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The Day Millions
Almost Perished!
Let me ask you three
questions about events that are called
defining moments. Are you old enough
to remember where you were on November 22, 1963
when you learned that President John F. Kennedy
has been assassinated? Do you remember where you
were on September 11, 2001 when you learned that
two commercial airplanes crashed into the Twin
Towers in New York City? Do you remember where
you were on September 29, 2004 at 5:45 P.M. EDT?
You are probably wondering, Why would I
remember that moment? Here are two reasons.
First, September 29 should be remembered as the
day that millions of people almost
perished. If the asteroid, Toutatis, had
impacted Earth at 5:45 P.M. EDT, the moment of
its closest approach, several hundred million
people would have been evaporated immediately and
hundreds of millions more would have died shortly
thereafter. Toutatis, a three mile long
asteroid, whizzed past us at 72,000 m.p.h.
missing Earth by less than a million miles. In
recorded history, nothing this large has ever
passed by our planet and in astronomical terms, a
million miles is a mere whisker. French
astronomer, C. Pollas, discovered Toutatis
in 1989 and he named the odd-shaped asteroid
after a Celtic god that feared nothing except the
sky falling. If Toutatis had impacted
Earth September 29, the global result would have
been second only to the destruction caused by the
flood in Noahs day.
It is interesting that
this catastrophic possibility did not receive a
lot of media attention. Initially, a number of
asteroid trackers privately believed that
Toutatis had a high probability of impacting
Earth. When the asteroid became visible in late
July, astronomers concluded that it would miss
Earth and this made the fly-by a
nonevent. September 29, 2004 passed as a normal
day and the day millions almost perished
has been forgotten.
However, there is a
second reason why September 29, 2004 should be
remembered. This reason can be boiled down to one
word, example. The fly by of Toutatis
is a recent demonstration affirming that Bible
prophecy will be fulfilled. Twenty years ago,
people scoffed at the idea that Bible prophecy
predicts two asteroid impacts. The scoffers have
been silenced. When Comet shoemaker-Levy 9 broke
into 21 pieces and plunged into Jupiter in July
1994, astronomers around the world witnessed
impacts on Jupiter so powerful, that one crater
could hold three planets the size of Earth!
A growing number of
people are awakening to the simple reality that
Gods Word predicts two asteroid impacts.
Two thousand years ago, the prophet John wrote, The
second angel sounded his trumpet, and something
like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into
the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a
third of the living creatures in the sea died,
and a third of the ships were destroyed. The
third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great
star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on
a third of the rivers and on the springs of water
the name of the star is Wormwood. A third
of the waters turned bitter, and many people died
from the waters that had become bitter [poisonous].
(Revelation 8:8-11, italics and insertion
mine)
If you are not familiar
with the use of Old Testament language in
Revelation, you might wonder how a huge mountain
and blazing star could destroy a third of the
sea, a third of the living creatures, a third of
the ships, a third of the rivers and springs of
water. The answer is relatively simple. It was
customary in ancient times for kings to destroy two-thirds
of the people who rebelled against them. (2
Samuel 8:1,2; Ezekiel 5:12; Zechariah 13:8) The
imagery is used in the seven trumpets twelve
times! The idea is that God would be justified in
destroying two-thirds of Earth because of our
rebellion against His authority. Because God is a
very generous king, He will destroy one-third and
spare two-thirds. Therefore, the seven trumpets
(seven first plagues) will be a time of seven
judgments mixed with mercy. Conversely, the seven
bowls (the seven last plagues) will contain no
mercy. When the first asteroid impacts an ocean,
the resulting tsunami will destroy millions of
people living near the ocean. When the second
asteroid impacts a continent, the resulting
ground waves will fracture the geologic strata
that will contaminate underground aquifers. Thus,
survivors living long distances away from the
impact zone will die after drinking the poisonous
water.
God sees the violence,
hatred, sexual immorality and dishonesty-taking
place on Earth. He has something to say to
mankind, but unfortunately, the only way He can
get mankinds attention is by destroying a
third of our physical world. The books of Daniel
and Revelation contain a compelling story for
this generation and unfortunately, few people are
interested enough in Gods Word to take the
time to understand His prophecies. As I see it,
Toutatis was a shot across Earths bow that
meant very little to most observers. For this
reason, September 29 was not a defining moment.
However, be assured that a defining moment is
coming. Soon, out of the clear blue sky, a great
pair of asteroids will reach their destination
and I am sure the survivors will never forget
where they were on that awesome day.
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