Sermon Transcript — January 1, 2005
Well, obviously we're all thinking about it, and it has consumed, I'm sure, much of your time as it has mine this past week watching the devastating pictures, and I think it's a marvel that technology allows the average man, woman and child, even, to have the ability to take action pictures almost immediately. And what we only heard about years and years ago, and I remember historically when you think about Sumatra and other places where, not Sumatra, but Krakatoa where volcanoes exploded, and they said thousands of people died, and it became just a devastating, horrible historical event that was passed on word of mouth from person to person, year after year and decade after decade, and in that particular disaster, only thirty-eight thousand people lost their lives.
And we have this disastrous earthquake, the worst in forty years to strike the earth, and the tsunami that followed of course affected the coastline of twelve nations where it caused major destruction and death. And we've been able to see those pictures from particularly amateur photographers of the waves actually striking the coastline and carrying people out, pushing them in and carrying them out along the coastline.
Now we see the devastating pictures that follow of people, human beings, literally decaying in the debris that's washed back ashore, and it's just devastating. Our hearts go out, and of course many people's hearts have gone out to these people and in fact, the Red Cross announced yesterday that they have collected more money in the aftermath of this catastrophe than we did in nine-eleven in that catastrophe because our hearts go out as we heard in the sermonette to those people who need our prayers.
CNN reported that the tsunami that followed the earthquake caused death and destruction of "Biblical proportions." When I heard CNN report that, I wondered, "How is it that God and the Bible always get blamed for these horrible natural disasters?" It seems to happen. Once again, God and the Bible are blamed for the death and destruction of this horrible disaster. Is God to blame? Well, let's go over to Luke 13, a scripture that was referred to in the sermonette, that I would like to read it and share it with all of us as we think about this disaster.
There are many back seat drivers now who would like to say, "Well, there's good reason that this catastrophe occurred in the Indian Ocean." Some who are "Christians" claim that it's because those people are Hindus or Buddhists. They're not of our faith, and that's why this happened.
There are others who claim that Phuket is the child porn capital of the world, and that's why it was basically destroyed. Is that in fact the case? Let's go to Luke 13:1.
Luke 13:1 - "There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices." Some people shared with Christ that there were events going on in Galilee while He was away; a dastardly horrible deed that was committed by Pilate where he was mad as some Galileans. He said, "Okay, I'll sacrifice your blood along with the animals' blood," and he killed a number of them; we're not told how many, apparently some natural disaster, in this case, it's man-made that occurs.
Verse 2 - "And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans,(others in Galilee) because they suffered such things?' " Are they the worst?
And of course many of us want to rush to judgment and say, "Well, maybe there's a reason. Maybe God was involved. Maybe God caused their demise and their death."
Verse 3 - But Christ says, " ' I tell you, no;' " Sometimes horrible things happen, and God is not particularly involved. He knows them. He allows them but may not cause them. " ' I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will (all) (also) likewise perish.
Verse 4 - " ' Or those eighteen on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them,' " This is the example referred to by Mr. Josifek. . . " '. . . do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?' " And apparently this was some event again that was well known that occurred in Jerusalem, again, it's a current event issue, and it was something that everyone was keenly aware of, and that's why I'm talking about earthquakes today because it's something we've all been focusing on all week. It's a current event. We're thinking about it, so why not talk about it. Is there something we can glean and learn from it? I think there are several things.
Verse 3 - He says, " 'I tell you, no;' " These weren't worse sinners, "'. . .but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.' "
Why do earthquakes occur? Are they all acts of God? Does God cause earthquakes? Has God used earthquakes historically to punish men or to get men's attention? And what about the future? Will God use earthquakes in the future?
I think one of the valuable lessons that all of us can learn is that an earthquake in the ocean, even though it may be thousands of miles from our shore can create devastation on our own shores. It is shown us very vividly in the motion pictures and the still pictures that we have seen of the horrible human calamity that can occur as the result of an earthquake. And since we're all thinking about it, I'd like to ask and answer a few of these questions in the time remaining to me today.
Why do earthquakes occur? Well, I think all of us now, and certainly science tells us and teaches us that there's a geological explanation. There are tectonic plates in the earth that move and adjust based on the volcanic activity, based on these plates rubbing up against each other just with the natural motion of the earth. But there are geological explanations for earthquakes. I suppose all of us know that.
