A Great Earthquake

Preceding the Second Coming there will be a great Earthquake. The "Earth will Reel to and Fro like a drunkard" (Isaiah 24:20). This Earthquake will alter the landscape of the Earth dramatically. All the mountains will become flat. Every prophet, when talking about the events preceding the Second Coming, have said there will be an Earthquake or Earthquakes. Matthew 24: 7 states that there will be "earthquakes in divers places."

This great Earthquake will take place immediately after the battle of Armageddon and will be felt all around the Earth. From this quake many nations will know that Lord is God (Ezekiel 38: 23).

The Earthquake will be so great that it will appear that the heavens are shaking (See Haggai 2: 6-7 and Isaiah 13: 13 also Hebrews 12: 26). The Earthquake will be so great that it is entirely possible that the earth's position in the rotation around the sun could be skewed.

An Earthquake large enough to shake the entire Earth will mean that it does not matter where the fault lines are. This quake will be felt everywhere which means that the places that will probably received the most damage are places that are not built for Earthquakes.

It is mentioned that even the fish will feel the shaking which means there will be Tsunamis. Tsunamis will most likely occur on every shore and all islands of the seas. The Bible says "Woe to the inhabitants who live carelessly on the isles of the sea" (Ezekiel 39: 6). In Revelation 6: 14 it states that, "every mountain and island will be moved out of their places."

When thinking about the amount of damage a Tsunami can do and then you realize that a great Earthquake that would be felt worldwide will probably create Tsunamis on every coastline on every island and even in places where Tsunamis are unlikely. They could be so large that they would go hundreds of miles inland and do considerable destruction.

It is said that there will be Earthquakes and other prophecies state there will be a great Earthquake. In Ezekiel 38: 19-20 it states that there will "be a great shaking in the land of Israel." That the steep places shall fall" and "every wall shall fall to the ground."
This could mean that Jerusalem will be the Epicenter for the great Earthquake or that it could be that Jerusalem will have a large quake before Great Quake that takes place after the Battle of Armageddon. There is an active fault line that runs along the Dead Sea just East of Jerusalem so the possibility that there will be a great Earthquake before the Battle of Armageddon is possible. The statement that every wall will fall seems to me that this will happen before the battle of Armageddon so that the Dome of the Rock will be destroyed. This will prepare the way for the Temple to be built.

At any rate the destruction in Jerusalem will be great. The Bible states that the city will be "divided into three parts" (Revelation 16: 19). That the land will be raised up. That "waters issued out from under the threshold of the house (Temple) eastward" and will flow to the dead sea growing larger and larger as it approaches the dead sea.

It will contain large schools of fish and that the Dead sea will be healed. Meaning that it will no longer be salty but that the sea will be fresh water and contain fish (Ezekiel 47: 1 - 12).

Revelation 16: 18 sums up this Great Earthquake by saying, "and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great."

When this Earthquake does take place it will be understandable that all the mountains will not disappear the same way. Some will fall and be leveled off. Some mountains will sink into the ground. Those that do will force rocks and dirt into the mantle of the earth and cause many volcanoes to erupt. "And I will rain upon him, and upon his bands and upon the many people that were will him an overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire and Brimstone" Ezekiel 38: 22.

These events will obviously bring about the death of many, many people and very well could cause the death toll to reach into the millions and possibly reach 1 billion. There most likely will be great sadness and many people will lament these events but it will also bring about many more plagues and horrible things to come to pass that will be stated in the next chapter about the post tribulation.