Earthquake

This morning I was lying awake in bed after the alarm went off about 4:35, when I felt myself rocking. I thought my husband had come quietly into the room and was bumping the mattress to wake me without making noise that might disturb our sleeping puppy. But when I looked up, he wasn't there. I felt a bit nauseated and wondered if I was experiencing some type of anxiety.

Turns out there was a 5.4 earthquake this morning in Illinois. It was centered near West Salem, IL, but felt as far away as Des Moines. We live between those two points.

The only other Midwestern earthquake of this magnitude was one of equal intensity that occurred in 1968. Californians may be accustomed to the occassional tremor, but it is a rare and disquieting experience for Midwesterners.

It reminds me of our Lord's warnings that the end times will be characterized by war, pestilence, famine, and "earthquakes in various places" (Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8, Luke 21:11).

Today is one day closer to the final day of the Lord. I rejoice; not because I look forward to the tribulation and apostasy that will plague the church in those final days, but because Christ's return will bring about the consummation of His Kingdom. The power of sin will be vanquished and the effects of sin will be eradicated. This old cosmos will be rolled up like a tattered scroll and the new heavens and earth will be unfurled like a glorious banner. The souls of all believers from all times and places will be reunited with their glorified bodies and we will join the heavenly chorus in proclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

Maranatha; come quickly, Lord Jesus!

The Earth Sings for Joy

There's an item on Yahoo News this morning about earth's mysterious hum. It seems that the earth itself emits a low frequency sound that humans cannot hear and only special equipment can detect.

Scientists are puzzled.

They should read the Bible.

What we think of as inanimate objects are described as "singing" for joy before the Lord. The book of Job tells us that the stars "sang together" at creation (38:7).

When David appointed Asaph and his associates as musicians, he gave them a psalm of thanks that included these commands:
"Sing to the Lord, all the earth;"
"Tremble before him, all the earth!"
"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;"
"Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!"
"Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD" (1 Cor. 16:23-33).

Many of the same phrases are echoed in verses of Psalm 96:
"Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth" (v. 1);
"tremble before him, all the earth" (v. 9);
"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it" (v. 11);
"let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy" (v. 12);
"they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth" (v. 13).

And the book of Isaiah includes these phrases:
"Sing to the LORD a new song...you islands, and all who live in them" (42:10);
"Let the desert and its towns raise their voices" (42:11);
"Sing for joy, O heavens...shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees" (44:23).

I freely acknowledge that these commands for inanimate objects to rejoice and sing appear in the context of God's gracious dealings with His covenant people and their responsibility to rejoice in His faithfulness and forgiveness.

But it seems clear that not only the earth's inhabitants are expected to praise God, but also the earth itself, its fields, its islands, its deserts, its mountains, its forests, its trees, the sea, the heavens, and the stars are expected to praise God.

So all the scientists have to do is read the Bible.

That mysterious hum? It's the earth singing for joy before the Lord.