I Was There When It Happened!  
                                                                                          By Pastor F. M. Riley
                                                                                          January 8, 2019
     "And the Lord God of hosts is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: And it shall rise up wholly like a flood, and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt."  Amos 9:5.  See also Nahum 1:5, and 2 Peter 3:10-12.  
Introduction
     Every reader who seriously studies Bible prophecy, and watches world events, should be quite familiar with the massive volcano in Hawaii, which has now been erupting for months.  A virtual river of lava has flowed from the mouth of that volcano, destroying everything in it's path.  It finally reached the ocean, where the continuing flow of lava cools in the water, and is now building up on the ocean floor.  
     As I write, there are several other huge volcanoes in various places around the world, that are erupting.  But eruptions are considered "normal" for volcanoes.  Volcanoes will erupt from time to time, even though it may be hundreds of years between eruptions.  So these eruptions, according to the scientists who study them, are really nothing for the public to get excited about.  Oh, is that so?  
I Was There!
     In 1980 I was pastoring the Richland Missionary Baptist Church, in Richland, Washington. For several weeks Mt. St. Helens, to the west and south about 125 miles, had been emitting smoke and steam, and shaking almost constantly.  It was making news in the papers and on TV, and the Volcanoligists were expecting it to erupt at some point.  The mountain was being carefully monitored by the scientists.  But they were not anticipating what actually happened.  
     It happened on Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, sometime around 8:30 in the morning.  I don't recall the exact time after all of these years.  I do recall being in my study at the church, making preparation for the Sunday morning service.  It was a beautiful Sunday morning; the Sun was shining brightly, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky anywhere on the horizon.  
     As I set there in the church study that morning, studying and praying, suddenly I heard a loud "boom" in the sky. Then a minute or two later the whole building shook or trembled.   At the time I never gave it much thought. Richland is near a military airbase, and I often heard sonic booms from the planes flying over.  So I dismissed it as being just another sonic boom, and and went back to studying and praying in preparation for our morning church service.  
     We began our Sunday School that morning as usual, followed by the morning message from God's Word.  I was the pastor, and brought the message.  Our sanctuary had stained glass windows, which let in some light, but due to the color, those in the sanctuary couldn't see out.  About the time I stepped into the pulpit to preach the morning message, looking at the windows, they became slightly dark.  I remarked to our congregation that a storm from the Pacific must have blown in, and it looked as if we might get rain.  Little did I know what was really going on.  
     By the time I concluded the morning message, those stained glass windows were totally dark. When we dismissed and stepped outside, it was pitch dark.  I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.  It was that dark!.  But being pitch dark wasn't the full extent of it.......
     Like the Bible says about ancient Egypt, the darkness could be felt.  It could also be smelled and tasted.   A volcanic ash cloud had covered the entire cities of Yakima, Richland, and the Tri-cities area. This was due to the prevailing winds blowing from west to east.  The ash was falling from the cloud and covering everything.  The smell of sulphur from the cloud was in the air.  We could also taste it, if we tried to breathe with   our mouths open.  We recognized immediately that the long aticipated eruption of Mt. St. Helens had occurred.  However, that was not quite what had really happened.    
     Mt. St. Helens had not erupted! Rather, it had exploded with a gigantic explosion!  The sound of that massive explosion was so great that it was heard as far as 300 miles away.  No wonder I had heard the explosion in our church study that morning.  The mountain was about 125 miles west of the city of Richland.  
The Explosion and Aftermath
     Both the TV and newspapers carried reports of the explosion for many days following.  As the news reports came in, we learned that the mouth or cauldron of Mt. St. Helens had become blocked due to the many earth tremors that had been shaking the mountain for months.   Large boulders, rocks, soil, and other debris had been shaken from the walls on the inside of the mouth of the volcanoe over the previous several months.  This stopped the tube of the volcano up,  so that it could not release the steam, gases, and fumes that volcanoes normally release .  This  caused  tremendous pressure to build up beneath the   surface of the volcano.  One side of the mountain began to bulge way out, getting larger and larger each day.  Before the mountain exploded, that side had bulged some 300 feet outward, clearly demonstrating the tremendous pressure that was building up inside the mountain.   
