NOTE: When writing about God and Jesus, The Daily Jot means YHVH as God and Yeshua Ha Mashiach as Jesus–the actual original names and the true nature and character of them.
Friday, September 8, 2017
An earthquake of 8.1 magnitude hit the southern coast of Mexico Thursday killing at least six people. The quake, causing a small tsunami and damage in Mexico City, was felt as far north as Austin, Texas. The Caribbean suffered 10 deaths as hurricane Irma swept through the area, making the island of Barbuda “virtually uninhabitable,” according to the prime minister there. Irma is thought to be one of the most powerful storms in history–this, on the heels of hurricane Harvey that left Houston in shambles. In addition, there are cosmic disturbances. The Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a geomagnetic storm warning through today. Are these events related to, or signs of, the end times?
The increase in such destructive disasters and cosmic activity, such as the recent solar flares and solar eclipse, has many wondering if these are not signs of the approaching end times. In what is called the Olivet Discourse, Jesus, in the most complete and understandable chronology of end time prophecy, responds to his disciples’ questions specifically about the sign of his coming, and the end of the world. Jesus answers first in Matthew 24:4, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” In verses 7-8 he says, “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.”
There are many prophetic verses in the Bible that speak directly to the activity in the sky. 2 Peter 3:10 says, “But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise…” Jesus says in Matthew 25:29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Speaking of the sixth seal, followed by an earthquake, the sun becoming black and the moon as blood, Revelation 6:14 says, “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”
Ezekiel 38:19 tells of a great earthquake in Israel that levels the mountains. Verse 22 speaks of how the Lord will handle Gog (thought by many to be the antichrist), “And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood, and I will rain upon him…great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.” Point here is context in that these chapters and verses are all prophecies of the Day of the Lord. The cosmic and earthly disasters we are experiencing today may be a type and shadow of the end times, but they are not the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is Israel-centric (not America-centric) and it is when these earthly and cosmic events are activated in their fullness immediately prior to Christ’s return. According to Jesus in Matthew 24, there are yet many prophetic events to occur before the end.
