Most of the world knows by now about the massive earthquake in Chile, just a little over a month after the devastating quake in Haiti. In sharp contrast with Haiti, Chile, a mountainous country, and situated on a fault line, earthquakes aren’t new, and building codes, at least in the larger cities are stringent. Haiti, as we all know now, is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, racked with political unrest, corruption, and a culture that for the most part believes in pagan rituals, like voodoo.
At the outset, I want to make it clear I’m not an expert on any of these subjects; just putting forth some observations.
Many Christians, no matter how closely (or not) they walk with God, believe we are living in the End Times, and that we are coming ever closer to Christ’s return to the Earth.
In Matthew 24:4-8, Christ responds to the disciples’ queries about signs of His return and the end of the world:
4. Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
5. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ, ‘ and will deceive many.
6. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Birth pains.
When a woman is about to go into labor, she begins having labor pains. They start out slowly, coming rather far apart, but as birth is imminent, they come closer and closer together. This is a perfect analogy for what Christ is talking about.
The world’s economy is still in bad shape. Many nations in the Middle East are preparing for war against Israel (actually this isn’t really new, they’ve been that way for a long time); the president of Iran has vowed they will ‘wipe Israel off the face of the map’.
Quite frankly, many of the prophecies concerning Christ’s return have come to pass. Not all, but quite a few. I recently watched a sermon by Greg Laurie, senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship titled “Signs of the End Times”. If you wish to view this, click the Media button and it’s listed in the ‘Essentials of Our Faith’ sermons. He does a great job explaining this topic.
Just a couple of days ago, I found this at a Christian forum:
This is a perfect example of God turning a bad thing into something good. 3000 confirmed conversion, 101 of which were confirmed voodoo priests. Nothing like a little earthquake to put a healthy fear of God into an unbeliever! Sorry, I’m not making light of this country’s woes. I pray for these people and am glad to see the government itself calling for fasting and prayer from it’s people, turning from their sinful ways and accepting God’s leadership.
I say Hallelujah!!! What other country would have the guts to stand up in front of the entire world and admit the existence and sovereignty of the One True Living God? Haiti was brought to her knees with a devastating earthquake and rose from the rubble with praise on her lips and repentance in her heart. May God richly bless Haiti and those who have come to help her recover and rebuild.
