Pastor’s Comments 1-14-05

Dear Brethren,

This has been a very sorrowful and heart-breaking period of time for the people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, and other countries in their part of the world.

Unknown in our time, a giant 9.0 earthquake took place in the bottom of the Indian ocean and the gigantic waves generated from it sent a rapidly rising and surging sea with huge walls of water crashing into the mainland of the countries affected and crushing everything in its path including property and human life that is now expected to reach 210,000 or more.

The Stockton, CA Record, Page A4 The Knight Ridder Newspapers:
“Tsunami toll may reach 210,000.  Staggering new figure ranks as worst disaster in nearly three centuries.”

It is also being reported that the true count will probably never be known due to many burying the bodies themselves without any official report.

One can only imagine the continued aftermath of it and the awful impact on the survivors.

The word to describe what took place is a Japanese word: TSUNAMI – meaning: An extensive and often very destructive ocean wave caused by a submarine earthquake, also loosely called tidal wave 

http://homepage.mac.com/demark/tsunami/1.html

The following comment about the 210,000 people who perished on the Tsunami has brought back to mind the Biblical account of the Worldwide Flood in which perhaps up to 2 billion people or more perished by the Flood waters that covered the whole earth:

Tsunami Forensics Team Evokes Bible Images
Associated Press, January 6-They're known as "the team that sleeps with the dead" - a group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish forensic workers who have matched body parts to identities after countless scenes of carnage in Israel. Now in Thailand, they have only one way to describe the aftermath of the tsunami: a disaster, literally, of biblical proportions. "Only during the great flood in Genesis have there been sights like this, so many corpses, so many," said Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, a team leader. "We are experiencing ... something from the days of Genesis."

Danger of Contagion —

There is now the serious question as to how many more lives might possibly be lost if the very real possibility of a disease epidemic breaks out due to the delay of burying the rotting bodies, no safe drinking water, no food in many places, and no shelter.

In addition, due to the rain they are receiving there is now the possibility of perhaps 10,000 or more dying due to malaria from the breeding of mosquitoes:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20050113/ap_on_he_me/indonesia_tsunami_malaria

The survivors are asking themselves as to how they are going to live with their life’s possessions and business places smashed and the rubble carried away by the receding sea water. There is an atmosphere of hopelessness.

Year in Review: Overview  – Nature’s Fury

There have been other major and problems that have been experienced in other parts of the world, including the United States during 2004.

In looking back over the past year, the News Media has made known this has been a very bewildering and overwhelming year in many areas.  They write of the hurricanes that battered Florida: Charley and Frances to be joined by Ivan and then followed by Jeanne.

Consider the following quotes:

The Record Friday December 31- 2004, page A13
The Associated Press

"Wind and waves struck devastatingly in 2004 – and not just the sea’s year-end ravaging in Asia and the tempests that smashed the United States Atlantic and Gulf coasts again and again.  Gales of war and suffering battered Iraq and the Sudan; political gusts roiled the United States and  Ukraine.  These and countless squalls left many disoriented and disgruntled
But 2004 was a bewildering year in nearly every way.  Rarely have so many people been so overwhelmed, in so many places.
Nature’s severest blow came in the year’s final days.  An epic earthquake under the Indian Ocean set off tsunamis that killed ten of thousands in Asia.”

The year 2004 is not going out gracefully as we see from the following news report:

India’s last active volcano erupts on Adamans

Thursday, 30 December, 2004

Port Blair: India's last active volcano, in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, has erupted in the aftermath of the huge earthquake that set off tsunamis killing thousands of people, 
official sources said on Thursday.

People have been evacuated from Barren Island since the eruption began on Tuesday night and there were no reports of injury.

 

Lava was flowing out of the rim of the crater which towers above the Indian Ocean some 500 metres (yards) away, the sources said.”

What Can be Expected in 2005? —

With the heavy loss of human life and destruction of personal and business properties that have occurred in 2004, one might ask as to whether this might portend even a more devastating new year for the world, and in particular for the House of Israel?

No one can really say for sure WHEN AND WHERE except to look at the endtime prophecies of the Bible and know from them that we can continue to expect even greater loss of human life along with the same problems that are now being experienced by the survivors who were caught in the path of this tsunami.

It is being said that the same kind of problem can take place along our own coastline, and that if one or more should take place it could be very costly in human life and property damage.  The fury of nature manifests itself in many different ways

In this writing I want to focus on Earthquakes and a related problem that poses just as serious threat to life in various parts of the world, as well as here in the United States.  It is little thought of today and seems to generate little interest or regard to life.

