Is the current increase in natural disasters matching up with Bible prophecy of the “end times?”
People have been announcing the “last days” for millennia.
In antiquity, Old Testament prophets such as Daniel (Daniel 12:1) spoke of them.
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- A Haitian woman is pulled from earthquake debris by members of LA County SAR. Photo by Petty Officer Second Class Justin Stumberg/Public Domain.
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- New Orleans, LA, August 30, 2005 — People sit on a roof waiting to be rescued after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans is being evacuated as a result of flooding caused by hurricane Katrina. Jocelyn Augustino/FEMA. Public Domain.
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- 2010 Chile earthquake – Building destroyed in Concepción
As did Jesus in Matthew 24:3-8.
“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,[a]‘ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
Today, statements of 20th century increases in natural disasters are coming from worldwide sources.
MSNBC, CBC and Fox News have all done reports on the increase in natural disasters.
In 2006, the European Journal of Public Health reported, “Natural disasters are increasing in frequency because of the worldwide deterioration in the natural environment. The incidence of floods, storms, earthquakes and droughts and the number of people affected by them are escalating greatly.”
“Weather-related disasters throughout the world continue to rise, from an annual average of 200 in 1993–1997 to 331 per year in 1998–2002.”
The UN Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery more recently stated,
“The 21st Century has already been marked by escalating economic losses and human devastation caused by natural disasters.”
“In 2008 alone, more than 300 disasters killed more than 235,000 people, affected more than 200 million others and caused losses and damage worth $181 billion.”
Although most of these Web sites and authorities relate the catastrophes more to climate change than biblical prophecy, the reports sound eerily similar to “end times” Bible verses.
Six major earthquakes in the last seven years, plus some of the deadliest hurricanes (Katrina and Rita) -– does that look like the birth pains Jesus referred to, meaning the beginning of the end of the world as we know it?
Of course, anything we may say is certainly speculation, but one thing is certain, the number of natural disasters in the past 20 years outweighs any other written recorded history.
This may be something to think about as we ponder God’s will for our lives and what we do with the time He has given us.
i was wondering if there are any statistics to back up these claims? i know and understand what the bible says about the end times, i’ve been having dreams about it and such (mostly war dreams)… i’m just wondering, because i believe that the end times and the birth pains might very well be upon us… i’m just searching for some sort of proof/validation… i’d love to discuss this with someone. you can use the facebook to message me or the email i provided to contact me, for a phone number… i text more than i talk though (phone plan and all that jazz).
also, i’ve found that there are no ways to contact this ministry directly… what’s up with that? please don’t tell me you are “protecting yourselves” from the public. i’ve been involved with too many churches that “protect themselves”, i’m looking for something real.
Hey brewer, just wanted to direct you to IHOP’s ministry where there is a ton of information about this. We are indeed in the last days and there are numerous other signs besides natural disasters to indicate it: http://www.mikebickle.org
I suggest going through the Prophetic History series and then any of the end times series.
Thanks for your comments on this article, Hunter & Jessica. Hunter, if you go to the websites mentioned in the article (just click on the names and the link will be available, you will see charts showing the undeniable increase between statistics from the early 1900′s to the late 1900′s and early 21st century. Thanks for the new link, Jessica.
@hunter There is a contact us link in the footer of this site. It also has our privacy policy information, about us and copyright information. For future reference, you can use the form on the contact us link or e-mail me at editor [ at] theundergroundsite.com, the staff at staff [ at ] theundergroundsite.com or you can just leave a comment as Sheryl mentioned.
@jessica Thanks for giving that info to Sheryl. Mike Bickle was one of the people Hank Hanegraaf discussed in his book Counterfeit Revival. From what I understand, his views are sort of outside of mainstream Christianity. I recommend you read this article on the Toronto Blessing movement which Bickle was a part of and and this one.
“Do not fear cos the end is not near”
These terrible natural catastrophes have raised once again questions if the world is coming to an end. Please let me explain more about the end. There will not be an end. Nor was there a beginning. Or there was and will be – but nothing beyond.
