Luke 21:11: The Nature of Birth Pangs Earthquakes

The earthquake in Japan, the subsequent tsunami, and the ongoing nuclear crisis is a great human tragedy that is never going to be forgotten.

I’m sure many of you are not only thinking about the people in Japan but also how this tragedy fits in context of where we are in relation to the start of the End Times…

Last night I searched for the words “earthquake” and “earthquakes” in a Bible software program I use to see how often these words appear in the Bible. The results were as followed:

• The word “earthquake” appears in thirteen verses, including five verses in the Book of Revelation.
• The word “earthquakes” appears in three verses associated with the Olivet Discourse.

During my review of verses that contain the words “earthquake” or “earthquakes” I noticed a detail relating to earthquakes that I had not noticed before…

• Today I’ll discuss this detail just in case other people are unaware it.

Recall that Christ warned us that there will be earthquakes in diverse places before His Second Coming. The most frequently cited passage describing Christ's warning that there will be earthquakes in diverse places is found in Matthew 24:

• Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
• Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
• Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Mark 13:8 records a similar warning:

• Mar 13:8 For 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 provides a third account of Christ’s warning that there will be earthquakes in diverse places. However, Luke noted that Christ used an adjective to describe the nature of the earthquakes that people will hear about:

• Luk 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

The Greek word for “great” is “megas”, which means big, exceedingly, large, and mighty. Therefore, the word basically describes the magnitude of the earthquakes that people will hear about in diverse places.

• People are supposed to hear about great or large-magnitude earthquakes occurring in many places prior to the Second Coming of Christ-not ordinary earthquakes.

Based on recent events I would not disagree with people who say that we are hearing about great earthquakes taking place in diverse places. The following is a list of some of the 7.0 or greater earthquakes that have affected people in the past few years:

• Japan (March 11, 2011): 9.0
• Chile (February 27, 2010): 8.8
• China (May 12, 2008): 7.9
• Baja California Earthquake (April 4, 2010): 7.2
• Christchurch[1] (September 4, 2010): 7.1
• Haiti (January 12, 2010): 7.0

I currently believe that what we are seeing is likely associated with the beginning of birth pangs. I expect there is likely going to be increasing large-magnitude earthquake activity as we approach the start of the End Times…
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Regardless of whether I'm right or wrong concerning this topic, my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan. I hope and pray that there is not a nuclear catastrophe...

Note

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[1] Christchurch experienced another 6.3 earthquake on February 22, 2011