Earthquakes and the End Times

THE BIBLICAL EVIDENCE:
DID JESUS PREDICT AN INCREASE IN EARTHQUAKES
BEFORE THE END?

If earthquakes are not on the increase, then what shall we make of the biblical evidence that earthquakes will increase in the last days? As noted above, Hal Lindsey says that earthquakes will continue to increase "just as the Bible predicts for the last days."⁵⁰ If earthquakes are not increasing, does this mean that the return of Christ cannot be near? Closer examination of the New Testament evidence will reveal that Lindsey's statement is wrong on both counts. Not only are earthquakes not increasing, but also the biblical text never indicated that they would. The popular conception that an increase of earthquakes in frequency and severity is a key sign of the temporal nearness of the end results from a misreading of the biblical text.

Earthquakes and the End Times

Comments:

This long article agrees with a position I have held for a long time. Where do Christians come up with the “increasing” earthquake hypothesis? It looks to me as though there is not much if any current increase happening.

Here are three of the major passages. The only modifier is the word great in Luke 21:11. To arrive at increases from these texts is a stretch. Maybe there is some other odd passage I’m missing that presents the increase idea? Perhaps the increase in knowledge became superimposed on quakes by some readers. But like several positions taken by Christians, once taken we spend the rest of our lives bolstering them and soliciting supporters. It matters not that the Bible doesn’t actually take the position.

Matthew 24:7

⁷For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Mark 13:8

⁸For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

Luke 21:11

¹¹And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

This may seem a weak position to take but something I've noticed in Biblical prophecy is the "seer" reports what he sees. When all of the end time prophecies were given, one's ability to view the earth as a whole was seriously limited. Earthquake information was localized or took a long time to get news if not local. Today, as the USGS map above indicates, we see the diversity of earthquakes in real time and all at once. In other words quakes could have been happening in diverse places but no one knew it. Now we know and understand it is happening. This seems significant to me in light of the prophecy. The quake prophecy goes with traveling to and fro and knowledge increasing. A fitting description of our time frame like no other previous time.

The Fix - Scozzafava drops out of NY-23 special election

State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, the Republican candidate for the open 23rd District seat in New York, suspended her campaign today amid lagging poll numbers and lackluster fundraising. The move clears the way for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, who had been gaining support from the national party and is in a dead heat with businessman Bill Owens (D), according to a Siena College poll out Saturday morning.

The Fix - Scozzafava drops out of NY-23 special election

Comments:

Michelle Malkin, you are a wonder. I wish you well in your quest for conservative purity. I was skeptical of success but things may be working out in N.Y. Now if a win materializes perhaps Mr. Newt will dare stiffen up his spine and join you.

The recent poll showing:

The percentage of voters with an unfavorable impression of Scozzafava, a member of the state assembly, spiked from 29 percent two weeks ago to 51 percent this week.

must certainly have been affected to some degree by conservatives daring to speak out and hold to their principles.

Edit: Now Scuzzy is supporting the Democrat candidate (surprise). Let's hope Hoffman wins. Would his losing be a huge setback? I don't see how. He is after all a third party candidate. The fact that Hoffman already drove out the "Republican" candidate is a major statement. Winning would just be frosting.

Bachmann Revolt - Bring Pitchforks

Peasant Alert: Storm the castle walls on Thursday and meet Michelle Bachmann on the capital steps at high noon in D.C. Nov. 5, 2009. I can't believe this steam roller can be stopped. This would be miraculous.

Why There is a Process Known as “Peer-Review”… « Scotteriology

Why There is a Process Known as “Peer-Review”…

2009 October 28

… or alternatively titled, “How to Destroy Your Career in One Essay” by Holger Bech Nielsen and Masao Ninomiya who claim that the Large Hadron Collider is being jinxed from the future to save the world… that or God. You know: one or the other. Take your pick.

Nielsen and Ninomiya claim in their paper The Search for Effect of Influence from Future in Large Hadron Collider that “the hypothesized Higgs boson, which physicists hope to produce with the collider, might be so abhorrent to nature that its creation would ripple backward through time and stop the collider before it could make one, like a time traveller who goes back in time to kill his grandfather”.

They also conjecture whether God may have shut down the Collider to keep it from discovering the elusive Higg’s Boson, or “God particle”. Neilsen says, “It must be our prediction that all Higgs producing machines shall have bad luck. [God] rather hates Higgs particles, and attempts to avoid them.”

Why There is a Process Known as “Peer-Review”… « Scotteriology

Comment:

If this post does not appear, I may have returned from the future and talked myself out of posting it.

There exists a faction of Christianity (an infinitesimally tiny faction) who believes the Hadron Collider will open a portal allowing evil (other dimensional) entities access to our dimension. The Bible speaks of an unleashing of evil being in the end days. My guess it is a Y2K yawn but makes for interesting thought. How about SiFi (SyFy) channel giving this a shot. They definitely need a program boost of some kind. Hire a “Days of Our Lives” writer to drag it out until the actual end of time.

Hope vs Change

A pictorial lesson.

Hope

Change

New Brighton wife tried to kill husband over Muslim principles, cops allege | Staten Island North Shore - - SILive.com

October 29, 2009, 6:39PM

Advance photo/Michael OatesRabia Sarwar, 37, of New Brighton, leaves Stapleton Criminal Court after posting $25,000 bail.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A 37-year-old wife from New Brighton tried to slit her husband’s throat as he slept because he was not the devout Muslim she believed she married, and pressured her to eat pork and drink alcohol, authorities allege.

New Brighton wife tried to kill husband over Muslim principles, cops allege | Staten Island North Shore - - SILive.com

Comments:

If this becomes a trend could the male dominated Islamic religion rethink its position on Honor Killing?

Conservative vs Liberal Test

Comment:
This is a test.

1. If your reaction to this video was outrage at the entitlement mentality, projectile vomit at the distortion of truth, and a sinking feeling as to where our country is headed; you are a conservative.

2. If your reaction to this video was sympathy for the at risk uninsured multitudes, horror at the accuracy of the message, and confidence that our country is finally on the right track; you are a liberal.

On the other hand you may simply be a pragmatist and plan on encouraging your progeny to pursue a career in government as the last bastion of economic security. This, my friend, would be wise. Apply for employment at the Postal Service or Department of Transportation early and often. Forget college or technical training, you will be working for a business that will be taxed out of existance anyway; unless of course the institution provides training for a government position, then go for it.