Many news services worldwide picked up on the quakes in New Zealand, though without serious damage or loss of life. It might be surmised that it is because New Zealand was recently in the news, as the latest (the 13th) nation to redefine 'marriage'.
The news of re-definitionof marriage was picked up by the BBC, NBC, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Sky and many others. The Australian ABC reported,
National Party prime minister John Key backed the legislation, which was introduced by Labour MP Louisa Wall. ABC
New Zealand is special as it is famous for the words of a Member of Parliament, showing that they do know better, and it was done in defiance of God's word (and not merely as a result of laxity and an amoral society). The transcript is here yournz.org
“I want to say that the good news about years spent in this Parliament is that you learn to deflect all of the dreadful fire and brimstone accusations that are going to happen.”
However, a huge amount of the opposition was from moderates, from people who were concerned, who were seriously worried, about what this bill might do to the fabric of our society. I respect their concern. I respect their worry ...
But then he goes on to show he did not in fact respect this opinion, beacause he has his own opinion,
I understand why people do not like what it is that others do. That is fine. We are all in that category.
But I give a promise to those people who are opposed to this bill right now. I give you a watertight guaranteed promise.
The sun will still rise tomorrow.
Your teenage daughter will still argue back to you as if she knows everything. Your mortgage will not grow. You will not have skin diseases or rashes, or toads in your bed.
The world will just carry on.
So do not make this into a big deal.
This bill is fantastic for the people it affects, but for the rest of us, life will go on.
Finally, can I say that one of the messages I had was that this bill was the cause of our drought—this bill was the cause of our drought.
Well, if any of you follow my Twitter account, you will see that in the Pakuranga electorate this morning it was pouring with rain. We had the most enormous big gay rainbow across my electorate.
It has to be a sign. It has to be a sign. If you are a believer, it is certainly a sign.
Can I finish—for all those who are concerned about this—with a quote from the Bible. It is Deuteronomy. I thought Deuteronomy was a cat out of the musical Cats, but never mind. The quote is Deuteronomy 1:29: “Be ye not afraid.”
The law was passed by a majority of 77 on April 17th and and will come into force August 19th, 2013.
He can't promise that!
Not only was the drought possibly a warning which was rightly understood, this MP could not promise that life would go on: it was not in his power to do so.
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away.
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:13-17)
It was foolish to say such things so publically. In an uncertain world, how can he know the future that things will “go on”? The present is proof that the future won't be like the past. Did he not think of Christchurch, where in a day, just one day, a city was almost destroyed? It is to be doubted if anyone's life in Christchurch went exactly on as it had before that. Many people left the city, some for other countries.
Fire and Brimstone
This MP knew about the possiblity of fire and brimstone, and he knew where this came from, “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;” (Gen 19:24). Sodom was Christ's example of the consequences of sin in the latter days before his return to the earth,
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:28-29)
Jude connects the specific sin of Sodom to general fornication, which is common in the modern affluent world.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7)
Peter also uses Sodom as an exemplar,
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; (2Peter 2:6)
The Apostle Peter's words are clear, it was to be an example for all time. Peter may have been thinking of how Ezekiel used Sodom as an example. Sodom was associated with pride and a lack of care for the poor.
For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of thy pride, (Eze 16:56)
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. (Ezekiel 16:49-50)
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: (Deuteronomy 32:32)
God did not destroy Sodom for its sodomy, or its fornication alone. It was destroyed because it was full of proud people who were idle, due to wealth, and who didn't work to improve the lot of the poor and needy. It is all very well to speak of doing good, but those idle in their own wealth might think it enough to give a pittance, or hope the taxes they pay (which they minimise) might do good. In addition those living in wealth and ease (who often do not have children), who promote freedom to practice fornication, fail to see the damage it does to the poor where relationship failures add to financial burdens.
This MP knew about the fire and brimstone destruction of Sodom, but in educated pride, the pride including that of his knowledge of physics, he rejects it as 'not applicable' to himself or his nation. Futher than that he gives a guarantee he hasn't the power to give. It is so obvious that he has no power to keep that promise that he will be shown to be a fool for having done so.
Due to a new set of earthquakes life in the capital city of Wellington, will not go on as normal. The Apostle Paul speaks of this pride,
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom 1:20-21)
Paul goes on and says that the fundamental issue is that they serve the creature more than the Creator. They serve themselves, making God to be like themselves, like a 'corruptible man', a man whose mind may be changed by whim.
