Shaken (Revisited)

On 20th December 2020 I wrote a blog post entitled ‘Shaken’. (You can read it here.)* In a nutshell, I wrote about how much of the ‘shaking’ seen in the Scriptures is actually a positive thing. Many times when there are earthquakes, they precede a moment of the glory of God being encountered. Some have also pointed out to me that there was an earthquake at the resurrection of Jesus, when the angel rolled the stone from the mouth of the tomb, which was a pretty dramatic example of this that I missed in my original piece. 

Anyway, just before Christmas I was due to get up early in California to head to the airport, embarking on a trip to my friends in Canada. In the night I was woken up by an emergency alert notification that there had been an earthquake in Northern California, just off the coast. Thankful that I was largely unaffected except the alarm waking me, I moved on with my day. But over the Christmas holiday I began to wonder about the timing of this earthquake. 

It took place on 20th December 2022, a magnitude 6.4 quake. Wondering if God was speaking, I did some research. I discovered that there have only been two other earthquakes greater than magnitude 6 in California since I wrote my post ‘Shaken’. And one of them was on 20th December 2021. 

So I wrote on 20th December 2020, then on both 20th December 2021 and 20th December 2022 there were significant earthquakes in almost the exact same location – the same latitude as Redding, where I live, but on the coast. God had my attention. 

I have lived with the sense that in a particular and unusual way, God’s glory is going to be seen in the earth. This countdown of quakes has been alerting me, even as we come out of a pandemic which shook the foundations of our global way of life. I don’t think God is causing destructive earthquakes, but the recent devastating quake is a sign of disruption in the spiritual realm as simultaneously God’s glory is spreading like wildfire. In recent weeks, a movement – a revival – of prayer and worship has been sweeping university campuses in the US. I’ve personally heard many testimonies increasing, of people becoming Christians, miraculous financial provision, visions, people being freed from years of mental torment, and more. Wow!

As I have written this post, one detail stood out to me that I hadn’t noticed before. Both earthquakes in California happened in the same location just off the coast. In the book of Revelation, the land and the sea have prophetic meanings – the land being the Jews, the people of God, and the sea being Gentiles, non-Jewish people. Perhaps the glory of God that is coming is going to touch at the intersection between believers and non-believers. And in Haggai’s vision of the glory of God following the shaking of the temple, we are told that the land and the sea will be shaken. 

Please be praying for me as I spend time ministering in Ecuador and in Mexico within the next few weeks, as part of teams from Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. God is moving, and I want to move in step with Him! Pray for God’s people to be protected as we advance the Kingdom of Christ and carry hope to those who need it. Thank you!

*The more observant readers may notice that my post ‘Shaken’ is date-stamped 21st December 2020. This is because I submitted the post to my blog in Pacific Time while the blog is hosted in UK time. For me, it was 20th December 2020 as I was in California!