Category: Topical Bible Study

November 2019 – Fear Not!

November 2019

Published monthly

All Bible references are from the KJV

(Examining the News in Light of Biblical Truth)

P.O. Box 13006, Roanoke, VA 24030-3006

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Fear Not!

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2).

By Mike Wingfield

In the last 30 years, I have had the privilege to travel across America and speak in hundreds of churches about major prophetic themes that relate to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This journey has led me to discover the troubling spiritual condition of the American evangelical church. It is sad to report that I have witnessed the rising apathy and apostasy that are sweeping across this land like an infectious disease. I have witnessed this plight because as a conservative pastor, I am only invited to speak in conservative evangelical churches. And while the situation in the evangelical churches is becoming grimmer every day, the plight within more liberal mainline denominations has reached a critical level.

I am convinced that the message the Lord has given me is not being well received in many churches. And this includes churches that are considered conservative and evangelical. Simply stated – many pastors and church members do not want to hear messages about the Second Coming of Christ. One of their leading responses is that Biblical prophecy frightens people. A friend of mine who attends a very large evangelical church in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, told me that he asked his pastor if he would consider inviting me to come and speak to his congregation. The pastor, whom I have met and who knows about this ministry, responded by saying he could not invite me. When my friend asked him why, the pastor answered, “If we invited Mike to come and speak, He would scare everyone.” How should we interpret this response by a pastor to the doctrine of the Second Coming?

It is alarming to me that the same people who claim that Bible prophecy is scary, enjoy the world’s entertainment that is filled with things that cause people to shriek with horror. They openly embrace this kind of entertainment, while they refuse to consider God’s prophetic truth. They support the dark side by celebrating Halloween. However, they do not want to hear the prophetic truth about the reality of an approaching war between God and Satan. These people may be members of a local church, but they are not acting like true believers. Instead, they are following the path of those who are running from God and want no association with Him.

The doctrine of the Second Coming is a major theme in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. It is estimated that more than one-fourth of the Bible is prophetic. About one-third of the New Testament is prophetic. The last book of the Bible is completely dedicated to the revelation of Jesus Christ at the end of this age. Therefore, to avoid Biblical prophecy is to ignore a major portion of the eternal, unchanging Word of God! Someone has calculated that the Bible mentions 1,846 prophetic events and circumstances of our Lord’s Second Coming that have not been fulfilled.

Any preacher who avoids this massive body of Biblical revelation in the Holy Word of God is failing to preach the whole counsel of God. When the Apostle Paul gave his farewell message to his dear brothers in Christ at the church of Ephesus, he said, “And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:25-27). I am convinced that when the Apostle Paul stated that he was “pure from the blood of all men,” that he was referring to the commission given to the prophet Ezekiel. Every pastor and teacher of the Word of God should read and heed this commission in Ezekiel 2-3. God has never called His messengers to avoid speaking words that are not offensive. He has not called us to please people. God has always called His servants to deliver a message of warning from Him. God told Ezekiel that those who heard him would not like his message and they would reject him. Yet, he told Ezekiel to go and proclaim God’s message so that the blood of the people, on the judgment day, would not be upon his hands. All of God’s messengers in Biblical days were hated and rejected by the godless people around them. Furthermore, they killed Jesus because they did not agree with His message.

Those who only proclaim a message that is popular with people are not pleasing God. The Apostle Paul said, “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). God is looking for men of God who do not fear men or seek to please men, but only fear God and are determined to please God at any cost! Jesus spoke to the godless people in His day and said, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). I fear that too many pastors in conservative evangelical circles have churchianity, but not Christianity. They are building a church empire around themselves that will feed their pride, their pocketbooks, and their popularity. They refuse to preach on hell, judgment, sin, or the Second Coming of Christ. Woe be unto them!

According to the Bible, a true child of God, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, should not fear anyone or anything but God! Jesus said, “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12:4-5).

