Earthquakes And The End Of The Age

What is it about the recent earthquakes that makes them significant concerning the "last days" events foretold by Jesus Christ?

Every century has had its disasters. A time-line would clearly show earthquakes, famines, pestilence (disease) and wars dispersed throughout the years. Each century seems to have had one or more disasters marking that century, whether they be an earthquake, a great war, or whatever.

Jesus told us that what would characterize the "last days," would be disasters coming in the nature of BIRTH PAINS, that is, they would increase in number and intensity as the time of the end nears.

Because I am very interested in the events prophesied about these days, I've paid particular attention to the nature and character of the disasters that have come upon us especially in the past decade. A few decades ago, a great earthquake was unusual and would remain a topic of discussion for a long time. But things are changing.

* In 2008, for example, there were EIGHT earthquakes measuring 7.0 or greater on the Richter scale, and a great tsunami.

* In 2009, I recorded thirteen earthquakes at 7.0 or more.

* Now in 2010, there have been 11 earthquakes of 6.0 or greater just since January, and two that were devastating.

Much of the world is either at war or talking about war. Wars and atrocities throughout the world have resulted in a large percentage of the world's population starving. Pestilence, or disease, has been in the forefront throughout the past recent years, especially noteworthy being Aids, the Swine Flu, for example.

The point that makes all these particularly worthy of note, however, is that these things are coming TOGETHER in these times. No longer is it a great pestilence of a century, or a great famine occurring in a century, or a great war demarcating a century, but these things are ALL upon us together in THIS century, and increasing in number and intensity.

The greatest sign of the times, however, is another thing the Bible speaks of, and without this one all the above would not have qualified as being the ones pointing to the end of the age. And that is the sign of Israel being back in the land. Israel was destroyed in the year 70 AD and the Jewish people scattered throughout the entire earth, and remained so for almost 2,000 years. The Bible clearly foretold, however, that in the "last days," the Lord God would bring them back to the land he gave to their fathers, and that has been happening right before our eyes. Israel was reborn on May 14, 1948 and since then the Jewish people have been flooding back to the land of their fathers in droves, with the Jewish population in Israel hovering around 6 million now. In just 62 years.

It is my hope that an article like this might touch the hearts of people and encourage them to watch the events of the next few months as we see the birth pains increasingly announcing that the end of the age is drawing near. And if so, what that means for each individual. It is a time to consider one's mortality and seek after God to find salvation in him. A time to establish correct priorities. And a a time to inform the uninformed that they might do the same, those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, that is.

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Scripture references:

Matthew 24

vs: 7-8 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."
Note: some translations say the beginning of "sorrows." The Greek word is "odin, Strong's 5604, correctly translated "birth pains."

vs 21-22 "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved..."

Luke 21

vs 10-11 "Then He said to them, 'Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven."

vs 25-26 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the anticipation of those things which are coming on the earth..."
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Earthquakes Jan-Mar 2010

Jan 9, 2010 Ferndale, CA
6.5 at 10 miles deep

Jan 12, 2010 w-of Port Au Prince, Haiti
7.0 at 8 miles deep
230,000+ dead, 1.5 mil homeless

Feb 18, 2010 China-Russia-N Korea
6.9 at 356 miles deep

Feb 26, 2010 Ryukyu Islands, Japan
7.0 at 14 miles deep

Feb 27, 2010 Okinawa, Japan
6.9 at 6 miles deep

Feb 27, 2010 Offshore Maule, Chile
8.8 at 22 miles deep
Hundreds dead, many missing, app 1 million homeless
Feb 27, 2010 Salta, Argentina

6.3 Separate, not related to the one in Chile
Mar 5, 2010 Offshore Bio Bio, Chile
6.6 at 22 miles deep

Mar 5, 2010 Sumatra, Indonesia
6.5 at 14 miles deep

Mar 8, 2010 Akcular, eastern Turkey
6.1 at 6 miles deep
More than 50 aftershocks

Mar 11, 2010 3 large aftershocks in Chile
6.9, 6.7, 6.0

Mar 14, 2010 Off east coast of Honshu, Japan
6.6 at 25 miles deep