Natural disasters

1
Natural disasters
2
Wave of devastation

• Headline
• Tsunami among world's worst disasters
• Headline BBC online 30 December
• Event
• The massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean has been
  described by relief experts as one of the worst
  natural disasters in recent history. With a death
  toll so far of well over 100,000, the wave is
  particularly notable for the extent of its reach,
  from Indonesia in the east, to the coast of
  Africa, some 7,000km (4,000 miles) away.
• The highest death toll from a tsunami until now
  happened in 1896, when 27,000 people were drowned
  following an earthquake off the coast of Japan,
  according to the Guinness Book of Records.
• Major Natural Disasters
• 2004 Asian quake disaster - toll so far exceeds
  123,000
• 2003 Earthquake in Bam, Iran - official
  casualty figure is 26,271
• 1976 Earthquake in Tangshan, China, kills
  242,000
• 1970 Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 500,000
• 1923 Tokyo earthquake kills 140,000
• 1887 China's Yellow River breaks its banks in
  Huayan Kou killing 900,000
• 1896 Tsunami kills 27,000 in Japan
• 1815 Volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora on
  Indonesia's Sumbawa Island kills 90,000
• 1556 Earthquake in China kills an estimated
  830,000

3
Wave of devastation

• Comment
• Immediately we think of the verse in Luke 2125
  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the
  moon, and in the stars and upon the earth
  distress of nations, with perplexity the sea and
  the waves roaring. We have witnessed surely a
  great sign that the return of our Lord Jesus is
  near. We have shown in the WWW how that the sea
  and waves roaring are symbolic of the peoples of
  the world in tumult. With the recent elections in
  the Ukraine with millions on the streets the
  newspapers said it was a sea of people.
• But we should also appreciate that these words
  are not just symbolic but literal as well. We
  have see recently signs in the sun with the
  greatest solar flares ever seen this time last
  year. And now we see the literal sea and waves
  roaring and mens hearts fearing for looking
  after those things which are coming on the world.
• Using a concordance this morning I have found the
  following fascinating link.
• Heman was a Kohathite (1 Chron 633). He was one
  of the temple singers under David and Solomon. He
  played musical instruments including cymbals of
  brass (1 Chron 1519). Heman wrote Psalm 88
  talking of the judgments of God. He wrote verse 7
  thou hast afflicted with all thy waves. So this
  man whose job it was to play cymbals of brass
  talks of God afflicting with WAVES. So what??
• Consider again Luke 2125 the sea and WAVES
  ROARING.. The word roaring (Strongs 2278) is
  used one other time in the NT. 1 Cor 131
  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
  angels, and have not charity, I am become as
  soundinglt2278gt brass, or a tinkling cymbal. The
  link is clear. God judges using waves. Heman who
  played brass cymbals said so. The world HAS
  become as sounding brass and the waves are
  beginning roar God is judging the world.

4
Archbishop questions existence of God

• Headline
• Archbishop of Canterbury
  This
  has made me question God's existenceHeadline DT
  2 January
• Event
• The Asian tsunami disaster should make all
  Christians question the existence of God, Dr
  Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury,
  writes in The Telegraph today.
• In a deeply personal and candid article, he says
  "it would be wrong" if faith were not "upset" by
  the catastrophe which has already claimed more
  than 150,000 lives.
• Prayer, he admits, provides no "magical
  solutions" and most of the stock Christian
  answers to human suffering do not "go very far in
  helping us, one week on, with the intolerable
  grief and devastation in front of us".
• Comment
• Dr Rowan Williams is the head of the Church of
  England and represents 70 million Anglicans
  around the world. He obviously has no
  understanding of the following. The events we
  have witnessed are 1) a sign of the nearness of
  Christs return, 2) a reminder that the whole
  creation groans in travail its out of joint,
  and will be until man is reconciled to God, and
  3) a wake up call to all who will heed it of the
  mighty power of God and our need to repent while
  there is time, lest we all likewise perish.
• Bible Quote Luke 13 when a tower fell killing 18
  people Jesus said
• 5 I tell you, Nay but, except ye repent, ye
  shall all likewise perish.

5
Tensions flare in quake countries

• Headline
• Tensions flare in quake countries Headline BBC
  online 7 January
• Event
• Fresh tensions between government and rebels in
  the two
  countries worst hit by the tsunami
  disaster threaten to undermine aid efforts.
  In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers have warned of
  serious consequences if government soldiers are
  not withdrawn from welfare camps. They also
  continue to complain that little aid has been
  sent to rebel areas, despite government denials.
• In Indonesia, the government and rebels have
  accused each other of attacks.
• Comment
• Already we see the beginnings of political
  consequences of the Tsunami disaster. Let us not
  forget that God flooded the world in the days of
  Noah because of the violence. Let us not forget
  either that Sri Lanka and Indonesia are 2
  extremely violent and corrupt countries. For
  nearly 20 years Sri Lanka was scarred by a bitter
  civil war arising out of ethnic tensions.
  Indonesia has seen unprecedented turmoil in
  recent years, facing first the Asian financial
  crisis, then the fall of President Suharto after
  32 years in office and bloody inter-ethnic and
  religious conflict and unending corruption
  scandals.
  