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: (Romans 1:23-26)
Because this MP, though not known as a fornicator, made his own thinking the highest standard, as his 'god', he was moved to serve the 'creature' and preside over supporting women who had 'changed their natural use' . He fits into the category of foolish men that Paul condemns,
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:32)
Rainbow: A sign of Judgement
Many people misundertsand the Rainbow. In the original text the word is just 'bow' the same word for 'bow and arrow'. To sincere Jews who teach Hebrew, the advent of a bow in the sky is loaded with meaning. It is not a symbol of peace, but of a holy covenant with the earth due to the act of a righteous man. To Jews it is a sign of judgement. Every time they see it and think on it, they call it holy and remember that except for eight people, all the people on the earth were killed. In addition life was destroyed on land becaue of the utter wickedness of the people. The covenant was with the animals that such a flood would not happen again. Judgement would not again destroy animals and plants, but target the wicked humans and their works, as Sodom showed.
The flood is an example of judgement. It is used by Peter as a warning,
And [he] spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; (2Peter 2:5)
To a Christian, as this MP said, it is certainly a sign... Do we hear what our Lord said?
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37-39)
They indeed 'marry' and give in 'marriage'! The next judgement is not a flood, but an earthquake, as predicted in Zechariah 14 and in Isaiah 24. A quake destroys only the works of man, shaking all work, burning it due to resultant fires and washing it out in resultant tsunamis. Most people run out of the buildings and so will survive, but the pride of humans is removed and their labour is taken away.
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. (Isa 24:20)
The judgement of earthquakes
The first warning that things were not going to go on as before was a quake on July 18 centred near Seddon. On Sunday July 21 in a sequence that lasted most of the day there was a major 6.5 quake felt also in Wellington.
Seddon, which has been the centre of seismic shaking since a magnitude 6.5 tremor struck on July 21. the Age
a multi-centred (strike slip) quake on Sunday July21, where it quaked most of the day.
On August 2 there was another quake near Seddon with aftershocks,
A series of aftershocks have rumbled across central New Zealand this morning, sparked by a strong magnitude 4.9 jolt near Seddon, Marlborough shortly before 1am.
The early morning rumble was located 25km south-east of Seddon at a depth of 22km and could be felt in Wellington.
Several smaller aftershocks followed before another sizeable tremor came at 6.38am - a magnitude 4.5 quake 30km east of Seddon, at a depth of 17km.
A series of smaller quakes in the area have followed, ranging from magnitude 2.2 to 2.9.
NZ Herald
In August 2013 a series of sizeable earthquakes struck the region over a period of a few days being felt strongly in Blenheim, Wellington and the rest of Central New Zealand, the strongest being a magnitude 6.5 wikipedia
The centre of the quake is said to be Seddon. This town is named after the longest serving and most famous Political leader of New Zealand, Richard Seddon, who is credited with founding the welfare state and and establishing New Zealand as pillar of the British Empire. (wikipedia). He died on a ship from Australia to NewZealand after winning a 5th election. His last words were a telegram
‘Just leaving for God’s own country.’ nz history
To centre the quake at Seddon shows dramatically how the power of the word of God has waned and how the original focus of government has been lost. The quakes will affect prosperity. New Zealand must deal with reparing buildings, rather than being able to focus on new work and the many quakes will cause a loss in confidence in people who will choose not to invest. Because of this financial loss and internal focus it will lose influence in the Commonwealth.
There have been hundreds of aftershocks since the July quake, with residents fearing a repeat of a devastating quake that hit Christchurch in February 2011, killing 185 people.
Wellington lies near five seismic faultlines and was the scene of the country's most powerful earthquake in 1855. That devastating 8.2-magnitude quake caused four deaths and changed the city's entire geography, pushing the shoreline out 200 metres as it thrust the harbour floor upwards. ABC
Aftershocks continue to rattle Wellington following this afternoon's 6.6 magnitude shake.