     Then on that Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, the mountain exploded, causing a volcanic ash cloud to rise upwards 35,000 feet into the air above the mountain.   Airplanes of all sizes were warned to avoid the entire area for several weeks.  
     It was not a "normal" volcanic eruption!  Rather, it was a super violent explosion.  The force of the explosion blew 1,900 feet of soil and rock right off the top of the mountain, and blew one whole side out of the mountain..  Before the explosion, Mt. St. Helens was regarded as one of the most beutiful snow capped mountains in the Northwest, due to its almost perfect cone shape.  Today it's top is jagged with a huge gaping mouth, one side of it open,  and it is 1,900 feet shorter than it  was before the explosion.   
      The scientists who studied the effects of the explosion, estimated that the force of the explosion was at least ten times greater than that of  the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasasaki during the Second World War.    
     There were great forests around the base of the mountain.  The force of the explosion blew down every tree, for ten miles around the mountain.   They were all blown down in the same direction, pointing away from the mountain.  It took lumberjacks and sawmill people many months to harvest the timber from those fallen trees.   
     If I remember correctly, about eight miles away from the mountain, two men were deer hunting in the forest that morning.  They came upon a very old, giant tree, massive and big around. They were in the mountains, and there was a slight  cool breeze blowing, so  they stopped and stepped behind the tree for a brief rest, and to warm up.  One of the men leaned back against the massive trunk of the tree.   The other man was still standing in the open and they were talking.  The man in the open decided to join his companion leaning on the tree.  He had just stepped out of the open and behind the tree, when both men heard a great whosh of wind pass by them, followed by the sound of a large explosion, and suddenly the full brightness of the Sun was shining down on them.   They looked up and around in utter amazement.  The entire forest around them was laying flat on the ground as far as they could see.  The only tree still standing was the one  they were behind,  and the entire top of it was broken off about half way up the trunk.  Being behind that huge old tree had literally saved their lives  Now don't anyone try to tell me that our  loving and merciful God, doesn't look out for, and protect mankind on this earth.  
     And the ash cloud blown out by Mt. St. Helens?  As the cloud slowly  drifted over Richland, taking several hours to pass,  ash continued to fall from the ash cloud and pile up on everything.  Before that cloud had totally  passed, volcanic ash had piled up on everything to as much as six to eight inches deep.  Volcanic ash is very heavy, for it is actually rock that has been blown into powder.   Canopies, patio covers, porches, garages, outbuildings, and even the roofs of some houses and buildings  began to collapse under the weight of the ash building up on them.  The hardware stores opened their doors that Sunday evening so that people could purchase shovels in a  desperate effort  to get the weight of the ash off their roofs and buildings before they collapsed.  
     When the ash cloud drifted over Richland, totally shrouding the city in darkness, the police came out in force trying to direct traffic and help people that might need help.  Within two or three hours, the engines on four police cars had burned up.  The powder thin ash had been sucked into the engines right through the air filters, and ruined the engines.     Word quickly spread that the filters on car engines were not sufficient to stop the ash from entering the engines, and people were warned not to even attempt to drive through the ash.   By the next morning every piece of foam rubber in the city had been sold out.  The people cut strips of foam rubber to wrap  around the air filters on their cars when they had to go somewhere.  This foam rubber wrapping of the air filters stopped the ash from entering into the engine in the cars, at least until the foam rubber became clogged up.  Then it was discarded and more   foam rubber wrapped around the air filter.  This continued for weeks, until all of the ash had been cleared from the streets of Richland.  
     In relating my experience, I have often been asked if I wasn't afraid?  No, I wasn't, because our family didn't have to get out in the ash storm to go anywhere, and it didn't start any fires or anything like that, and we were 125 miles from the volcano.    