I know logic say otherwise – there must have been something before day one – and something after the last day – the creator maybe – or Heaven. But no. There was nothing and will be nothing. I’ll try to simplify. It is natural to think time as linear. But Einstein understood that time is not linear and that in time-space the shortest distance between two spots is not a straight line but a curve. So if you think of time – it is much more like if you stood at the equator of the earth and moved southwards and analogically would be going back in time and if you moved northwards you would be moving forward in time. In that case when you reach the North Pole – you will be at the end and the South Pole would be the beginning. But like at North Pole – there is nothing north of North Pole – everywhere is south so there is nothing beyond the end. So you do understand now that beyond the end is a ridiculous question.
Cynics would say – doesn’t that exclude God and Heaven. But no – it doesn’t. Isn’t that what Jesus said. I am the way. The Alpha & Omega. The South Pole and the North Pole. Everything is in between. When he said it is hard to get into the Kingdom of Heaven he did not mean it as a gatekeeper. He meant it is hard to see where Heaven is. To understand it was here all the time – hidden in front of our eyes. Cos the thing is you make your own Heaven and Hell to yourself and others. This is the God’s Truth.
But where is God hiding then. If not beyond. Did he not answer that too. You are that God. We all are. At least if you drive the devil away from inside of you. We are all spiritual beings. Stop pretending it happened Centuries ago. It happens this very minute. In you.
Yeshua … can I call you Yesh?
Interesting neo-gnostic take you have on things. I will have to remember to write a few aplogetics on gnosticism and pantheism and how they differ from Christianity. Thanks for the idea.
I suppose the signs do point towards the end. However, no one will know the day nor the hour that Christ is to return.
Interesting you should have this article. Dr. David Jeremiah of Turning Point Ministries is currently doing a series of sermons about the book of Revelation. Perhaps some of these may aid readers in answering certain questions. His website or “One Place” will have archives you can listen to.
Tiffany, thank you for the links. I do recognize that Mike is outside mainstream/American Christianity and I fully support him. He is an upholder of the Word of God and I believe time will be the revealer of what the Bible really teaches about all things ‘supernatural’ including the end times.
Yeshua – Yes, ditto Tiffany. I was going to say the same thing. Thanks everyone for comments to this article. Hunter, glad you found the general Underground contact link.
Sheryl, excellent piece on such a controversial subject–I fully agree with your full article, particularly your 2 closing lines.
@Beau, great note about Jesus’ words from Matthew 24:36. Also great that you suggested the sermons of Dr. David Jeremiah. I would also highly recommend his book “What in the World is Going On?” available at Amazon.
@Yeshua–ditto Tiffany. Here are two excellent articles on the issues of neo-gnosticism, written by two theologically-sound and well-researched men: Mind Over Matter by Derrick G. Jeter and Faith and Reason by R.C. Sproul.
@Tiffany–great idea to include some similar pieces in our apologetics section.
Dear Friends,
Its very interesting to see a bible-based discussion on end times. And indeed, it is true that we are in end times. I think there are 2 fundamental things we need to deal with to have a holistic view on what Christ is really telling us.
(1) Actually Time of the Last Days
(2) Being Prepared
(1) There are 2 very important things Christ points out to us to know that the end is near: (a) The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to all the nations – v.14 and (b) There will be an abomination that causes desolation – v.15. From these two verses we understand that the end is closely following these two major events – Gospel preached and Anti-Christ rules.
(2) Now how can we be prepared and stand firm to our faith. Its amazing to see that Christ first helps us in preparation and then moves to the times. Thats why he starts by giving instructions in His reply to the question. So if you carefully read verses 4 & 6, our Lord is saying two things: (a) do not be deceived by the spirit of anit-christ – v.4 and (b) do not be alarmed when you hear news of doom – v.6.
So, I think we as Christians ought to be prepared to face the coming days with the help of the Holy Spirit – He will lead us into all Truth.