The real issue is no one, even with our great technology advancements can predict when or where they will happen. In fact, this last summer, I don't know how many of you may recall there were some scientists at Cal-Tech where we have, I presume, some of the best and most knowledgeable scientists who can prognosticate and predict earthquakes, if they could, actually predicted there would be an earthquake that would strike this fall. They said probably in the month of September, east of Los Angeles, probably in the dessert area where they saw these stresses and some of these smaller quakes and stresses occurring early, and they actually I guess did some sort of press release, or made an announcement in major newspapers.
I read it in more than one and on newscasts, picked it up, and they predicted there's going to be an earthquake, probably in September or October. Well, I don't know about you, but I kind of watched.
And I said, "Okay, are these Biblical prophets?" You know Deuteronomy 18 says you can tell whether or not it's a God-ordained prophet if what they say comes true. If what they say doesn't come true, then "aaccchhhh." They're not a Biblically ordained prophet. They weren't claiming to be prophets; they were claiming to be scientists.
But of course, I don't know how many of you noticed, but there was no major earthquake in September or October. Now somebody might jump and say, "A-Hah! They just had the wrong place at the wrong time." Well, that's pretty easy to do with an earthquake, isn't it? Predict the wrong place at the wrong time?
The point is that none of us can accurately predict, nobody's been able to find the solution, the formula to predict exactly when and where. So when they occur, automatically people go, "Okay, what is the lesson here? Is God involved? Does God cause this?" Well, like I said, there are natural explanations for earthquakes; we just don't know when or how or what?
Let's notice, continuing on in Luke 13:6. Very clearly, in the wake of these disasters that we read about earlier that were current events at the time of Christ, Christ uses the opportunity to teach a lesson. And as I said earlier, there are lessons that we, too, can learn.
Luke 13:6 - "He also spoke this parable." So at the end of asking the question, "Are these the worst sinners?"
Answer: "No." These things happen. He says: " 'A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
Verse 7 - " 'And then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why (does it use up) (is it using space in my vineyard?) the ground?
Verse 8 - " 'But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
Verse 9 - " 'And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that, you (we) can cut it down.' " We know that oftentimes phenomena, whether they're natural disasters or whether they're manmade disasters occur, God often uses those instances as opportunities to teach us; opportunities for us to learn; opportunities for us to wake up. When I look at those survivors on television and in the still pictures, I see them praying to their gods. I see them praying to their ancestors; I see them honoring their religious system. I don't particularly see them in mass numbers turning to God. In fact, for many of them, for most of them, I dare say it's a God they're not aware of that you and I worship. It's a different God.
What I want to point out is here there's a lesson that we can learn, a way in which we can be sobered and to think more spiritually from the Bible. We can take the point of Christ; we can take this as an opportunity to learn something from it.
Let's go to Isaiah 64:1-3, answering the questions: Why do earthquakes occur?
Isaiah 64:1 - "Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down (to earth)! That the mountains might shake at Your presence." I think we all recognize that God is so great, I mean all of us feel the sense of that when we look at the earth from a space vehicle, and it looks like that jewel suspended in mid-air in space, that beautiful jewel among the planets. I think we have a sense of God's view of the earth, and yet even though God has that bird's eye view of the earth, He also has the intimacy with those of us who live on the earth, and His deep and caring love as Christ said, to even care for each one of the birds on the face of that earth.
But we also recognize that He has the power to manipulate natural events.
Verse 1 - ". . .that the mountains might shake at Your presence.
Verse 2 - "As fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil - to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!" And in the past, historically, we've seen that God has used natural disasters, and He has often times presented or personified Himself through a physical phenomena, if I can use that word, to express His presence. In fact, there's a word for this. I'm looking down here just a moment. It's called a theophany. Theologians use this word - a theophany. A theophany is defined as "God showing His presence to someone in a very real way."
It's interesting the way this works. Sometimes it happens that way.
Verse 3 - "When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, the mountains shook at Your presence." And as I said, historically, we can read, and there are a number of these poetic prophets who make mention of these extraordinary phenomena occurring, and yes, it is God communicating something to people, or announcing His presence, or demonstrating His power. And we see that many times in the Old Testament, particularly among the ancient Israelites where there was an earthquakes; there were lightnings; there were another phenomena. He appeared as a burning bush to Moses. He appeared as a pillar of fire during the night, as a billowing cloud during the day to lead the Israelites around the wilderness.