  So we have seen violence and
  corruption in these nations and now we see a
  flood!
• Bible Quote Genesis 6 11 The earth also was
  corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
  violence.

6
Northern Europe shaken by storms

• Headline
• Northern Europe shaken by storms Headline BBC
  online 10 January
• Event
• Countries across northern Europe are recovering
  from a battering by storms which left at least 14
  people dead. Hundreds of thousands of homes in
  Scandinavia, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were
  left without power. Seven people died in Sweden,
  four in Denmark and three in northern England,
  where flooding forced thousands to leave their
  homes.
• Meteorologists say that the storm was the worst
  to hit the Baltic states in 40 years.
• Airports, rail networks, bridges and roads were
  closed and dozens of North Sea ferry routes were
  cancelled.
• In southern Sweden, two nuclear reactors were
  temporarily shut down and 220,000 homes in the
  region were without electricity.
• Comment
• The worst storms in 40 years. 3 weeks ago we had
  the worst earthquake in 40 years. We are nearing
  the end of course of the 40 year period when (in
  1967) Israel recaptured the whole of Jerusalem
  and (I believe) the generation (40 years) who saw
  these things will not pass away. See words of
  Christ below.
  
  We are fast approaching the
  end - Christ will soon return.
• Bible Quote Luke 21 32 This generation shall not
  pass away, till all be fulfilled.
  generation 40 years see Numbers 3213

7
Billions affected by disasters

• Headline
• Billions affected by disasters
• Headline BBC online 17 January
• Event
• At least 2.5 billion people have been affected by
  natural disasters
  over the past 10 years - an increase of
  60 over the previous
  decade, the UN says. More than 478,000
  people were killed
  by disasters such as
  earthquakes, floods and hurricanes, from 1994 to
  2003.
• The most vulnerable people are those living in
  developing nations, it says.
• Comment
• There are about 6 billion people on the planet at
  the moment. If 2.5 billion have been affected by
  natural disasters this means more than one in
  three have been impacted. We are warned by Jesus
  that these things would happen. The word
  earthquake in the verse below is the Greek word
  seismos and it can also mean a tempest. In fact
  in Matthew 824 when Jesus is in the boat during
  a great storm, the word tempest is this same
  word seismos. We should therefore be looking
  for diverse earthquakes and great tempests /
  storms as well as famines and plagues. All these
  things are on the increase. We should be looking
  up at this time for our redemption draws near.
• Bible Quote Luke 21
• 11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers
  places, and famines, and pestilences and fearful
  sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

8
Indonesian death toll rises to 166,000

• Headline
• Indonesia's tsunami deaths soarHeadline BBC
  online 19 January
• Event
• Indonesia's health ministry has raised the figure
  for the number of people killed by the Asian
  tsunami disaster to more than 166,000. The latest
  figure is more than 50,000 higher than the
  previous total issued by the ministry. The
  announcement raises the global death toll to
  about 220,000. Most of the new tally of deaths
  came from the provinces of Aceh and North
  Sumatra, which were directly in the tsunami's
  path when it hit. About 800,000 people were made
  homeless in Aceh and North Sumatra as a result of
  the disaster.
• Comment
• The epicentre of the greatest earthquake in the
  last 40 years causing the Asian tsunami was close
  to Aceh a province in Indonesia. Aceh has been
  wracked by extreme levels of violence and
  corruption in recent years. What many do not
  realise is that when the waves struck, Aceh had
  been closed to most foreign organizations and the
  international media for 18 months. Humans Rights
  Watch describe the most horrific accounts of
  violence I have ever read. On the 7th December 04
  , just weeks before the earthquake, the
  Indonesian authorities arrested the governor of
  Aceh for alleged involvement in corruption. God
  flooded the earth before because of these things.
• Bible Quote Genesis 6 11 The earth also was
  corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
  violence.

9
Iranian earthquake

• Headline
• Hundreds killed in Iranian quake
• Headline BBC online 22 February
• Event
• A strong earthquake has hit dozens of villages in
  southern Iran,
  killing at
  least 500 people and hurting many more. The
  6.4-magnitude quake struck just before 0600 (0230
  GMT) and was centred near Zarand in Kerman
  province, 740km (460 miles) from the capital,
  Tehran.
• Some 30,000 people in about 40 villages spread
  over a wide, mountainous area have been affected.
  
