The Southern Alps in New Zealand lie along a tectonic plate. The geologic upheaval which formed these mountains is also responsible for many earthquakes in that region’s history.

“In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. ” – Ezekiel 38:19-20, NIV

There is no question that when we think of earthquakes we think of devastation. Thanks to blockbuster movies, real current events, and apocalyptic Scripture texts like the one above, we tend to associate earthquakes with calamity and destruction.

At a personal level, when we receive bad news such as a cancer diagnosis or the sudden loss of a loved one, the emotional, psychological, spiritual, and physical upheaval it causes can have the same seismic impact as a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.  Everything you trust and hold dear can suddenly be thrown to the ground as rubble.

In the passage from Ezekiel above, Ezekiel is prophesying a final, distant confrontation between Yahweh and all human and spiritual evil. Think of it as God gathering every terrorist, tyrant, rapist, child molester, serial killer, human trafficker and warlord, with all their collective cruelty, sadism, and malevolence, to execute a final judgment against all their madness, to annihilate evil once and for all. This judgment is announced with a mighty earthquake that shakes the foundations of everything in the world.  It’s an awesome and terrible picture.  It’s a reminder that God is a God of justice as well as love, and will one day execute that justice against all evil.

But what about the natural evils that plague us today? Those tragedies and diagnoses that rock our personal foundations? Will God execute judgment on these as well?

There is another place in Scripture before that final scene where God announces judgment with an earthquake. but the judgment He is  announcing is against sin and death, and all of their cumulative effects on God’s cherished creation.

“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” – Matthew 27:51-54, NIV

Jesus’s death was not merely a nice sacrificial gesture. It was a cataclysmic event that sealed God’s victory over sin and death forever. It was a watershed moment in the history of the universe.  Christ’s death, with the accompanying earthquake signaled the most beautiful reality to ever enter our world. The reality of forgiveness, newness, and eternal life.  Beautiful things can emerge from earthquakes.

Whatever you face today, know that God is Lord over the earthquake. he has spoken judgment against the evil and suffering you face and can execute healing and victory in your life, His very real resurrection power at work in you. And whatever the outcome in the natural today, his final outcome is far more beautiful than anything we can fathom.

The Napali coastline in Kauai is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. It too was forged in volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawaii’s past.