Tornadoes slam Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri; Severe storms expected from Texas to Michigan.
The Midwest of the USA was hit bit tornadoes and other storms are expected:
June 1, 2013
Severe flooding was the big issue Saturday as officials began surveying damage from tornadoes that hit the Oklahoma City metro area Friday, killing 9 and injuring more than 75 people. http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/06/01/tornadoes-oklahoma-midwest-plains/2379203/
June 1, 2013
Oklahoma, which was hit again by deadly tornadoes that barreled through the suburbs of Oklahoma City, not far from the battered town of Moore, where a powerful twister struck 10 days ago, killing 24 people…
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin…said she was “heartsick” that Moore, struck by a powerful tornado on May 20, could have been hit again.
Although no twister was confirmed to have hit Moore, there was heavy wind damage.
The storms then moved east, passing through the city of Saint Louis in the neighboring state of Missouri. http://www.voanews.com/content/deadly-tornados-kill-5-in-oklahoma/1673176.html
June 1, 2013
Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. Troopers requested a number of ambulances at I-40 near Yukon, west of Oklahoma City.
Standing water was several feet deep, and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado. More than 86,000 utility customers were without power.
The U.S. averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year and most are relatively small. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most — seven times each.
In Missouri, the combination of high water and fallen power lines closed dozens of roads, snarling traffic on highways and side streets in the St. Louis area. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57587191/oklahoma-city-area-hit-by-second-major-fatal-storm-in-days/
June 1, 2013
OKLAHOMA CITY — As the sun came up on Saturday morning, emergency officials began to survey the damage from the latest deadly tornadoes to strike the Oklahoma City area in less than two weeks…
Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area, ripping part of the roof off a suburban casino.
Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm’s fury did not match that of a top-of-the-scale EF-5 tornado that struck suburban Moore on May 20 and killed 24 people.
The Friday storm, however, brought with it far more severe flooding. It dumped around seven inches of rain on Oklahoma City in the span of a few hours and made the tornado difficult to spot for motorists trying to beat it home, said Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Norman.
“Some tornadoes are wrapped in rain, so it’s basically impossible to see, which is extremely dangerous,” Mr. Thoren said. “Somebody driving along really not familiar with what’s going on can basically drive into it.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/us/5-die-in-latest-storm-oklahoma-surveys-damage.html?_r=0
June 1, 2013
Tornadoes Slam Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri
…severe storms are expected to fire up farther east on Saturday afternoon from Michigan to Texas. http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/live-storms-blasting-missouri/13647039
June 1, 2013
Widespread trouble
More than 210,000 customers have lost electricity in the areas affected by the storm, according to a CNN tally.
The severe weather has knocked out power to nearly 120,000 customers in Oklahoma, according to electricity provider OG&E.
Missouri governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency, as the storm front moved into his state. Heavy rains in the past days have left the area vulnerable to flooding, he said. An apparent tornado damaged homes near St. Louis.
The storm system has shifted to the East towards Illinois and Indiana, triggering tornado warnings and watches in its path. http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/31/us/severe-weather/index.html
My prayers last night and day have gone out to those affected.
As I mentioned last week, while the terms ‘tornado’ and ‘cyclone’ are not in the NKJV, KJV, or the DRB (Douay Rheims Bible), some translations of the Bible (like THE MESSAGE) do use them, and those that do not tend to use the term ‘whirlwind,’ which is basically what a tornado/cyclone is.
The Bible shows that whirlwinds are one of the forms of weather that God controls:
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.The Lord has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet. (Nahum 1:3)
God teaches that because of disobedience He will scatter people and use a whirlwind:
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’11 But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. 12 Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. 14 “But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.” (Zechariah 7:8-14)
21 A cyclone sweeps them up — gone!
Not a trace of them left, not even a footprint.
22 Catastrophes relentlessly pursue them;
they run this way and that, but there’s no place to hide —
23 Pummeled by the weather,
blown to kingdom come by the storm.’
(Job 27:21-23, THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.)12 Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of the roaring sea: and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters.
