God's Weather Forecast
What Language Does God Speak?
It would be presumptuous for me to say that God causes ALL earthquakes. To make such statement would really b e – well I am thinking as the word, so I will use it: the word? “stupid” BUT, let me hasten to state that “everything” that happens in this world first has to pass “through the hands of God”. That believe and that statement has caused a lot of debate!!
What should our reaction be to earthquakes whenever and wherever they occur? A commonly expressed thought in the wake of natural disasters is that God must be punishing humanity for sin. But where does that belief come from?
The Bible does indicate that wrong behavior is sometimes punished through calamities of nature. The book of Genesis, for example, records that humanity’s evil was wiped out by a great flood in which “the fountains of the great deep were broken up” – Was that earthquake activity? (Genesis 7:11). Prophets lamented the nation of Israel being punished for the sins they were committing, and they mentioned earthquakes in the context (Isaiah 24:13-21; Jeremiah 4:22-27). And, just for the record, when Christ returns to this earth to establish God’s kingdom, we (they) will experience a series powerful earthquakes (see Isaiah 2:17-21; Revelation 6:12-17; 16:17-21).
Earthquakes aren’t always punishment for sin. Earthquakes are happening as a function of plate tectonics: This was the way the earth was designed to function. Every day numerous quakes of varying magnitudes occur as tectonic plates jostle each other.
Even in the Scriptures earthquakes don’t always have a negative connotation.
However, to say that God is not in control is something different. Top say that God does speaks to us THROUGH earthquakes, is, my humble thinking a true statement. To that I say “ouch”. God what language do you speak? His answer (according to the Bible) – sometimes – “earthquake”.
I live in California. We have our share of earthquakes – and for many they live in great fear. Believe it or not, just yesterday (at the time of this writing) there was a 5.8 earthquake centered in the Los Angeles, California area.
It seems that some Californians prefer to ignore the ever-present threat of earthquakes in spite of periodic real life shape-ups, like I mentioned above. There are numerous dire warnings from the experts.
In January 1994 a 6.8 Northridge quake occurred in a hitherto unknown fault north of Los Angeles – that sent the Bay area geologists scrambling to revise their predictions. What were they? Well, probability of a major earthquake (7.0 +) in the next 3 decades in the San Francisco area. They raised their prediction from 67% to 90%. Wow.
So, let me write:
Some earthquakes are caused by “plate movement” with or without God (?)
Some earthquakes have been caused by God.
I do read in Psalm 18:7, “The earth trembled and quakes, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled BECAUSE HE WAS ANGRY.”
Obviously, there is a cause and effect principle. We reap what we sow and we are, also, the product of our environment and the way things just are. Like one said, “To belong to the human race one must take the consequences of the human race.” The reference was to the sin of Adam and Eve.
To refrain from becoming too technical, I did find the following information interesting. I am not sure of the source, but let me call it: Earthquake 101. It went like this.
“No part of the world is totally immune from great earthquakes, as can be seen from a global map of earthquake occurrences. Most tremors are concentrated on the continental plate boundaries – the ‘ring of fire’ around the Pacific Rim or the African Rift zone running from the heart of Africa through the Red Sera, Dead Sea and Jordan River Valley. At least a million earthquakes per year, large and small, release a total energy equivalent to nearly one billion tons of TNT.”
Earthquake 101 continues:
I am told that earthquakes are confined to the crust of the earth. That most of them occur within 40 miles of the surface – though a few extend deeper. Stress accumulates over time as the continental plates move and mountains shift – this is relieved through sudden jolts.
Some have heard the phrase, “California will drop into the sea.” Well, that is not likely because the main faults move sideways or shallow angles not vertically.
Earlier I used the phrase, “African Rift Zone”. The Promise Land lies immediately adjacent to that zone. That zone, believe it or not, is the deepest known break in the earth’s crust. A student of the Bible knows that quakes are mentioned in the Bible and many “Holy Land” quakes are mentioned in secular history.
Example: The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah – remember that story? It took place at the southeastern shores of the Dead Sea in the time of Abraham – some believe c1900 BC. The description is in Genesis 19. Archaeological research suggests that a great earthquake opened the rift zone releasing “brimstone” (sulfur?) and petroleum gases which caused a terrible firestorm. It does agree with scripture doesn’t it?
At the off set of this writing, I would like to refer to some special verses which deal with some special related subjects. My purpose in such is to convince people that God is indeed IN the special every day occurrences on this planet.
But first, let me inject some additional earthquake information regarding some Biblical events, source unknown. I will call this Earthquake 201 for the fun of it.
“Elijah experienced an earthquake at Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19:11) though he was snot in Israel, but 300 miles south of Mt. Carmel in the Sinai wilderness at the time. The fall of Jericho in 1400 BC was probably associated with a double earthquake. As the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River to ender the land under the leadership of Joshua, a earthquake-produced landslide at the town of Adam (15 miles to the north) probably dammed the Jordan. A short time later God conveniently seems to have arranged a second tremor, or an aftershock, at just the right time to topple Jericho’s impregnable walls (Josh. 6).”
Historically there are documented quakes that have dammed the Jordan River repeatedly, sometimes for days. History book records: 1160 AD, 1267, 1534, 1834, 19067 and 1927.
