Gulf of Mexico oil spill in Bible Prophecy? you decide

May 30, 2:27 AM Biblical Truths Examiner Jim Wies

The latest attempt at closing the hemorrhage of oil from a well, one mile deep on the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico has failed. (operation Top Kill) The next operation to be attempted will be at least another week in the implementing, and the best fix, (the drilling of relief wells) are at least two months away.

In the prophetic book of Revelation, the apostle John was reporting visions of the end times. In one part of the cryptic prophecy he saw what appeared to be a “mountain” on fire that was “cast into the sea”. It then looked like the water became thick and reddish, with the appearance of the blood of a dead man. By the time it was over, one third of the sea was polluted and one third of the wildlife was killed.

The following are segments of the prophecy: 

“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.” Revelation 8:8

“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.” Revelation 16:3

Just imagine you are John on the Island of Patmos, almost 2000 years ago. If you had seen what we now recognize as the burning explosion of an oil rig in the middle of the sea, what would you describe it as? Or imagine you were witnessing an oil spill about 2000 years into the future. With your current knowledge at that time how would you describe what the oil looked like on the water? Coagulated blood?

But any one who has grasped the vastness of the sea, would have a hard time imagining one third of the waters polluted and dead.

But consider these alarming facts. The Gulf of Mexico covers approximately 600,000 square miles, measuring approximately 995 miles from east to west, 560 miles from north to south.

The Gulf basin resembles a large pit with a broad shallow rim. The basin contains an approximate volume of 642 trillion gallons with approximately 38% of Gulf waters being shallow intertidal areas, richest in wild life. This sounds like a very large area. However, the pollution ratio of oil to water is that every 1 gallon of oil will ruin 1,000,000 (one million) gallons of water. (per: North Carolina Clean Water Education Partnership)

That means by factoring even the most conservative estimates of the volume of oil that has gushed into the ocean within the first month of this still ambiguous calamity, over 61,000,000,000,000 [Sixty One trillion] gallons of water, or an approximate 10% of the Gulf Of Mexico have been polluted/contaminated so far ....and that is the CONSERVATIVE estimate. 

Of course bible prophecy advocates will tell you that the chronology of the prophecies in the book of revelation seem to indicate a sequence of events along a different time line. But the fact I would ask the serious bible scholar to consider is that, if the book of Revelation were to be read as a chronological timeline, it would be the ONLY book of prophecy (with a major portion of Old Testament Scriptures being Bible prophecy) to follow a chronological order. HUM….

That is why some are beginning to view this calamity as of apocalyptic proportion, the significance of which has not even be fully calculated. Biblical Prophecy of the end times?  You decide.