• Casualties are expected to rise in the province
  and heavy rain is hampering rescue work.
• Comment
• Another earthquake in Iran. We saw in October
  2003 a major earthquake in Bam killing 30,000
  people. Then in May 2004 there was another
  earthquake in northern Iran. Now this week yet
  another earthquake in southern Iran killing over
  500. We know that Iran is being stirred up
  (Isaiah 1317) and will join Gog in invading
  Israel. Maybe these earthquakes are part of Gods
  plan to stir up Iran. God says (in relation to
  Israel see verse below) that when people defile
  themselves the land eventually vomits out her
  inhabitants. The physical land in Iran is
  restless. The people too are restless. The
  leaders in Iran want the destruction of Israel.
  Ezekiel 38 makes clear, Persia (Iran) will invade
  Israel.
• Bible Quote Leviticus 18 25 And the land is
  defiled therefore I do visit the iniquity
  thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out
  her inhabitants.

10
Devastation of Amazon rainforest

• Headline
• Destruction of Amazon rainforest at 10-year high
• Headline DT May 20
• Event
• The destruction of the Amazon rainforest reached
  its highest level for a decade last year, with
  the equivalent of six football pitches being
  flattened every day.
• The destruction was nearly six per cent higher
  than the previous year, according to figures
  released by the Brazilian government.
• Satellite photographs showed that ranchers,
  soybean farmers and loggers burned and cut down
  more than 10,000 square miles of rainforest in
  the 12 months to August 2004.
• Comment
• The loss of 26,000 sq km means almost a fifth of
  the entire Amazon has now been cleared. The
  Amazon accounts for more than half of the world's
  remaining rainforests.
• They are thought to limit the greenhouse effect
  of global warming by storing carbon and hence
  reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the
  atmosphere. We
  see mankind destroying the physical and the
  spiritual in these last days.
• Bible Quote Revelation 11 18 thy wrath is come,
  and the time of the dead, that they should be
  judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto
  thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and
  them that fear thy name, small and great and
  shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

11
Tornado in Birmingham

• Headline
• TORNADO And this is in Birmingham!
• Headline Daily Mail July 29
• Event
• A tornado has hit Birmingham injuring 19 people -
  three seriously.
  It lasted for just four
  minutes but wreaked havoc across Small Heath,
  Hall Green, Sparkbrook and Kings Heath areas of
  the city. It destroyed part of a supermarket,
  uprooted trees and damaged more than a hundred
  homes.  Weather experts believe it's one of the
  worst ever to hit Britain.
• Comment
• 4 minutes does not sound very long, but I imagine
  for those caught up in 130mph winds it seemed a
  lot longer. Following the terror attacks in
  Britain a few weeks ago things have changed.
  Britain has changed. There is growing sense of
  unease and fear. The newspapers are full of this.
  There is an enemy within. What has this tornado
  to do with this time of fear and terror? Well
  these things are connected. Not by me but by
  Jesus himself. He speaks in Luke 21 of a time
  when mens hearts would fail them for fear. He
  also says that the powers of heaven shall be
  shaken. The word shaken according to a
  concordance is a motion produced by wind, storms
  and waves. And so at the very time we have fear
  in Britain we see one of the largest tornados
  ever seen in the UK. We all need to take heed of
  the verse that follows verse 26 below.
• Bible Quote Luke 2126 Mens hearts failing them
  for fear....looking after those things which are
  coming on the earth for the powers of heaven
  shall be shaken.

12
Forest fires and floods - Europe

• Headline
• Forest fires and floods sweep across Europe
• Headline DT August 24
• Event
• As thousands of firemen and soldiers fought
  dozens of wildfires across the Iberian Peninsula,
  more than 20 people were reported to have been
  killed in central and south-eastern Europe after
  days of torrential rain.
• Emergency services from Portugal to Bulgaria were
  over-stretched as they struggled to save lives
  threatened by freak summer rains that caused
  widespread flooding and landslides, and arsonists
  exploiting parched countryside.
• Aircraft from several European countries helped
  to fight Portugals worst forest fires on record.
  At least 14 people have been killed in the fires.
• Comment
• Europe plagued by fire and flood simultaneously.
  Floods have caused havoc in Germany, Switzerland
  and Austria. It has been so severe in Bulgaria
  that the storms are threatening their national
  economy. At least 18 people have been killed
  there alone in floods and lightening strikes.
  Both fire and storm are mentioned in Psalm 83.
  The Psalmist is calling on God to judge those who
  want to destroy Israel. See v 4. We know that
  Europe (the beast) will try to destroy Israel one
  day. We know as well that the beast and the false
  prophet will symbolically be destroyed by fire.
  Rev 1920
• Bible Quote Psalm 83 14 as the flame setteth
  the mountains on fire So persecute them with thy
  tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
  See context!