Volcanoes —

Though volcanoes could erupt in various places unexpected around the world including here in this country, I will focus on the two dormant volcanoes that appears to be showing greater signs of erupting and spilling over with great devastation and loss of life: Mount St. Helens and Yellowstone National park.

Different sources write of the potential eruptions of both volcanoes. 

Volcano Watch -- Mount St. Helens

Monday, December 27, 2004

compiled by Columbian staff

Update: Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of 
Mount St. Helens Continues

Hazard status: Alert Level 2, the second in a three-level system.
Closures: The U.S. Forest Service has prohibited access within a five-mile radius of the volcano. Road closures include state Highway 504 at Coldwater Ridge and Forest Road 99 at the Wakepish Sno-Park.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

“It is little known that lying underneath one of The United States largest and most picturesque National Parks - Yellowstone Park - is one of the largest “super volcanoes” in the world.

Scientists have revealed that Yellowstone Park has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago…so the next is overdue. The next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Volcanologists have been tracking the movement of magma under the park and have calculated that in parts of Yellowstone the ground has risen over seventy centimeters this century.

There are often 1 to 20 earthquakes recorded in Yellowstone National Park every day. For a few days in April, however, the earthquake activity increased and 400 earthquakes were recorded over a three-day period. The earthquakes were small and occurred in a limited area over a limited period of time. This type of increase in earthquake activity is called a swarm. Earthquake swarms are generally defined as clusters of earthquakes closely spaced in time and area that do not have a defined.”

10-6-03 - Yellowstone ground was 200 degrees
9-17-03 - People who have been at Yellowstone are saying that more and more areas are being roped off, but the media isn't reporting this news. The ground is getting hotter and hotter.”

As we can see from these news items, both St. Helens and Yellowstone National Park are still showing signs of erupting and spilling over and could be just as deadly as the one in ancient Vesuvius, Italy; and  Yellowstone National Park has the potential of being as deadly as the in Krakatoa.

To better understand how swift and destructive the eruption of volcanoes can be -- consider information made available on the internet about two of the worst in recorded history. 

Vesuvius, Italy —

A dangerous and deadly volcano. Mudflows and lava flows from the eruption in 1631 killed 3,500 people. About 3,360 people died in the 79 A.D. eruption from ash flows and falls. Studies of past eruptions and their deposits continue. These studies help volcanologists understand the hazards associated with future eruptions. The population density in some areas of high risk is 20,000 to 30,000 per square km. About 3 million people could be seriously affected by future eruptions.  In the first 15 minutes of a medium- to large-scale eruption an area with a 4 mile (7 km) radius of the volcano could be destroyed (Dobran and others, 1994). About 1 million people live and work in this area.

The Island of Krakatoa —

To grasp further how quickly a volcano can erupt and how lethal one can be consider the greatest volcano of all time. It occurred in 1883 in the island of Krakatoa off the coast of Java. Please note the deadly fall-out from this most violent and deadly eruption of recorded history:

Editorial Reviews -- Amazon.com

It may seem a stretch to connect a volcanic eruption with civil and religious unrest in Indonesia today, but Simon Winchester makes a compelling case. Krakatoa tells the frightening tale of the biggest volcanic eruption in history using a blend of gentle
geology and narrative history.

Krakatoa erupted at a time when technologies like the telegraph were becoming commonplace and Asian trade routes were being expanded by northern European companies. This bustling colonial backdrop provides an effective canvas for the suspense leading up to August 27th, 1883, when the nearby island of Krakatoa would violently vaporize. Winchester describes the eruption through the eyes of its survivors, and readers will be as horrified and mesmerized as eyewitnesses were as the death toll reached nearly 40,000 (almost all of whom died from tsunamis generated by the unimaginably strong shock waves of the eruption). Ships were thrown miles inshore, endless rains of hot ash engulfed those towns not drowned by 100 foot waves, and vast rafts of pumice clogged the hot sea. The explosion was heard thousands of miles away, and the eruption's shock wave traveled around the world seven times. But the book's biggest surprise is not the riveting catalog of the volcano's effects; rather, it is Winchester's contention that the Dutch abandonment of their Indonesian colonies after the disaster left local survivors to seek comfort in radical Islam, setting the stage for a volatile future for the region. --Therese Littleton

The bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman and The Map That Changed the World examines the enduring and world-changing effects of the catastrophic eruption off the coast of Java of the earth's most dangerous volcano -- Krakatoa.

