4. Violent Earthquakes, Famines, Plagues, Terrifying Sights, and Signs from Heaven
“There will be violent earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven.”
Luke 21:11 | cross ref: Matthew 24:7 and Mark 13:8.
4.1 - Earthquakes - Prophecy Fulfilled from AD 33 to AD 2025 (Present)
The first of these predicted earthquakes happened as Jesus died on the cross. This was documented in the scriptures (Matthew 27:50-54) as a violent earthquake causing the earth to shake, rocks to split, and tombs to open. This biblical account is supported by paleo-seismic evidence of a major earthquake in Judea around 33 AD, during the likely time of the crucifixion, as published in a 2012 study by geologist Jefferson Williams and colleagues. The National Earthquake Information Center locates about 20,000 earthquakes around the globe each year, or approximately 55 per day. According to long-term records (since about 1900), 16 major earthquakes are expected in any given year. That includes 15 earthquakes in the magnitude 7 range and one earthquake magnitude 8.0 or greater. In the past 40-50 years, records show that the long-term average number of major earthquakes was exceeded about a dozen times. It is clear that this prophecy has been fulfilled many times and the earthquakes will continue and worsen (Revelation 16:18) right up until Jesus’s return to the earth.
See The Earthquakes of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ via Themelios and Lists of Earthquakes via Wikipedia and Why are we having so many (or so few) earthquakes? Has naturally occurring earthquake activity been increasing? via USGS.
Lists of Earthquakes (6.0+ Mw) between 1900 and 2017 via Wikipedia
Ranking of the severity of nutrition crises, 2024 via Global Network Against Food Crisis
4.2 - Famines - Prophecy Fulfilled from AD 45 to AD 2025 (Present)
The first major famine recorded after Jesus predicted this was The Great Famine (AD 45 to 63) which swept through the Roman Empire. Countless famines followed throughout the next two millennia. An interesting fact to note is that many of Israel’s enemies are facing famines. As of September, 2025, there are many ongoing severe famines in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Haiti.
See The Genesis of the Jerusalem Donation via Themelios and List of Famines via Wikipedia and Food crises: 1.2 million people suffer catastrophic, conflict-driven hunger in 2025 via The Joint Research Centre and 2025 Global Report on Food Crisis via Global Network Against Food Crisis.
Acute food insecurity trends, 2016-2024 via Global Network Against Food Crisis
4.3 - Plagues - Prophecy Fulfilled from AD 165 to AD 2019
Major plague events after the time of Jesus include the Antonine Plague (AD 165), the Plague of Cyprian (AD 249), the Justinian Plague (AD 541), the Black Death (AD 1346), and the Third Plague Pandemic (AD 1855), as well as the Spanish Flu (AD 1918). The most recent serious plague was COVID-19 (AD 2019), which caused global panic and disorder. As with earthquakes and famines, we can see that the predictions of plagues in various places have also already been fulfilled. And these too will continue up until Jesus returns (Revelation 15).
See The Healing Christ in Pandemics: Then and Now via National Library of Medicine and The History of Plague – Part 1. The Three Great Pandemics via Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health and History’s Seven Deadliest Plagues via Gavi.
The Long View: History’s 7 Deadliest Plagues via Gavi
4.4 - Terrifying Sights and Great Signs in the Sky - Prophecy Fulfilled from AD 33 to AD 2025 (Present)
First, to clarify the meaning of “heaven” in this verse (Luke 21:11), we look at the Greek text and the word “οὐρανοῦ” which means “of the air”, “of the sky”, or “heaven”. From AD 0 to AD 2025, the earth experienced 5,014 solar eclipses. Fascinatingly, NASA confirmed a lunar eclipse occurred in AD 33, which coincided with the date of Jesus’s crucifixion. Three of the Gospels also describe this darkness (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44-45). The human ability to observe the skies was historically limited to what could be seen with the naked eye. As technology developed and advancements were made, the sky (and space) became more observable. The first telescopic observation of the night sky was in AD 1610. Substantial developments in telescopes, rockets, and information-sharing over the next 400+ years led to our current state of constant observation of the skies/space, with a core purpose of watching for threats to our planet. This led to the discovery in AD 1964 of one of the most mysterious objects in the known Universe: the Black Hole. Further space observations in AD 2006 led to the confirmed discovery of Dark Matter. Little is known about Dark Matter and human understanding of it is still infantile. In 2025, we see frequent headlines like Dangerous asteroids appear every week. Should we be afraid of them? and ‘Massive’ comet hurtling toward us is larger than previously thought, could be alien tech, scientist says: ‘It could change everything for us’ from credible news sites. Recent fears have also been raised of 3I/ATLAS – a Manhattan-sized interstellar object, potentially colliding with Mars. Clearly, we are seeing terrifying sights and great signs in the skies/space, and we will only increase in our ability to do so as technology and space exploration and observation advances.
See Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses via NASA and List of Solar Eclipses in the 21st Century via Wikipedia and Timeline of Space Exploration via Wikipedia and A brief history of black holes via Astronomy and Dark Matter via NASA and 10 Scary Space Facts That Will Change How You Think about Outer Space via Soace Curios and Vampire stars, supervoids and cannibal galaxies. 29 of the most terrifying things in the Universe via BBC Sky at Night Magazine.