Bible Gem 2334 – Lightning, Thunder, Earthquake, Hail (Revelation 15:1-8, 16:17-21)

¹Then I saw in heaven another marvellous event of great significance, seven angels holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God’s wrath to completion.  ²I saw what seemed like a glass sea mixed with fire and on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name, they were all holding harps that God had given them. 

³They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvellous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty, just and true are your ways, O King of the nations ⁴for who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy, because all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous deeds have been revealed”; ⁵after which I looked and beheld the Temple in heaven, God’s Tabernacle, was wide open, ⁶seven angels clothed in spotless white linen with gold sashes across their chests, who were holding the seven plagues brought forth from the Temple.

⁷One of the four living beings handed each of the seven angels a gold bowl filled with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. ⁸The Temple was filled with the smoke of God’s glory and power so that no one could enter the Temple until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.

Revelation 15:1-8[IVLV]

¹⁷Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, “It is finished!” ¹⁸Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed. And a great earthquake struck—the worst since people were placed on the earth. ¹⁹The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath. ²⁰And every island disappeared, and all the mountains were levelled. ²¹There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing as much as seventy-five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm.

Revelation 16:17-21 [NLT]

Is it true there will be earthquakes worse than anything ever experienced before on earth and hailstones heavier than your overweight airline baggage? Surely that’s hyperbole for poetic effect, Ian? Please give us your Geography Teacher’s take on this one.

Do you remember these two questions at the end of the last Gem?There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing as much as seventy-five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm.

“What are you doing now Ian? Why have you added the concluding verses of Chapter 16 related to the 7th bowl of judgement? Are you not going to cover bowls one to six? In some ways I am relieved.” A fictitious quote, one of my own creation.

I added Revelation 16:18 and 21 to the end of Gem 2332 as quotes. With this Gem I have thought of the verses from Revelation 16 as being a sneak glimpse at the ‘weather forecast’ for “tomorrow” – or “tomorrow, tomorrow”. In Indonesian, they reduplicate the word for tomorrow [besok] to become “besok besok” – that vague indeterminant day in the future when these predicted things will happen. The day after sending Gem 2333, I awoke to the news of an earthquake hitting Myanmar and causing a multi-storied tower in Thailand to collapse, trapping 110 workers in the rubble. It made me think of the verses still to come in Revelation 16, verses which talk of earthquakes hitting the cities of many nations and the end of New Zealand. So I thought I would add it to this Gem as the predictive snippet for tomorrow’s news.

I have dealt with the significance of ‘reverse thunder’ already. I presented you with the puzzle in Gems 2328 and 2329. I gave you a partial answer in 2331 but didn’t draw it out in detail, but then in Gem 2333 I presented you with a summary of eight pauses and delays, nine calls to repent through the book of Revelation and finally seven refusals on the part of those who belong to the world. Thus God bars the way into the holy place. Now let’s examine the nature of the judgements meted out. Do you see they escalate in severity and they are cyclic? It is not that the judgements are linear in historical sequence. The flow of time in Revelation is cyclic. Do you see how the judgements keep being repeated and ramping up each time they are mentioned? Think of them as cumulative rather than distinct linear occurrences, ordered in time. I believe the reason for the mention of the Song of Moses, but the song not being sung or quoted, is simply to remind us of the connection between what God did in saving Israel in Moses time. It’s parallel and a paradigm. God is pointing out by virtue of his grace and patience that He gave Pharaoh time to repent until He sealed him in the decision he (Pharaoh) had made. Do you see that same principle applies to Esau and those who belong to the world?

Notice too how the severity of the judgements are increasing. I have talked before about the increase in the frequency of earthquakes in Gem 1179 and my colleague, Michael Martens, added an interesting corollary in Gem 1180. Have a look too at Gem 2170 for another perspective, to which I must add the following. Since 1952 and the Kamchatka earthquake in Eastern Russia, there have been 5 earthquakes which measured 9.0 or greater on the Richter scale. Take a look at the table below.

The Five Worst Earthquakes According to Severity

Earthquake + Tsumani*	Severity (Richter Scale)	Death Toll
Kamchatka (Russia) 1952	9.0	10,000 – 15,000
Valdivia (Chile) 1960	9.5	6,000 +
Veldez (Alaska) 1964*	9.2 – 9.4	139
Sumatran-Andaman (Aceh) 2004*	9.1 – 9.3	227,898
Tohoku (Japan) 2011*	9.1	19,759 + 2,553 missing

In point of fact, the worst recorded earthquake in terms of the death toll during that time was an earthquake in Tangshan (China) in 1976 which ‘only’ measured 7.5 on the Richter scale and yet killed 655,000 and injured 700,000. The main shock struck at 3:42 am. Its epicentre was located within the southern part of the city of Tangshan, at a depth of only 15 km. In other words the epicentre of the earthquake was located within the city and it was relatively shallow. It is not necessarily the strength of an earthquake that determines the amount of deaths. The most severe of those in the table ‘only‘ killed 6,000 people. Rather it is a matter of the proximity to population centres and how close the epicentre is to the people living on the earth’s surface, as well as the time of day or night the earthquake strikes. The Tangshan earthquake registered as an XI on the Modified Mercalli Scale.^MMI What made it severe and killed so many was the fact it hit a heavily populated area and was relatively close to the surface.