I have noted that throughout the Bible, the true child of God is marked by a holy boldness. When God called Joshua to take the leadership of Israel to drive out the wicked inhabitants of the Promised Land, God said to him, “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:7). Later, when God chose Gideon to defeat a massive army that had come against Israel, He instructed Gideon to send all of the soldiers home who were afraid (Judges 7:3).

Most people who attend our churches today do not know that we are constantly at war with wickedness and the spiritual forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:12-13). When we proclaim God’s Word we are involved in spiritual warfare. We are confronting the gates of hell in the power of the Holy Spirit because the Lord has promise us, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

The book of Acts, which records the history of the beginning of the church, helps us to understand that God is not looking for passive cowards to serve Him. He desires for us to be kind, loving, humble and courageous servants of Christ. There is no place for spiritual cowards in the army of Jesus Christ. Those who follow Him must completely surrender their life to the Lord for His purposes, even if it means death (Luke 9:23-24). According to Jesus’ words, this is not just a mark of the spiritual giants who follow Him. It is a distinguishing characteristic of true disciples who passionately follow Him and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Years ago, when I was preaching through the book of Acts, I noted that the believers in the early church who were filled with the Holy Spirit were also filled with boldness (Acts 4:13, 29, 31). When the Holy Spirit controls a person, he is filled with courage to do what God has called him to do. God is looking for people who are “bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:14).

It is our calling to warn people that the wrath of God is about to fall upon this wicked generation. That is not a message they want to hear. In today’s culture, people want to hear a nice, soothing message that lulls them into a spiritual slumber. Isaiah continually spoke of the coming of the Messiah and the day of His judgment upon Israel. The wicked people of his day refused his message and declared, “speak unto us smooth things” (Isaiah 30:10). The Apostle Paul warned us that in the last days the apostate church would have a “form of godliness, but [will deny] the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5). He declared that this self-centered church would not be focused upon the truth of God. Instead, the collective churches would surround themselves with preachers that will scratch them where they itch (2 Timothy 4:3-4). We have arrived at that day!

We desperately need preachers today that will sound the wakeup call to the church. The signs of the time tell us that we shall all soon stand before Judge Jesus. Those left behind will face the wrath of God during the horrific Tribulation.

When the true child of God hears about the Second Coming of Christ, and the judgments of God that are associated with it, it should not evoke a response of fear! The Bible testifies to this statement. I am convinced that Psalm 46 was written for the people living during the future Tribulation Period. Notice that Psalmist refers to a time when the world will experience a global earthquake that makes the earth desolate (verses 2, 6, 8). It is a time when God exalts Himself by defeating the wicked nations of the world gathered for war (verse 9). As the children of God in that future day see these massive and horrific judgments that destroy the world around them, they will say, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” (verses 1-2).

In Isaiah 2:10-22, when God “ariseth to shake terribly the earth” (verse 19), the wicked will go into the caves of the mountains and cry out in fear for the mountains to fall upon them (compare to Revelation 6:15-17). In contrast to this response of fear, in Isaiah 24, the prophet speaks of the massive earthquakes that will devastate the earth during the Tribulation. In the midst of this description, he writes about the response of the child of God during this period of time. “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify the LORD in [the east], even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the [west]. From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs” (Isaiah 24:14-16).

The Bible clearly says that when God’s judgments fall upon man, the righteous will rejoice while the wicked are filled with fear. Therefore, it is odd that today, those who call themselves children of God say that the message about the Second Coming of Christ frightens them. This is not consistent with the message of the Bible.

When the child of God hears the prophetic message about the Second Coming of Christ, it should not produce fear. While speaking about the events surrounding His Second Coming, Jesus said to His disciples, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” Matthew 24:6). When the believer hears about the judgments of God that are coming upon this earth, He is reminded that God is sovereign and He is directing the affairs of this world to His divinely decreed consummation. This should not cause us to be paralyzed with fear. It should cause us to be filled with praise. Our God is in control!

