Speaker Identification

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer. The host introduces himself near the beginning as Steve Dupuis, while the closing line renders the surname as Steve Dupuy. Because the transcript contains two spellings, the exact surname spelling requires verification.

Speaker 2 - Guest. The guest is introduced as Dr. Bob Keel near the beginning, but the host later addresses him as Dr. Teal. The context strongly indicates these references are to the same guest, but the exact name cannot be confidently established from the transcript alone.

Speaker 3 - Announcer / Prerecorded Program Voice. The opening program identification and sponsorship language are presented as a separate announcer-style segment. The transcript does not provide a name for this voice.

Speaker 3 - Announcer / Prerecorded Program Voice:
This is the Bible News Prophecy Program, bringing you news and analysis of world events in the light of Bible prophecy. The following program is brought to you by the Continuing Church of God.

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer:
Greetings, friends. This is Steve Dupuis for the Bible News Prophecy Program with Dr. Bob [name uncertain], bringing you news and analysis of world events in light of Bible prophecy.

Doctor, although there is probably more than one, what Bible prophecy might describe some of the conditions we see in the world today?

Speaker 2 - Guest:
Well, in Matthew 24, verses 7 to 8, Jesus prophesied, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."

In Mark's account of it, He added the word "troubles." Mark 13:8 says, "There will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows."

There are a lot of worldly sorrows present in those two verses.

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer:
Which one are you thinking of this month?

Speaker 2 - Guest:
I'm going to talk about earthquakes because they've been causing a lot of troubles in the last month or so.

We had the one in Indonesia at 7.7. It was very destructive. We had one in Colombia. It was 7.4 or so on the scale, destructive, and hundreds were killed - at least, maybe even more. We had a 6.8 in Japan, a 6.7 in Peru. There was also a 6.9 in Indonesia, and it was less damaging, but it still was an issue. The Philippines had one at 6.3, very strong. Then Mexico had a 7.3, and some place called the "Permidic Islands" had a 6.3.

But official sources, by the way, say there's nothing to be concerned about. They have nothing to do with each other, and they're fairly normal.

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer:
Well, if there's nothing to be concerned about, would those earthquakes really be considered the beginning of sorrows?

Speaker 2 - Guest:
Well, what if experts are wrong?

I want to read a long passage about this kind of stuff from 2 Peter 3. The Apostle Peter wrote: "Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle, in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming?' For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

Verse 5: "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

Verse 8: "Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

Now, we'll stop quoting for a second, because that's one of the reasons why things don't happen as quickly as we want. God's got a plan and a time frame.

Anyway, verse 10: "But the day of the Lord is going to come as a thief in the night." It means most people won't know it. "In which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless. And consider the longsuffering of our Lord as salvation."

So he's telling us God's got a plan for us. He's also saying that there are scoffers who declare that what is going on is normal and isn't prophetic. Is it possible that God was not referring to scoffers of earthquakes when he inspired Peter? Perhaps he was.

Now, speaking of earthquakes, I saw this one. Here's a headline: "New research finds that San Andreas Fault is slipping faster than previously thought." So, just a week after a 3.9-magnitude earthquake rocked the Hayward Fault in Oakland, new research is highlighting the danger on the San Andreas Fault. Researchers at San Jose State University found that the fault is slipping faster than previously thought. Professor Kim Lewis-Newick spoke with ABC Eyewitness News about this and said, "And so the great aspect of this work is that it's a rate at which the landform preserves previous earthquakes along the fault. And the rate is similar to what we get in San Andreas Fault north-coast sections. But prior to this work with my colleagues, [unclear]. The rate appears not to decrease along the San Andreas Fault, but it appears to be constant over this 10,000-year window we're able to document." Anyway, this matters because faults that move faster generally produce earthquakes more frequently. And so the researcher said we know that we live on this plate boundary and we've seen these earthquakes in Japan and Colombia. We're going to have an earthquake in California. If so, we should be prepared. I don't think the idea that the slip rates are constant among the faults we've studied will be a big surprise to people. We just didn't have that data before. So they're saying, "Hey, we're learning new stuff." So no matter what the experts seem to think about something, they find, "Oh, but they didn't know. Oh, sorry, we didn't know." Okay. Now, for decades, people in California have been worried about the day the big one would hit. Now, seismologists are saying the situation might be worse than they thought.

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer:
So, is the big one that may be coming to California mentioned in the Bible?

