Revelation 6:12-17 (NIV) I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
PART I: What Happens in a Nuclear Explosion?
A United States B-29 bomber named the "Enola Gay" dropped the first atomic bomb, named "Little Boy", on August 6, 1945 on an industrial city named Hiroshima, Japan. This one bomb exploded with an energy of approximately 15 kilotons, or 15,000 tons of TNT, and killed an estimated 70,000 people from the direct result of the blast and injured about the same. It wasn’t until a second atomic bomb, a plutonium bomb named "Fat Boy", was dropped on August 9 on Nagasaki, Japan, instantly killing another 40,000, that Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender.
The citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki paid a terrible price for the militaristic attitude of the Japanese armed forces who swore to fight to the very last person. The world was suddenly and violently catapulted into the atomic age. A new age where entire cities are evaporated, and thousands killed instantly. A new age where some, in the immediate area of the blast zone, have their shadow forever enshrined on the concrete. A new age where the bright light and intense heat from the explosion melt the eyes of those who happen to be looking in the direction of the explosion. A new age where survivors deal with radiation sickness and malignant sores. What makes the tales of the survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki so eerie is their stories reflect the horror that is described by John in the Book of Revelation. The similarities cannot be denied.
Today’s nuclear weapons are much more powerful than those used against Japan in 1945 and are measured in megatons, not kilotons. For example, a 1 megaton nuclear device is equivalent to 1,000,000 tons of TNT. The modern weaponry of today is much more powerful and devastating than those used only a half a century ago. This, combined with the total number of nuclear devices in the world today, compound the unimaginable devastation that can be brought to our planet and its inhabitants. So many will die that all would perish unless the return of Jesus does not interrupt the final battle at Armageddon!
What does World War III look like? Nuclear tipped Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles have been launched by all sides. Silo doors across the globe fly open and smoke rises out of the concrete and steel fortification, only to expose a rocket as it slowly crawls its way out of its protected bunker. Glowing flames from its exhaust lights the horizon and pushes the missile skyward. As the missile climbs through the sky it finally escapes the earth's atmosphere and enters a low orbit. The missile resembles falling stars as they begin their reentry. Doors open to expose multiple warheads, each destined for a different city or military target in some distant location where people are fearfully waiting to find out if this is their day to die.
And then it happens. The nuclear device detonates! Some, thousands of feet above its designated target. Others are a ground burst. A bright light. And then the people are gone. Vanished. Disintegrated from the intense heat generated by the explosion. Others, those further from ground zero, perish as their skin falls from their body and their eyes melt in their sockets. And these are the lucky ones. The heat from the nuclear blast will be so intense a fire storm will ensue, setting fire to everything in its path. Winds up to 100 mph will cause the fire to spread quickly, incinerating many where they stand while others slowly burn to death. Others, just outside the blast zone, must deal with blunt force trauma injuries and radiation sickness. These options are no better since hospitals have been obliterated in the attack leaving anyone with injuries to fend for themselves. Many will die a slow, agonizing death.
The nuclear explosion will emit an electromagnetic pulse, or an EMP burst, which can knock out infrastructure, electrical devices, computers, phones, automobiles and more. Circuits will be destroyed by the EMP burst rendering the comforts of modern life useless. All who survive the blast will have to face living the rest of their lives in the dark ages.
And then there are those who are even further away from ground zero who will face the harsh reality of survival in a radiated world with no utilities, no fresh water, no available food, limited or no medical services, disease, pain, and suffering on a magnitude never imagined. A world under the blight of a nuclear winter. A cold, desolate, dying world. Yes, global thermonuclear war is terrible. More terrible than any of us can imagine. So terrible many prefer to ignore the possibility that World War III could even occur. But it will!
John lived in the 1st century and did not understand the devastation that can be unleashed by a thermonuclear detonation. He did not have words for the magnitude and volatility, so he used the only word he had to describe what he saw. He called it “a great earthquake.” So many make the mistake of assuming the word “earthquake” in the book of Revelation refers to natural earthquakes. Are geological fault lines going to magically change during the end times? No. Earthquakes that describe how the “sun turned black,” the “moon turned blood red,” the atmosphere “receded like a scroll being rolled up,” and “every mountain and island was removed from its place” perfectly describe the results of a nuclear explosion. And if this is not enough, John goes on to describe how people will hide in “caves and among the rocks of the mountains.” In other words, a fallout shelter. Not much else needs to be said. John’s description of a nuclear strike is spot on considering we are talking about a technology that many today would not be able to adequately describe!
PART II: How to Survive a Nuclear Attack (Video)
How to survive a Nuclear Attack, According To Science | Watch (msn.com)