Another fascinating revelation that emerged as I was writing this was the very meaning of the word ‘times’. Now, what do you mean by end of times? and what do you mean by the word times itself? From the scripture I understand that we are in the ‘times’ of grace where God is so graciously waiting for every soul to repent and come back to Him. So, once the grace is preached to all – v. 14, what follows then is the abomination that causes desolation – v.15, which will begin the ‘times’ of the great tribulation for all the saints of God – v.21 onwards.
So lets understand the times and be prepared to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Sincerely,
John
Thanks for your input, John, Josh! the times may become dismaying, but we have something to look forward to.
There is so much controversy over the last days before Jesus comes, God’s word is never to be argued or assumed. the one major thing that needs to be understood by all the world is that our time here is very very short now, all the things that Jesus prophesied in Revelation is coming into being right now. these are prophesies that none should take lightly nor should one try to translate unless they pray and ask God to reveal the truth to them through His eyes and understanding,not belieiving what mans understanding is of it. we are to verify all through the Word of God and not take His Word out of context nor twist His word to mans understand as so many have done and are still doing,believing a lie of Satan. be very careful . I have been studying to be a pastor for the past 4 years and have prayed and God has ministered to me, He is my teacher of His word , not man. Revelation 22 :16-20 says it very very plain and clear and not to be take out of context. what do not people understand about that “all shall endure the tribulation ” and then all shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of glory? People “The Rapture ” that man has come up with is a lie of Satan. now I know Iwill get alot of people wanting to argue this point , butI will not argue the true Word of God with anyone. the “Rapture ” does not happen until Jesus comes to take all home and “All eyes shall behold Him”. please do not be decieved, Satan has blinded so many and they do not see it. be sure you are not one of them that’ thier hearts will fail them for fear”, May God reveal the truth to all that believe otherwise.
So what makes this bible “the Word of God” – I mean parts of it is – but not more than what Tiffany writes at her best. The only reason why Revelations and other texts are God’s Word and The Book of Enoch for instance not – is because some men in gold hats who thought they are infallible decided so.
Yesh,that’s actually not 100 percent true. It’s true that a group of people decided which books were “canon.” However, they did not do so arbitrarily. I haven’t been writing much (been too busy trying to get this site off the ground among other things), but I will write something regarding this in the next couple of days.
Biblical scholar Brian H. Edwards does a wonderful job broaching the issue of how we got the Bible in his book, “Nothing But The Truth.” He covers such topics as canonization, Biblical hermeneutics, why the GOD of Old and New Testament are the very same, Archaeology, and much more.
It’s a concise read written for the laymen but still has a wonderful academic feel. This should be required reading for all Christians and anyone interested in the study of Christianity.
Personally, I’d get a copy via an inter-library loan. That’s the poor man’s way to avoid a purchase.
Edwards also has a series of DVDs out called “How Do We Know The Bible Is True?” He also penned “Why 27?,” which looks exclusively at the New Testament.
Re: Yeshua, As a Jewish believer in Jesus, I would have liked to see the book of Maccabees included (the story of the Hanukkah), but even throughout my Jewish upbringing I was taught that some parts of that particular story may be legendary rather than actual. So now, I believe through faith in Christ that the books for the Bible were selected by men who were anointed by God to do so.
Re: Carol, yes, the pre-tribulation, mid-trib, post-trib rapture is a huge bane of contention between denominations and even between people in the same denominations. I happen to believe that Christians must go through at least some (mid-trib) if not all.
I guess my point is that for instance in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Book of Enoch is part of the Bible. It seems it is so because they were quite isolated of the mainstream. As there were many scriptures at the time and also from different perspectives there was a need to unify. – Who knows maybe Christianity would not be so strong today if that had not happened but I have hard time believing anyone of those involved were anointed by God. Surely they thought so of themselves as seems to think the present Pope. But Popes come and go and sometimes we have had even two in the same time and then having their horsemen fight each other on a field who is the more anointed one. Now if you think of most religions and what role the women have in them, one is not surprised that Thecla did not make it to the bible – after all then Paul would have looked like a total whimp.
