by Fisherman 34 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Given: The prophecy is true.
What did Jesus mean? I have an app that alerts me of any earthquake all over the world. Since I got the app, it is one earthquake after another all over the world. I would not know if not for the app or in the even of a big one -the news. But it seems that earthquakes have been going ever since the earth existed.
Any evidence of 1 century earthquakes that would have fulfilled the prophecy then that the Apostles could relate to?
"There will be earthquakes...."
it seems that earthquakes have been going ever since the earth existed.
Yep..
Predicting Earth Quakes is as novel as Predicting Air..
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In The Future..
Before you had the app you did not have knowledge of many of the quakes occurring - but Earth is "quaking" all the time - very dynamic - I set the USGS app to only give me report of quakes exceeding 6.5 otherwise my mail-box would be overloaded -
Only "biggie" I experienced was a 6.3 M in 1969-
http://www.stormchasing.co.za/tulbagh-ceres-1969-earthquake/
While living near Johannesburg we often experienced tremors related to the local geology and the impact of the Gold Mining in the area - some were pretty strong and could cause minor damage to property -
The weather app from one of our local tv stations shows where eq are in addition to weather info.
Marina
The problem is the WT interpretation of Matthew:4-7 -
(Matthew 24:4-8 rNWT) . . .In answer Jesus said to them: “Look out that nobody misleads you, 5 for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. 8 All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress.Jesus is telling his disciples in this passage that they shouldn't take these events as an indication that the "end" was near. Wars, famines, epidemics and natural disturbances, like earthquakes and bad storms, were often taken as indications that God (or the gods) were upset and about to exercise their wrath. Jesus is saying not to let these events sway them in that way - the opposite of what the WT has been saying.
Compare this also with the horseman of the apocalypse in Rev 6:1-8 (war, famine and pestilence). In Rev 6:9-11 the martyrs ask when divine justice will be executed. Instead of being pointed to the wars, famines, and pestilences just foretold, they are pointed to the need for additional martyrs. In this instance also, the wars, famines, and pestilences did not indicate how near they were to a divine reckoning.
I might also mention that the events of Matthew 24:4-35 were promised to take place within "this generation," the generation of Jews referred to in Mt 23:36. So any attempt to apply these words to some future generation would be arguing against the context. (And notice that there is no mention of earthquakes as a result of the ride of the horseman in Rev 6:1-8.)
Bobcat
Mount Vesuvius erupted just about the time the NT Gospels were written coincidence ?
The point being that the ancients thought earthquakes were caused by gods, angry gods specifically.
On a secondary note ... all of the supposed signs of the "End Times" spoken about in the bible actually happen and occurred when those words were written.
The earth actually has gone through more intense earthquakes in its past evolutionary history creating some the greatest mountain ranges of which can be seen today.
Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples, in the Campania region of Italy, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, was mostly destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
