The Problem of Earthquakes, Tornadoes, and General Storms
The Vivid Language of Prophets upon the Subject
Ruin Wrought by the Earthquake January 13, 1915, in Avezzano, Italy
The scene is in what was formerly the main street, and is an indication of how completely the town was demolished. The arrow indicates a spot where forty people perished.
The psalmist speaks of “fire, and hail; snow, and vapors; stormy wind fulfilling His word.” Ps. 148:8. There is something about the storm, the earthquake, and other abnormal conditions in nature, that causes men to think as nothing else will. Sometimes the storm or the earthquake may come as a direct judgment from God; sometimes He may permit these to come without directly causing them; but in either case, His purpose is that men should stop and think soberly and seriously of their dependence upon Him for the very air they breathe and for all the comforts and blessings they enjoy.
The Purpose of Judgments
Isaiah declares: “When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.” Isa. 26:9, 10. In other words, when men are engrossed in their sins and injustice, and while everything is moving smoothly for them, they do not stop to consider the ways of righteousness. They do not recognize the end in destruction toward which they are rushing. Hence God may send judgments; and when we view them rightly, they are really blessings in disguise.
We are living in days that are unprecedented for violent storms and earthquakes. Only a few days ago, a large portion of Italy was destroyed by a violent earthquake shock. Since the beginning of this century, we have had earthquakes and fires that have wrought fearful havoc in San Francisco, in Valparaiso, in Jamaica, in Mexico, in Japan, in Turkey, in Italy and elsewhere. There have been occasional earthquakes and storms all through the history of the world, but never have they followed one another in such rapid succession or been so destructive as during recent years. The occurrences mean something, and the inhabitants of the world should think soberly concerning them. God’s design is that when His judgments are in the land, the people shall learn righteousness. The Lord assures us that He does not afflict willingly.
Stormy Conditions to Prevail
Many, many scriptures speak of the stormy conditions that will prevail toward the end of this world’s career of sin, and just before the second coming of Christ. The Master tells us: “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke 21:25-27.
In a definite way that would be impossible without perfect foreknowledge, the Lord tells us that there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, and also a roaring of the sea and the waves. There has always been a roaring of the sea and the waves; hence when this prophecy is fulfilled, there will be storms that will cause a commotion greater than anything that has been seen before, and this will carry with it the conviction that the day of Judgment is right at hand.
The greatness of these extraordinary signs in the elements is graphically described in verse 11 of this same chapter of Luke: “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” Here are “signs from heaven,” and “great signs” so unmistakably clear that all not only may see, but must see; and seeing them, they cannot escape the conviction of what they mean.
Both Distress and Deliverance
Upon this same point of disturbance in the elements the prophet Joel says: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:130and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” Joel 2:28-32.
Note particularly that the foregoing scripture states that all these great signs in the sun, the moon, and the earth are to appear before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
Peter quotes this prophecy of Joel in full in Acts 2:16-21. He makes clear beyond the opportunity for doubt just when the prophecy applies, for he says “it shall come to pass in the last days” that all these things will be seen. So then the last days are to be especially distinguished by “wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.” And as these things are seen, the conviction deepens that the great and terrible day of the Lord is right at hand.
Because of Iniquity
Isaiah testifies to the condition of the elements in the last days in language quite as forcible and pointed as that of Joel. He says: “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s hand shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.” Isa. 13:6-13.
This scripture also points to the time when the day of the Lord is at hand. It calls attention to the judgments that are spreading their terrors everywhere. It shows that these judgments are sent because of the iniquity, the arrogance, the pride, and the haughtiness of the people. These things have made it necessary for the Lord to pronounce the decree, “I will punish the world for their evil,” and “destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” And do not fail to observe that this scripture says, “I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.”
Thus this prophecy forewarns us of a very great commotion in the heavens and the earth when the great day of the Lord is imminent.
A Thrilling Forecast
Read a further testimony from Isaiah: “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the tender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. . . . “From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.” Isa. 24:1-6, 16-23.
A SCENE IN AVEZZANO, ITALY
This indicates how completely the town was destroyed by the earthquake of January 13, 1915
Again in this scripture is the great sinfulness of the earth’s closing days presented. “The earth also is defiled,” “because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant,” says the prophet. He states also that “the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.” And speaking of the earth, he says, “The transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it.”
These Judgments Are General
Do not fail to observe that this scripture adds its testimony to the fact that the elements will be raging at the close of time. Observe its thrilling statement, “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down.” And again, “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.” And then the following startling statement: “Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard.”
When the Lord is making the world “empty” and “waste,” and is turning it “upside down”; when the very “foundations of the earth do shake”; when it is “utterly broken down” and “clean dissolved”; when it is “moved exceedingly”; when “the earth shall reel to and fro” like the unsteady movements of a drunkard, and “shall be removed like a cottage,”—surely then there will be a raging of the elements which will strike with terror every soul that is not safely anchored to the Rock of Ages.
Who has not been impressed, when observing the fury of our modern hurricanes, tidal waves, and tornadoes, that these mighty storms, growing, as they are, so much more violent and frequent, are surely the beginning of the fulfillment of these prophetic utterances? And while the foundations of the earth are shaking under our feet, who has not felt the conviction that God is dealing in earnest with the children of men?
There are many other scriptures which speak of these storm conditions that will prevail during the last days. And one of the strongest evidences, to each individual, that we are in that time, is the profound conviction which settles over the strongest of men, that some great event is hanging over this world. Such an event is truly impending; and when it arrives, it will bring doom and eternal destruction to those who are not prepared for it. But O, what a day of joy and glory it will be for those who are ready to meet their returning Lord!
