July 10, 2012
Luke 21:11 says that there will be "great earthquakes, famines and pestilences, and great signs from Heaven" in the last days. ...... The following are just a couple of headlines from the past few days:
*Extreme weather and natural disasters occurring simultaneously around the globe ...
*First half of 2012 is warmest on record - over 4500 U.S. heat records broken ...
*Britain facing worst-ever summer ...
*'Unimaginable' amounts of rain falls in hours, killing scores in Russia ...
*Huge sun flares occurring - could cause extreme havoc to world's technology
*Drought hits 56% of continental U.S. ...
........ and this is just the last couple of days! ...
I know that when we 'watchmen' talk about these types of signs concerning the end times, they have always been the least respected, even among believers. The mere mention of the signs of nature usually evokes a sneer accompanied by words like, "Come on, what else is new? There have always been earthquakes and tornadoes, hurricanes and volcanos ... " But those who have this attitude forget that Jesus said the signs would be like "birth pains" (Matthew 24:8). That means they will increase in frequency and intensity the closer we get to the Lord's return. In other words, there will be more frequent natural disasters and more intense ones.
Lets review some statistics for just a moment. ... Going back just a couple of years to 2006, the British humanitarian coalition Oxfam International said natural disasters have quadrupled in the past two decades. According to Oxfam, the number of people affected by natural disasters has surged by almost 70% ... from 174 million a year (1985-1994) to 254 million people (1995-2004). Also, floods and windstorms have increased from 60 events in 1980 to 240 in 2006! ... As for overall natural disasters, the 1980's averaged about 120 per year. As of the end of 2006, these same types of events had increased to over 500 per year. In the same report, the U.N. Committee for Climate Change stated that "this is only the beginning." ... Maybe for the first time, something the U.N. said was correct.
Continuing, let's me give you a quick glimpse of the intensity and frequency of tropical systems ... & this is just from 2004 to 2008 ...
*2004 - Japan was hit by a record # of typhoons ...
*2004 - Florida was hit by a record # of hurricanes ...
*2004 - Cyclone Catarina was the 1st south Atlantic cyclone to reach a hurricane strength ...
*2005 - Katrina was the most costly hurricane in history ...
*2005 - Atlantic hurricane watchers recorded 27 storms, the most ever in a season ...
*2006 - Larry was the most powerful tropical system to hit Australia in 31 years ...
*2006 - Monica topped Larry as the most intense cyclone ever to impact Australia ...
*2006 -Typhoon Saomai was the most powerful storm ever to hit Communist China ...
*2006 - Ioke ... 1st recorded category 5 hurricane to develop in the Pacific ...
*2007 - Cyclone Gonu was strongest tropical cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea ...
*2007 - The 1st time two category 5 Atlantic storms made landfall in one season ...
*2007 - The 1st time an Atlantic & Pacific hurricane hit on the same day ...
*2007 - Humberto ... Fastest storm ever to go from depression to full-scale hurricane ...
*2007 - Sidr ... 2nd strongest storm to hit Bangladesh since records kept ...
*2008 - Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar (Burma), killing an estimated 100,000 people ...
Isn't this fun? ... Let's continue ... Looking back to 2010, many felt that "this was the year that the Earth struck back. Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides & droughts killed at least a quarter million people - the deadliest year in more than a generation. ... "It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who headed FEMA at the time. The agency handled a record number of disasters in 2010. "The term '100-year event' really lost it's meaning," he concluded.
Moving on to last year, 2011, one headline summed it up quite appropriately ... "Disasters in U.S.: An extreme and exhausting year" ... The article continued, saying "Unprecedented triple-digit heat and devastating drought... Deadly tornadoes leveling towns... Massive rivers overflowing... A billion- dollar blizzard. And it didn't stop there. There was much devastation elsewhere, such as the massive earthquake & tsunami in Japan, Australia's flooding and a severe drought in Africa, to name just a few.
And this year? If you follow this website, or the news in general, you can see that if the 1st half of 2012 is any indication, this could be "the year to top all years." .... So, even the most skeptical person must realize by now that something UNUSUAL is happening. There is no way one can say that these are just 'common' events. The trend is too pronounced and beyond anything previously experienced.
I personally believe that Bible prophecy is the logical reason for the number of record events taking place all around us. God is using them to sound the warning cry. The Bible predicts that the tribulation hour will be preceded by an increase in natural disasters. ... Wouldn't it seem clear to anyone that the Lord is using these calamities to get mankind's attention? ... Anyone who knows anything about 'exponential' (or ever-increasing) curves knows it cannot continue indefinitely. The massive surge of the global activity in the past few years would seem to suggest that we are at the tail-end of the curve. In other words, time is very short!
Jesus told us in His teachings concerning the end of days that there would be a time of increased difficulty and sorrows ... and these are the days we are living in right now! Natural disasters, as they increase in frequency and intensity, are actually fulfilling Bible prophecy. We are experiencing the 'outer edge' of a storm that is about to inflict the worst suffering mankind has ever known. One doesn't have to listen too hard to hear the distant hoofbeats if attuned to the issues and events of our time. The horsemen of the apocalypse outlined in Revelation chapter 6 are mounted. The world can't yet see them when looking across the landscape littered with the hills and valleys of everyday life. But the spiritual ear can hear them rumbling beyond the immediacy of these quickly waning days of the age.
But remember, Jesus did not leave us without hope. We must remember that these difficult times will not last for very long, and then a whole new world will come into view ... and what a beautiful picture! Right now, this world is being violently shaken by a rapid succession of agonizing 'birth pains.' But again, Jesus tells us that these catastrophic events will soon "give birth" to a new age of world peace and prosperity - a paradise that will be totally free of natural calamities and all other unnatural phenomena. Praise God ... a new day is coming .. and soon!!!
In closing, I once again want to encourage each of you to first, understand what is taking place, and then tell all of those you know about the hope that is in Jesus Christ. Remember that time is very, very short and that putting off what needs to be done may be tragically too late for a friend or loved one ... Luke 21:28 says, "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Until next time,
Red