God did not give us prophecy to terrorize us, but to bless us! The one book of the Bible that is most avoided today in the church is the book of Revelation. People do not like the message of this book. Yet, this is the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to those who read and heed its message. Revelation 1:3 says, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” This promise is repeated once again in Revelation 22:7, “Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”

Those who avoid the book of Revelation are missing out on the blessing of God! One of the greatest preachers in the Bible, the Apostle Paul, said only moments before his death that he “loved” the Second Coming of Christ (2 Timothy 4:8). Paul said that because He loved Jesus. The Bible declares, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). I believe that the people who love Jesus more than themselves will study and mediate upon the book of Revelation. Listen to what Sam Gordon, an international Bible teacher with Trans World Radio in England, said in his commentary on the book of Revelation. He said, “We study it because we passionately love the Lord and we are numbered among those who genuinely love his appearing. We approach a book like this with the adrenaline flowing through our veins, with our heart beating faster, and our mind filled with the twin components of wonder and worship. We can do no better than to come like John, and fall down in humility before the feet of Jesus” (Sam Gordon, Worthy is the Lamb, p. 21).

We are also commanded in Revelation 1:3 to “keep” or heed the words of this final book of the Bible. The late John Phillips, another world renown Bible teacher who taught for years at Moody Bible Institute and was featured on the Moody Broadcasting network, said, “The word heed literally means ‘to watch over,’ or ‘to observe attentively.’ We must keep an eye on things in light of what the book has to say” (John Phillips, Exploring Revelation- An Expository Commentary, p, 15). This is at the heart of what I am endeavoring to do in this ministry.

John MacArthur, world renown Bible expositor and conference speaker, and president of Master’s College and Seminary, says in his commentary on the book of Revelation, concerning Revelation 1:3, “Reading, hearing, and obeying the truths taught in the book of Revelation are to be a way of life for believers. Revelation is God’s final word to man, marking the completion of the canon of Scripture (22:1-19), and its scope encompasses the entire future of redemptive history (1:19). It is imperative that believers follow the truths it contains” (John MacArthur, Because the Time is Near, p. 22).

How can believers be afraid of what God says when it is to be a blessing to them?

Furthermore, the teaching of the Second Coming of Christ should bring comfort, not fear, to the life of the believer. After the Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Thessalonica about the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, he said, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Later, he exhorted this church concerning the teaching about the Tribulation Period and the time of great judgment that is coming upon the earth, with the words, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

How can believers be afraid of what God says when it is to be a comfort to them?

Also, the Bible refers to the Second Coming of Christ as the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). The message of the gospel without the Second Coming is a message with no hope. Our hope is bound up in our resurrection and the completion of our salvation when we will be glorified at His coming – the Rapture of the church. To not preach about the Second Coming is to not complete the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ. A faith that has no resurrection has no hope. It is an empty and incomplete faith. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

This is why all of the apostles constantly preached and wrote about the Second Coming. The apostle Paul spent only three weeks in Thessalonica during his missionary journey (Acts 17:1-3). While he was there he evangelized and taught the new converts. A central part of his teaching focused upon the details of the Second Coming of Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:5). One out of every three verses in Paul’s epistles speaks about the Second Coming of Christ. Clearly, the hope of the Second Coming was central to the teaching of the apostles, especially to new converts.

How can believers be afraid of what God says when it is to be a blessed hope to them?

God has not given us the prophetic Word to frighten us, but to inform us of His will and future eternal plans. Most of us are afraid of what we do not know. Ignorance many times leads to fear.

God wants us to know what He has in store for us. When Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica about their gathering together in Christ, he wrote, “But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Paul openly stated, as directed by the Holy Spirit, that God does not want believers to be uninformed about His prophetic plans.

I am amazed and constantly in awe and wonder at the incredible details of God’s eternal plans given to us in the Bible! The prophecies that surround the Second Coming of Christ are not vague or general. They are filled with minute details. God invites and expects us to know the details of His prophetic Word and to study the conditions in our world to know that the time of His coming is near (Luke 21:28). The signs of His coming are for seeing. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day because they failed to “discern the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3). I wonder what He would say to the pastors who refuse to know and teach His prophetic Word to their congregations?