     However, there were people that were absolutely terrified of what was happening.  The news media actually reported about a man in Yakima, Washington, just west of Richland, who was so terrified he walked from house to house and business to business asking everyone he met if they would like to buy his house.  He owned a home, that at that time was probably worth from 25 to 40 thousand dollars.  Someone finally offered him $1,000 cash money for the house, and he took it.  Then him and his family packed up just what they could carry in their suitcases, and left.  They left all the furnishings in the house, and fled to the east.  He told his next door neighbor, just before he drove away, that he never wanted to live within a 1,000 miles of another volcano.  Yes, there sure were some people absolutely terrified, for they had never previously  been in such a dark, volcanic ash storm, and they were terrified of what might happpen next.    
     Yet, as bad as it was,  there were some beneficial effects to the ash storm.  In that area of Washinton, there are hundreds of acres of orchards.  Volcanic ash contains all of the trace elements to make a wonderful fertilizer.  That summer and fall, the apple and peach and pear and apricot, and other fruit trees, produced some of the largest and most delicious fruit the  owners of the orchards  had ever seen.  
About What I Have Written
     Folks, if anything I have written here sounds unbelieveable, I want to assure our readers that it isn't!  I have a large photo album filled with photos and news articles documenting everything I have wrote about the explosion of Mt. St. Helens, and the ash cloud that covered that whole area of Washington.    
     I also want to emphasize that what I have written, was not just for the entertainment value for our readers.   Rather, it was to impress upon the minds and hearts of every reader, the POWER AND MAJESTY of the Lord God of Heaven who created all things, John 1:1-4.   Praise His Holy Name!  And He is not through yet.  The explosion of Mt. St. Helens was only a demonstration of the MIGHT AND POWER of our Living God, and perhaps a warning of things yet to come,  for all those who have "seeing eyes, and hearing ears."  Does that include our readers?  
As I Write.......
     Many of the scientists who study volcanoes, are very uneasy and concerned about future volcanic eruptions.  Why?  Because these scientists know that throughout human history, there have always been one or two volcanoes erupting somewhere every year.  But due to the storm of earthquakes that has occurred all over the world in just this past year of  2018, these scientists seem to think that the storm of earthquakes will be followed by a storm of volcanic eruptions.
     There are several volcanoes in various nations which are steaming or smoking, or shaking right now,  indicating that an eruption is building up in the earth, beneath each of these volcanic mountains.
     Right here in America, there are such volcanoes,  some also in Canada, Mexico, and South America.  So our hemisphere is definitely in the prophetic picture for future volcanic eruptions.  How many, and when?  
     In a news release in just the past two weeks, volcanic scientists claim that there are now more than 100 volcanoes in nations all over the world which could erupt at any minute.  They have never previously seen such a threat to the welfare of humanity, and they are alarmed.  Then should the public also be?  For the answer to this let's go to God's Word.......
      Let's  take a close, careful look at our text for this study.....
     "And the Lord God of hosts is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt.   And all that dwell therin shall mourn:"  
     Read also Nahum 1:5 and 2 Peter 3:10-12.  
     Dear readers, we all know that soil or dirt doesn't burn.  Right?  However, most soil is made up of minute particles of glass.  And therefore it will certainly "melt"  when subjected to a high enough degree of heat.  Read Deuteronomy 32:22 and pay attention to what you read!    
    There are thousands of degrees of temperature in the interior of the earth, and when molten lava pushes up through the mouth of a volcano, the heat is released on to the surface of the earth.  Most lava that flows from a volcanic eruption is in the range of 2000 to 3000 degrees of temperature.  Hot enough?  
    This prophetic statement in God's Word makes it quite clear that it is the Lord God who "touches" the land from which volcanoes were formed in ancient times, and the volcanoes began to erupt (or worse).  In other words, the creation obeys it's Creator, and it is God who directs the so-called "natural" catastrophes which occur on the earth.  
     Keep in mind that volcanoes are usually mountains, and people live and work on them.   When a volcanic eruption occurs the people living on the sides of the volcano, or perhaps even at the base of it, do indeed "mourn," for the erupting volcano threatens their lives, and the lives of their loved ones.  We know that the eruption of volcanoes have destroyed entire cities, such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvious in 79 A.D.  That eruption covered the entire city of Pompeii, burning many people to death and burying many bodies in volcanic lava.   
     "And it shall rise up wholly  like a flood; And shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt."  
