Earthquakes in the Lord's Day

 HAVE you ever lived through a severe earthquake?  It is not a pleasant experience.  A big  tremblor may start with a sickening roll and a rumbling noise.  The swaying my worsen by fits and starts while you dash for safety-perhaps  under a desk. Or come as a sudden, shattering jolt by the crashinng of crockery, furnishing, even buildings. Damagbe may be catastrophic, with frequent aftershocks inflicting further damage  and adding to the misery.

Having this in mind, consider what John describes at the opening of the sixth seal: "And I saw when he opened the sixth seal,  and a great earthquake occurred." (Revelation 6:12a) This must fall within the same time frame as opening of the other seals.  Just when in the Lord's day does this earthquake  occur, and what kind of quake is it? - REVELATION 1:10.

Literal and figurative quakings of the earth are mentioned  a number of times in the Bible.  In his great prophecy about the sign of the presence in Kingdom power, Jesus forecast "earthquakes in one place after another."  "These would be part of "a beginning of pangs and distress."  Since 19:14, with earth's population exploding into the thousands of millions, literal tremblors have contributed significantly  to the distress of our times. (Matthew 24:3, 7, 8) Nevertheless, even though they fulfill prophecy, those earthquakes have been natural, physical disasters.  They are preliminary to the great symbolic earthquake of Revelation  6:12.  This indeed, comes as a devastating finale to series of advance tremors that shake Satan's human earthly system of things to its foundations. 

Next time: Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - Tremors in Human Society

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