THE present year has been distinguished for several very alarming disturbances of the earth’s surface, which were attended with such destructive results as might well induce serious reflection among people in all parts of the world. It is not known when such tremendous upheavals may visit places that have long enjoyed immunity from them. The first disturbance was the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy, which was speedily followed by the great earthquake at San Francisco on the west coast of North America, while quite recently a similar earthquake has taken place at Valparaiso on the west coast of South America. Thousands of persons have been launched into eternity by these occurrences, and two large and flourishing cities have been almost completely destroyed. These are events of such magnitude as deserve more than the fleeting consideration of a few moments. They remind us that we live on a comparatively frail ball that may be shattered to pieces and dissolved in a few moments by the Hand that rules the universe. It would be well to bethink ourselves whether in the event of our losing, in the twinkling of an eye, this earthly house, we have any solid hope of “the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
There are frequent references to earthquakes in the Scriptures. Some of them are the subject of threatenings and predictions, while there is a distinct record of others which actually took place in Bible times. The latter, in two notable instances, strange to say, exhibit the character of mercies rather than of judgments.
In reference to earthquakes as manifestations of divine displeasure, let us observe the threatening recorded in Isaiah, chapter xxix., and third verse, “Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and devouring fire.” Here we have the earthquake and its terrible accompaniments vividly described. Similarly, Christ Himself speaks, in one of His farewell addresses to His disciples,
concerning judgments to come, and among other things, such as wars, famines, and pestilences, He mentions “earthquakes in divers places.” “All these,” He adds, “are the beginning of sorrows”—the forerunners, we infer, of even more terrible miseries.
As to earthquakes which were manifestly mercies rather than judgments, we have two striking instances recorded in the New Testament. The first is in connection with the greatest and most beneficent of all events that ever has transpired, or shall transpire, in the world, and that is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace kissed each other; here was the richest and most glorious display of the mercy and love of God in consistency with the manifestation of infinite justice and spotless holiness; here the eternal redemption of sinners was procured by the blood of Immanuel; “and behold, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept, arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city and appeared unto many.” Such also was the powerful effect of this earthquake as immediately succeeding the last words and death of Jesus upon the cross, that “the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus” feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
This impressive accompaniment of the death of Christ no doubt spoke loudly of the holiness and righteousness of God who might have rent the earth to pieces as the just punishment of sin, but it spoke still more loudly of His infinite mercy and grace towards sinners—the matchless compassion of Him who gave His only begotten Son to be rent in body and soul upon the cross that poor sinners might be saved and put in possession of life everlasting. The centurion, and those who were with him, felt it to be an overwhelming testimony to the claim of Christ to be the Son of God. Christ in His death triumphed over sin, death and the grave, and the bodies of the saints arose out of their tombs after His resurrection as living witnesses and proofs of the completeness of His victory. The prevailing note, then, of this earthquake is redemption from sin, and freedom from death, perfectly and eternally procured by the Son of God in the sacrifice of Himself.
The second earthquake that falls to be noticed, as of a beneficent character, is that which led to the conversion of the jailor at Philippi. The first earthquake we have mentioned was prior to the resurrection of the Redeemer from death in Joseph’s tomb; this preceded the resurrection of one of the redeemed from the grave of spiritual death. The first resurrection was a pledge of the second, and strange, an earthquake was a forerunner of both. Though it cannot be said that it was the earthquake which converted the jailor—no purely natural event can produce a spiritual change—yet it was the beginning of that series of events in his history that culminated in his conversion. Indeed, the immediate
natural effects of the earthquake upon the jailor and his surroundings were, to some extent at least, shadows beforehand of the spiritual revolution that was about to take place in his soul. The jailor was, to begin with, a man in the prison of spiritual death, bound with the chains of enmity to God’s saints, and disbelief of the truth, and resting upon a false foundation for eternity. The earthquake came and shook the foundations of the prison, and “immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed,” and the keeper of the prison awoke out of sleep. The effects of this startling interposition were freedom from chains and an awakening out of insensibility. These things led to a great alarm in the heart of the jailor, as he supposed “that the prisoners had been fled.” He would have killed himself with his sword, but the voice of Paul, like the voice of the gospel, crying “Do thyself no harm, for we are all here,” brought him to his right mind, and made him see his unspeakable danger. Now, amid darkness of body and soul, he called for a light, sprang in, fell down in a humble and affectionate attitude before Paul and Silas, and brought them out of their painful situation, and said “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Then Paul and Silas preached the gospel unto him, the substance of which was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house.” The word spoken was accompanied with the power of the Holy Ghost, and he and his house believed the gospel. This was a striking example of conversion from darkness to light, from bondage to liberty, and from the power of Satan to the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
Now, these Scriptural references to earthquakes carry with them a variety of lessons, which should be driven home by the solemn events of to-day.