God wants us to join Him in what He is doing. This is the practical part of making Him the Lord of your life. Prophecy is God’s agenda. It is what He is going to do in our world. How can anyone who is serious about following Jesus not consider the prophetic Word of God to be important? This does not make good Biblical sense!

Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Do we know what this means? To pray for His will to be done on earth means that we consider what His Word says about His will – His eternal plans spelled out in the prophetic Scriptures. He wants us to identify His will and to pray for it to be accomplished on earth as determined by His revealed prophetic truth. For example, we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem because we know what His will is for this city. Psalm 122:6 and Isaiah 62:1-7 are divinely connected together in the will of God. We are instructed to pray for what God wants (John 15:7).

We should be praying for the rapture of the church. Revelation 21:17 and John 14:3 are divinely connected together. We should pray for His coming because this is what He wants. He wants us to be with Him.

How can believers be afraid of God’s prophetic instructions that are to guide our desires and prayers?

God has not given us His prophetic Word to scare us, but to prepare us. After Jesus spoke of the conditions that will precede His coming, He said, “Therefore, be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44). He does not want us to just know that He is coming, but that we are prepared for His coming. To drive this truth home, Jesus gave the parable of the 10 virgins to His disciples (Matthew 25:1-13). This parable illustrates the truth that the wedding party of the bride knew that at an unannounced time the bridegroom would come to take his bride away. The bridesmaids were to be ready to take that trip to the house of the groom’s father to attend the wedding. In the parable, five were ready and five were not. The five who were not prepared were left behind. They said they believed the groom was coming. However, their procrastination proved otherwise.

The implications of this parable point to the church. As the bride of Christ, we are to be spiritually ready for Him when He comes for His church during the Rapture. Obviously, the church that is not focused upon the Second Coming of Jesus is represented in this parable by the foolish virgins who were not prepared. They were too preoccupied with themselves and not looking and longing for the bridegroom.

How can believers be afraid of looking for the coming of their bridegroom?

Friends, there are no Biblical reasons why true believers should be afraid of the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ. When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, emotions, thoughts, dreams, and ambitions, we will long to be with Jesus. When that happens, the Spirit and the bride will say to Jesus “Come” (Revelation 22:17). If you cannot meaningfully pray, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20), something is not right in your life. It may be that Jesus is not your Lord or groom. Or, it could mean that the Holy Spirit does not live in you or you have not given Him control of the throne of your soul. When you are in love with your groom, you are not afraid to be joined to Him on your wedding day!

The World’s Islamic Invasion

Islam has declared that it will conquer the world. A major part of the Islamic strategy is to flood the world with Muslim immigrants. Here in the U.S., we should keep a keen eye on what is happening in many European countries. The traditional culture of Europe is rapidly declining due to the flood of Muslim immigrants fleeing the war-torn areas of the Middle East and Northern Africa. Italy stands at the front of this demographic crisis. Many voices are warning Italy’s political leadership that if they do not curb these legal immigration patterns, it will be cultural suicide. Native Italians are leaving their country because of fear. In some southern cities, Muslims comprise one-third of the population.

A recent article by Gatestone Institute commented, “According to projections from the UN Population Division, the population of sub-Saharan Africa will double in 30 years, adding an additional 1 billion people and accounting for more than half the global population growth between now and 2050. Italy, which already has the third-largest population of migrants in Europe, is undergoing an “unbearable” crisis, and now faces the real risk of an “Africanisation”, as Stephen Smith called it in his book, The Scramble for Europe” (Website article on Gatestone Institute, October 28, 2019).

As Western nations struggle with their immigration policies, it should be noted that this current flood of immigrants is stretching the economic capacities of these nations. They have reached the point of economic collapse. This is changing the moral fabric of our global culture, and bringing spiritual, social, political, and financial consequences. This sounds very much like the description of the world that will exist at the end of this age. Daniel 2:43 says, “They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another.”

