"There shall be Earthquakes in Diverse Places"

By Patriarch John Williams
(Founder/President of International Institute of Church Management of NY/INDIA)

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THE SIGNS OF THE END TIMES
We are living in a day in which we hear about, witness and experience, in various places, the signs of 'Earthquakes' which have a lot of significance, according to the Bible, particularly as a sign of the 'End Times'.  It is the evidence of the fact that we are living in the closing times of Human History.  Several signs of the 'End Times', were mentioned by Jesus Christ to his disciples, but in this article the focus will be on the sign of Earthquakes.  Some of the important signs of the end times are listed below:

Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 24: 

• There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 

• Take heed that no man deceive you.

• For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 

• Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.

• For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against nation, and kingdom against kingdom

• There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

• All these are the beginning of sorrows

• Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 

• Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

• Iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 

• The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come

• Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 

• Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house.

• Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

• Woe unto them that are with child in those days!

• For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

• If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 

• For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

• Now learn a parable of the fig tree;  When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 

• Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 

• Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 

• For as in the days of Noah, that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. 

• Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

• Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 

THE WORLD NEWS

Through the news media, we are daily bombarded with the news on every sign that Jesus mentioned as the indication for us to recognize and know that the world is going to come to an end very soon.  Not a day passes without anything being mentioned about the signs of the End Times through some News Media.  We also hear more about these kinds of things than anything else.  Therefore, it is important for us to pay special attention to prepare ourselves to meet Jesus when he will return back to us, as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, to rule this world literally, along with the saints of God.

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS AND THE EVENTS THAT WILL PRECEDE AND FOLLOW

In order to make it easier for the readers to grasp the series of events, which will take place preceding the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Events that will follow after his return, are listed below in simple language for easy understanding.  There are volumes of Books on the subject of Eschatology, Second Coming of Jesus, The End Times, etc.  that have been written by Bible Scholars, after much research and study of the Bible, with specific Bible References.  This article, on the other hand, is being written in simple and common terms so that any one can comprehend and relate to this subject. 

THE EVENTS PRECEDING THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS

Concerning the list of things that Jesus mentioned as the End Time Signs to his disciples, most of them are happening now in our times, and their magnitude is increasing more and more.  Perhaps one prophecy that Jesus gave in Matthew Chapter 24  has not been fulfilled 100%.  However, progress has been made very rapidly and progressively.  Those who are totally dedicated and involved in the field of Missiology can provide precise figures and statistics about the percentage or the specific number of people who have not heard the gospel preached to them as yet, in countries, states, language groups, tribes, etc.  Every attempt is being made in our times to reach the un-reached with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with more vigor and determination. 

• The Rapture of the Saints
  As mentioned in I Thessalonians Chapter 4;16-17, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the arch angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord". 
  
  In I Corinthians Chapter 15, it is mentioned about the dead in Christ, which shall rise first, referring to as a resurrection of the dead.  Further, in the same chapter it is mentioned that people are buried as a natural body but they are raised as spiritual bodies.  This spiritual and glorified body will be immortal and incorruptible. 
  

• Rewards of Good Works 
  After the dead in Christ rise up first and the saints who are alive on earth at the time will be caught up together with Christ in the mid-air where they will be rewarded for their good works. At this time there will be a great Banquet in the Mid-Air. 

The other prophecies in the Bible concerning the other events that should follow before the Return of Jesus are listed below for a quick review, assessment and appraisal of the current status:

• The Ten Horns mentioned in the Book of Daniel about ten European nations entering into a treaty to form what is called today as ECC to pool together their resources and constitute one central government which will have enormous power to impact the whole world.  

• Three and a Half Years of Peace during the reign of Anti-Christ, which will begin when the Anti-Christ appears and reveals himself as Jesus Christ. 

• The rebuilding of the Temple of Solomon for which according to the reports, all the building materials necessary including the stones have been cut to sizes along with a plan to rebuild it in 3 days on the very site where there is currently a mosque. 

• The Order issued by the Anti-Christ to worship the Beast will be in the middle of the seven year span of the Tribulation at which time, the Jews will recognize the fact that they have been deceived by Anti-Christ, and will refuse to worship the Beast, because of the commandments of God from the time of Moses not to worship idols. 

• A great slaughter of those who refused to bow down to the Statue will take place at this time. 

• The Prophecy of Desert blossoming is also being fulfilled now and this is evident from the fact that roses and other flowers are exported in large quantities to Europe and other places from the Middle East. 

• The Prophecy of Fruits being yielded in Lebanon, which is written in the book of Isaiah is now being fulfilled in our times which is reflected by the fact that enormous quantities of citrus fruits are exported from the Middle East to other parts of the world. 

• The Gog and the Magog, the terms that are used to refer to the Soviet Union, has already made many invasions towards the south and conquered the Eastern European countries and will be according to the Bible, invading the Middle East with tanks in the desert north of the Middle East to fight the Battle of Armageddon. 

• The prophecy about the Eagles encircling the Desert is being fulfilled by the recent discovery of a new species of eagles appearing in that area in large numbers is something which the scientists are not able to explain.  The Biblical purpose of this event is to get ready to eat the corpses of those who are going to die in the great battle that is going to take place.  

• The evidence of the Prophecy of the Yellow Race Marching from the East [China] to the Middle East can be seen in the completion of roads, which have been already made for a stretch of thousands of miles connected Peking to the Middle East over the insurmountable Himalayas. 

