As we watch worldwide earthquakes not only get stronger but more frequent all the time, do you think its plausible that we have to wait til we frequently see 8.0’s and 9.0’s as common place before we can hope that the Rapture is imminent? I watch the USGS site every day, and have definitely noticed more 6’s and 7’s occurring more frequently, but just wonder if we shouldn’t hope for the Rapture til we are constantly seeing 8’s, 9’s and even 10’s. What are your thoughts?
In Matt. 24:7-8 Jesus said, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these will be the beginning of birth pangs.”
We know that birth pangs start off mild and far apart but as the time for the birth approaches they get more frequent and more intense. But remember that Jesus included wars and famine along with earthquakes, so it’s the combination of these things he told us to watch for, not earthquakes alone. These other things are on the increase, too.
I think the birth pangs will continue to increase in frequency and intensity throughout Daniel’s 70th Week. To use your example, earthquakes are mentioned in Rev. 6:12, Rev. 8:5, Rev. 11:13, Rev. 11:19, and the greatest of all comes in Rev. 16:18 during the Bowl Judgments near the end of the Great Tribulation. All these take place after the rapture. That tells us the birth these signs are leading up to the 2nd Coming.
So to answer your question, we don’t have to wait until we see earthquakes registering at or near the maximum on the Richter scale as a matter of course before we can expect the rapture. It could literally happen any day now. Please Lord, let it be soon.