Our country needs to listen to the Trump administration concerning the construction of a wall at the Mexican border, and the revision of U.S. immigration policies. To refuse this is to commit national suicide!

January 2019 – Why I Love Biblical Prophecy (Part One)

PTNews  

January 2019

Published 10 times annually All Bible references are from the KJV

(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)

Why I Love Biblical Prophecy

(Part One)

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy,and keep those things which are written therein…” Revelation 1:3

I am in awe of the prophetic Word of God. To be in awe of God’s Word is to be in reverence of His holy Name, which is the full expression of who He is. In Psalm 138:2 the psalmist declares “thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Since I was saved as a child, my soul has experienced a deep longing to know God and to understand the prophetic Scriptures.

I know that my love for Bible prophecy triggers an immediately image in the minds of some people. They think I am strange and that I have gone off on some wild and insignificant tangent. But we must realize that Bible prophecy has received an overall bad reputation because of sensationalist preachers who merely want to attract large crowds and develop a growing contingent of followers. Too many preachers have made stupid and unreasonable predictions that have not come true. Therefore, many people are turned off and turned away from Biblical prophecy. How sad! Continue reading “January 2019 – Why I Love Biblical Prophecy (Part One)”

August 2018 – Volcanoes in the Last Days

PTNews

.pdf download

August 2018

Published 10 times annually

All Bible references are from the KJV

(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)

P.O. Box 13006, Roanoke, VA 24030-3006

E-mail address for general communication: mike@ptnews.org

E-mail address for orders: Joycew5656@aol.com

Volcanoes in the Last Days

“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.” Joel 2:30-31

By Mike Wingfield

People around the globe, are being confronted with the reality that our planet is experiencing an unusual increase in volcanic activity. Kilauea on the big Hawaiian island continues to erupt at this time, showing no signs of decreasing activity. In addition, several news sources indicate that “A rising blob of hot rock recently detected under Vermont suggests the region might not be as stable as scientists once thought.” (www.newsweek.com, December 19, 2017) Geologists are reporting that there does not seem to be any concern this super volcano under the New England area will erupt any time soon. In addition to these volcanoes, for several years now, a few geologists have had a growing concern that one of the world’s largest dormant volcanoes may be showing signs of rumbling back to life. This super volcano is located in Yellowstone National Park, which covers portions of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Yellowstone has witnessed an increase in earthquake swarms and eruptions of geysers that indicate geothermal activity is increasing in the area. If this volcano were to have a major eruption, it would radically change the course of modern history on a global scale for many years. Once again, geologists are telling the public there is no reason for alarm. They claim that all of their studies indicate this volcano will not experience another major eruption for thousands or tens of thousands of years.

While we witness this increase in volcanic activity, those of us who know the prophetic Scriptures need to remind ourselves and others that these secular scientists are the same ones who deny that God created the world. They also deny the solid physical evidence of the horrific consequences of the global flood in the days of Noah, which was accompanied by massive geological upheaval. Furthermore, they do not have a clue concerning the approaching geological cataclysm the Bible predicts will take place in the last days. Let us examine the evidence.

What is a volcano and why do they erupt in certain locations?

Scientists have identified about 1,500 land volcanoes around the world. It is believed there are many more volcanoes in the deep canyons of the oceans. Of these known volcanoes, only about 550 are active. In the last few months, 35-50 of these volcanoes have erupted simultaneously. For several decades, an average of 25 volcanoes erupted at the same time. So this indicates an increase in volcanic activity.

Volcanoes are extremely powerful catastrophic events. For example, when Mount Saint Helens (a category 5 volcano) erupted on May 18, 1980, it released 24 megatons of energy. That is equal to the energy released by 1,200 nuclear bombs like those dropped on Hiroshima, Japan to end WW II. Consequently, we should be reminded that God has much more power at His disposal in His creation than man does with his feeble nuclear arsenal. The sheer volume of energy that will be released when the global earthquakes and volcanic eruptions strike this planet during the Tribulation Period is beyond anything we can begin to imagine.

