"Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire." Isa. 29:6. The foregoing pronouncement of judgments from the Lord were made about 700 years before Christ. But there are records of but very few earthquakes until we come well down toward the present time. This, however, does not invalidate the prediction. What the Lord has spoken will surely be fulfilled.
Rear End of Building Owned by Mr. Johnson, in Hemet.
The time when this prophecy applies is very clearly set forth in other scriptures. In answering the question, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" the Lord says, among other things: "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; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. 24:29-31.
Luke, in giving account of the same things, presents the matter thus: "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven." "And 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 21:11, 25-27.
Most graphic are the foregoing scriptures in describing the scenes that shall immediately precede the coming of the Son of man. And it is expressly stated that "great earthquakes shall be in divers places." And not only that, but there will be "famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven."
God makes it perfectly clear to the inhabitants of earth that He is about to send His Son to destroy sin, and gather His own followers to Himself. He tells in the plainest language what will be seen in the world just before the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And prominent among these signs He mentions earthquakes.
Isaiah tells how extensive this shaking of the earth will be, in the following words: "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." Isa. 24:19, 20. God has spoken these
words. Study them carefully; for they will be fulfilled to the letter.
We see only the beginnings of their fulfilment now. The earthquakes in various parts of the world, some of them in places where such things have never been known before, are as nothing when compared with that time just before us when the earth shall be "clean dissolved," "moved exceedingly," "utterly broken down," and when "the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage."
The scenes on this page are photographed from the wreckage of the earthquake that shook the whole of Southern California on December 25. What will be the condition when the whole earth is "utterly broken down"? Are you prepared for that time? Do you know the shelter from the coming storm? The Lord has promised to preserve all who will intrust themselves to Him. Do you know these promises? and are you feeding upon them and resting in them day by day? T.
