As the fires rage in the Los Angeles area, the casting of blame continues unabated. Die-hard environmentalists insist that climate change is the primary culprit. Those making such a claim overlook the vast array of other factors that have contributed to the ongoing disaster.
Water mismanagement was a key factor. Fire hydrants with no water or low water pressure clearly made matters much worse. In his January 12 morning message, Pastor Jack Hibbs highlighted this critical factor by pointing out that California had received record rainfall during the past two years, but let most of it drain into the ocean rather than store it. The video of firemen carrying water from their truck to the fire with small vessels due to no fire hoses is a sight I won’t soon forget.
When I lived in the Los Angeles area in the mid to late 1970s, I noticed how the authorities controlled the vegetation and forests on the foothills that surrounded the area. I saw several large breaks in the landscape where they had stripped the land bare of all vegetation and tress so as to slow the momentum of fires once they started. During this time, a fire left a light dusting of ashes on the sidewalk outside my apartment, but the firefighters were able to contain the blaze mainly to the foothills because of such careful protection to the environment.
Fifty years later, the lack of preventative land management allowed the fires to grow with unstoppable force by the time they reached the populated areas. Furthermore, adherence to the policies of the environmentalists resulted in the destruction of a great number of trees and the painful death of much wildlife. Their efforts, supposedly aimed at preserving the environment, brought widespread devastation to it.
It’s Not the Apocalypse
Some are using the language of the book of Revelation to describe the devastation left by the fires. I hear the word “apocalyptic” used to describe the widespread devastation.
The word “apocalypse” is a transliteration that comes from Revelation 1:1, “The revelation of Jesus Christ” (my emphasis). In the Greek, the word denotes an appearing or manifestation. The last book of the Bible reveals the person, might, and character of the Lord Jesus on all its pages.
While for many, the word communicates the horrors of what the world sees on the videos that continue to stream from Southern California, what we see is not yet the unveiling of the Lord and His wrath upon the world. It’s not the apocalypse; the unveiling of the Lamb’s vengeance on the earth. That cannot happen until after the Rapture.
In addition, the horrific scenes from Los Angeles do not rise to the level of carnage that will mark the seven-year Tribulation. The seal judgments that will come early in this period will result in the death of one fourth of population (Revelation 6:1-8).
The Great Day of Wrath
There’s another noteworthy aspect of the Tribulation that sets apart the judgments of the book of Revelation from the disasters that we continue to witness in California and elsewhere. Please note the world’s responses to the horrific events that will mark the start of the Tribulation:
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17, emphasis added)
Not only will the horrific events of the Tribulation exceed what we now witness in terms of devastation and death, but people will correctly identify them as the “wrath of the Lamb.” I have heard a great many explanations for the fires that continue in the Los Angeles area, but I have yet to hear government officials, the elite, or the rich attribute them to “God’s wrath.”
Though people will recognize the Lord’s hand of judgment during the Tribulation, the vast majority of them will refuse to repent of their sins (see Revelation 9:20-21). If there’s any similarity between now and then, it’s that what we see warns mankind of its urgent need to turn to the Savior.
It’s Not a Coincidence
Although it’s not the apocalypse, I believe God has a purpose for the unmitigated disaster that’s unfolding before our eyes in Southern California. He has allowed incompetent government officials, DEI hiring practices, serious lapses of judgment, fierce Santa Ana winds, and evil people starting fires to lead to this deadly calamity. It’s not a coincidence that the fires not have not only struck at the heart of America’s entertainment industry that has long polluted minds with trashy films, but also at what has also become the headquarters of a multi-billion-dollar porn filmmaking industry.
Perhaps it’s also not a coincidence that the fires started soon after Hollywood verbally mocked God at the Golden Globes award ceremony on January 5, 2025.
It's difficult for me not to see God’s hand in bringing together the many factors that contributed to the dreadful images that continue to stream our way from the west coast. It’s not the Day of the Lord wrath, but we would amiss not to see it as His warning of lies ahead for those who refuse to respond to His gracious offer of salvation.
It’s understandable that people would compare the Los Angeles fires with the judgments they read about in the book of Revelation. It’s important, however, to note the key difference. What we now see is not yet the “wrath of the Lamb,” but rather a warning of its impending arrival and a call for repentance.
There’s coming a day when many will correctly identify the dreadful events of their day as the “wrath of the Lamb,” but then it will be too late for them to escape the Lord’s fury. The LA fires warn that this day is closer than most can even imagine.
My book, The Triumph of the Redeemed-An eternal Perspective that Calms Our Fears in Perilous Times, is available on Amazon. In it, I lay a firm biblical foundation for our hope in Jesus’ soon appearing to take us home and explain why it must happen before the start of the seven-year Tribulation, Daniel’s seventieth week.
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