As for
earthquakes, the Scripture says that at His wrath the earth shall tremble (Jeremiah
10:10).
It says also that in the days of Uzziah there was a great earthquake (Zechariah
14:5) which had been predicted by God through the prophet Amos against Israel
because of the wickedness which held sway among the people of Israel: “Hear
this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to
fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the
sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel
great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for
silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the
wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never
forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one
mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it
shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt” (Amos
8:4-8). I remind you that before the coming of the Lord there will be a great
earthquake that God will send against this evil world, which will be the
greatest earthquake ever occurred on earth, as it is written: “And the
seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice
out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.: And there
were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake,
such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and
so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of
the nations fell: and great Babylon
came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:17-19).
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As for
floods, I remind you that in the days of Noah God sent so much rain upon the earth
that the water covered all the high mountains under the entire heavens and all
men were destroyed. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained
alive. The animals also were all destroyed; only the animals which were in
the ark of Noah remained alive. Therefore, just as that flood was a judgement
sent by God upon the wicked people who lived at that time, so nowadays the
local floods also which cause many damages and often many victims are
judgements of God. In the book of Job it is written that God “withholdeth the
waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the
earth” (Job 12:15),
and that God “loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning
through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole
earth to do whatever he commands them. He brings the clouds to punish men, or
to water his earth and show his love” (Job 37:11-13 - NIV). Obviously, since
the clouds pour out rain upon the places which God wants to water (and they
pour out the quantity of rain predetermined by God), drought also is a
judgement of God. With regard to this, I remind you that in the days of the
prophet Elijah, God did not send rain upon the earth for three years and six
months in order to punish the children of Israel for their
wickedness.
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Lightning (which
strikes people) is a judgement of God, for it is written: “He fills his hands
with lightning and commands it to strike its mark” (Job 36:32 – NIV. The
Italian Bible Riveduta Version reads ‘gli avversari’ that is, ‘the adversaries’
instead of ‘its mark’).
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Also the
great hail, which sometimes falls on men, is a judgement of God, for one of
the plagues God brought on Egypt was hail,
as it is written: “Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain
a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the
foundation thereof even until now. Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle,
and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall
be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come
down upon them, and they shall die” (Exodus 9:18-19). With regard to hail,
some months ago big ice-blocks fell upon various places of the earth, men
were frightened and many wondered what they were: some even came to the
conclusion that it was a joke! However, we know that it was God who sent
those big ice-blocks upon the earth. With regard to this subject, it is
interesting to notice that among the questions God asked Job when God rebuked
him was also this: “Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have
reserved against [for] the time of trouble, against [for] the day of battle
and war?” (Job 38:22-23)
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