Personally I find us humans a bit crazy – we still think sun sort of orbits us – we seem to think we know everything. I heard a story today that happened recently that was reported by the Reuters: A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal’s enclosure. The man shouted “God will save me, if he exists,” lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions. A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery. Not that the person would have had better luck if she had been a woman but I think through out the history there have been too many to think they are the God’s chosen one. Not the other guys. These other guys are definitely going to Hell. Now religion can bring lots of relief to people – lets not deny that – but the other side of the coin is that if you start believing too much in your righteousness you can find yourself in a plane flying into buildings and mumbling that this is what God wants. In my opinion religion does not equal God. Religion is a man’s pitiful attempt to explain God.
From where I get nice bridge back to the Vatican who has been lots in the media lately. The Holy See’s Press Office and Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. writes that the Vatican is under a media attack and that ‘purification of memory” will bring healing. Now lets all purify our memory of that 9/11 happened and everything is okay again.
Statistics:
UN Sponsored International Disaster Database
http://www.emdat.be/natural-disasters-trends
Hi everyone,
can i ask the question…Do any of you know for sure what the bible means regarding the statement ‘the end of days’?
I say this because none of you seem to agree on what ‘God’ means by this. The majority of you start by saying ‘i believe’…and most of you believe in your own ideas about ‘the end of days’ loosely based on what is in the bible, or at least the version of the bible that you have. So what am i asking or saying? I guess its this…i find you all to be extremely arrogant in the respect that you think you know what ‘God’ has in mind for you and everyone else…as you can probably make out, i am an atheist and i am a firm believer that before you guys decide you’re right and if your ‘God’ does exist, i would look at yourselves and question whether the ‘religious’ community are really worthy of going to ‘heaven’ because quite frankly i find you guys to be the most judgemental, self serving, narcissistic group on the face of the earth…and i mean all religious organizations. You, as organized groups, have through the centuries and up until the present day, killed, raped, abused and murdered in the name of ‘God’…as far as i’m concerned all religious groups and individuals should question there own existence and their own beliefs in an attempt to assure themselves, their ‘God’ and everyone else on earth that your time on this earth has been spent living the only life you have on this earth with honour and love, for life, for people without judgement…life is beautiful…really…love it and everything that goes with it…stop worrying so much about whats going to happen when you die because your heaven is here around you and inside you and inside the people around you, your purpose here on earth is to learn, learn about yourself, about life and nature…don’t ignore anything…it is all valid and worthy of being understood…knowledge is beautiful…spirituality is knowledge.
be good.
be love.
search.
learn, understand.
Live.
Simon,
Thanks for your comment. I will do my best to help you understand.
First-the charge that people have “killed, raped, abused and murdered in the name of ‘God’” is not going to fly here. Going by your e-mail address, you are from the UK. People from the UK did all sorts of ghastly things in the name of the Empire in which the sun never sets including oppressing people from India and getting people in China hooked on opium. People have hurt other people in the name of all sorts of things. It doesn’t make it right, but I need you to understand that that’s not a good reason to not be a Christian.
Second, the “end times” deals with prophetic or future events. All these events haven’t played out on the world stage yet, so right now we only know in part. That’s why we say we believe. For example, before the Jews were actually taken into captivity by the Babylonians, many prophets predicted it. The Jews didn’t know what it would look like or when it would happen-then it happened. The same goes for a lot of other events in Biblical history such as the division of the Ancient Kingdom of Israel,etc.
When you read the Bible, you have to understand that it is comprised of 66 different books. Some of these books are poetry; some are history; some are prophecy. The way that you read them will help you understand.
Now, on to other things that you have said–How do you know that life is beautiful? Why do you think that your life has value? If you are a result of chance + time, then there’s nothing of value about you. You’re an accident. The only worldview that affirms that there is dignity in human life is the Judeo-Christian one. Why? Because we were created in the image of God.
