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We are regularly reminded of the vast power that is unleashed when earthquakes occur. Films showing flattened multi-story buildings, bridges, twisted roads and rail lines.

The media reports of human casualties range from a few bruises to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Commentators on current events often refer to dramatic political changes as being ‘catalclysmic’ or ‘earthquakes’:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1742512,00.html

Links:

• Wikipedia Encyclopedia Earthquake Page
• US Government Geological Survey Earthquake Centre  
• Isis Earthquake monitor
•  Understanding Earthquakes
• Overview of Earthquakes
• Earthquake Museum
• Elementary Earthquake page

Earthquakes and the Bible

History:

• Mt. Horeb – for Elijah’s benefit during Ahab’s reign:1 Kings 19:11,12.
• During the reign of King Uzziah(809-759B.C.): Recorded by Amos 1:1 and Zechariah 14:1-8
• In Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified, (Matthew  27:54) and when resurrected. Matthew 28:2
• When Paul and Silas were freed from prison in Philippi . Acts 16:26

“The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.” (Psalm:18:15)

 

“You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking “ Psalm 62:2:

 

“The Hebrew word "ra'ash," as well as its Assyrian and Arabic equivalents designating an earthquake, is indicative of a great noise or tremendous roaring. In Ps. 72: 16 the same word is used to describe the gentle rustling of wheat. It is also employed in poetry to express the harmonious choral song of angels. It would thus seem that during an earthquake the Hebrew was most impressed by the rumbling connected with it, which he regarded as a theophany (Ps. 18: 8 [A. V. 7]; Habakkuk. 3: 6; Nahum 1: 5; Isaiah. 5: 25).

 

The trembling and smoking of the mountains, as during the revelation on Sinai (Exodus 19: 18, 20:18), the moving of the door-posts, as during Isaiah's initiation (Isaiah 6: 4), accompanying great theophanies, must in the view of the authors be regarded as earthquakes (comp. I Kings 19:11, 12). 

 

Josephus describes an earthquake that occurred in Judea during the battle of Actium.

 

The earth trembled, and many animals and more than 30,000 persons perished ("Ant." xv. 5, § 2).

 

A few years before Bar Kokba's insurrection, the cities of Cæsarea and Emmaus were destroyed by an earthquake (Eusebius, "Chronicon," eleventh year of Hadrian).

 

In 499 severe earthquakes devastated Asia Minor, continuing until 502, when the synagogue of the Jews at Beirut fell (Assemani, "Bibl. Orient." i. 272; "Jerusalem," vi. 17).

 

Antioch was visited by numerous earthquakes in the sixth century (Procopius, "De Bello Persico," ii. 14; Evagrius, "Hist. Eccl." v. 17, vi. 8).

 

Bar Hebræus, 'Abd al-Laṭif, and the "Gesta Dei per Francos" mention many earthquakes in Palestine during the Middle Ages. On Jan. 1, 1837, the whole province of Galilee was shaken; the cities of Safed and Tiberias especially suffered, 4,000 Jews perishing. The seismic disturbance was also felt at Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, and even at Jerusalem. The last-named city has otherwise been free from earthquakes (Robinson, "Biblical Researches in Palestine," etc., iii. 500-585; "Jerusalem," v. 295).

 

The Rabbis, following Joel and Amos, use the expression  in the sense of "earthquake" (Yer. Ber. 13c; Ex. R. xxix. 9). Earthquakes, according to them, are a divine punishment for the performances in the circus and theater of the heathens, or for their immorality. Others held that earthquakes were meant to remind men of their sins. An earthquake, like thunder and lightning, called forth the benediction, "Praised be Thou, Eternal One, with whose power and might the world is filled" (Ber. ix. 1). A chapter on "Thunder and Earthquake," in the form of a calendar, is contained in the appendix to "Milḥemet Ḥobah," Constantinople, 1710.”

New Testament History of Earthquakes

Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God.” Matthew 27:54.

And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.  Matthew 28:2

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. Acts 16:25,26 

There may have been a tsunami in Jesus’ lifetime:

In the New Testament, the word translated into English as ‘earthquake’ is the Greek word seismos  (Gk. seismo~ Strong’s number 4578). Seismology is the study of earthquakes. 

The word seismos occurs 14 times in the Greek text, and it is surprising to see where the first use of the word is: In Matthew 8:24. The word translated as ‘tempest’ in the story of Jesus stilling the waves could just as easily have been translated as ‘earthquake’!  

“And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! “ Matthew 8:23-27

Future Earthquakes: 

There are future earthquakes prophesied in the Bible:

• The earth – Isaiah 24:18-20; Revelation 16:16-21
• Israel – Ezekiel 38:18-20. Revelation 16:16-21
• Jerusalem – Isaiah 29: 1-8; Zechariah 14:; Revelation 16:16-21.

Features of prophetic earthquakes mentioned in the Bible:

• Foundations of the earth shake
• Earth moves excessively
• Earth reels to and fro
• Mountains split and move along the split
• Mountains will be flattened like a plain
• The sea will shake
• The land of Israel will shake
• Many countries will be affected
• Time of warfare, famine and pestilence
• Cosmic and weather changes.

Old Testament Earthquake Prophecies

Quotes Concerning the earth: 

“For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.

And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isaiah 2: 12-21)

“Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.”(Isaiah 13:13)

“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”. (Isaiah 24:18-20)

“The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it”. (Nahum 1:5)

“And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.”  Ezekiel 38: 18- 20

“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:1-3.

“Woe to Ariel, (i.e. a poetic name meaning “lioness of God”) to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.

And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. 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.

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.” (Isaiah 29: 1-8)

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?  (Joel 2:1-10)

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion”. (Joel 3:9-21)

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”

…. And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 2:6-9, 20-23)

“Behold the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.   And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:   

But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.  And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.” (Zechariah 14:1 -8)

“All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.”  Zech 14:10

New Testament Earthquake Prophecies:

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places”. Matthew 24:7

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows”. Mark 13:8

“Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” Luke 21:10,11

“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire”.(Hebrews 12: 25-29)

“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; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” Revelation 6:12- 14

“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour……And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.  And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” Revelation 8:1,5,6

“And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven”……….”And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Revelation 11:11-13, 19

 

The Battle of Armageddon

“And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great”. Revelation 16:16-21

“and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great” (Rev 16:18)

Geography of the Middle East:

• Great Rift Valley
• Dead Sea Rift
• Great Rift Valley
• Israel Earthquake risk assessment model
• Last Israel Earthquake cracks Knesset:
• Earthquake hits Israel
• Is Israel ready for major earthquake?
• Light earthquake in Israel
• Preliminary earthquake report
• Historic earthquakes 
• What causes earthquakes?
• Israel eathrquake model
• Jerusalem earthquake
• Earthquake risk in Jerusalem  
• Jerusalem’s Old City risk
• Earthquakes and the Bible
• Regional Seismic Activity Palestine  
• Temple Mount bridge was affected by earthquake 2004
• Egypt’s Killer Quake
• Israel 
• Asia’s Net Hangs by a Thread 

Photographs:

• 1927 Earthquake rubble
• 1927 Earthquake in Israel
• Historical Earthquakes Drawings
• Historic photos of Holy Land