Have We Witnessed A Sign?

Most importantly, everyone should pray for the people of Myanmar and Thailand and everyone involved in the rescue and recovery attempts. As the world watches the thousands of videos from the quake itself and its aftermath, we can see the devastation and understand the urgency of the moment. People need to help in any way they can: prayer, sending money and supplies, and even volunteering to help in the rescue, recovery, clean-up, and rebuilding efforts.

That said, whenever there is a large earthquake, Christians will quote Matthew 24:7 when Jesus gave the disciples signs of His second coming and mentioned “earthquakes in diverse places.” This proclamation leads to the question: Was the recent earthquake in Myanmar a sign?

The Bible gives many signs of Jesus’ return. As already mentioned, earthquakes, but also false religious teachers, wars and rumors of wars, famine, disease, pride, unruly children, homosexuality, extremes in the weather, problems governments will not know how to solve, a lukewarmness with Christians, and a plethora of other things, I don’t know if could list them all (Matthew 24:4-8; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Luke 21:25; Revelation 3:14-22).

One sign of Jesus’ return that should be mentioned here is the sign of scoffers who will say that these things have been happening since the beginning of time, so there is nothing to see here (2 Peter 3:3-4). Earthquakes indeed happen all the time. There have been stronger earthquakes than last week’s 7.7, so, as far as prophecy goes, is there nothing to see here, or is God giving us a sign?

The Bible tells us a few things about the signs of Jesus’ return.

One thing that it tells us is that the closer we get to His return, the signs will act like a woman in labor. Like contractions, the signs will increase in frequency and intensity as the big moment gets closer.

In 2025, there have already been four earthquakes equal to or greater than 7.0, including one two days after the one in Myanmar. On March 30, a 7.0 earthquake hit Tonga. As of this writing, there are no confirmed fatalities in Tonga but nearly 3,000 in Myanmar.

Ten 7.0+ earthquakes occurred in 2024, two of which occurred in December. In the last four months, the world has experienced six 7.0+ earthquakes. Four months is not a huge sample, but in the entire decade of the 1980s, there were only sixteen earthquakes of 7.0 or stronger. We are seeing an increase in frequency and intensity.

Uniqueness is also something that may indicate a sign. By uniqueness, I mean something that has never happened before or is at least extremely rare and unexpected. Halley’s comet, for example, is rare, a once-in-a-lifetime event, but we know when it is coming. Jesus did say there would be signs in the sky, but to say something that is showing up on time is a sign is a stretch.

A Biblical example of this uniqueness is what is commonly called the Star of Bethlehem, which the wise men followed. The star was a sign of Jesus’ first coming. Matthew chapter two contains the story of the wise men and the star. A new star shows up in the sky. Wise men from the east, believing the star is signaling the arrival of the Messiah, begin to follow the star. At some point, the star disappears. Since the Messiah is the King of the Jews, the men decide to go to the palace in Jerusalem. Upon their arrival, King Herod knows nothing about this promised Messiah. He has his scholars look up the birthplace of the coming King and sends the wise men to Bethlehem. When they depart from Herod, the star reappears and leads the men to the house where the young child resides. A star appearing, disappearing, reappearing, and disappearing again falls in the uniqueness category.

What about last week’s earthquake; how was it unique?

Earthquakes have an epicenter. Think of it like throwing a stone into a pond. The waves from the splash move from the center in the form of a circle. The waves decrease in size the further they travel from the circle’s center. An earthquake is no different. The strength of the shaking decreases the further moved from the epicenter.

However, the strength of the shaking in the Myanmar earthquake was not circular; it was linear. Severe shaking occurred in a straight line for six hundred miles, which is exceptionally unique. Imagine throwing a rock into a pond, and the waves only go off in one direction. That’s what happened with this earthquake.

Have we witnessed a sign? The Myanmar earthquake fits all the criteria; the answer must be yes.

Mark 13:34-37, “For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning. Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say into you I say unto all, Watch.”