I won't turn there, but Nahum 1:5 describes it this way:
Nahum 1:5 - "The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence, yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
Verse 6 - "Who can stand before His indignation?" Which one of us puny human beings can stand and defy the aftereffects of an earthquake thousands of miles away? ". . .And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him." Again, in this poetic language of the prophets, God is often seen as being these elements. But Christ said, "He's not always in these phenomena."
So does God cause all earthquakes? Let's go to I Kings 18. There's an interesting statement here made in regards to Elijah. You may recall the circumstances, in I Kings 18, Elijah is inspired by God to challenge the prophets of Baal, and he sets up a scenario where the sacrifice is made quite supernaturally. God answers his prayer in a very dramatic way, consumes the altar, and then Elijah goes and kills all the prophets of Baal. And you may recall at the end of I Kings 18 that Ahab tells Jezebel, and Jezebel sends a note to Elijah as says, you know, "By this time tomorrow, you're going to be dead because of what you did to the prophets."
And so we find that in I Kings 19 Elijah hides himself. And I'd like to pick up the story in I Kings 19:11.
I Kings 19:11 - "And (Then) He said, 'Go out, (of the cave) and stand on the mountain before the Lord.' And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake. . ." Two of the most fearsome things that you and I have witnessed this past year, with so many fierce hurricanes striking the coast of Florida and the southeast of these United States, and we've seen the aftereffects of those storms, strong winds. And earthquakes we've now witnessed the last part of 2004, this event and its aftereffects.
Verse 11 - ". . .But the Lord was not in the earthquake." What I read in this scripture is that occasionally these events occur, and God is not involved. And in fact, if you go back and look at Job, even though earthquake is not specifically mentioned, it talks about a strong wind that takes down the house where Job's children are at the beginning of the book, and it was Satan, in fact, who did that. It wasn't God. It was not an act of God. It was an act of Satan who is the destroyer.
Verse 12 - "and after the earthquake a fire," And again, three of the most common ways, we even referred to that earlier, when we read from Isaiah that God presented Himself to people through fire, through wind, through earthquakes. ". . .and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."
It's kind of interesting when you examine this in the original language. Older translations use this familiar - still small voice. But the modern translation reads this way: "The sound of sheer silence." Other translations say: ". . .gentle whisper. The sound of a gentle breeze, a low, murmuring sound." Finding the best translation is a puzzle in the English language because the Hebrew words for sound and silence are used together. Two words that are translated sound and silence are used together at the end of this verse 12.
So we really have an oxymoron here in the original language, a seeming contradiction, a paradox, the sound of sheer silence. And sometimes when we just sit in a silent, quiet place, we can think about the purposes of God more than we can in the face of a natural phenomena is what He's communicating here. It's interesting, we won't read it, but in verses 13, 14, and 15, Elijah still has the same argument. He wasn't really reached by these things. But the reason I read this part of scripture is to illustrate that God is not always involved in these unnatural disasters. He knows about them; He's aware, but very clearly, sometimes God is not the cause of these disasters.
Well, has God historically used earthquakes to sometimes get people's attention? Well, yes, He has. Let's go to Matthew 27. Let's read a few of these accounts. We find a few of these recorded in the gospels and the book of Acts where historically earthquakes were used to get people's attention, Matthew 27:54, and I certainly would not say that God would not have used this earthquake, or will not use this earthquake to get some people's attention and to call people, I mean, you never know. Only time will tell.
We may, in fact, meet someone a year or two from now, and he may tell us, you know, in 2004, the day after Christmas, "I was in Phuket, Thailand, and the sea came along and swept me out of my motel room, and I was out at sea, and I was brought back in, and miraculously saved, and it woke me up, and I decided to start searching for God, and here I am." I mean, wouldn't that be a wonderful story. And it could happen. Let's go to Matthew 27:54. Again we're breaking into the middle of a story.
Matthew 27:54 - "So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened," It's talking about the aftermath of the resurrection of Christ, and there was a great earthquake associated with that. It was felt throughout the entirety of the area of Jerusalem. ". . . they feared greatly, saying, '(Truly) this was the Son of God!' " It was through the phenomena that occurred that these people, you know, finally admitted, "Yes, this was the Son of God."
Verse 55 - "And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar." You know, very clearly, you begin to see that this affected many of those people, and I dare say that many of the people who experienced this natural phenomena were some of the same ones that were converted a few weeks later on Pentecost, part of that three thousand who remembered some of these things.