According to scientific data, the earth is about 4,000 miles from the surface to its center core. The crust of the earth, which contains dirt and rocks, is only 5-25 miles thick. Just below the crust of the earth are thousands of miles of a deep ocean of hot flowing magma (liquid rock). Closer to the crust of the earth the temperatures of the magma are between 1,600 and 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It is believed that temperatures at the core of the earth could be around 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Earth’s crust is literally floating on a deep ocean of magma inside of the earth. This could be compared to ice on a lake during the winter. The crust has a multitude of fractures that form what are called tectonic plates. Think of this being like the cracks in the shell of a hard-boiled egg. Picture those pieces of the egg shells like the plates in the earth’s crust. Some are small and some are larger. These fractures are weak places in the crust where most earthquakes and volcanoes occur. There is an enormous amount of pressure in the interior of the earth due to earth’s gravitational forces. Obviously, this internal force is always pushing the magma to find the weakest area in the crust. When this takes place, the pressure causes an eruption on the surface of the earth, releasing steam and magma from inside the earth. This is the mechanism that creates volcanoes.

How are volcanoes described in the Bible?

The word volcano does not appear in the Bible because this word was only coined about 400 years ago. However, the Bible does mention volcanoes by describing their eruption features. The Bible describes volcanoes as blood, fire, pillars of smoke, and brimstone. For example, in Joel 2:30-31, God says: “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.” While speaking about destroying an invading army against Israel, God said in Ezekiel 38:22: “And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.”

In the Bible, magma is described as the blood of the earth. The Hebrew word for dirt is “adama.” The word for blood is “dam.” Therefore, according to the original language of the Bible, one can see the word blood in the word for dirt or earth. For example, Isaiah 26:21 says: “For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”

The following description by geologist Mike Strickler supports the biblical view of earth’s magma: “Basaltic magma is like the blood of the earth – it’s what comes out when the earth’s skin is cut the whole way through. …The earth as an ecosystem is analogous to the human body.” (www.stanfordbloodcenter.org/between_a_rock_1/) Under our skin is a red flowing substance called blood. In a similar way, just below the crust of the earth is a red flowing substance called magma.

Volcanoes are also described in the Bible as fire and pillars of smoke. Anyone who has seen the eruption of a volcano can understand that this is a perfect description of a volcanic eruption. The extremely hot magma burns everything it comes in contact with. Many times, when volcanoes erupt, the eruption is accompanied by ash that is blown upward with terrific force into the upper atmosphere. It certainly looks like smoke coming out of a furnace. Compare this with Revelation 9:2: “And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.”

The Bible also describes volcanoes with the word “brimstone.” Brimstone is a yellow-colored stone that contains sulfur. Sulfur is one of the main components of magma that forms the rocks that accompany a volcanic eruption. Archeologists have found great amounts of sulfur rocks at the destruction sight of Sodom and Gomorrah. (www.biblicalscholarship.com) These stones give testimony to the sudden geological upheaval that took place in this region when God destroyed the wicked cities in this region with “brimstone and fire.” (Genesis 19:24)

Are volcanoes a part of God’s divine judgment during the end-times?

According to the Bible, our earth is moving toward major geological upheaval that will alter the planet for God’s future purposes. According to Psalm 102:25-26, the heavens and earth are growing “old like a garment.” This means that God is actively exercising His sovereign control so that the earth will geologically deteriorate, gradually breaking up like a garment, just as He planned before the foundation of the world. That means that the tectonic plates of the earth will continue to become more fragile, so that earthquakes and volcanoes will increase in frequency and intensity. This is exactly what Jesus said about the last days. While speaking about the signs of the Tribulation Period, Jesus said: “And great earthquakes shall be in [different] places.” (Luke 21:11) An examination of a geological map showing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions indicates that they are occurring along the fractures of the tectonic plates. Historical statistical data indicate that earthquakes and volcanoes are increasing in frequency and intensity.

