Tragedies, Natural Disasters and End Times Fears

By
Robert E. Dietrich III
1
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the
buildings of the temple.
2
And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when
shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
- Matthew 24:1-8

Interpreting Matthew 24
The past few decades have seen an increase in the study of eschatology among Christians.
Eschatology is just a big word that means study of last things or end times. In 1970 came the publication
of The Late, Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey and Carol C. Carson. While I do not know if this book
started the flames of interest in the end times, it certainly fanned them. The seventies and early eighties
saw four low-budget, Christian-produced films (A Thief in the Night – 1972, A Distant Thunder – 1978,
Image of the Beast – 1980, The Prodigal Planet – 1983) that have become very popular among Christians
concerning the end times made by Russell S. Doughten. Christians in the nineties and into the present
day have been fed a steady diet of end times literature including the best selling Left Behind series by Tim
LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Perusing a typical Christian bookstore tells me that there isn’t going to be
any slowing of books of this nature.
But why are we seeing such a huge increase in interest in the end times? I personally believe that
much of the hysteria is due to simple misinformation. I am certainly not saying that all these books are
leading people astray or teaching wrong doctrine even though some of them do. I am certainly concerned
that many Christians read books about the end times without the proper biblical discernment. Too many
Christians are getting their doctrine from works of fiction based on the bible rather than from the bible
itself.
The other reason I believe that we are seeing an increase in end times hysteria is due to the common
teaching of Matthew 24 combined with media coverage of current disasters. For those unfamiliar with the
common interpretation of Matthew 24 concerning the end times, it is basically this: we can tell that we are
nearing the end times because of the increase in world violence (wars), widespread famine, epidemic
outbreaks of disease (pestilence), the increase in frequency of earthquakes worldwide and just for good
measure some Christians even throw in hurricanes and tornados.
I am not sure that this interpretation of Matthew 24 is correct. Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 24
verses 4 to 6.

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For
many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall
hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

Jesus says, “Let no man deceive you.”

Jesus is teaching that people will try to deceive Christians and this is borne out more not only in the
other teachings of Christ, but also in the writing of Paul, Peter, Jude and John in his letters and
Revelation. Then, Jesus lists several types of major tragedies and finishes by saying, “all these things

1
must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” I think that phrase is the key to understanding Christ’s
teaching. I believe that what Christ is saying is not that the increase in tragic occurrences are a sign of the
end times, but rather that we should beware of anyone who says they are.
My interpretation is that Jesus is saying that tragedy is just a part of living in a fallen world. As long as
men are sinners and continue to reject Christ, there will be war. As long as this world is under the curse of
Adam’s sin, there will be disease, famine, earthquakes and death. That is just the way it is.
If recent history has taught us anything, there are several groups out there that co-opt any tragic
event to promote their cause. Think of how many times we hear of people who take advantage of a
tragedy to make money. There are thieves out there who create charities every time a major disaster
takes place. They say they are going to use any money or items sent to help in relief efforts. In reality,
they will use that money to relieve their own debt and improve their lifestyle. They often do this in the
name of one religion or another. This is the type of person Jesus is warning us about.
I also do not hold anything against people who wonder aloud if “this is the end” every time a tragic
event unfolds. I do not mark them, but I do hope to encourage them with the words of Christ: “all these
things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

The End Is Not Near

Now you may certainly disagree with my interpretation and that is fine. In eschatology, the study of
end times is less important than the study of the eternal destination of the soul. The gospel is meat and
potatoes and end times studies are ice cream and cake. So I am willing to agree to disagree if you do not
agree with my interpretation.
I am also perfectly willing to admit that as closeness to the end times will be marked by an increase in
such tragic events. If that is our basis for believing that “the end is near” then I want to let you know that
the end is not near.
Any person reading this article or hearing me say that will undoubtedly respond with surprise. But
they would probably also be surprised to learn that wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes and even
destructive storms are actually decreasing.
Many people are shocked when I tell them that and refer me to all the recent news about whatever
tragedy has recently stricken the globe. In the past decade we have seen the terrorist attacks on
September 11th, 2001 and the resultant “War on Terror” that began less than a month later. In 2003, a
coalition of forces invaded Iraq and the U.S., Britain and several other countries are still occupying Iraq
and Afghanistan at a huge cost of life. In 2004 we saw a widespread loss of life in many Pacific rim
countries, especially Indonesia due to an tsunami caused by an earthquake. In 2005 the U.S. was hit hard
by Hurricane Katrina and our houses were daily filled with images of flooded New Orleans, people
stranded and dying on the streets and hurricane refugees living in terrible conditions in shelters
throughout Louisiana and Texas. More recently we have seen several large earthquakes wreaking
massive destruction in Haiti, Chile, New Zealand and now Japan.
That is a pretty big, albeit
incomplete list of tragedies from just
the last ten years. But I still stick with
what I said before. All the “signs”
people point to are decreasing in
number.