13
Hurricane Katrina (event)

• Headline
• (1) New Orleans 'swept back to Stone Age
• (2) Anarchy in the USA gunfights and
  
  looting on streets of New Orleans
• (3) Hurricane hits just before homosexual event
• Headlines DT August 31 Sept 2
• Event
• (1)The people of New Orleans were warned last
  night that the destructive fury of Hurricane
  Katrina and its terrifying aftermath could change
  their city for ever.
• Katrina tore through the area, submerging entire
  neighbourhoods and leaving many dead. And yet,
  ominously, every hour that passed suggested that
  the worst was yet to come. The city's
  infrastructure - its power, water supplies and
  sewage - have been almost totally wrecked. The
  area will be uninhabitable for months.
• (2) The New Orleans Convention Centre was meant
  to be a refuge. Instead, it was another branch of
  hell. The street outside, narrowly above the
  flood waters that have drowned New Orleans, smelt
  of urine and faeces. It was choked with soiled
  nappies, old bottles and rubbish. At least seven
  bodies were scattered along the roadside.
• (3) Hurricane Katrina walloped New Orleans just
  two days before the annual homosexual "Southern
  Decadence" festival was to begin in the town.
  Southern Decadence has a history of "filling the
  French Quarters section of the city with drunken
  homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public
  streets and bars," says a statement from the
  Philadelphia Christian organization.. This year's
  festival, which drew 125,000 revelers last year,
  was set to begin today in the Big Easy and run
  through Monday.

14
Hurricane Katrina (comment)

• Comment
• Reports have said that this is the worst natural
  disaster in Americas history. Coming only months
  after the tsunami another immense natural
  disaster never seen before.
• It has astounded many that this mighty nation,
  with so much wealth at its disposal seemed so
  helpless before and after Katrinas destructive
  forces. Anarchy, lawlessness, rape have followed.
  We have witnessed terrible things. Let us not
  forget though that man has brought much of this
  upon himself both literally and symbolically.
• New Orleans established by the French in the
  early 1700s was a city built many feet below sea
  level, between a great lake and a huge river. To
  protect the city great levy's were built. It was
  madness to build there, just as it is for those
  cities built on active fault lines! But so often
  it is mans greed that overcomes all logic.
• On top of this folly we also see a city in the
  grip of depraved sin. Is it not absolutely
  amazing that this city was about to celebrate a
  festival of DECADENCE!! The dictionary definition
  of decadence is A process, condition, or period
  of deterioration or decline, as in morals or art
  decay. In previous years at this festival
  homosexuals publicly engaged in sex acts. This
  surely brings to mind Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus
  tells us clearly Luke 1729 that it will be like
  this just before he returns. He tells us clearly
  that the sea and waves would roar just before he
  returned. And then as if to confirm these things
  are divinely appointed we read in our readings on
  the very day the hurricane struck the words below
  in Jeremiah.
• As the world looks on stupefied in horror - let
  us now look up - our redemption is near.
• Bible Quote Jeremiah 5116 "When he uttereth his
  voice, there is a multitude of waters in the
  heavens and he causeth the vapours to ascend
  from the ends of the earth he maketh lightnings
  with rain, and bringeth for the wind out of his
  treasures."

15
Hard times for the Big Easy

• Headline
• Hard times for the Big Easy
• Headline The Times September 2
• Event
• New Orleans holds a unique place in the American
  imagination because, in truth, it is a place
  apart from America. In a country inclined to
  puritanism, the Big Easy is the almost
  Mediterranean enclave where America came to drink
  and eat too much, to stay up late and behave
  badly.
• People who dont fit with the rest of America
  gravitate here. This city is the flagrant vice
  capital of the civilised world, declares
  Ignatius J. Reilly in John Kennedy Tooles
  Confederacy of Dunces. This city is famous for
  its gamblers, prostitutes, exhibitionists,
  anti-Christs, alcoholics, sodomites, drug
  addicts, fetishists, onanists, pornographers,
  frauds, jades, litterbugs and lesbians, all of
  whom are only too well protected by graft. No
  doubt, even now, some Bible-thumpers will be
  hailing divine retribution for decades of
  decadence, as Sodom-by-Sea is swamped.
• Comment
• Sin City as New Orleans is known is now empty.
  Deserted and destroyed. I had not realised the
  reputation of this city until I began to read
  about it. I know all cities are godless but this
  one seemed to have a reputation for the
  glorification of sin. It was a place for good
  times for living today for tomorrow we die. It
  is surely a warning to the world that the end of
  all things is nigh. Will they take heed?
• Bible Quote Matt 24 38 before the flood they
  were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
  marriage, until the day that Noah entered into
  the ark,