We can see the same story played out in Acts 16:25-34. I won't turn there. It's talking about Paul and Silas in prison. You may remember that. And the earthquake occurs and shakes the doors lose, and they actually are allowed to be freed from prison. And it says, remember that, the guard, the head guard who was there, he said, "Oh, no, you guys escape," he says, "my name is mud." You know, "They're going to kill me."
And so they went to his house, and as a result of him experiencing this natural phenomena, this gigantic earthquake that was caused by God, he was converted. His household was converted. And again, you can read about that in Acts 16. So God occasionally does use events like earthquakes to wake people up and to inspire them to take action on the call of God.
Will God use earthquakes in the future? Let's go to Matthew 24, back just a few pages. I think that we all know that He will, and in fact, in Matthew 24, as Christ sat here with His disciples, and they said:
Matthew 24:3 - ". . .Tell us, when will these things be? (And) what will be the sign of Your coming,. . ." And He said a few things; He talked about deceivers that would come, Verses 4 and 5, false Christs, false prophets, false teachers.
In Verse 6, He talked about wars and rumors of wars, He says, ". . . but the end is not yet."
Verse 7 - He said, "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
Verse 8 - "All these are the beginning of sorrows." Now we know that the aftermath of an earthquake in the form of a tsunami creates great sorrow for many hundreds of thousands, perhaps, when it's all finished, millions of people will be touched.
I was a little surprised that the European nation most effected by this tsunami, you normally think these European nations are so far away they're not effected, but you realize there were over three thousand Swedes in Phuket and along the Thai coast, and that particular area of the world is probably one of the great destinations for a number of the northern Europeans who in the winter they're fleeing to a southern climate. And among all the European nations the Swedes are now missing more than twenty-five hundred people unaccounted for, the greatest number of any European nation in the Indian Ocean. Twenty-five hundred citizens are now lost, Swedes.
You see the far reaching fingers, not only the twelve nations who were directly effected by the tsunami and the waves, but now many other nations who are affected by the loss of many, many citizens, almost as many citizens lost in the tsunami by the Swedes as we lost at the World Trade Center on nine-eleven. Think about that devastation and how it impacted us, and how it will impact them. It's. . . the beginning of sorrows, it says here in Verse 8.
Clearly, we believe that it as the time, and times march on, that more and more of these types of phenomena will occur and happen, whether it's the direct act of God, or God allows it, they will happen. And we assume that the frequency will increase, and in fact, you know, if you go to the US Geological Survey website, and you track the number of earthquakes that have now followed in the Indian Ocean, you will find that they have had over one hundred aftershocks that have occurred. This is what's causing the panic in some cases along those coastlines.
They feel the earthquake, and they panic and run inland thinking there's another tsunami coming, and in most of those aftershocks are between 4.5 and 6.5 on the Richter scale. Can you imagine the devastation or the sorrow, the fear that is created in the minds of those people who already experienced a great loss at this time? And we know that these types of calamities will increase, and in fact, if we understand the scriptures correctly, we know that natural disasters could claim as many as one-third of the population of the earth. We have about 6.4 billion people on the face of the earth, and what struck me is that 3.8 billion people live in the Asian crescent, over half of the population of the earth lives there.
Let's go to Luke 21, a very interesting scripture.
Luke 21:25 - There's been discussion about this verse on the elders' forum the last couple of days. That's the internet forum among the elders of the United Church of God, so I can't claim originality with understanding this scripture, in fact, this is the way we should understand it.
"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations," Certainly this is causing distress among nations; there's no doubt about that. ". . .with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring." Seems to describe something similar to the events we have just witnessed this past week, and they have been brought to us up close and personal through the technology we enjoy today, the video camera, the still pictures that we get almost immediately. We're the first generation that could appreciate that type of instant reporting of the disasters that go there.
It's kind of interesting, the Greek term for anguish means - a contracting of parts, or parts contract, like physical organs being squeezed together because of great fear. Perplexity means someone who has lost his way or bearings and the term - roaring of the sea - is a word that comes from the Latin - echeos - means a vibrating sound. And so when we read the last part of Luke 21:25, which is parallel to Matthew 24, where we were reading earlier about end-time events, it says, ". . .with perplexity." A distress of nations the sea and the waves will roar, and obviously the implication is causing disaster, as it says in Verse 26:
Verse 26 - "Men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." We all know that this is just a foretaste of prophetic events. Let's go to Revelation 6 and read a few of the scriptures of Revelation. Because we'll find that earthquakes have a preeminent part in end-time events.