Wars Decreasing

Here are just some statistics

concerning the “signs of the end
times”.
According to Rudolph J. Rummel
who holds a Ph. D. in Political
Science and was a professor of
Political Science at the University of
Hawaii, we are actually seeing an

2
increase in worldwide democracies and an overall decrease in worldwide conflicts over the past 50
years1. This is illustrated in the chart on the previous page.
As you can see in the chart, there was a major increase in autocracies from the late 50s and they
peaked in the mid seventies. But thanks, I’m sure, to modern technology and the ability of those nations
to see what democracies are like,
autocracies have been on a steady
decline since the seventies and the
world for the most part is democratic.
The results have been that as the
world becomes more democratic, the
fewer wars there are as illustrated in
the chart at right (Global Trends in
Armed Conflict, 1946-2004)2.
People living in the last century
who believed that an increase in
warfare was a sign of the end times
had good reason to think that. But
those of us living now can take a look
at these statistics and breathe a sigh of
relief if for no other reason that world is
more peaceful in spite of what the
media might be telling us.

Famines Decreasing

You may have often seen on late night TV or during Sunday morning programming, pleas from
organizations for support to end world hunger. As you watch these commercials and see the suffering
people, you may find yourself concerned about an increase in famine. Many of these organizations are
doing wonderful jobs breaking through the bureaucracy and red tape of the oppressive regimes that are
causing the conditions leading to hunger.
A recent report3 given to the United Nations noted that there is a downward trend of worldwide
hunger. I will temper this report by saying that it is the first time that we have seen a downward trend in 15
years. Overall however, the hunger rate per capita has been on a steady decline worldwide4.
Please do not stop being concerned about hungry people. The church should continue their work in
feeding the hungry as a service for Christ (Matthew 25:34-40).

Pestilences Decreasing

The evidence for this comes less from information about people getting sick as much as it does from
human life expectancy plus the added knowledge about trends in eradicating disease. Just a basic
knowledge of history will show that disease was a huge factor in the death rate before the 20th century.
Advances in medical knowledge and increased cleanliness has led to people being less likely to die from
diseases that would have surely killed people before the 20th century and resulted in longer life spans.
Knowledge about the handling of blood and food products and regulation by the FDA and similar agencies

1
Rummel, Rudolph J. “Global Autocracy and Democracy 1946-2004.” University of Hawaii,
2005 http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DP.DEMOC.1946TO2004.JPG
2
Rummell, Rudolph J. “Global Trends in Armed Conflicts, 1946-2004.” Cited in “Trend of
War” http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?40503-The-Trend-of-War-as-
well-as-Tyranny-is-decreasing.
3
Associated Press “World Hunger Decreasing, Figures Show.” Associated Press 15 Sep. 2010
4
Peron, Jim “The Facts About World Hunger.” The Freeman Volume 54 Issue 7 September
2004.

3
in other countries has resulted in a much safer food supply. This same knowledge has resulted in the
average person being more careful about the food they eat, how they handle it and how they prepare it.
The old saying goes, “Cleanliness is second to godliness.” I say that cleanliness is godliness. God
was very specific about the dangers of handling blood and the necessity for cleanliness. In 1877, Ernest
Hart noted that a hospital in France was the “admiration of obstetricians of Europe”5 because their
dedication to cleanliness and the result of lowered maternal mortality rates in childbirth. He notes that the
hospitals sanitation code was based on a strict observance of the Mosaic laws concerning blood and
childbirth6.