Warning: Take particular note of Revelation 16:18-20:

And a great earthquake struck—the worst since people were placed on the earth. . . and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. . . ²⁰And every island disappeared, and all the mountains were levelled.

Revelation 16:18-20

‘The worst since people were placed on the earth’ sounds particularly ominous, which includes all earthquakes to ever hit the earth, way before earthquakes were ever measured on the Richter scale. ‘The cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble’ indicates targeted hits on population centres in MULTIPLE NATIONS. In other words, something akin to what happened on Friday March 28th in both Myanmar and Thailand as a result of ONE quake. The seventh bowl judgement will reduce many cities across multiple nations to rubble. Not only that but this seventh judgement will mean the end of my country, New Zealand. “Every island disappeared” means the disappearance of the North Island, the South Island, Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands. No, actually all 600 islands which constitute New Zealand will just simply disappear. How? It doesn’t bear thinking about for this Kiwi.

Imagine the effect of multiple tsunamis generated from the coastal cities hit by earthquakes at this time. The earthquakes in the above table marked with asterisks (*) are those with accompanying tsunamis.

The Severity of Hail

There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing as much as seventy-five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm.

Revelation 16:21

Location / Date	Size of Hailstone	Death Toll
Gopalganj (Bangladesh) April 4th 1986	2.25 lbs / 1 kg	92
Aurora (Nebraska) June 22nd 2003	1.65 lbs / 0.75 kg [5.7″ diameter]	Nil
Vivian (South Dakota) July 23rd 2010	1.9275 lbs / 0.87 kg [7″ diameter]	Nil

The hailstones which fell on states in the US could be avoided by the inhabitants of Aurora and Vivian by staying inside. The hailstones penetrated car windshields but not houses. The populace were able to shelter to protect themselves. That was not true for the inhabitants in Gopalganj who had no protection. Just imagine for a moment the effect of hailstones weighing 75 lbs or 34.019 kg. Need I remind you that hailstones fall in multiple clusters? I can’t imagine the updraft that is needed to carry a ball of ice weighing over 30 kg to the point where it gathers more ice and finally falls on the population below. Bearing in mind the hailstones follow the devastation caused by the grandaddy of all earthquakes before the hailstones. Yes, you are right, it doesn’t bear thinking about. Allow me to repeat again the question of Revelation 6:17.

On that day of wrath who can survive?

Please Dear Reader, don’t even go there! My advice: Don’t delay your personal repentance. As soon as you see the Seal Judgements aligning, Repent! Moreover, when God prompts you to repent, do so on the 1st opportunity; please don’t wait for the 9th!!!!!!!!! Ian

Do I hear you say you are waiting for the Rapture? Well, let’s discuss that.

Is the Rapture the escape clause many think it is?

I have already poked you, my readers, with the quote I used in Gem 2331 – Warning: You ride in this car at your own risk. The driver could vanish at any instant.(A sticker we used to have on the dashboard of our first car when I was first a Christian which led to many conversations with hitch hikers.) Among those who commented was Kevin S who wanted to know via FB if I still believed that and Kev W who asked in Gem 2325 “One question. Where does the rapture fit in? Lots of us have been taught that we Christians are going to be raptured out of here. A teaching that I have doubted for a long time. But it is there in the New Testament. What do we do with that? lgnore it or tear it out ???” While James Glover wrote the following comment in Gem 2327 – Clearly Jesus coming in the clouds to redeem His Bride, now fully called and chosen. In that event sometimes referred to as The Rapture, is a reasonable interpretation of this first harvest. The second harvest, being the Tares, will endure great persecution prior to the Final Tribulation that will come upon all the living inhabitants of the Earth. Either these Tares refuse the mark and suffer death, or they accept the mark and go through the tribulation.

Now all that remains is for me to state my position as to whether the Rapture is Pre-trib, Mid-trib or Post-trib. So bear with me for a while longer. Some of you are probably thinking now, “How many Gems will Ian take to explain his position?”

I will close off this discussion within this Gem. Promise.