First, let us observe the earthquake of judgment. God sends earthquakes as judgments for sin. We understand that the cities lately destroyed in the Western Hemisphere were among the most wicked in the world, and these destructive upheavals have a very loud voice to the inhabitants of that part of the earth. Verily there is a God that judgeth, and the wicked will not prosper always, nor go for ever unpunished. But these cities are not the only very wicked ones; there are many such nearer home that have been more highly favoured than they with gospel privileges, Capernaums which have been exalted to heaven, but are now in danger of being cast down to hell. Let the people of Great Britain take care lest they also be visited with the earthquake, the tempest and the fire. Moreover, let these earthquakes remind us of the day of death and the day of judgment. There is a day coming when each of us must put off this mortality. The earthly house of the body will shake and fall,—and woe be to that soul that is not then prepared for death and eternity! The day of judgment will be a day of dissolution to the heavens and the earth. They are “kept in store, reserved unto fire against the
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” What a warning this should be to the impenitent and unbelieving, who are swallowed up in the occupations and pleasures of a present evil world! Soon, their heaven will be destroyed, and their hell will be begun.
Secondly, let us consider the earthquake of Christ’s redemption. Here is the great foundation hope of sinners. The Son of God has come into the world, and taken upon Him the load of His people’s sin and curse. He has satisfied the offended justice of Jehovah; He has entered into conflict with the gates of hell and the grave, and has carried captivity captive; He has broken the bands of death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. He has secured an eternal deliverance for His people from the chains of earth and from the prison house of death and the grave. Thus the earthquake that succeeded His death and preceded His resurrection preaches the gospel of redemption to sinners, deliverance from the curse, and resurrection to newness of life.
Thirdly, let us think also of the earthquake of conversion. No doubt physical earthquakes take place and vast multitudes continue as careless and impenitent as before, though, let us hope, that God is teaching righteousness to one here and another there amid the present scenes of devastation. Sometimes the Lord sends an unexpected calamity in providence upon an individual or a family, which may be as trying and terrible to them as a literal earthquake to others. It is a blessed thing when such an event is made the means in the hand of God’s Spirit of awakening souls to consider the things of God and eternity, and to cry for mercy through Jesus Christ. What may at first appear to be the greatest possible injury may prove to be a blessing of incalculable value in disguise. The most important thing is the spiritual awakening, whether it be preceded by a startling providential dispensation, or be produced directly and solely by the word of truth applied by the Spirit to the soul. What a precious thing it would be if we would hear of “earthquakes in divers places” in a spiritual sense, namely, in the awakening of souls by the Spirit, through the application of law or gospel, to a true concern about their state in view of eternity, whereby they would put the question with all-absorbing earnestness, “What must I do to be saved?” Some souls are dealt with more gently by God than others, but it would matter not how terrible the awakening, if it landed the soul safely in Jesus Christ, the only hiding-place from the storm and covert from the tempest. The people of God should pray that secure and careless sinners would be awakened out of sleep, that the foundations of their false hopes would be swept away, and that they would be led and enabled to lay hold of Christ as the one Saviour of the lost. How dreadful it is to see many quite unconcerned, listening to the truth, while their souls are perishing in indifference and unbelief!