It is good that records have been kept – some verify Biblical accounts, some just record the events. “Qumran, where the Dead Sera scrolls were found, bears unmistakable evidence of major earthquake destruction in 31 BC during the reign of Herod the Great Josephus records the death of 10,000 persons in that earthquake.”
“Bet Shean, one of the major Roman cities known in the time of Jesus as the Decapolis, suffered major damage in 363 and in 749 AD.”
As a matter of record: “Jerusalem suffered a severe earthquake January 15, 1546. The Dome on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was completely destroyed as were many other buildings. Another major quake affecting the Holy City occurred in 1927 – photo of churches and hospitals damaged at the time are still extant.”
So there is the “natural” cause and the “God-cause” effect.
“In general, regardless of religious beliefs, disasters are either classified as man-made (bombs, a factory exploding, a car accident, a house fire, etc.) or natural (volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.). Those which are classified as natural are often referred to, especially by insurance companies, as 'acts of God.' This simply means they were not caused by men. It has nothing to do with religious beliefs.”
But for the general subject at hand regarding GOD’S METEOROLOGY in regard to Earthquakes: Let’s break it down.
I. Our Co–texts: 1 Samuel 14:15 and Job 9:5,6:
“Then panic struck the whole army - those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties - AND THE GROUND SHOOK It was a panic sent by God.”
“He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. He SHAKES THE EARTH from its place and makes its pillars TREMBLE.”
2. Some Recorded Earthquakes
Recent:
- Magnitude 4.0 Oklahoma, January 15, 2010
- Magnitude 7.0 Haiti Region, January 12, 2010
- Magnitude 6.5 Offshore Northern California January 20, 2010
- Magnitude 4.1 San Francisco Bay Area, California January 7, 2010
There are Internet sites indicating the intensity, date and death results of earthquakes not only in America but around the world.
- The largest recorded earthquake in the United States was a magnitude 9.2 that struck Prince William Sound, Alaska on Good Friday, March 28, 1964 UTC.
- The largest recorded earthquake in the world was a magnitude 9.5 (Mw) in Chile on May 22, 1960.
- The earliest reported earthquake in California was felt in 1769 by the exploring expedition of Gaspar de Portola while the group was camping about 48 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Los Angeles.
There are many sites indicating the intensity, date and death results of earthquakes not only in America but around the world.
The 5 worst at the time of this writing are:
| Date | Location | Deaths | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 7, 2010 | San Francisco Bay Area, California | – | 8.0 |
| May 12, 2008 | China | 65,000 (Est) | 8.0 |
| October 8, 2005 | Pakistan | 100,000 | |
| December 26, 2004 | Indian Ocean | 300,000 is the minimum number of dead and missing according to several sources. | 9.2 |
| December 26, 2004 | Indonesia | 283,106 | |
| December 26, 2003 | Iran | 31,000 | |
| May 21, 2003 | Algeria | 2,266 | 6.8 |
To list others:
| Date | Location | Deaths | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 17, 1989 | San Francisco Bay Area, CA USA | 7.0 | |
| December 7, 1988 | Soviet Armenia | 25,000 | 6.9 |
| September 19, 1985 | Mexico | 9,500 | 8.1 |
| October 30, 1983 | Turkey | 1,300 | 7.1 |
| December 13, 1982 | North Yemen | 2,800 | 6.0 |
| November 23, 1980 | Italy | 4,800 | 7.2 |
| October 10, 1980 | Algeria | 4,500 | 7.3 |
| December 12, 1979 | Columbia and Ecuador | 800 | 7.9 |
| September 16, 1978 | Iran | 25,000 | 7.7 |
| August 17, 1976 | Philippines | 8,000 | 7.8 |
| July 28, 1976 | Tangshan, China | 242-800,000 | 7.8 |
| February 4, 1976 | Guatemala | 22,778 | 7.5 |
| April 10, 1972 | Iran | 5,057 | 6.9 |
| May 31, 1970 | Peru | 66,794 | 7.7 |
| 1964 | Alaska | 8.5 (10 times greater than Atom bomb) | |
| 1960 | Agadir, Morocco | 12,000 | |
| 1948 | Turkemenistan | 110,000 | |
| 1923 | Tokyo, Japan | 143,000 | |
| 1920 | Kansu, China | 180,000 | |
| 1797 | Quita, Ecuador | 41,000 | |
| 1738 | Calabria, Italy | 30,000 | |
| 1737 | Calcutta, India | 3,000,000 | |
| 1556 | Shensi, China | 830,000 | |
| 1297 | Kamakura, Japan | 30,000 | |
| 1057 | Chinli, China | 215,000 |
Just as a matter of note the Richter scale that is used in measuring the intensity of earthquakes today was not set up until 1934. The 1906 San Francisco, California, USA earthquake is thought to be set at 8.2
SOME EARTHQUAKE FACTS:
- The largest recorded earthquake in the United States was a magnitude 9.2 that struck Prince William Sound, Alaska on Good Friday, March 28, 1964 UTC.
- The largest recorded earthquake in the world was a magnitude 9.5 (Mw) in Chile on May 22, 1960.
- The earliest reported earthquake in California was felt in 1769 by the exploring expedition of Gaspar de Portola while the group was camping about 48 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Los Angeles.
5-8 is considered dangerous
8+ major catastrophe in populated areas.