I implore you to follow your own advice of being good (No one is good but One, that is, God.–Luke 18:19); being love(Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. — 1 John 4:8); searching (You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.–Jeremiah 29:13); and learning and understanding (If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.–James 1:5).
A slow careful word study using Vines and especially The Precise Parallel New Testament (Greek, Amplified, new King James, Rheims, New American Standard, New American Bible, New International Version & New Revised Standard Version all presented together, passage by passage). The only ‘glitch’ in Vines’ Dictionary is a mistranslation of aposstasia as “falling away” meaning “abandoning” as in “departure via abandoning” versus the correct translation meaning “departure” as in making an exodus.
II Thessalonians Chapter 2. Verse 3 speaks of the day of the Lord (more on this) as not ‘arriving’, if you will, until the “falling away” of the Church. This was the wrong translation. It should have been “catching away”. Some old -time preachers speak of backsliding, etc. etc. but that is missing the mark.
So here is the basic ‘deal’.
All through the scriptures,reference is made to separating.
Matthew 13.40 “Just as the darnel (bad weeds) is gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the close of the age.”
The “close” of the “Age” is what all of this is moving toward. “sun” = “with” and “teleo” = “to complete” or “sunteleia” meaning “the end”. Sunteleia refers to ‘marking’ the completion or consummation of the various parts of a scheme.
Some translations mis-translate “age” (“aion”) as “world”. Instead of “end of the ‘world’” the scriptures more or less consistently point to “end of the ‘age’”.
So, the “age” we have been moving through since the beginning, really, is the period of time when anyone could become acquainted with God. And becoming acquainted, could progressively come to “know”, to appreciate, to…worship.
So this “age”, appointed by God, is going to be terminated (i.e., “docked” as in a ship (from “kolobos”)) by ongoing signs & wonders as well as more-or-less definite events & situations. (Example, Daniel speaking of knowledge increasing and here we have this information highway.) The absolute termination point is the CATCHING AWAY of those that “are alive and remain” in Jesus. Now, we are aware that Jesus spoke of ‘other sheep’ but I’m not going there.
So we who are alive & remain will be caught up in the air. This is the departure of the church. The force that goes WITH us is the Holy Spirit. This is the force that is keeping the Anti-Christ at bay. When we, the body of Christ, depart, there will not be anywhere for the Holy Spirit to “be”, except where we & the Lord are.
Now, the scriptures referring to “one being taken” & “another left behind” are about events AFTER our departure. They refer to a search & seizure operation. This is being done by the Anti-Christ. When it says ‘don’t bother going back in the house to get your stuff’, it’s saying that you, if you’re an unbeliever, essentially had your chance and now it’s too late.
Thus, the separation of Christians from unbelievers.
Moreover, I Thess 5.2-3 refers to the subjects to experience the tribulation. II Thess. 1.6-8 address the purpose of tribulation, which is to “deal out retribution” to those who have refused to obey the gospel of Jesus.
Read I Thess. 5.3-11. Important to pay attention to “they” versus “we” and “us”. Paul is not writing to the unbelievers. Thus, when he says “people”, he’s not referring to believers. THEY are destined for destruction but WE have not been appointed to suffer God’s wrath. The Amplified says He did not select us to condemn us. You, believer, are not in darkness such the “day” (the “hemera”) of the Lord should overtake YOU like a thief in the night.
So…..day of the Lord. Believers are gone. The separation. Now what’s left is punishment of the unbelievers & Jesus returns to earth. Then, the events of Revelation proceed.
We’re closer now than ever before to the arrival of the King. It’s hard not be excited about that. That knowledge provides unspeakable peace and joy. Nothing else on this earth can compare to it. (I know because I tried so many of the earthly ways)
I pray that he who has ears, let him hear. I pray that many will take note of the natural disasters & heed God’s calling.
this prophecy is also mentioned in islam before the end of times.just look at the
list of earthquakes in wikipedia from 2001.
just compare data from 2001 in link below and see the % increase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:21st-century_earthquakes