Earthquakes in the last days


For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
(Mat 24:7-8)


Have you ever wondered why of all the natural disasters Jesus said that earthquakes will happen in the last days? It was recorded faithfully for us in Matthew, Mark and Luke gospels. Bearing a warning to us who are now living in the last days. The signs are already written on the wall, do we heed or just brush aside as in the days of Noah when he preached righteousness and impending God's judgement but no one took note of. The nations of Israel and Judah shut the prophetic voice by asking them to say only things they wanted to hear, or messages that can be 'accepted' by the general public. Doesn't this ring in by a large majority of our churches. Of course the message of 'Peace, peace' and prosperity will bring in the numbers but how many will survive the end times without being deceived? Jesus Himself said that many are called, few are chosen.

There were 25 major earthquakes including yesterday's Sumatra earthquake averaging above one and half quakes per year. Is there an increase of this 'natural' phenomena?

But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
(Num 16:30)

The first mention of an earthquake is the earth opening up and swallowing Korah, his fellow conspirators and their families. The rebellion seems to be against Moses and his leadership but it provoked the Lord to anger and judgement. Moses is identified in the Bible with the law and rebelling against the law is then considered lawlessness. Jesus warned us in Matt 24:12 that lawlessness will abound and love of many will grow cold. If we look at Korah's rebellion and what Jesus' warning in Matt 24, in the last days one of the disasters would be earthquakes in diverse places, meaning earthquakes are signs of God's judgement for lawlessness.

The Taiwan earthquake almost shutdown the fiber optic link between Asia and the Americas. Guess what level of lawlessness is in the internet these days. Is God sending a message through the earthquake, or is it His divine judgement.

The recent case of a so-called ordained pastor of the homosexual church in Malaysia is another sign of lawlessness. If pastors don't teach the law (some reject the 10 Commandments) how will the body know what is good and acceptable to God? We can't reject the moral laws of God lest judgement come upon our land.

May we rise up as watchmen to pray that righteousness will exalt our nation that lawlessness will not abound in our land.

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CHRONOLOGY - Earthquakes worldwide in recent years
Wed Sep 12, 11:48 AM ET (Reuters)
A powerful quake measuring 8.2 struck near Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday triggering tsunami warnings in Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka, officials said.
Here is a chronology of some earthquakes in recent years:


Dec 12, 1992 - INDONESIA - A magnitude 6.8 quake killed at least 2,200 people on a string of islands in the province of East Nusa Tenggara.


Sept 30, 1993 - INDIA - A series of quakes killed almost 10,000 people in western and southern India. The first tremor was of magnitude 6.4.


June 6, 1994 - COLOMBIA - A quake brought down buildings and triggered mudslides, killing about 1,000 people in the Paez River valley in southwestern Colombia.


Jan 17, 1995 - JAPAN - A magnitude 7.2 quake, the country's worst in half a century, rocks Kobe, killing 6,430 people.


May 28, 1995 - RUSSIA - Russia's worst earthquake, magnitude 7.5, kills 1,989 people in the oil-producing Far East.


Feb 28, 1997 - IRAN - A magnitude 5.5 quake kills about 1,000 people in northwestern Iran.


May 10, 1997 - IRAN - A magnitude 7.1 quake kills 1,560 people in rural areas of eastern Iran near the Afghan border.


Feb 4, 1998 - AFGHANISTAN - At least 4,500 people are killed in Takhar province in a quake of magnitude 6.1.


May 30, 1998 - AFGHANISTAN - A magnitude 6.9 quake kills up to 4,000 people in northern Takhar province.


July 17, 1998 - PAPUA NEW GUINEA - An undersea quake of magnitude 7.1 creates three tsunami waves, killing at least 2,100 people.


Aug 17, 1999 - TURKEY - More than 17,800 people are killed by a magnitude 7.4 quake.


Sept 21, 1999 - TAIWAN - At least 2,000 people are killed and hundreds of thousands made homeless by a magnitude 7.6 quake in central Taiwan.


Jan 26, 2001 - INDIA - An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 strikes the western state of Gujarat killing at least 19,700 people and causing damage in neighbouring Pakistan. The quake affected 15.9 million people in 7,904 villages.


March 26, 2002 - AFGHANISTAN - At least 1,500 people are killed when a series of quakes of between magnitude five and six strike northern Afghanistan


May 21, 2003 - ALGERIA - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes Algiers and nearby towns to the east, killing 2,251 and injuring 10,243.


Dec 26, 2003 - IRAN - A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes the historic city of Bam, 1,000 km (600 miles) southeast of Tehran. 30,948 were killed in the quake.


Dec 26, 2004 - ASIA - The number of dead and missing in an Asian earthquake and tsunami is almost 230,000. The wave crashed into Sri Lanka and India, drowning thousands and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives. The quake measured 9.15 in magnitude.


March 28, 2005 - INDONESIA - Nearly 1,000 people are killed after a quake of magnitude 8.7 struck the coast of Sumatra.


Oct 8, 2005 - PAKISTAN - At least 73,000 people are killed by a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad. The quake also rocked Indian Kashmir, killing 1,244 there.


March 31, 2006 - IRAN - An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale hits the area of Doroud and Boroujerd in the western Lorestan province, killing at least 70 people.


March 6, 2007 - INDONESIA - A 6.4 magnitude quake and another measuring 6.3 in Sumatra kill more than 70 people.


July 16, 2007 - JAPAN - A 6.8 magnitude quake killed 10 people in northwestern Japan and shut the world's largest nuclear power plant.


Aug 15, 2007 - PERU - An 8.0 magnitude quake killed more than 500 people and destroyed about 34,000 homes on central coast.