While there's been no reports of serious damage or injuries, the earthquake and it's aftershocks have disrupted the city. newstalkzb.co.nz
Pragmatically the quakes closed the stock exchange for half an hour and
the quake sent the New Zealand dollar tumbling around a third of a U.S. cent to $0.8067 Reuters
In the latest set of quakes many report that they swayed to and fro as Isaah said,
In Hawke's Bay, the 6.6 quake was felt strongly with Radio New Zealand's reporter in Napier saying it felt like being in a boat in rolling seas. Radio nz
If a place was to be chosen to trigger the quake, to send a message from God to the nation, the connection with government is totally underlined in events in Marlbourgh,
Blenheim police have cordoned off the Forum building in Market St and sent all shop owners and staff home because of two large cracks that appeared on the flyover between Paper Plus and the National Party electorate office. stuff.co.nz
A forum is a place of discussion. The two most culpable people in the whole were the prime minister John Key and his minister, both from the National Party.
The series of earthquakes affected most of the North Island and were felt over most of the nation.
Two strong earthquakes, one measuring 6.6 and then a 5.7, hit central New Zealand on Friday afternoon, sending Wellington commuters fleeing from the city and causing havoc in Marlborough.
Further north, a series of earthquakes, including some centred in the Rangitikei region, cut power to Hunterville.
Within half an hour of the major earthquake, a shallow 4.2 magnitude earthquake also shook Hunterville, followed by ones near Turangi and Ohakune.
Then at 3.09pm local time, a ‘‘severe’’ earthquake hit north of Taihape. It was a 4.9 magnitude earthquake at a depth of 13 kilometres, Geonet said.
A further aftershock was reported by Geonet near Levin at 3.27pm local time.
The 4.5 magnitude shake was centered 10 kilometres north-east of the Horowhenua at a depth of 29 kilometres.
Blenheim police have cordoned off the Forum on Market Street, and sent all shop owners and staff home because of two large cracks that appeared on the flyover between Paper Plus and the National Party electorate office. the Age
When you look at the graph below from Geonet, which is flat for most of the year, then a spike recently, you can see that indeed things did not go on as before.
And these quakes just aren't usual, indicating that they were sent to perplex people,
The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the initial temblor was 94 kilometers (58 miles) west of Wellington at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
A quake of similar strength in the same area three weeks ago broke water mains, smashed windows and downed power lines.Caroline Little, a seismologist with New Zealand quake monitoring agency GeoNet, said the series of quakes since July had followed an unusual pattern.
"Normally you get a big quake and then the aftershocks get smaller in magnitude," she said.
Little said the July quake was on a fault line near Seddon that had not previously been mapped. She said it was too early to determine if Friday's quakes were on that same fault.huffingtonpost
Geonet seismologist Anna Kaiser said "very preliminary" data showed today's quake was a little further west than the 6.5 quake on July 21, but it was certainly another event in the Cook Strait sequence. stuff.com.nz
Geonet can't predict, but they expect the shaking will go on 'for some time' (foxnews ) At least until August 19.
There was significant movement, and very varied (diverse)
also showed that many of the quakes since late July had varied individual characteristics. GPS stations have also revealed that Cape Campbell, on Marlborough's northeast coast, has moved 15cm west since Friday, while stations to the north had moved a few centimetres east. odt.co.nz
Why 'Be ye not afraid?'
In these quakes, the theme of 6 and six, 60 is evident..
Geonet figures show there have been 60 aftershocks since this afternoon's magnitude 6.6 quake.
Six have been magnitude 5 or greater. NZ Herald
And if there was no brimsone, there was some fire...
Scrub fires had been sparked by fallen lines. stuff.co.nz
But why did the New Zealand politician quote Deuteronomy 1:29 to conclude? He said it was for “all those who are concerned about this”. Did he check the context?
Behold, the LORD thy God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers has said unto you; fear not, neither be discouraged.
...Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The LORD your God which goes before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; (Deuteronomy 1:21,29-30)
The quote is 'be not afraid of them'. In conext, this is the wicked marked for destruction. This is Moses speaking to Israel to go and posses the land promised to their fathers... and it isn't all positive,
Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, (Deuteronomy 1:32-35)
In all, it was a very peculiar verse to quote. Indeed the God of Isarel hears all the words uttered. Those words of pride uttered by a man have already been shown to be foolish. The people of New Zealand are once again in fear as their nation quakes, now in the capital city. The people of the capital city might wonder if their city might be shaken next like Christchurch, as Wellington was in 1855, when the area that the CBD is now built on rose 3m from the sea. What is left of human pride when the earth moves, and when even the great run or hide in fear?
For more on why some quakes might be sent by God, and why me might be suspicious that in this instance prolonged minor quaking might be to rebuke pride, 'gay pride'.. Faith to move mountains
