The Great Wave
The prophecies that Jesus gave his disciples on the Mount of Olives (called the Olivet Discourse) are among the most well known in the Bible and one of them is quite peculiar when you examine it closely. When the disciples asked Jesus what the signs of his return and the end of the age would be, he gave them several signs that they would be familair with from their own life and times (war, famine, pestilence) and near the end of this list of signs he said that at that time the nations would be fearful and perplexed and the roaring of the waves and tides (Luke 21:25). Keep in mind the Jesus was talking to his disciples (fishermen and locals from the Galilee region), whose experience with waves and tides was exclusively based on the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea. And although we do have a very famous account of a storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-40) we know that storms over an inland sea (either Galilee or the Mediterranean) do not produce the kinds of giant waves (tsunami) that occur over open water in the oceans of the world. The disciples, experienced fishermen though they may have been, had never set foot in the Atlantic or the Pacific and could scarcely imagine why nations would be bothered by waves. And yet today in modern times we are well aware of why giant waves are something to be worried about.

So, I bring to your attention a report today from the Associated Press (MyWay News - Deadly Tsunami Reached Around the Globe) on the latest discovery about the magnitude of the Sumatra tsunami:

"Last year's Sumatra tsunami focused its death and destruction on the lands around the Indian Ocean, but the great wave traveled around the world and was recorded as far away as Peru and northeastern Canada. The wave rose a massive 30 feet as it destroyed communities around the Indian Ocean. Tide gauges worldwide recorded its arrival from hours to a day after its Dec. 26 start, and movement of the wave was also tracked by satellite, according to a study appearing Thursday in Science Express, the online edition of the journal Science."

The giant wave generated by the Sumatra tsunami confirms that this prophetic sign speaks to our generation far more directly that it did to people two thousand years ago. The nations are indeed perplexed by the waves, and are still paying for tsunami relief and investing millions of dollars in expensive tsunami detection equipment. We can say with certainty based on this prophecy that there will be more giant waves and coastal flooding, perhaps because of global warming as well as quake activity. These fearsome events remind us that life is fragile and fleeting, this is the right time to examine your relationship with God and head the words of Jesus, "when these things begin to happen, look up, your redemption draws near."