16
Gaza Katrina

• Headline
• (1) Did God send Katrina as revenge over
  Gaza?Headlines Israelinationalnews.com September
  7
• (2) Eerie silence descends on New Orleans
• Headlines BBC online September 4
• Event
• (1) "Katrina is a consequence of the destruction
  of Gaza's Gush Katif slate of Jewish
  communities with America's urging and
  encouragement," Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Lewin,
  executive director of the Rabbinic Congress for
  Peace, told WND. "The U.S. should have
  discouraged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
  from implementing the Gaza evacuation rather than
  pushing for it and pressuring Israel into
  concessions."
• The Gaza withdrawal was backed by the U.S.
  government. Some Middle East analysts and senior
  Israeli politicians entirely attributed the
  evacuation plan to pressure coming from the
  American establishment. "I welcome the
  disengagement plan," stated Bush immediately
  following the announcement of the Gaza
  evacuation. "These steps will mark real progress
  toward realizing the vision I set forth in June
  2002 of two states living side by side in peace
  and security."
• (2)The street outside New Orleans convention
  centre is littered with the debris of thousands
  of people now evacuated from the city. Chairs,
  overflowing bin liners, empty plastic water
  bottles, barbeque grills, sandbags and stained
  mattresses line the street for hundreds of
  metres. They tell a grim story of how people were
  living until very recently in a city where
  lawlessness is rife.

17
Gaza Katrina

• Comment
• As I watched the handcuffed people being taken
  from New Orleans this week it began to ring bells
  in my mind. Almost déjà vu. Wasnt this similar
  in some ways to what we had seen only one week
  before with Israel dragging out unwilling Jews
  from the West Bank and Gaza. The more you stop
  and think about it the more similarities there
  are. We need to remember that it was America that
  pushed Israel into withdrawal from the parts of
  Israel. It was, according to Bush, going to bring
  peace and security And then 7 days after the
  pullout Katrina hit the US.
• Consider these remarkable coincidences.
• Close to 10,000 Jews were expelled from their
  homes in the Gaza Strip and parts of northern
  Samaria. Katrina's death toll is now expected to
  reach about 10,000.
• Gaza's Jewish communities were located in
  Israel's southern coastal region America's
  southern coastal region now lies in ruins.
• The U.S. government called on Louisiana residents
  to evacuate their homes ahead of the storm. The
  Israeli government, backed by statements from
  U.S. officials, demanded Gaza residents evacuate
  their homes.
• Similarity in scenes Many residents of Jewish
  Gaza climbed to their rooftops to escape the
  threat of expulsion, while residents of the Gulf
  Coast climbed on their own rooftops to protect
  themselves from the rising waters
• The day Katrina hit, Israel began carrying out
  what was termed the most controversial aspect of
  the Gaza withdrawal the uprooting of bodies
  from the area's Jewish cemetery. There have been
  media reports of corpses floating around in
  flooded New Orleans regions.
• Bible Quote Numbers 33 53 for I have given you
  the land to possess it.

18
Sunspots threaten satellites

• Headline
• Sunspots on the horizon threaten to cripple
  satellites
• Headline The Times September 13
• Event
• A sunspot that at its peak has been five times
  larger than Earth is likely to release fresh
  solar flares this week that could cripple
  satellites and black out radio communications.
  Sunspot 798 has already fired seven enormous
  X-class eruptions of radiation at Earth since
  September 7, including one monstrous flare on
  Wednesday that was measured as the fourth largest
  on record.
• A new analysis shows that the Sun is more active
  now than it has been at anytime in the previous
  1,000 years.
• Comment
• Is it a coincidence that we see huge activity in
  the sun itself at this time? A time that Jesus
  describes below as when the nations are
  distressed and in perplexity. A time when sea and
  waves are roaring. We surely see these things
  happening in the earth. And now just as we see
  physical signs in the sea and waves (Tsunami
  disaster and Katrina) we now see physical signs
  of monstrous flares in the sun. The physical
  normally precedes the spiritual. Maybe the time
  of the symbolic sea and waves (people) and the
  symbolic sun (rulers of the earth) to also roar
  and produce monstrous effects is near. The day
  is surely at hand.
• Bible Quote Luke 21 25 And there shall be signs
  in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars
  and upon the earth distress of nations, with
  perplexity

