extreme measures to protect the environment (measures so drastic that some protesting groups, along with certain anti-abortionists groups, have ended up on the government’s domestic terrorist list), it seems Mother Earth is fully capable of ‘defending’ herself. Instead of The Empire Strikes Back, maybe it should be The Earth Strikes Back! Imagine that. The very terra firma itself, which has been supporting you all your life, suddenly becomes your enemy through “natural disasters.”
Liquid Earth: Unimaginably, any major earthquake can ripple into even more earthquakes (commonly called “aftershocks”), and in some cases, eventually terminate in terrifying tsunamis. Since planet earth is mostly water, an “earth” quake, in reality, can easily translate into a “water” quake (or the previously mentioned tsunami with its destructive ebb and flow of the shoreline, preceded by a gargantuan wave that traveled in excess of 500 miles per hour, leaving in its wake vortexes, or mid-ocean underwater tornadoes near Japan.)
While the earth also “quakes” in landslides, an “iced” earth “quakes” whenever an avalanche occurs. And then there’s earth in the form of hot liquid rock or magma. Indeed, we have vicious volcanoes that spew lava hundreds of feet in the air!
A Resilient Earth: “There is abundant proof of the earth’s ability to restore itself,” says Awake! December 22, 1975. “For instance, have you heard of the island of Krakatoa, near Java? It was blown up by a volcanic explosion equal to a 10,000-megaton H-bomb. What remained was just sterilized land covered by ashes and pumice. But would Krakatoa remain a heap of lifeless ash? Biologists watched to see. Within three years, twenty-six species of plants reestablished themselves. Ten years more brought coconut trees, wild sugarcane and orchids. And twelve years more found 263 species of animals there. Even without man’s help it became once again a tropical paradise of forests and lovely birds.”
Faith Firmly Grounded: As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Michael Joseph Jackson, who sang Earth Song (1995), preached that an unusual series of “earthquakes” would be part of a composite sign marking the “last days.” (Matt 24:7; 2 Ti 3:1) Incredibly, the Bible links “natural disasters” like earthquakes to mankind’s wickedness. That this correlation is sound can be seen from the fact that in the future paradise earth such catastrophic events won’t occur.
Cindy Preller, a scientist at the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, says that seismology is “a young science,” and thereafter candidly admitted that “every event teaches us something new.” Verifying this is this recent letter from Japan. “Japan is very used to [tsunamis] but nothing like this tsunami ever happened before. Japan is used to earthquakes but nothing like this has ever happened before … Many people who did have…survival food supplies still lost everything because their entire house floated away. It seems the people in the hills are the ones who have more supplies so it is good to think WHERE or with whom some emergency supplies can be stored safely.”
Despite tsunami surges leading to heart-wrenching dirges, standing firm in the faith is essential. (Ac 16:5; 1 Co 16:13; Php 1:17; 1 Thess 3:7, 8; 1 Pe 5:8-11) Psalm 46:1, 2, reminds us: “God is for us a refuge and strength, a help that is readily to be found during distresses. That is why we shall not fear, though the earth undergo change and though the mountains totter into the heart of the vast sea.” Peace and blessings to all. Amen.