The legendary annihilation in 1883 of the volcano-island of Krakatoa -- the name has since become a byword for a cataclysmic disaster -- was followed by an immense tsunami that killed nearly forty thousand people. Beyond the purely physical horrors of an event that has only very recently been properly understood, the eruption changed the world in more ways than could possibly be imagined. Dust swirled round die planet for years, causing temperatures to plummet and sunsets to turn vivid with lurid and unsettling displays of light. The effects of the immense waves were felt as far away as France. Barometers in Bogota and Washington, D.C., went haywire. Bodies were washed up in Zanzibar. The sound of the island's destruction was heard in Australia and India and on islands thousands of miles away. Most significant of all -- in view of today's new political climate -- the eruption helped to trigger in Java a wave of murderous anti-Western militancy among fundamentalist Muslims: one of the first outbreaks of Islamic-inspired killings anywhere."

Volcano on Alaska Peninsula Stirs - January 5, 05

In addition to Mount St. Helens and Yellowstone Park there is another volcano that is showing signs of increased activity in Alaska in this new year.  I will list the website with the information:

http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=903

Disaster Often Strikes Without Warning — 

There are the arguments presented that sometimes leading officials have knowledge of a disaster such as the one just experienced in South Asia as well as in other areas of disaster. There are then the reasons offered as to why the information is not passed on to try and save human life.

I will post two of the websites here to let you read and evaluate for yourself what is said by others

http://www.infowars.com/articles/world/tsunami_us_foreknowledge.htm
Meteorologists decided against it 'out of courtesy to tourist industry'
 
Warning from Animals —

It has been stated that not one carcass of a dog was to be found among the rotting bodies.  It has been said that just before a disaster occurs such as an earthquake or volcano occurs dogs begin running wildly.  Apparently they ran inland far enough to be safe. It is speculated they have a sixth sense in regard to problems such as these.

God Warns in Advance —  

For over 50 years God’s late apostle warned of the calamities that would be coming on the Israel and the world.  For example please note the following quote from him:

“When God intervenes in world affairs, catastrophic earth tremors will create imagination-defying waves, sweeping whole cities from their foundations, killing millions of terrified unrepentant victims in their surging power of destruction. Mankind will learn its lesson in no other way!”  Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong

Please note the following comment from a member in God’s Church:

“... Below is an update on the Asia earthquake I received a few minutes ago. How long before those scoffers that believe that January 16, 2005, is of no importance, and laugh at any significance given of the nineteen year cycle since Mr. Armstrong's death ...?” Name and location withheld

The Year 2005 —

This year does mark the 19th year since the death of God’s late apostle. Though we can not say definitely that this anniversary of his death will mark a significant change for the worse there is still the question whether or not it will. Time will tell.

When we look back in Biblical history we can see that after warnings from God He usually gives time before the stated disaster takes place. God desires repentance and He allows time for people to think and reflect on what they have heard with the hope they will see their sins and repent.

Nineteen years is a complete time cycle. With these things in mind one should realize this year could very well be a real turning point in which we will see things going from bad to worse on a much larger scale than what we have seen in the past and more often.

Time is running out!  We are now very close to the end of the 6,000 year period of time God has allotted to mankind. What we heard over and over again for many years from God’s late apostle is very close at hand.

Preparation for God’s People —    

With these things in mind we need to be preparing ourselves mentally and spiritually for these catastrophes that we will be seeing and some even having to live through in the near future. This is no time for sleeping, but keeping vigilant and in a state of readiness.

God is our only hope in a world whose death is nigh at hand!  When we view what has just taken place we can see how quickly people can die and begin to rot. Though our bodies are wonderfully made we are subject to physical laws and when the forces of nature strike life can very quickly perish as we have just witnessed in South Asia..

Earthquakes and Volcanoes are only the fringe of many other areas from where death can strike quickly! Think about the criminal element, car accidents, terrorism, health problems, or from natural causes, etc.  Our relationship with God is the only thing that really matters.  If it is right then we do not have to be concerned and be afraid of whatever for we are looking to what is beyond this physical life to one that will endure forever and without fear of anyone or anything.

Brethren, we must always work with ourselves and try very hard to overcome anything that stands in the way of a right and close relationship with God and what He holds forth before each and everyone of us (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Nothing should be more important to us than the future that God wants to give to us (Matthew 16:24-27).

Our love and prayers is for the good health, safety, and endurance, of each of you,

Don Billingsley