Is the recent Japanese earthquake a sign of Jesus’ return??
Whenever a major disaster happens, one of the first things many Christians do is attempt to correlate it to the end times and the return of Jesus. This is especially true when the event in question is an earthquake (such as the recent ones which have generated large-scale tsunamis in Southeast Asia).
Often the passage that is cited as proof of correlation is the Olivet Discourse spoken by Jesus (it’s called the Olivet Discourse because He spoke it while standing on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem in the final days of His earthly life). A form of the discourse appears in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21) and the key verse reads as follows:
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (Matt. 24:6-7)
Jesus goes on to say a few verses later:
“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (Matt 24:30-33)
So for many Christians, who are always seeking to faithfully interpret the signs of the times, a series of large scale earthquakes can’t help but bring to mind Jesus’ words.
However, there are a few problems with this approach that often get overlooked, but which should serve as a caution for any of us who might be tempted to interpret God’s actions in the world and the timing of Jesus’ return and final judgment…
Categories: Biblical Scholarship, Biblical Theology, Blog, Eschatology, New Testament, Theological issues
Good, thorough article, JM
by David Scott on Mar 20, 2011 at 2:08 am