Threats Even Bigger than Terrorism

Though nearly 3,000 people were murdered in the Sept. 11 attacks, approximately 20,000 people died last August from a heat wave in Europe . And more than 40,000 people died in the Bam earthquake in Iran last December. Even these numbers could be eclipsed by even more devastating natural disasters.

BBC News recently reported: "Giant tsunamis [tidal waves], super volcanoes and earthquakes could pose a greater threat than terrorism, scientists claim. Global Geophysical Events, or 'Gee Gees,' as they are nick-named, are not being taken seriously enough, they say. The global community needs to monitor these risks, and develop strategies to cope in the face of a catastrophe" ( Aug. 9, 2004 ).

A follow up story the next day elaborated on the first of these threats: "A scientist has attacked the inaction over a threat from a dangerous volcano in the Canary Islands which could send a tidal wave crashing against the US ... If Cumbre Vieja volcano erupts, it may send a rock slab the size of a small island crashing into the sea, creating a huge tidal wave, or tsunami. Walls of water 300 feet high would travel to the US at the speed of a jet. Within three hours, the wave would swamp the east coast of Africa, within five hours it would reach southern England and within 12 it could hit America's east coast ... New York, Washington DC, Boston and Miami would be almost wiped out by the tsunami generated by the insecure rock falling into the Atlantic" (Aug. 10). "Eventually," the scientist said, "the whole rock will collapse into the water, and the collapse will devastate the Atlantic margin."

Another possibility was reported on the anniversary of Sept. 11 last year. "Lurking beneath Yellowstone National Park is one of the most destructive natural phenomena in the world: a massive super volcano. Only a handful exist in the world but when one erupts the explosion will be heard around the globe. The sky will darken, black acid rain will fall, and the Earth will be plunged into the equivalent of a nuclear winter. It could push humanity to the brink of extinction...The rumblings currently going on underneath Yellowstone should be a warning not just to those who plan to visit the National Park, but to the whole world. If the [recent] increased thermal activity is the precursor to an eruption event, we may well be on the brink of the biggest catastrophe the modern world has ever witnessed" (Online Journal).

These are earth-shattering possibilities—unimaginable catastrophes of, as the saying goes, biblical proportions. And the Bible does indeed warn of such calamities as the end of this present era of civilization approaches—climaxing in global catastrophes comparable to those described above. "And there will be... on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth..." (Luke 21:25-26).

The encouraging news is that, at the height of these destructive events foretold by God, His Son Jesus Christ will return with power to rule over all the earth, including what we call nature.

As the annual memorial of the Sept. 11 calamity approaches, it may surprise you to learn that God has ordained a memorial celebration to commemorate, even before the fact, the time when Christ will return to rescue us from all the calamities humanity is subject to because of its sins.

Called the Feast of Trumpets, one of the seven annual festivals of God listed in Leviticus 23, it is observed this year from sunset Sept. 15 to sunset Sept. 16.

God wants us to have our focus in the right place, to put our trust in Him as the ultimate source of protection and, more importantly, eternal salvation. His Holy Days help us to do that.