Revelation 6:12 - "I looked (and) when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood." And of course, we know that earthquakes are often caused by volcanic activity. And volcanic activity can cause these other side effects described here. They can also create and help create an earthquake.
Verse 13 - "And the stars of heaven fell to the earth," Like meteors. ". . .as a fig tree drops its late figs. . ."
Verse 14 - "Then the sky receded as a scroll when it (is) (was) rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place." I don't know how many of you have seen the satellite images of islands from four or five days ago, or four or five days before the event, and then after shots, after the tsunami hit, and some of those islands off of Indonesia have virtually disappeared. They've gone, and that's why they're having trouble now getting an accurate body count because in some of these far-reaching fishing villages in Indonesia and along the coasts of India, they didn't know how many people lived there. They were little remote fishing villages, and the only way now that we can look and examine and see the kind of devastation that was done there is through satellite or sending airplanes, reconnaissance craft over these areas to take a look. Again, I think we can begin to see how these prophetic events can be played out.
Let's notice Revelation 8, the first few verses.
Revelation 8:1 - "When (He opened) the seventh seal (is opened). . ." I want to drop down here and see:
Verse 5 - "(Then) (And) the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth." And this represents the prayers of the saints over the last thousands of years. ". . .And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake." Again, in the future, earthquakes will be used to alarm people to give them an opportunity to respond to God's call. And I think we know that at the time of the end, many of these events will be specifically prophesied by watchmen, by prophets who will predict these things coming ahead of time, the two witnesses, and they will be very specific, and those will be caused specifically by God. It won't be kind of "after the fact," back seat drivers like everybody else is, trying to guess why it may have happened. Let's go to Revelation 11. We read here about the two witnesses, and we read down to Revelation 11:11.
Revelation 11:11 - "Now after the three-and-a-half days. . ." After these witnesses have been killed. . . ". . . the breath of life from God (entered) (enters) them, and they (stood) (stand) on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
Verse 12 - "And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up here.' And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
Verse 13 - "In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Verse 14 - "The second woe is past." So in the future I think we can see that, very dynamically, that earthquakes are going to be an integral part of the end-time events. In Revelation 16:17 we read of another one.
Revelation 16:17 - "(Then) (When) the seventh angel (poured) (pours) out his bowl into the air,"
Verse 18 - Talks about in verse 18 - ". . .a great earthquake. . ."
Verse 19 - that literally divides the great city, ". . .into three parts. . .and the nations fell."
Verse 20 - I want you to notice this verse with me. "Then every island fled away. . ." I think in the destruction that we've witnessed, we can see how that can happen. How every island appears to flee away because it's literally washed over with tsunamis in the after effect of earthquakes. ". . .and the mountains were not found." Entire mountain ranges either disappear in volcanic activity or shake down. Again, I think we can see that in our mind's eye now that we've witnessed it in reality.
Let's go to Zechariah 14. I'd like to close here, Zechariah 14:5
Zechariah 14:5 - "Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." He was referring to an earthquake of gargantuan proportions that had occurred two hundred fifty years earlier, and He was saying the earthquake that's coming at the time of the end is going to be greater than that earthquake. "Thus the Lord my God will come and all (the) (His) saints with (You) (Him.)
Verse 6 - "It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish.
Verse 7 - "It shall be one day which is known to (the Lord) (God) neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it (will) (shall) be light.
Verse 8 - "And in that day it shall be that living waters (shall) (will) flow from Jerusalem. . ." And we read in other places about Jerusalem and the earthquake that occurs there when Christ returns and sets His foot on the mount of olives and it says it splits in half with a giant earthquake, and that's for a good reason because it allows water then to flow as it says: ". . .the waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea;. . ." which is now the Dead Sea. . .". . .and half of them toward the western sea. . ." the Mediterranean, ". . .In both summer and winter it shall occur.
Verse 9 - "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be - 'The Lord is one,' and His name (is) one."
What may we learn from this horrible, natural disaster phenomena that has occurred in the Indian Ocean? I think there's probably something each of us personally can learn. We can view into the future and imagine how some of these prophetic events we've just read today could take place and what they might look like, at least in some form. But for now, we should mourn with those who mourn and pray for those who are suffering from loss and pain. But we may also be reminded of the awesome and eternal power of God, and how He will use the power of earthquakes to break the pride of men and ultimately spread His healing spirit all over the world.
Let's learn the lesson, and internalize it personally by looking at these events and seeing what God may be saying to each of us through such events.