Where Have All the Palm Leaves Gone?
Where Have All the Palm Leaves Gone?
By J.L. Robb
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.” Luke 21:25 NIV
Palm trees have always been a favorite of mine. They are beautiful and can stand up to the strongest of winds.
Two weeks ago today, the beautiful Caribbean was being assaulted by an “unprecedented” category 5 hurricane named Irma. Irma was a doozy and plodded on to devastate the Florida Keys and the entire state of Florida, making her way slowly up Florida’s west coast and bringing unprecedented ocean surge and inland flooding. Power has yet to be restored to all of Florida, and people in the Keys and the Caribbean are at such a loss, their question is the same hopeless question: What are we going to do?
Two weeks prior to this, category 5 Hurricane Harvey made its way to Texas, and they probably still have flooding going on. The flooding was unprecedented. Many are asking the question too, what will we do?
Today, at this moment, 11:22 AM EST, September 20, 2017, Puerto Rico is being slammed by a category 5 hurricane, this one named Maria. Maria set her eyes on a different section of the Caribbean with sustained wind-speeds of 175 MPH. Instead of wiping out the island of Barbuda, like Irma did; she set her sights on Dominica. Wiped out is putting it mildly. Barbuda has been abandoned and Dominica will likely have to do the same. St. Martin and Puerto Rico have suffered unprecedented catastrophe, at least in known human history.
Hurricane Irma was unprecedented. According to SkyNews.com,
Irma ravaged small islands in the northeast Caribbean, including Barbuda, St Martin and the British and US Virgin Islands.
Throughout the islands, stunned locals tried to comprehend the devastation as they were getting ready for another major hurricane, Jose, a category three due to reach the northeastern Caribbean on Saturday.
Hurricane Jose went on to become a category 5, also.
Hurricane Irma, according to the National Hurricane Center, was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba evacuated 51,000 tourists.
Unprecedented. That word seems to keep appearing.
Yesterday, not far from Mexico City, there was a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Buildings collapsed; and people ran into the streets, screaming and praying. Over 200 are dead, and the toll will surely rise. This follows an 8.1 earthquake in Mexico, last week.
June, 2017, Portugal suffered unprecedented fire deaths. From USA Today:
At least 62 people have died in the flames and suffocating smoke, according to Interior Minister Constanca Urbano de Sousas. Officials said many victims died trapped in their cars.
Portugal declared Sunday through Tuesday as national days of mourning for the fire “which has caused an irreparable loss of human life.”
“This is a region that has had fires because of its forests, but we cannot remember a tragedy of these proportions,” said Valdemar Alves, mayor of Pedrogao Grande. “I am completely stunned by the number of deaths.”
What the world needs is unprecedented repentance! I am not sure how bad the disasters have to become before we get it. Repentance, confessing that one has been wrong about a few things, is not easy. Most of us figure we’re right about most things, or we wouldn’t believe it. The world may never repent, because life is good; but it’s not.
Oregon is not repenting:
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has signed a landmark bill to provide free abortions for all, including illegal immigrants, by requiring insurance companies to cover the procedures and putting taxpayers on the hook for the tab.
Tuesday’s long-awaited signing of House Bill 3391, approved by the State Legislature July 5 with no Republican votes, triggered a torrent of criticism from conservatives along with praise from the pro-choice movement.
“Thank Kate Brown for signing the nation’s most progressive reproductive health bill into law today!” NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon said in a statement.
Free Abortions. That should make Jesus really happy, the nullification of Commandment 6 by the new, more progressive religions.
I don’t think we have seen the real unprecedented yet. These are simply moanings and groanings, like birth pangs. The birth is about to happen.
Yellowstone Volcano is said to be the largest supervolcano in the world, that we know of. Unlike the conical-shaped volcanos we are used to, supervolcanoes are flat for the most part. It is likely some have gone undetected. Scientists claim that if Yellowstone had a major eruption, more than 2,000,000 square miles will come to total ruin; and the entire world will be affected. Talk about climate-change not manmade.
Yet there is a more immediate disaster on the horizon.
The long-dormant Campi Flegrei supervolcano in Southern Italy “may be approaching a critical stage” according to Vesuvius Observatory scientists.
From The Voice of Russia radio broadcast:
It looks like we may be in for an earth-shattering explosion. A dormant super volcano appears to be stirring under the Phlegraen Fields of Naples in Italy. Rising soil temperatures and surface deformation in the area have alarmed seismologists. In the distant past, volcanic super eruptions caused global climate change responsible for mass extinctions of plant and animal species.
If Naples was wiped off the map like Pompeii was in 79 AD, will the Italians repent? Would that be the signal that becomes more than a coincidence.
I have a theory about major events like super-hurricanes, super-earthquakes and supervolcanoes. It is only a theory but goes like this: Super disasters can only happen in 1 of 3 ways- God does it, it occurs as a natural climatic event or Satan does it. God often gets the blame. It was Satan that created all the havoc and climate disasters in Job’s life.
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” Job 1:18-19 NIV
The palm trees are bare, the leaves are gone. What are we going to do?
I hope everyone will pray for those suffering through unprecedented disasters.
Unprecedented. What the world needs is unprecedented repentance.