Near the beginning of the Tribulation Period, a massive global earthquake will trigger colossal volcanic eruptions. “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood …” (Revelation 6:12) Notice that this verse demonstrates that the earthquake created a condition where the sun and moon were darkened, which is the language describing the result of volcanic ash being blown up into the upper atmosphere.

As previously mentioned, enormous geological upheaval was a part of God’s judgment of the earth in the days of the global flood in Noah’s time. God told Noah: “I will destroy them with the earth.” (Genesis 6:13) Genesis 7:11 and 8:2, report that God broke up “the fountains of the great deep” during the 40-day period of judgment. God used His power of nature to unleash His wrath in the past, and according to the Apostle Peter, He will do it again. “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:6-7)

During the Tribulation Period, numerous volcanic eruptions will spew large volumes of ash into the upper atmosphere. This ash will gradually collect to form thick clouds that will block the sunlight during the day and the moonlight during the night. Early in the Tribulation Period, the ash will cause one-third of the inhabitants on earth to be in the dark during normal daylight hours. (Revelation 8:7, 12) This thick cloud will continue to grow as ash continues to pour out of volcanoes during the Tribulation. By the end of this 7-year period the entire earth will be enveloped in an eerie darkness. (Revelation 16:10) While speaking about the time of His revelation at the end of the Tribulation Period, Jesus said: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light..” (Matthew 24:29) The prophet Joel describes this unique period of time as: “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness…” (Joel 2:2)

Many Biblical texts indicate that the land of Israel will be the center of divine geological catastrophes. At the heart of this geological activity will be one of the most dangerous earthquake fault lines in the world – the Syrian/African Rift Valley. This fault line travels from Lebanon through the Jordan Valley into the Sea of Galilee, then down the Jordan Valley through the Dead Sea, and continues through the Arava Valley and the Red Sea into Kenya. This deadly fault line is where two major tectonic plates (the African Plate and the Arabian Plate) collide with each other. This fault line has been the location of many geological disasters in Biblical history and will play a major role in God’s judgments in the end times. Geologists in Kenya were greatly puzzled that this rift valley started to split open a few months. During the first 10 days of July, there were 10 earthquakes at the Sea of Galilee and several earthquakes at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Geologists in Israel are warning their government that it is time to prepare for the big quake that is coming in Israel.

When Russia and Iran and their Magog coalition invade Israel in the future, Israel will experience a major earthquake that will trigger some or all of the 15 dormant volcanoes that dot the landscape of the Golan Heights in Israel and Syria to erupt. (Ezekiel 38:18-22) With Russia, Iran, and Turkey already in Syria, and the earthquake activity in the Galilee area, it appears that things are shaping up for the fulfillment of this prophecy.

At the end of the Tribulation Period, a series of geological catastrophes will take place around Jerusalem, which is only 14 miles from the Great Rift Valley. The gigantic earthquake mentioned in Revelation16:18 at Christ’s return will trigger a major volcanic eruption on the Golan Heights and Galilee area that will create a river of magma that will flow down the Jordan Valley to the level of a horse’s bridle. Understanding that the blood in Revelation 14:14-20 is the blood of the earth helps to solve a riddle that has puzzled Bible students for hundreds of years. This also helps to explain the nature of the mysterious death of the Antichrist’s army as described in Zechariah 14:12: “And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.” This is a perfect description of what happens when human flesh comes into contact with magma.

This same earthquake will split the Mount of Olives and lift up Jerusalem, exposing a major water aquifer that will produce a river that will flow out of the Temple Mount. (Zechariah 14:4-10; Joel 3:18; Ezekiel 47:1-12) At this same time, this earthquake along the Rift Valley will force the huge water aquifer under the Arava Valley to be lifted up so that it will flood the desert. Then, the prophecy of Isaiah about the desert will be fulfilled. “The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose [actual Hebrew word indicates this flower will be a water lily] … [and] in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.” (Isaiah 35:1, 6-7)

What are God’s purposes behind the geological cataclysm in the last days?

