Tipping Point Quick Hits (12.21.23)

Iceland's volcano, North Korea's missile test, and China's space plane

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The Potential Danger of Iceland’s Eruption

The images of the massive volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland remind me of Psalm 18, a Psalm written by David when he was surrounded by “the floods of ungodliness” while being pursued by Saul:

Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
—Psalm 18:7-8 NKJV

That passage sounds to me like it was influenced by the appearance of a volcanic eruption. Other prophetic passages, like Revelation 8:8 and Isaiah 34:9-10 and Joel 2:30-31 use similar language.

Beyond the stunning photos, Monday’s eruption has led to fears that a toxic plume of gas venting from the 2.5-mile-long fissure, which opened in a matter of minutes. Those gasses could be extremely dangerous to Icelandic residents.

The current eruption is very close to the town of Grindavik, which has been evacuated. The capital city of Reykjavik is just 40 miles away:

The Meteorological Office warned Tuesday afternoon that “gas pollution might be noticeable in Vestmannaeyjar,” an archipelago off Iceland’s south coast. Officials had also said the gas pollution might reach Reykjavik, the capital city of more than 140,000 residents about 40 miles from where the volcano erupted.

The direction of the gas will be influenced by wind direction, and so far, residents are safe. But the lava field is now around 1.5 square miles in size, and more than 300 earthquakes have been measured since the eruption. As of yesterday, that activity was beginning to decrease, even though officials worry that more vents could open along the original crack.

This part of Iceland had been dormant for more than a thousand years, until the first eruption in 2021, which I mentioned here at Tipping Point. Another followed in 2022, with two more this year. According to National Geographic, the way this fourth eruption happened has startled seismologists and volcanologists:

“This shift in the system reopening was honestly quite surprising. But it was the scale of the earthquake activity that took most people by surprise,” says Samuel Mitchell, a volcanologist at the University of Bristol. A pause between magma’s ascent and the onset of the eruption is not uncommon for fissure events, but this eruption’s prelude was especially intense and hasty.

Eyewitnesses in Reykjavik told journalists that most of the sky in the direction of Grindavik was lit red, and that residents near the eruption had been prepared for destructive lava flows and dangerous gasses. So far that hasn’t happened, but the increasingly uncertain behavior of the shield volcano could spell danger.

Iceland’s unique geological and geographical position caused a major disruption in air travel when the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull led to the largest air-traffic shutdown since World War II.

In Luke 21:11, Jesus says the end times will reveal “great earthquakes in various places…and fearful sights and great signs from heaven” (NKJV). I wouldn’t be surprised if some kind of massive volcanic eruption played a significant role in the judgment the world faces during the Tribulation. David described smoke and fire when God was angry, and I suspect the stunning eruption photos are only a shadow of what is to come. In time, all things will be clear.

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North Korea Test Fires Ballistic Missile