by Michael G. Mickey

(5-16-05)

The headline tells us to expect more of the same we had in 2004: Another Bad Hurricane Season Predicted.

Prior to the start of the 2004 hurricane season, N.O.A.A. predicted there would be 12-15 tropical storms, 6-8 of those becoming hurricanes, with 2-4 hurricanes reaching at least Category 3 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. According to Yahoo News, there were 15 tropical storms last year, with nine of them becoming hurricanes. Six of them were major. That's pretty good predicting if you ask me!

Already, well before the start of the hurricane season which will begin June 1st and run through November 30th, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting 12 to 15 tropical storms, seven to nine of them becoming hurricanes, and three to five of those major hurricanes, with winds of at least 111 mph.

I've heard it suggested 2004 may have been the costliest hurricane season on record. It doesn't seem 2005 is going to be any less dramatic. Perhaps there's a reason for that.

Christ, speaking of His return, as seen in Luke 21:25, said, "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;"

The sea and the waves roared loudly in 2004. Will they roar even more loudly this year than last? Time will tell.

Not only does Bible prophecy picture the stormy waves of the sea playing a role in the end times, it also envisions a time coming when the world's seas will die - literally.

During the second half of the seven-year Tribulation Period to come, we're told the second of seven bowls of God's wrath will be poured out on the earth's seas with horrific results!

Revelation 16:3: And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

Far-fetched? Hardly. Already, as seen in an article by The Independent, 'dead zones' in our seas - areas where pollution has starved the sea of life-giving oxygen causing fish and underwater vegetation to die - are increasing at what the article refers to as "a devastating rate."

The article states there are 146 "dead zones" in our seas around the world - a number expected to double within the next decade if the trend continues as it has since the 1960s.

Normally, according to the article, the Gulf of Mexico's annual "dead zone" doesn't start to be such until around June, but not so this year! Already, 19 areas of the Gulf have been found to be "dead," making 2005's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" larger than it was at any point in 2004, promising "a summer of death and destruction."

Our world is in deep, deep trouble, desperately in need of its Savior.

How much longer, Lord? How much longer must we wait?