19
Exodus from Texas

• Headline
• Hurricane Rita roars through Texas
• Headlines DT September 24
• Event
• Hurricane Rita has hit Texas and Louisiana, with
  winds of up to 120mph pounding the city and
  torrential rain. The storm swept in from the Gulf
  of Mexico early on Saturday, coming ashore near
  the Texas-Louisiana border, with the eye hitting
  near to the Sabine Pass, in Texas, around 10
  miles off the coast.
• Roofs, trees and homes have been ripped up by the
  storm, there have been serious fires, and a large
  area is without power. It is thought that more
  than 2 million people have fled Texas and
  Louisiana, after a mass evacuation before the
  storm hit.
• Comment
• Another incredible hurricane in a matter of
  weeks. Another one of the largest on record. The
  Bible talks of whirlwinds. It talks below of
  destruction coming as a whirlwind because of
  unbelief. This whirlwind should warn mankind
  judgement is nigh. Jeremiah 2532 says that a
  whirlwind will be raised up from the coasts of
  the earth. However it goes on to say that the
  slain of the LORD shall be that day from one end
  of the earth even unto the other end of the
  earth Now is the time to seek the LORD.
• Bible Quote Proverbs 1 27 .. your destruction
  cometh as a whirlwind when distress and anguish
  cometh upon you.28 Then shall they call upon me,
  but I will not answer they shall seek me early,
  but they shall not find me29 For that they
  hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of
  the LORD

20
Floodwaters rise again in New Orleans

• Headline
• Floodwaters rise again in New Orleans
• Headlines DT September 24
• Event
• The Industrial Canal gave way without fanfare.
  For hours water had been trickling through cracks
  in the makeshift repairs hastily erected a few
  weeks ago.
• Then early in the morning a row of sandbags was
  swept aside, the trickles became streams, the
  streams became a torrent, and within minutes
  millions of gallons of dark soupy water was
  greedily recapturing territory it only abandoned
  a week or so ago."It started in a small area and
  then it just broke loose," said an awestruck
  Lloyd Randall, the first emergency worker on the
  scene. "And it's coming up faster and faster.
  Watching from a bridge 100 yards away as the
  waters enveloped tens of thousands of houses gave
  an extraordinary insight into the ordeal of its
  residents when the "Big Easy" first flooded after
  Hurricane Katrina swept through.
• Comment
• I can not help thinking about the foolish man who
  built his house upon the sand. It was a
  ridiculous place to build a house but it summed
  him up spiritually. Sin City was foolishly
  built below sea level. It foolishly worshipped
  sin and great is its fall.
• Bible Quote Matthew 7 26 And every one that
  heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them
  not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which
  built his house upon the sand27 And the rain
  descended, and the floods came, and the winds
  blew, and beat upon that house and it fell and
  great was the fall of it.

21
Earthquake shakes Israel

• Headline
• Earthquake shakes Israel
• Headlines Jerusalem Newswire October 3
• Event
• Israelis preparing to see out the old year and
  welcome in the new
  with the sound of shofar
  blowing Monday felt their country shaking as a
  4.3 scale earthquake struck the region.
  Originating just after 7 AM near the northern
  Jordan Valley town of Bet She'an, the quake shook
  beds and buildings, momentarily frightening
  people before subsiding as quickly as it had
  begun.
• According to the Geophysical Institute of Israel,
  the tremor was felt in Nahariya, Haifa, Tel Aviv
  and Rehovot. People in Jerusalem told Jerusalem
  Newswire they had felt the quake too. The Knesset
  annually debates the lack of readiness in Israel
  for a major temblor that is anticipated sometime
  in the next few years.
• Bible readers know that a number of major
  earthquakes are prophesied to hit Israel,
  including one in which will split Jerusalems
  Mount of Olives in two when the Messiah comes to
  establish His reign on the earth.
• Comment
• Another earthquake in Israel. It struck on the
  equivalent to the Jews New Years Eve this week.
  It is another warning of a far greater earthquake
  to come. What will this new Jewish year bring for
  the Jews? Perhaps the earthquake coming on the
  last day of the year is a sign of things to come.
  The article above talks of the earthquake
  mentioned in Zechariah 14. We know it will happen
  one day when Christ returns.
• Bible Quote Zechariah 14 4 And his feet shall
  stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which
  is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of
  Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward
  the east and toward the west,

22
Earthquake rocks South Asia

• Headline
• Hundreds die in South Asia quake
• Headlines BBC online October 8
• Event
• Pakistan says more than 1,000 people may have
  died in a powerful quake that also hit north
  India and Afghanistan. The quake with a magnitude
  of at least 7.6 had the epicentre 80km (50 miles)
  north-east of Islamabad. At least 500 died in
  North-West Frontier province in Pakistan and
  1,700 were injured. In Indian-administered
  Kashmir, 200 are confirmed dead. Rescuers are
  trying to reach dozens of residents feared
  trapped in a building that collapsed in
  Islamabad. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf,
  who was visiting the site, said the quake was a
  "test of the nation".
• Comment
• Another earthquake! In a diverse place. Jesus
  describes below a time of nation rising against
  nation. Great earthquakes in diverse places,
  famines, pestilences and fearful sights. This
  surely describes the world in which we live. We
  know the earth will be as a woman in labour pains
  giving birth at the time of the end. The
  contractions begin gradually and get more severe
  and closer together. We see this happening.
  Events getting more severe / more disasters and
  coming more frequently. Jesus will come..
• Bible Quote Luke 21 10 Then said he unto them,
  Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom
  against kingdom11 And great earthquakes shall
  be in divers places, and famines, and
  pestilences and fearful sights and great signs
  shall there be from heaven.