13 Nations shall make a noise like the noise of waters overflowing, but he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as the dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest.
14 In the time of the evening, behold there shall be trouble: the morning shall come, and he shall not be: this is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us. (Isaiah 17:12-14, DRB)
The following scriptures seem to be directed towards the end time descendents of Israel (Israel, also known as Jacob, places his name on the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh in Genesis 48:14-16), such as the Anglo-nations like the USA:
16 You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in the Lord,
And glory in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:16)6 For from Israel is even this:
A workman made it, and it is not God;
But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.7 “They sow the wind,
And reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal.
If it should produce,
Aliens would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
Now they are among the Gentiles
Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like a wild donkey alone by itself;
Ephraim has hired lovers. (Hosea 8:6-9)
The passage in Hosea 8 is clearly referring to the descendents of Israel, including Ephraim and Samaria (Samaria, a type of biblical melting pot, seems to represent the USA in some prophecies_. Notice that they are among the Gentiles and some go to Assyria (end time Germany). There are enough references to whirlwinds and the end time descendents of Israel that it seems like one or more major tornadoes are prophesied to affect them. For more details, see Will the Anglo-Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves?
The following, presuming it is intended literally, indicates that there will be a very major tornado in the time of the end:
9 Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury —
A violent whirlwind!
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart.
In the latter days you will understand it perfectly. (Jeremiah 23:19-20)23 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord
Goes forth with fury,
A continuing whirlwind;
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not return until He has done it,
And until He has performed the intents of His heart.In the latter days you will consider it. (Jeremiah 30:23-24)
The fact that this is predicted at least twice in Jeremiah suggests that this will whirlwind will be a major event.
Notice, also the following:
13 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Ammon
— make that four — I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
to get more land for herself.
14 For that, I’m burning down the walls of her capital, Rabbah,
burning up her forts.
Battle shouts! War whoops!
with a tornado to finish things off!
(Amos 1:13-14, THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language)6 And it shall be at an instant suddenly. A visitation shall come from the Lord of hosts in thunder, and with earthquake, and with a great noise of whirlwind and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire. (Isaiah 29:6, DRB)
30 And the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard, and shall shew the terror of his arm, in the threatening of wrath, and the dame of devouring fire: he shall crush to pieces with whirlwind, and hailstones.
31 For at the voice of the Lord the Assyrian shall fear being struck with the rod. (Isaiah 30:30-31, DRB)
23 He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.24 Scarcely shall they be planted,
Scarcely shall they be sown,
Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,
When He will also blow on them,
And they will wither,
And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. (Isaiah 40:23-24)
Thus, though some of these passages may also have a figurative sense, major tornadoes are forecasted in biblical prophecy.
Now, does this mean that those most affected by tornadoes are necessarily worse sinners than those less affected?
The biblical answer is no.
Notice the words of Jesus:
45…He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:4-5)
God uses weather and other events to try to get people’s attention.
God does not want people to suffer, but to turn to Him:
10 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?”‘ 11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:10-11)
God wants people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). He uses weather for correction and for His mercy (Job 37:13).
Will you heed the weather warnings?
Some articles of possibly related interest may include:
Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? Here is a YouTube video titled Does God Use Weather?
Just What Do You Mean — Repentance? Do you know what repentance is? Have you truly repented? Repented of what? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
Do Christians Sin? This is an article by Herbert W. Armstrong.
Overcoming Sin What is sin? How are Christians suppose to overcome it? Here is also a link to a video titled How to Overcome Sin.
How to Prevent Sin This is an article by Herbert W. Armstrong.
Just What Do You Mean Conversion? Many think that they are converted Christians. But are they? Would you like to know more about conversion. Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
False Conversion Have you really been converted? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this article on this important subject.
All About Water Baptism What is baptism? Would you like to know more about it. Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject. As far as early history, see also Baptism and the Early Church.
God’s Grace is For All Is being Jewish a hindrance to salvation? What about not being a descendant of Israel? What does the Bible really teach?
 |
Tweet |
|