The Lord will unleash numerous global earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis during the end-times. Why? There are at least three major reasons for all of the geological calamities at the end of this age. First, as in the days of Noah, God will unleash His fury against the wickedness of man. Isaiah wrote: “For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.” (Isaiah 26:21) Mankind would do well to know that God is not ignoring the daily acts of violence and rebellion against Him and His law. I am often reminded of the fact that more people live on earth now than at any other time in the history of the planet. There are currently 7.6 billion people on earth. Many of them will die as a result of the carnage of the Antichrist’s wars. The Antichrist and his demonic kingdom will “devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” (Daniel 7:23) However, the majority of the world’s population will die as a result of the horrific judgments of God’s wrath poured out upon the entire earth. God revealed to the prophet Isaiah that as a result of the global geological disasters, “the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” (Isaiah 24:6) The entire 24th chapter of Isaiah gives a detailed description of the geological holocaust that will unfold during the 7-year Tribulation Period. Isaiah 24:19 says: “The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is [thoroughly cracked], the earth is moved exceedingly.”

The second major purpose for the geological upheaval of the Tribulation Period will be to prepare the earth, and especially Israel and Jerusalem, for their role during the millennial kingdom. The earth’s surface before the flood did not have high mountains and deep valleys. “Mountains were relatively low and ocean beds relatively shallow as compared with present conditions.” (John W. Whitcomb, Jr. & Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Flood, p. 268) As a result of the geological upheaval during the time of the flood, the earth’s surface was radically altered. Before the flood the earth was probably one big land mass that made it possible for all of the land animals to travel to the ark. The prophetic Scriptures indicate that the geological destruction of the Tribulation Period will probably return the earth’s topography back to the way it was before the great global flood in Noah’s time. Isaiah points to this in his revelation about the kingdom: “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.” (Isaiah 40:4) The Tribulation Period will end with the most powerful earthquake in the history of planet earth. John describes this earthquake in Revelation 16:18: “and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” As a result of this earthquake “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” (Revelation 16:20) This certainly speaks of the formation of a uniform global topography, much like the earth’s topography before the global flood.

The third divine purpose for the geological upheaval of the Tribulation Period is to glorify God and force man to be humbled before the Him. In Isaiah 2:10-22, Isaiah repeatedly states that the Lord will arise “to shake terribly the earth.” (Isaiah 2:19, 21) In this passage he declares the intended divine results. It will be “for the glory of [God’s] majesty.” (Isaiah 2:10, 19, 21) And, “the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.” (Isaiah 2:11, 17) In this same passage, the prophet repeatedly states that the Lord will shake the earth in order to humble man and to destroy his pride and arrogance.

At the end of this age, many of the inhabitants of earth are living in luxury. We have become very dependent upon our utility systems, transportation systems, creature comforts, the abundance and variety of food, entertainment opportunities, and communication systems. For many, they are so independent and comfortable that they think they do not need God. Therefore, abruptly, and without warning “sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3) Suddenly, life will take a horrific turn that will leave most of these people in life-threatening circumstances.

I am convinced that Psalm 46 has been written for those who will be living through the geological upheaval of the Tribulation Period. This psalm talks about a time when “the earth be removed” (verse 2), “the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” (verse 2), “the waters thereof roar and be troubled” (verse 3), and “the earth melted” (verse 6). Finally, the psalmist exclaims: “Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.” (verse 8) After all of this, God declares: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (verse 10)

During the Tribulation Period, God will strip away all of the forms of man’s modern lifestyle. Mankind will be forced to either shake his fist at God in defiant rebellion, or humble himself and be still and know that He is God. We know what they did in the days of Noah and we know what they will do in the future. They will blaspheme God and die in their sin. (Revelation 16:11)

As volcanoes continue to erupt around the world, let us keep listening for the shout that will take us out!