23
Pakistan earthquake toll 38,000

• Headline
• (1) Pakistan earthquake toll '38,000'
• (2) Unusual quake activity increasing
• Headline BBC Online WorldNetDaily.com October
  15
• Event
• Pakistan's government has said it now believes
  more than
  38,000 of its people were killed by the
  earthquake a week ago.
• The U.S. Geological Survey data indicates
  earthquake occurrences are increasing. In 2000,
  there were 22,256 recorded earthquakes worldwide.
  That number has steadily increased to 31,199
  earthquakes in 2004.
• Comment
• The earthquake last Saturday has turned out to be
  Pakistans worst ever disaster according to its
  President. There are still hundreds of villages
  that have not been entered yet since the
  earthquake and the number of deaths is still
  expected to rise.
• Note as well the statement above from the US
  Geological survey who show that the number of
  earthquakes in the world are on the rise.
• The table in top right hand corner shows the top
  10 killer earthquakes in the last 100 years.
  Notice how 5 of them have occurred in the last 5
  years. As we said last week the contractions in
  respect of the labour pains of the world are
  getting closer together and more severe. It
  heralds Christs return.
• Bible Quote Isaiah 13 8 And they shall be
  afraid pangs and sorrows shall take hold of
  them they shall be in pain as a woman that
  travaileth Isaiah 26 17 Like as a woman with
  child, that draweth near the time of her
  delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her
  pangs so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

24
Bird flu raises EU fears

• Headline
• Avian Flu Death Threat
• Headline Time Magazine October 11
• Event
• h5n1, is a deadly avian-flu virus that has
  ravaged Southeast Asia's poultry
  flocks and infected over 100
  people since the end of 2003. If h5n1
  became established among
  migratory species, it would raise the risk that
  the virus could be spread across oceans and
  continents. Understanding just how the viral
  transmission belt operates "is urgent work for
  the entire world," Guan told Time recently,
  speaking in his office at the University of Hong
  Kong (H.K.U.). "The virus could go to Europe, and
  from there to India. These questions are critical
  not just for science, but for humankind."
• If that sounds like an alarmist's hype, it's not.
  For some time, health experts have warned of a
  worldwide bird-flu pandemic that could kill
  millions of people and wreck the global economy.
  "The most serious known health threat facing the
  world is avian flu," said who director general
  Dr. Lee Jong-wook earlier this year.
• Comment
• Even as I write this WWW the BBC has just
  reported that this virus has just been confirmed
  to be found in Europe (Romania) for the first
  time. It is the same lethal strain found in Asia.
  We live in a time of earthquake and pestilence
  (plague).
• Bible Quote Matthew 24 7 and there shall be
  famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in
  divers places. Pestilence also means plague

25
Hurricane Wilma

• Headline
• Mexico reels under force of Wilma
• Headline BBC Online October 22
• Event
• Storm surges are reaching as high as the third
  storey of some hotels as Hurricane Wilma batters
  Mexico's popular Cancun resort area. The
  "extremely dangerous" hurricane is "relentlessly
  pounding" Cancun and Cozumel, the US hurricane
  agency said.
• Local governor Felix Gonzales said winds of
  140mph (225km/h) had damaged buildings considered
  hurricane-proof. Hotel windows on the resort
  island of Cozumel have been shattered, trees and
  roofs torn down and streets flooded.
• Comment
• This year is now equal to the worst hurricane
  season on record and there is still a month to
  go. Americas southern coastal region is being
  devastated. We have noted in the WWW how this has
  corresponded with Americas encouragement of
  Israels withdrawal from its coastal region ie
  Gaza. As Israel completed its Gaza evacuation on
  August 22 a tropical depression began to form
  near the Bahamas on August 23 this became
  Hurricane Katrina which hit southeast Florida
  August 26. President Bush renews his vow that
  there will be a Palestinian State and calls for
  Israel to stop building in the West Bank and the
  most powerful hurricane ever recorded forms and
  relentlessly pounds the US. Coincidence or Gods
  mighty hand at work? We know!
• Bible Quote Isaiah 17 12 The nations shall rush
  like the rushing of many waters but God shall
  rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and
  shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains
  before the wind, and like a rolling thing before
  the whirlwind.

