By Timothy Johnson

Preacher’s Point

The last statistics I saw before going to bed last night were one hundred-plus dead and one thousand-plus missing. Helene is a storm that will go down in history. Her combination of strength and speed was unparalleled. Once hurricanes hit land, they usually slow down. However, Helene traveled so fast that her hurricane conditions lasted much further inland than usual. The storm was catastrophic.

Rescue workers from other states, including the National Guard, are arriving for the search, rescue, and clean-up missions. As the waters subside, more workers will move in to restore power and other utilities. Prayer is greatly needed for all the missing, those needing rescue, responders, and the families of everyone involved.

I mentioned prayer in the last sentence. We pray to God and must remember that God controls the weather, not some fictitious creature people call “Mother Nature.”

God has established the laws of nature that control the universe. Gravity is an excellent example. Natural laws cause hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, thunderstorms, gentle showers, and all other events of nature. However, there are times when God intervenes and overrides the laws of nature, as when Jesus calmed the storm (Mark 4:39). Other instances of God overriding the laws of nature would include when He rained fire and brimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24), or when the sun went dark at the crucifixion of the Lamb of God (Matthew 27:45), and the great earthquake at Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:2). There are more, but the point is; the weather we receive is either the cause of the natural laws God put into place or He for some reason has intervened.

There is one instance in the Scriptures where God gave Satan power over the weather. Satan tells God that Job would curse God if God would lower His arm of protection from Job. Knowing Job’s faith, God accepts Satan’s challenge and lowers His hedge of protection from around Job. One of the things that Satan does to Job is kill all of Job’s ten adult children by way of a “great wind from the wilderness” (Job 1:6-22).

Was Helene God stepping in to give us a warning of some kind? I do not know, but I do believe it is a good rule of life that whenever anything happens to us (weather-related or not), we should take a step back, pray, and meditate on what God may be trying to say.

As the videos of the devastation rolled in on the news and YouTube, I could not help but think of the size of the area. This catastrophic event was not limited to a couple hundred miles from where the storm made landfall. The killer storm covered an entire region of the North American continent.

As a teacher of biblical prophecy, my thoughts began to expand. The signs leading up to the rapture are primarily local or regional. But the judgments of the seven-year tribulation period are global.

Here is a list of God’s judgments during the tribulation that have a global impact.

1. World war (Revelation 6:3-4). It mentions “a great sword.” Could that be the use of nuclear weapons?

2. Famine (Revelation 6:5-6). A loaf of bread will cost a day’s wages. This famine could result from number one, but it does not have to be.

3. Revelation 6:7-8 tells us that 25% of the earth’s population is killed by war, hunger, and “death.” This “death” is probably due to disease and other effects of the war (radiation poisoning?). It also mentions that people are killed by “the beasts of the earth.” Are the animals on the prowl because of the lack of food? Included with this could be insects spreading disease. The current world population is 8.2 billion. This one judgment kills 2.05 billion people.

4. Hail, fire, and brimstone cover the earth. Thirty-three percent of trees and 100 percent of “green grass” are burnt up (Revelation 8:7). Nothing is mentioned in Scripture about side effects. Still, one would have to think that many buildings are destroyed and lives are lost because of this event.

5. Revelation 8:8-9 tells of a meteor that lands in the ocean. One-third of all sea life dies, and one-third of the ships are destroyed. With this much damage, it would be safe to assume that some coastal areas are also heavily devastated.

6. Another chunk of stuff falls from space. This meteor makes one-third of the freshwater undrinkable, including springwater (Revelation 8:10-11).

7. There is debate on what the following judgment does. It could be that the sun, moon, and stars are only two-thirds as bright, or it could be that the length of days is shortened from 24 to 16 hours. Either way, the results on the ecosystem would be catastrophic (Revelation 8:12).

8. Five months of locusts that do not hurt vegetation but attack humans and torment them with their bites and stings (Revelation 9:1-11).

9. Angels of death released from the Euphrates River kill one-third of the people that have survived this far (Revelation 9:14-15).

10. The entire population of the earth is covered in sores (Revelation 16:2).

11. Every living thing in the ocean dies (Revelation 16:3). The Bible does not say exactly how this is done. Could it be the result of the ten things listed before this?

12. The earth’s freshwater turns to blood (Revelation 16:4). By now we must be nearing the final days of the tribulation period. People will not last long with nothing to drink.

13. Immense heat (Revelation 16:8-9). Do not worry about global warming. This heat cannot last that long (see #12 above), and by the time this rolls around, it will not matter to anyone if this results from us destroying the environment or God intervening in nature. More than likely, the latter is the actual cause.

14. Lastly, an earthquake that levels cities all over the world, islands will disappear, and mountains will be flattened. While the entire earth is rocking back and forth, hailstones the size of a small car will fall from the sky (Revelation 16:17-21).

The horrific destruction that occurred over the last week — is it the laws of nature doing what they do, or is God stepping in for some reason? I cannot answer that. Still, one thing is certain: God will intervene in ways none of us have seen or dreamed of. Are you ready? You can miss all the above by placing your faith in Jesus Christ and the blood that He shed to save you from your sins. Repent or perish.

Preacher Johnson is the Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County Indiana. Website: www.preachers-point.com; Email: [email protected]; Mail: 25 W 1200 N; Kingman IN 47952. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Timothy-Preacher-Johnson-101171088326638. All Scripture KJV.