Earthquakes Decreasing

The evidence for the end times I hear most often is the increase in and destructive power of
earthquakes. With the earthquakes in New Zealand and in Japan in early 2011, not to mention the terrible
destruction wrought by the earthquakes in Chile 2010 and Haiti in 2009, there seems to be a renewed
fear of the end of the world. I heard at least three times on the Sunday morning following the earthquake
in Japan that it was a signal that Jesus’ coming is very close.
But once again we see that the facts do not line up with this theory. According to the United States
Geological Survey, “earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant throughout
this century and, according to our records, have actually seemed to decrease in recent years.”7

Hurricanes Decreasing

I am adding this last point in because even though this evidence of the last time is not found in
Matthew 24, it stands to reason for most Christians that if destructive events like wars and earthquakes
are signs of the end times, then destructive storm patterns will be as well. You hear a lot from Global
Warming proponents as well, that Hurricanes are on the rise. This gives credence to the idea to many
Christians. But, once again, the facts do not line up with the theory.
According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration there has actually been a
downward trend in Atlantic Hurricanes over the fifty years between 1946 to 19968. Some might point out
that the study only goes from 1946 to 1996, but what about the last fifteen years?
Some of the same researchers involves in the previously mentioned study did another study in 20089.
Their focus was on damage caused by hurricanes. Their conclusions were that hurricane destruction was
not due to increased activity or destructiveness, but rather to increase of populations in areas where
hurricanes occur. They also found that while there were anomalous years where there was increased
hurricane activity, the downward trend in hurricane activity continues.

Why Does It Seem Like Things Are Getting Worse?

If all these things are on the decrease, why does it seem like things are getting worse? Why is there
so much bad news all the time?
The one answer that is common to just about all of these tragic events is the increase in population.
As the population increases and more people move to areas where there are hurricanes, earthquakes,
and drought and so on, the number of people killed will increase.

5
Hart, Ernst “Mosaic Code of Sanitation.” The Sanitary Record, p. 197. 30 Mar 1877.
6
Ibid.
7
United States Geological Survey “Earthquake Myths.”
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/faq/?faqID=110
8
Landsea, Nicholls, Gray and Avila “Downward Trends in the Frequency of Intense Atlantic
Hurricanes During the Past Five Decades.” Geophysical Research Letters volume 23 p. 1697-
1700. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration 1996.
9
Pielke, Gratz, Landsea, Collins, Saunders and Musulin “Normalized Hurricane Damage in
the United States: 1900-2005.” Natural Hazards Review. February 2008.

4
 The second answer is media. Not only does bad news sell, but there is a wider array of outlets for
news. When I was a kid, there were five places to get your news from – ABC, CBS, NBC the radio and
the newspaper. Today, there are hundreds of internet outlets for the news, each national and local news
channel has an internet website, each radio station has its own website and even the newspapers have
their own websites. Of course there is cable with a dozen news channels to add to the half a dozen or so
local news stations. All this coverage combined literally floods us with the same news.
When major tragedies aren’t happening, there are hundreds of smaller tragedies to cover and so we
are still flooded with bad news.
So, while statistically there are fewer things happening, there are more outlets to report it which
magnifies the perception that things are getting worse.

Responding To Tragedy

It is natural for people to look at a tragedy of any kind and look for a purpose in it. Nobody wants any
tragedy to be a purposeless random event. Are these tragedies some kind of judgment? Perhaps. Do they
serve a purpose? They can.
We must remember that when a disaster happens, it can be used in the life of an unbeliever to draw
that person into a saving relationship with Christ. In the life of a believer, it can draw us closer to God and
our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.
In Romans 8:28, Paul reminds us, “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
that are the called according to his purpose.”
God has called us to reach out to the hurting, both believing and unbelieving. Our job is not to avoid
suffering, but to embrace it and its use in the preaching of the gospel. When presenting the gospel, we
should not ever tell people that Jesus helps us escape from suffering, but rather, there will come a day
where suffering will cease. That day will be the day we enter heaven.
In his message, “Hell’s Best Kept Secret,” Ray Comfort gives an illustration of two men on an airplane
who are given a parachute.

