In The News

Hail Storms, Earthquakes, and Bible Prophecy

by John Clark 
04/21/16
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Hail storms have been in the news. Large and destructive hail stones have been damaging vehicles, homes, and other structures in Texas. Out of curiosity I decided to research the largest hail stones. It was reported that one was found in Vivian, South Dakota, on July 23, 2010, eight inches in diameter and weighing about two pounds. 

     There are other places hail stones are mentioned. In numerous passages in both the Old and New Testaments, it is in the context of God's judgment. (Don't misunderstand me; I am not saying that Texas is being judged with hail stones.) One of the best known is when God pelted Pharoah and his people after he refused to allow Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Exodus 9:25 records that the hail was so severe that it "shattered every tree of the field." Another account is given in Joshua 10:11, when God used hail to defeat an enemy of Israel. The Lord "threw large stones from heaven on them...there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword." Huge and heavy hail is also prophesied in Revelation 16:21 as part of God's judgment during the Tribulation Period. It is listed as one of the seven "bowl" judgments. The verse says, "And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men..." (emphasis mine).
Is it possible to have hailstones weighing 100 pounds? An aeronautical engineer, Matthew Kneisler, did some calculations based on the approximate size and weight of the stone that fell in Vivian, SD, with the assumption of one weighing 75 pounds. His conclusion was that it would be 19.9 inches in diameter, hitting the earth at 370 mph. 

     In my research I came across a webpage about NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft. When it was tracking Comet Hartley 2, it took pictures of a cloud of hailstones surrounding the comet. In the photo the hailstones were described as being the size of a basketball, and weighing 100 pounds (emphasis mine). One NASA scientist commented,"We've never seen anything like this before..." Job 38:22 asks the question, "...Have you seen the storehouses of the hail?" Is God storing up hail to be used as part of his judgment upon the earth? The people who say that the Bible, and especially Revelation, can't be taken literally, should maybe reconsider their position, even though they may not want to admit that God will physically judge the planet and the people who have rejected Him. It would appear that it is scientifically possible to fulfill this prophecy in Revelation, but if not, God can still do it supernaturally, Again, I am not saying that judgment has come upon the people in Texas, but is this a small snippet of things to come, only 100 times worse? And might we see hail get bigger and bigger as we get closer to the Tribulation? 

     Now to earthquakes. Here is a recent headline: "5 Major Earthquakes in 48 hours as a Seismologist Warns 'Castastrophic Mega Earthquakes' are Coming." These quakes occurred on the same weekend as the Texas hail storms. Two of the tremors happened on the Japanese island Kyushu and was mostly in the area of Kumamoto. "Vast chasms" have developed and the geography has changed dramatically. There were actually many more than just two quakes occurring right down the middle of the island, leading some people to speculate the possibility of the island splitting apart! A seismologist at the University of Colorado said, "current conditions might trigger at least four earthquakes greater than 8.0 in magnitude." This is very serious because at each point on the richter scale there is a ten-fold increase in amplitude of the wave of energy released. 

     Prophecy has much to say about earthquakes. Revelation 16:18-20 says, "...there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth,...and the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell...and every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."

    Christian journalist, Michael Snyder, commented that if the prediction of the seismologist at the University of Colorado is accurate, "our planet could be on the precipice of a wave of natural disasters unlike anything that any of us have experienced before." Matthew 24:21 sounds very similar. "...there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall." God is in control of the weather and "natural phenomenon," and He is going to use it to judge the world and those who have rejected him during the Tribulation Period.