The First Earthquake in Revelation
July 23, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com
I have taught for more than thirty years the first earthquake recorded in Revelation would occur in the Jordan River Valley to mark the initial attack of the final war of the age against Israel, and the beginning of three and one half years of great tribulation on earth such as man has never known. I believe the following three Scriptures from Revelation, Daniel, and Matthew describes the initial earthquake and the three and one half years that follow it.
Revelation 6:12-17 – And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
[14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
[15] And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains
Daniel 12:1 – And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Matthew 24:21,22 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
I believe the anticipated earthquake, described in the following article from Haaretz, is the same
I have indicated will occur to start the last three and one half years of great tribulation. Following the Haaretz article is a Prophecy Update we issued four years ago which describes the final earthquake in Revelation as predicted by Haggai in the Old Testament. Revelation describes the final great earthquake on the last vial as follows.
Revelation 16:16-21 – And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. [17] And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. [18] And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. [19] And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine
of the fierceness of his wrath. [20] And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. [21] And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
Begin Haaretz Article
Readying the home front for an earthquake
July 23, 2007
By Zafir Rinat
Pity Israeli geologists. During the past two weeks, they have tried to arouse public interest in the 80th anniversary of the last destructive earthquake that took place in Israel, and in the lessons to be learned from it. But any willingness there was on the part of the media to discuss the subject was overwhelmed by its coverage of the one-year anniversary of the Second Lebanon War and the release of a report on the home front by the state comptroller.
There is a close connection between the two events, and perhaps this connection will help increase the awareness of Israeli decision makers of the need for an urgent increase in preparedness for the land’s next major earthquake.
It will definitely take place – the only question is when.
The war exposed the system’s inability to contend with extensive civil distress. As the state comptroller’s report demonstrates, there was also a failure to prepare for incidents of leakage of hazardous materials, which fortunately did not occur.
A major earthquake will cause widespread destruction of houses and will endanger many facilities where hazardous materials are kept. One of the assessments on this issue was published last week by geologist Dr.
Ron Avni of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Avni studied the earthquake that took place in 1927 in the northern Dead Sea region, which led to the deaths of nearly 300 people, a very high number considering that the the country was then sparsely populated and had almost no high-rise buildings. Statistically, the Land of Israel has a history of a destructive earthquake once every 80 to 100 years, which means, Avni notes, that there’s a very high probability that some time in the next two decades there will be an earthquake.
According to a simulation he conducted, an earthquake of an intensity similar to the quake of 1927 would affect 17 percent of the buildings in Jerusalem that were built before the state’s establishment, and the collapse of 5 percent of them. About 11 percent of the buildings of mediocre quality (most of the residential buildings constructed up to the end of the 1970s) could be expected to be damaged, and in fully half of them broad cracks would be formed in the walls. In Tel Aviv, 5 percent of the buildings of mediocre quality will be damaged. This means that in the two cities thousands of houses would be affected, with damage ranging from slight to total collapse.
The government held a special discussion last week, in which it considered the state of preparation among the various bodies in case of an earthquake, and the degree of coordination between them.
Israel has a genuine difficulty in raising the budgetary resources that have been at the disposal of countries such as Japan and the United States, and which served to make all the major infrastructures of those countries and many buildings more earthquake-proof. There are, however, still many things that can be done to limit damage, and to prepare for dealing with the results of such damage.
The first, urgently required step is the reinforcement of a large number of infrastructures, and public buildings, such as hospitals and educational institutions, where many people congregate. The government can encourage private reinforcement of buildings by means of economic and legal incentives, once it has approved a master plan. In particularly dangerous areas, buildings can be reinforced with government assistance, without the state coffers collapsing.
It is also possible to develop an early-warning system to prevent the collapse of energy infrastructures and enable evacuation, between the occurrence of the earthquake at its epicenter and the time the waves of destruction reach areas like the coastal plain. Plants that store hazardous materials can be required to install protective means against earthquakes.
All these steps and many others require budgets and precise planning, but above all, the attention of an interministerial body with appropriate resources and powers, one that is constantly preoccupied with the issue and prepared to build a multilayered system of rescue and protection.
Begin Special Prophecy Update Number 119A
SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 119A
May 11, 2003
The Soon Coming Shaking of Creation
The voice of the Lord has shaken the earth in the past, and will soon shake it again. He gave the Law to Moses
to draw men and women to trust in his promise of the coming Messiah by their realization it was impossible to perfectly keep God’s righteous standard with an inherited sinful nature from Adam. The Law was given by God to teach us how really sinful we are, thereby leaving the Messianic Seed promise of Genesis 3:15 as our only hope for salvation. The earth shook when God spoke the Law to Moses.
Exodus 19:18,19 – And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. [19] And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
Galatians 3:24 –Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But now that Messiah has come and finished his work on the cross, we have a better covenant, because he spoke it plainly as God in sinless flesh, and made all the promises of
God in him clear to us. We have not come to the fear of his voice at Mount Sinai – we have come directly to his marvelous promises through his wonderful Son.
Hebrews 12:18,19,26,27 – For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, [19] And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: [26] Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. [27] And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
This is the final shaking of the earth in the seven vials of his wrath poured out at the end of the tribulation period, which is followed by his reign from the millennial temple in Jerusalem. It is the same one spoken of by Haggai.
Haggai 2:6-9 – For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; [7] And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. [8] The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
[9] The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
So what should God’s children be doing while they wait for him and his soon coming kingdom?
Hebrews 12:28 – Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear
There is coming a time, during the latter portion of the last three and one half years of the tribulation period, when all of the saved souls of all the ages since God created man, are in heaven being judged by Christ. They will have been caught up to be with him in heaven, and will be judged by him for their eternal rewards in heaven, which are likely to range from none to great. The kingdoms on this earth will be void of saved souls, but since they were created by the Lord they are his earthly kingdoms, and he will be in the act of pouring out his wrath on their inhabitants while he rewards the saved in heaven.
Revelation 11:15,18 – And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. [18] And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
This is the completion of the mystery announced by Paul in I Corinthians, which will soon be finished exactly as prophesied by John in Revelation 10:7.
I Corinthians 15:51,52 – Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Revelation 10:7 – But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
I Thessalonians 4:16 – For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
So why serve the Lord in one of his local churches if you are one of
his children by faith in his Son? He has given you the victory by faith in him – you are going to heaven by grace through faith as the gift of God. Why bother?
I Corinthians 15:51,57,58 – Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the vic
tory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
II Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Galatians 6:7 – Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
II Corinthians 5:11 – Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
Once received, you cannot lose your salvation, but you can lose your reward in heaven. His children that live close to him here will live close to him there. How close you live to him in heaven, and what sort of work you are given to perform for him there, is the basic ingredient of the reward.
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