Speaker 2 - Guest:
There's probably going to be an extremely big one in California, but I don't think it's as big as one that's prophesied to come. Now, in addition to mentions in the gospel accounts, Jesus also taught about earthquakes in the book of Revelation, some people call the Book of the Apocalypse. What's interesting about Revelation is that in there, the term "earthquake" is always singular as opposed to what Jesus was talking about with the beginning of sorrows when he was talking on the Mount of Olives. Anyway, the first earthquake mentioned in Revelation is Revelation 8:5. "Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, threw it on the earth, and there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake." Why is this earthquake not one of those mentioned in the beginning of sorrows? Because this particular earthquake doesn't happen until after the Great Tribulation begins, and it's prior to the start of the great Day of the Lord. And so when this one happens, this will be an apocalyptic one. Now, the next one mentioned in sequence comes in Revelation 11, starting verse 11, this has to do with the two witnesses. So, after three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them and they stood on their feet. And great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Come up here!" and they ascended into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour, there was a great earthquake. And a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake, 7,000 people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer:
So this is a different earthquake than the one in Revelation 8, 5?

Speaker 2 - Guest:
Yes, this would need to be a localized quake that occurs near the end of the Day of the Lord. The next one mentioned is in verse 19 of chapter 11. "And the temple of God was opened in heaven. The Ark of the Covenant was seen in His temple." So we know that's where the true Ark of the Covenant is, whether it's a physical one or not, we're not sure. Anyway, it may be that this earthquake will coincide with the resurrection of Christians called the first resurrection in Revelation 20:5.

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer:
So is this earthquake the biggest one mentioned in the Bible?

Speaker 2 - Guest:
Now, there's another one that will be the biggest one. Now, you're talking about California; we're talking about the big one. Now, according to the experts, we can't get one on the San Andreas Fault any bigger than 7.5 or maybe 8.5. They say because of how it is laid out. Maybe they're wrong. But the fact is if we had an 8.5 in California, that would really be a big one and really affect things. Now, according to the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, there was something called the Lydian earthquake in the year 17. That was the greatest earthquake in human memory. But the real big one in the Bible is in Revelation 16 verses 18 to 20. It says, "And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth." "Now the great city was divided into three parts. The cities of the nations fell. Great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away and the mountains were not found." So the earthquake is so big that cities and nations are going to fall. Mountains are leveled. Islands just fly away. Now there are groups of people called preterists, by the way, who say all this stuff in Revelation has already happened. Nonsense. We have not had this earthquake. Okay. If anyone tries to tell you this stuff in Revelation is over - that this already happened - they're missing what the Bible actually teaches. The earthquake in Revelation 16 is bigger than what most experts think is possible. Now, this could have to do with something God may do one way or another, but we've been seeing changes in Earth's core and magnetic fields. God may use those to trigger it. And this biggest of all earthquakes seems to take place near the end of the Day of the Lord and probably can't happen prior to 2033. And now there's another earthquake that's prophesied in the Bible in Ezekiel 38:19. But this particular one has to do with something that happens a thousand years after Jesus returns. And so this is not the great one of Revelation 16. And so that one's not for our time, even though certain Protestant prophecy watchers think it will be.

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer:
What advice would God give scoffers and non scoffers alike?

Speaker 2 - Guest:
Well, Haggai 1:5 says, "Now therefore, thus says the Lord: Consider your ways." Sadly, most now won't consider their ways, and they'll tend to ignore increased earthquakes. I do want to talk about a personal experience with earthquakes. I moved to California in 1976 from the state of Michigan. And I actually saw the movie Earthquake before I came here. But then there weren't any quakes for the longest time, so I thought everything was fine. One day I was working, bent over some wires. While I was doing this, I thought I got dizzy because the walls looked like they were shaking. Walls don't shake. Then I finally found out it was an earthquake. And others had noticed the same thing. So that was my first earthquake. So why is that at all relevant? Because I didn't know what it was. And a lot of people don't know the beginning of sorrows has started. And they discount things like earthquakes and whatever else is going on. Just like I didn't think it was an earthquake. I didn't know what an earthquake was. I thought, "Okay, maybe it was just because I was bent over." I was a young man, so I wouldn't think I would get dizzy, but maybe [unclear]. So one of my points, though, is that people discount stuff. "No, that doesn't count. Oh, that's not that important. That doesn't matter." Now, which raises the question: what should people do? As God says, consider your ways. Now we're supposed to, according to Jesus, pray for God's Kingdom to come, Matthew 6:9-10. But I want to read something else that Jesus said that everybody should be doing. Luke 21:36, Jesus said, "Watch therefore and pray." So you're watching what's going on. Pay attention to this stuff and pray always, "that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." Now, you're not just praying for your personal protection. For you to be worthy, you've got to change. And hopefully people are doing that. Are you doing that?

Speaker 1 - Host / Interviewer:
Thank you, Dr. [name uncertain].

For more interviews with Dr. [name uncertain], in addition to written and audio articles, visit our website at BibleNewsProphecy.net.

This is Steve Dupuis [surname uncertain] for the Bible News Prophecy Program.

Speaker 3 - Announcer / Prerecorded Program Voice:
This Bible News Prophecy Program was sponsored by the Continuing Church of God. For more information, including access to our free literature, visit BibleNewsProphecy.net or www.ccog.org. You can also reach us by email. Our address is biblenewsprophecy.net.com [contact address uncertain; see Items Requiring Verification].