26
Earthquake strikes central China

• Headline
• Earthquake strikes central China
• Headline BBC online November 26
• Event
• An earthquake has killed at least 14 people and
  destroyed thousands of homes in central China.
  The tremor had a magnitude of 5.7 and its
  epicentre was near the city of Ruichang in
  Jiangxi province.
• Hundreds of people are reported to have been
  injured in the quake, which also hit the
  neighbouring province of Hubei.
• In the Ruichang area a total of 420,000 people
  left their homes, fearing aftershocks, according
  to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
• Comment
• Another earthquake in a diverse place. This time
  in China. Reports are only just coming in as I
  write this and perhaps many more have been killed
  than has been reported so far. It has (as the
  report says above) destroyed 1000s of homes.
• China has been in the news this week as well
  because of the terrible toxic leak into Songhua
  river. About 100 metric tons of toxic chemicals
  entered the river as a result of the blast at a
  Chinese chemical plant on November 13th in Jilin,
  and the leak is now passing through the city of
  Harbin.
• Many people ask me where China with its huge
  population is mentioned in the Bible. I am not
  sure it is. The Bible only deals with those
  nations that directly effect Israel Gods land.
  In saying that though the Bible is clear that ALL
  nations will be gathered to Jerusalem to battle.
  I would expect this communistic state to side
  with Russia and the Arabs if it does enter the
  final conflict.
• Bible Quote Luke 21 11 And great earthquakes
  shall be in divers places, and famines, and
  pestilences and fearful sights and great signs
  shall there be from heaven.

27
Costliest year for insurers

• Headline
• Costliest year yet for insurers
• Headline BBC Online December 20
• Event
• Insurers had their costliest year yet in 2005 as
  a deluge of natural disasters saw total insured
  losses of about 80bn (45bn), says Swiss Re.
• August's Hurricane Katrina in the US alone is
  expected to cost 45bn in claims, the world's
  second-biggest reinsurance company said. This
  will make it the most expensive insured single
  event in history.
• Total economic losses caused by hurricanes,
  earthquakes and floods in 2005 reached 225bn in
  2005, it said. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was
  previously the most expensive single catastrophe,
  causing losses of 22bn, Swiss Re said. This was
  followed by the 11 September 2001 attacks on the
  US, costing nearly 21bn.
• Two other expensive storms in the US came in the
  wake of Katrina. Hurricane Rita cost 10bn in
  insured losses and Wilma claimed 8bn. "The
  ongoing warm phase that has been measurable since
  the 1990s and the recent high hurricane frequency
  inspire little hope of the trend being reversed
  any time soon," Swiss Re warned.
• Comment
• a deluge of natural disasters. The verse below
  links hurricanes, earthquakes and floods with
  something else Ariel - another name for
  Jerusalem. As the worlds attention focuss more
  and more on Gods Holy City, so earthquake, storm
  and tempest will increase. We are being warned
  with these events that the day is at hand.
• Bible Quote Isaiah 29 6 Thou shalt be visited of
  the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with
  earthquake, and great noise, with storm and
  tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. 7 And
  the multitude of all the nations that fight
  against Ariel

28
2005 review

• Comment
• And so another year draws to a close. But what a
  remarkable year in terms of prophecy fulfilled!
• At the beginning of each World Watch it says that
  time and again the following would keep cropping
  up as we journey towards the coming kingdom.
• Israel Middle East the growing conflict
• This year has seen Israel become ever more the
  focus of the worlds attention. Iran has called
  for Israel to be wiped off the map. Israel has
  withdrawn from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. A
  wall almost surrounds the entire nation now.
• Europe the developing union / political and
  religious
• A new Pope is elected Cardinal Ratzinger. He
  named himself Benedict after the patron saint of
  Europe. He is calling for Christian Unity! In his
  Christmas speech he called for Middle East peace.
  He means Israel should give up East Jerusalem.
  This will bring war. Europe has rejected the
  constitution but continues to hang together as
  divided nations exactly as Revelation 17 and
  Daniel 2 show us.
• Russia continued turning back to anti west ways
• Russia is increasingly in the news for doing arms
  deals with those the US considers to be the Axis
  of Evil i.e. Syria and Iran. Under Putin the free
  press has been shut down, nuclear programmes have
  been developed and a new Cold War may have
  started.
• The development of King of South US UK
• Tarshish and her young lions continue to be
  locked in a war in Iraq. This area of ancient
  Babylon where sin and death entered the world and
  the first kingdom of men began is a scene of
  death and destruction. Remember Abraham was
  called out of this area.
• Declining moral standards and increasing
  violence.
• The UK introduces gay marriage. Violence
  increases remember the scenes in France! We
  have seen unprecedented natural disasters with
  Tsunami, hurricanes and earthquakes. Let us pray
  that 2006 finally brings relief with the return
  of our King.
• Revelation 22 20 Surely I come quickly. Amen.
  Even so, come, Lord Jesus.