Two men are seated in a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put is on as
it would improve his flight. He’s a little skeptical at first because he can’t see how wearing
a parachute in a plane could possibly improve the flight. After a time he decides to
experiment and see if the claim is true. As he puts it on he notices the weight of it upon
his shoulders and he finds that he has difficulty in sitting upright. However, he consoles
himself with the fact that he was told the parachute would improve the flight. So, he
decides to give the thing a little time. As he waits he notices that some of the other
passengers are laughing at him, because he’s wearing a parachute in a plane. He begins
to feel somewhat humiliated. As they begin to point and laugh at him and he can stand it
no longer, he slinks in his seat, unstraps the parachute, and throws it to the floor.
Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because, as far as he was concerned, he was
told an outright lie.
The second man is given a parachute, but listen to what he’s told. He’s told to put it
on because at any moment he’d be jumping 25,000 feet out of the plane. He gratefully
puts the parachute on; he doesn’t notice the weight of it upon his shoulders, nor that he
can’t sit upright. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he
jumped without that parachute.10

Ray Comfort then goes on to explain the illustration. The first man represents the way people are
commonly presented the gospel. People are told that Jesus will improve their life and then, when life gets
hard, they lose faith in Christ. Not understanding Christ’s purpose in saving a person can actually cause
that person to not accept Christ as Savior, but rather as life improver. This leads to damnation.

10
Comfort, Ray “Hell’s Best Kept Secret.” Non-copyrighted, duplication encouraged. August
1982.

5
 The second man represents the way the gospel should be preached. The world we live in is cursed
and not only that, but so are we. We are born with the stain of original sin and because of that, one day,
we are going to die — we will be forced to jump off the planet. If we have the parachute, Christ, we will be
saved from the destruction of Hell. But if we jump without Christ, we will suffer eternal destruction. With
that understanding of the gospel, we can understand Christ’s words in Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 to
30:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus’ Coming Is Nearer

I have already given my interpretation of Matthew 24 — my opinion. While I do not believe that
disasters are a sign of the nearness of the end times, I do believe that there are other signs we can look
to for the coming of Christ.
One of the signs the prophets said would signal the soon return of Christ was the return of Israel to
the Promised Land (Jeremiah 31:18-21; Ezekiel 20:41-44). These verses also indicate that Israel will
accept Christ as Savior, will repent from their wicked ways and their repentance will be evident in their
acceptance of judgment from God. The first part (Israel’s return to the Promised Land) has to happen
before the second part (repentance).
The first part has happened. Israel is back in the Promised Land. In order for Israel to repent and
receive God’s blessing, Israel as a nation will have to accept Christ and that will not happen until the
Tribulation (Revelation 7). So in all reality, there is nothing left that needs to happen, prophetically for
Christ to return.
Something else of interest is the description of Gog and Magog rising up against Israel in Ezekiel 38
and 39 and the God’s protection of Israel and victory over those nations.
Gog and Magog refer to areas that are now Russia and countries in the Middle East. It is obvious to
even the most casual observer that most Muslims in the Middle East have a hatred for Israel and we have
heard calls from Mahmoud Amadinejad for the destruction of Israel. Recently we have seen Islamic
radicals rising up against the moderate governments and a call for an Islamic Caliphate.
Students of history will know that the last Islamic Caliphate was brought to an end in World War I. If
the Caliphate had existed, it would have prevented Israel’s return to the land. One or two Jews? No
problem. A whole nation? Unacceptable.
If an Islamic Caliphate is reestablished, it is not a large stretch of the imagination to expect that they
would attack Israel. The majority of these Islamic countries receive military equipment and technical
support from Russia. The world is setting itself up for Christ’s possible return.
However, it still isn’t definite. Revelation and Ezekiel both indicate that Israel will be at peace before
Gog and Magog rise up. If a Caliphate is formed and attacks Israel before Israel is experiencing an
unprecedented period of peace, the world will have to wait a little longer for Christ’s return.

No matter what anyone believes, Jesus is coming again and we are closer to his return than at any
other time in history. Tomorrow we will be closer. In 100 years, if Christ tarries, then we will be 100 years
closer. My point in writing this essay is not to reduce faith in Christ’s coming, but rather to reduce the
discouragement that people feel about the way things are and the way things are going. This essay has
only addressed natural phenomena, but other essays could be written on the subjects of the direction of
politics and morality and I will very likely write them at some point.
For now, let me just say that there may be great darkness and persecution for Christians. Things may
get a whole lot worse. But they might also may get much better. The greatest revivals may be in our
future, not our past.

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not

afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee
whithersoever thou goest.

6
- Joshua 1:6

Be encouraged.