Blog note: And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11). Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. This verse from Luke is one of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor pains that occur in greater severity, frequency and occurrence prior to giving birth. End of note.

 July 24, 2018, NASA

Smoke from Siberian Fires Reaches Canada

The Siberian area of Russia is experiencing a huge wave of wildfires in their taiga forests. Hot, dry weather complicates the outlook for getting these fires under control.  Estimates of the amount of land burning at present have been as high as ten million hectares since the beginning of 2018 which is 38,610 square miles. Fires are dangerous, of course, and do significant damage to the area where they are burning, however, smoke is dangerous as well and can spread so much more quickly than fire as evidenced by this satellite image showing the smoke from the Siberian fires reaching Canada.

This satellite image was captured on July 23, 2018. Actively burning areas (hot spots) are outlined in red. Each hot spot is an area where the thermal detectors recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire. NASA image courtesy of the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) project. Caption by Lynn Jenner with information from Georgia Tech study