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 Noah’s 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 God’s
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 mankind’s 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
God’s Word to take the time
to understand His prophecies. As
I see it, Toutatis was a shot
across Earth’s 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.