• The Seven Letters addressed to the Seven Churches [Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyathra, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea] are recorded in the book of Revelation. 

• The Seven Seal Judgment mentioned in the book of Revelation, will be fulfilled. 

• The Seven Trumpet Judgment mentioned in the book of Revelation, will be fulfilled as indicated below;

        1. Hail and fire mingled with blood being cast upon the earth and the third part of trees and all green 
            grass being burnt up.
       2. A great mountain burning with fire and being cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea 
           becoming blood, the third part of the creatures in the sea dying, and the third part of the ships 
           being destroyed. 
       3. A great star burning as a lamp and falling upon the rivers, resulting in water becoming worm wood 
           causing men to die when they consume it.  
       4. One third of the sun being smitten and the third part of the moon and stars as well resulting in one 
            third of the globe getting utterly dark followed by a loud voice coming from an angel saying 'Woe, 
            woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth'. 
       5. A star fell from heaven onto the earth and the fifth angel was given the key to the bottomless pit.  
           John the writer of the book of Revelation, saw this angel open the bottomless pit from which arose 
           smoke like coming from a great furnace and the sun was darkened by this smoke.  Further he saw 
           locusts coming out of the earth, which was given power as scorpions of the earth.  These scorpion 
           like locusts were instructed not to kill the men with a seal on their foreheads but to torment them for 
           five months. 
        6. The sixth angel was instructed to slay the third part of men. 
        7. The seventh angel proclaimed that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our 
             Lord and he shall reign forever and ever. 

• The Seven Vial Judgment mentioned in the book of Revelation, will be fulfilled as indicated below:

    1. Grievous sore upon those who worshiped the image 
    2. Poured out a vial upon the sea, which caused the sea to become as the blood of the dead man 
        causing every living soul in the sea to die. 
    3. The next vial caused the waters of rivers and fountains to become blood.
    4. This vial poured upon the sun, which gave the sun the power to scorch all men with fire. 
    5. The next vial caused full darkness to cover the earth, at this time, the people blasphemed God 
         because of the severe pain and sores but they repented not for their wicked deeds. 
    6. The sixth angel poured a vial upon the river Euphrates which caused it to dry up, so that the way of 
         the Kings of the East might be prepared.  Three unclean spirits like frog came out of the mouth of 
         dragons and the mouth of the breast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, who were getting 
         ready to gather to fight in the Battle of Armageddon. 
      7. A great voice came from heaven like thunders and lightening, followed by great earthquakes which 
          caused the great city divide into three parts at which time, great hail fell upon the people from 
          heaven and every hail stone weighed about a talent, when the men again blasphemed God.    

Three and a Half Years of Great Tribulation will occur after the true identity of the Anti-Christ is revealed as mentioned earlier. 

• The Appearance of Anti-Christ
  The Anti-Christ who was believed to be Christ himself, because he brought peace to the world and unified all the countries with his unprecedented leadership skills and power, was discovered by the people as the Anti-Christ, particularly when at the middle of the seven year tribulation, rebuild the temple, erected a statue and commanded the people to bow down and worship it. 

• The Mark of the Beast 
  As mentioned in the book of Revelation in Chapter 13, during the reign of the Anti-Christ everyone was ordered to receive the mark of the Beast either on their right hand or on their forehead and a proclamation was made, that no one could sell or buy anything unless they had the mark of the beast.  In the same passage of the bible, it is mentioned that the number of the beast was '666'.  In our times, a system is already being developed to implant a chip under the skin, which can be scanned only by the computers for the purpose of making any financial transactions.  Further, a system of world citizenship is being developed now to give an identity which can be detected through the eyes of the individual by the laser beam. 

• Elijah and Moses Coming Back
  As prophesied in the Bible, another significant event that will take place in the end times will be the appearance of Moses and Elijah, who will preach the gospel and be killed as martyrs. 

• The Return of Christ with the Saints of God 
  At the end of the Seven Year period of Tribulation, the saints of God will return with Christ back to earth to reign and rule with Christ for 1000 years. 

• Satan is bound and cast into the bottomless pit 
  During this millennial rule of Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit.

• The New Jerusalem 
  The city that God is building now with mansions for every saint of God, which is claimed to be slowly descending from heaven to earth even now, will be called a New Jerusalem from which the saints of God will be ruling and reigning the earth for 1000 years.  During this time, there will be Peace and Righteousness on this earth. 

• The Great White Throne Judgment
  At the end of the millennial rule, there will be a White Throne Judgment in which Christ will cast the sinners into the Lake of Fire. 

• The New Heaven and the New Earth
  After this final judgment, God will create a new heaven and earth for the saints of God where they will live eternally in the presence of God. 

CONCLUSION

The main purpose of this article is to give a gist to the believers and others concerning the End Times and the end of the world, which will take place as a series of events which are described above.  Sufficient warnings and adequate details of these end time signs and events are clearly outlined in this article to get a general idea about it.  This article has not been written for those Bible Scholars, Theologians or even the unbelievers who would like to find ample and indisputable evidence from acceptable original documents concerning the sequence of events that would take place at the end times and way the life on earth will be  finally wrapped up with the judgment and due penalty for the sinners and rewards for the saints. 

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