Let’s investigate John’s position. After all, he is the one who recorded Revelation for us. I don’t believe John addresses the Rapture in either Revelation or in his Gospel. There is no hint of it in any of his works. Rather it seems to me that John’s overall perspective is that Christians, followers of Jesus, must persevere until the end. That has always been my position since working my way through the theories on the Rapture. Early on, I swallowed the Rapture belief as a new Christian and would use the car sticker to talk with hitchhikers about it. But like Kev above, one sticking point for me was how could God allow the mayhem that would ensue by vehicles and planes left without drivers when the Christians were taken up? I have maintained the following approach for years over the Pre – Mid – Post position. It is far better to believe we will be ‘taken out’ at the end and be surprised if it’s Pretribulation. Than to believe it’s Pretribulation only to find we go through the Tribulation. My gut feeling from all John has written in Revelation is that we who believe in Christ’s Return need to hold on to our faith firmly to the end. That is John’s main message throughout. Remember too that John was the only Disciple who was not martyred, all the others lost their lives because of their trust in Christ.

There are three portions of Revelation that pundits appeal to verses they believe hold links to the Rapture.

“Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.

Revelation 3:10

Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.

Revelation 4:1-2

Some see Rev 4:2 as indicating a snatching away. Those who hold to this view, appeal to the Greek verb [harpazō] – to be snatched away – but the verb is not found in these verses. Nowhere in Revelation is there a clear reference to rapture-like conditions.

Next the pundits appeal to John 14:1-3 as being a reference to the Rapture.

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

John 4:1-3

I think you will have to admit these proof verses are tenuous at best. They certainly don’t contain strong evidence for the concept Paul states strongly in 1 Thessalonians 4, nor the sense conveyed by Matthew 24:36-42. “One will be taken and one left behind.” The Left Behind fictional series has conditioned us to thinking the raptured one is the one taken. But many commentators believe the one to be judged is the one taken, appealing to the parallel of those taken in the flood are those who didn’t survive and will face judgement in end times.

Let’s zero in on the classic passage which holds the key to unravelling the Rapture debate.

¹⁵We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up^a in the clouds to meet^b the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

⁵And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. ⁶In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you. ⁷And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, ⁸in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. ¹⁰When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.

2 Thessalonians 1:5-10

⁵¹But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! ⁵²It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

The discussion over these verses centres around two verbs – caught up^a in the clouds and meet^b the LORD in the air. The first verb is [ἁρπάζω – harpazō] which has the idea of ‘snatched’ or ‘caught up’, ‘whisked away’, which of course lends itself to the idea of raptured. The second verb is interesting in the sense of its usage across the Bible. A number of commentators make the point that this verb is always used in the sense of meeting and returning back from whence the subject has come. See Matt 25:26, Acts 28:15 and the following references from the OT LXX which use the same verb [ἀπάντησις – apantēsis] as seen in Jdg 4:18; 11:31; 34; 19:3 and 1 Sam 13:10. The debate over the sense of this verb is the conclusion that we rise to meet the LORD in the air in order to return to earth. In other words, we meet the LORD in the air (clouds) and accompany Him as He descends to judge the earth. Thus we are not caught up in the air to go to heaven. We are caught up in the air in order to descend to earth for the Judgement.

Take note of the timing of when this happens. First, the dead in Christ will rise; then we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be harpazo’ed. ‘Raptured’ if you insist on using that word. But this can hardly be before the tribulation given the description above. I think it can’t even be considered as occurring in the middle of the tribulation. It is at the last trumpet! So when is that? Think about it! Technically there is not a sounding of the 7th trumpet, because the seventh trumpet blast has been replaced by the seven bowls. Thus the phrase “at the last trumpet” must be a term referring generally to the context of six trumpet blasts and the outpouring of seven bowls. Maybe James Glover’s point about this happening around the time of the first harvest seen in Revelation 14:14-15 is correct. In James’ words “In that event sometimes referred to as The Rapture, is a reasonable interpretation of this first harvest.” While the words used in the wider context don’t parallel ‘rapture wording’, it is certainly something to ponder. Perhaps even paralleled by both settings being cloudy. Yes, it’s cloudy I admit, excuse the pun; it’s deliberate. My take on it is that any rapture is likely to happen at the end of the tribulation more so than at the beginning or in the middle. Oh I know that is not appealing but I think it’s cathartic.

To answer your question Kevin Salibury: No I don’t believe in an escape clause via the rapture anymore; I haven’t for years.

Ian

The dead will rise first and then we who remain @ the time of His Appearing, His Parousia.

2 Thessalonians 1:7

Not everyone gets to know the day or the hour of their death. Let us use the time we have to repent. Let us pray for God to forgive our sins. If we are to die let us die with our hearts clean. [See Gem 2302 for a fuller account]

Leonard Ukulikiyinkindi

Don’t delay YOUR personal repentance. As soon as you see the Seal Judgements aligning, Repent! Moreover, when God prompts you to repent, do so on the 1st opportunity; please don’t wait for the 9th!!!!!!!!!

Ian