Powerful typhoon hits the Philippines

Aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana in Manila, 2009

Super Typhoon Haiyan has hit the Philippines:

November 7, 2013

Super Typhoon Haiyan, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, slammed into the Philippines today after forcing thousands of people to evacuate.

Haiyan had top winds of almost 196 miles (315 kilometers) per hour when it was about 489 miles southeast of Manila, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said at 2 p.m. East Coast time. Winds gusted to as high as 235 mph, the Navy said. About 125,600 people in 22 provinces have been evacuated, the nation’s disaster monitoring agency said in a 6 a.m. bulletin.

“If it maintains its strength, there has never been a storm this strong making landfall anywhere in the world,” said Jeff Masters, founder of Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “This is off the charts.” http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-11-07/philippines-braces-for-haiyan-seen-as-2013-s-strongest-typhoon

This is considered as a massive storm that is expected to cause devastation. I began to pray for those in the Philippines earlier this evening.

Spiritually speaking, killer storms and odd weather problems should serve as a wake-up call. Weather-related troubles with their related social and food issues, of course, have been biblically expected:

7…And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7-8).

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)

8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. (Mark 13:8)

As the above shows, Jesus foretold on a time of natural disasters and “troubles” as “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:7-8)–and the sorrows seem to have begun. Yet the Book of Revelation (16:8-11) tells of a time of even greater disturbances during “the Day of the Lord.”

The affected areas are in my prayers.

Now, ultimately of course, there is good news as ultimately, God’s kingdom will come and those issues will be gone (Revelation 7:16).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? What does the Bible teach about weather? What about floods, droughts, heat, earthquakes, tornadoes, and solar storms? Here is a related YouTube video Does God Use Weather? A related item in the Spanish language would be Bendiciones y maldiciones del clima.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was the Emphasis of Jesus and the Early Church Did you know that? Do you even know what the gospel of the kingdom is all about? True religion should be based upon the true gospel.
Islands and Bible Prophecy What’s ahead for islands? What does the Bible prophesy about them?
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, Japanese, and others of Asia? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2013, 2014, or 2015? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?