     This perfectly describes the rising up of volcanic lava within the mouth of the volcano, and pouring lava out of the volcano just like a flood of waters.
     This inspired Scripture compares it with the Nile River in Egypt overflowing it's banks.  It is only an abundance of water that can halt the flow of lava, such as a large lake, or the lava flowing into the sea.   Surely many of our readers watched on TV as the lava from the volcano in Hawaii reached the sea.  There it began to spread out on the sea floor, building up as it cooled.  
Fulfilling Bible Prophecy
     God's inspired Word clearly prophesies that the atmosphere of the whole earth is to become extremely HOT during the future Tribulation period.  Malachi 4:1 explicitly states, "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble:  And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, That it shall leave them neither root nor branch."  That this is a prophecy to be fulfilled during the Tribulation period is beyond question, for Peter clearly assigns the burning of the earth to "the day of the Lord," 2 Peter 3:10.  
     We have already set before our readers inspired Scriptures which clearly state that volcanic eruptions are the result of  the Lord God "touching" the earth.  Now notice in this prophecy in Malachi, that the Lord also selectively determines who shall die from the tremendous heat that will come upon the earth during the future Tribulation period; "the proud.....and all that do wickedly."  How merciful God is, in giving such an advance warning to mankind.  Oh, that mankind living today would take heed!  The time spoken of in this inspired Scripture is swiftly approaching.  Read Jeremiah 25:33.     
     The inspired Scriptures also clearly states that the earth will be moved from it's present orbit, and that the light of the Sun will become seven times brighter than it is today.  Read it for yourself in Isaiah 13:13, 24:19-20, and 30:26.  The whole earth will be filled with the dead bodies of the "proud" and "all that do wickedly."  
     Certainly, the earth being moved closer to the Sun, so that the light emitted by the Sun will be seven times more than it presently is today, will account for  much of the increased heat on the earth.  But in addition, there will be the heat from  hundreds of volcanoes erupting all over the earth.  
     This terrible heat on the surface of the earth, is at least one of the reasons why mankind will seek to hide in the rocks and cavcs and dens of the earth, Isaiah 2:19-21; Revelation 6:12-17.   Yet another reason is that God is going to briefly reveal Himself to mankind on the earth..  What are these people seeking to hide in the dens and rocks crying out in the passage in Revelation 6:15-16?  ".....hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb."  
     In my many years in the Lord's ministry, I have had people tell me that they don't and won't believe in God, because they can't see Him, and they refuse to believe in anything or anyone they can't see.  
     Well, dear readers, during the coming Tribulation period, the Lord God of Heaven is going to give to mankind left behind on the earth, just a brief glimpse of Himself.  and that will be enough to make a lot of wicked people soil their britches, as they scream for the rocks and mountains to hide them from God's face, and from the Lamb's wrath.  Are our reader's paying attention?   
Conclusion
     Dear readers, I know what being caught up in the effects of an erupting, or exploding volcano really is, for I have experienced it for myself. I Was There When It Happened!.  
     Now the scientists studying this subject have publicly reported that there are over 100 volcanoes around the world ready to go into eruption, or to explode, at any minute.  When they do, there is no question that there will be massive destruction and death.  
      This is another one of the "signs" the Lord explicitly told His disciples to watch for, Matthew 24:7, which would indicate that His coming to resurrect and rapture His people to glory, and out of the path of these dangers, is right at the doors, Matthew 24:33.   
     Are our readers ready?  Saved by the grace of God in Christ?  If not, then I urge every reader who has not been saved, or who has doubts to seek the Lord in prayer right now for the salvation of your soul.  I'd like to meet every reader in Heaven, for that is where I am going, when I leave this present evil world, very shortly.  Please don't disappoint me!  Read John 3:3-7, 3:16-18, 3:36, 5:24, 14:6, Acts 4:12, 16:30-31, 20:21, Romans 10:8-13, Ephesians 2:8-10, and asked God in humble prayer to save your soul, and He will.   
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     For those who want to contact me personally:
POSTAL.......Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
EMAIL.........francismriley34@gmail.com
PHONE.......573-202-6493
May our gracious God add His blessings to this message!  
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