Rapid Rifting Presages Future Events | The Institute for Creation Research

Rapid Rifting Presages Future Events

The Great Rift Valley extends some 4,000 miles southward from Syria north of Israel, through the Gulf of Aqaba, through Ethiopia, and all the way to Mozambique in southeast Africa. It harbors a giant fault, which has been under investigation as a model for sea floor spreading. A recent geologic event rent a gaping crack through the desert of Ethiopia, causing safety concerns for locals. These crustal plate motions may foreshadow rifting events further north in the Great Rift Valley.

The outmoded uniformitarian interpretation that is widely held by contemporary scientists insists that slow and gradual processes formed earth’s features. But the observation of Ethiopia’s new rift, like so many other observations, counters this “uniformity” thinking. Cindy Ebinger, professor at the University of Rochester and co-author of a study on the Ethiopian site, expressed surprise at how quickly the trench rifted. “We know that seafloor ridges are created by a similar intrusion of magma into a rift, but we never knew that a huge length of the ridge could break open at once like this.”1

The surprising suddenness of the crustal movements underlying the rift system may match the suddenness of a related valley formation event foretold by Zechariah in the sixth century BC. The 14th chapter of his book states:

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave [be split] in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove [or move] toward the north, and half of it toward the south.2

Ethiopia is near the southern end of the fault. But near the northern end and still within the Great Rift Valley lies the Dead Sea in Israel. The Mount of Olives is only about 15 miles to its west. Between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives lies the Kidron Valley, which carries the seasonal Kidron stream on a 20-mile-long, 4,000-foot drop eastward to the Dead Sea. A rift could open up along the Kidron Valley, splitting the Mount of Olives in two, as predicted.

According to area geologists, Israel has been ripe for significant seismic activity, even as southern portions of the Great Rift Valley thousands of miles away are actively spreading. Dr. Shmuel Marco of Tel Aviv University told the Jerusalem Post in 2007 that “a major quake should be expected any time because almost a whole millennium has passed since the last strong earthquake.”3 He had studied geological and archaeological evidence, as well as historical records, to establish that significant earthquakes—which are associated with rifting—had been occurring every 400 years or so up until that time.

After about 1,000 years with no major quakes, the buildup of pressure from shifting crustal plates means that “it’s going to snap eventually.”3 And when it does, it would not come as a surprise to find that it will be accompanied by other significant events also prophesied in the Bible, including the judgment of wicked nations assembled in the Kidron Valley4 and the return of Christ to earth along with His host.5

References

  1. African Desert Rift Confirmed as New Ocean in the Making. University of Rochester press release, November 2, 2009, reporting research published in Ayele, A. et al. 2009. September 2005 mega-dike emplacement in the Manda-Harraro nascent oceanic rift (Afar depression). Geophysical Research Letters. 36, L20306.
  2. Zechariah 14:3-4.
  3. Teitelbaum, I. The big one is due. The Jerusalem Post. Posted on jpost.com November 14, 2007, accessed November 4, 2009.
  4. Joel 3:11-12.
  5. Revelation 19:11-21.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on November 19, 2009.

The Latest
NEWS
Marine Mammals: Designed for Deep Diving
While you’re reading this, hold your breath. What is now happening is your blood is delivering the last of oxygenated blood cells to your tissues...

CREATION PODCAST
Humanity's Demise at the Hands of Genetic Entropy | The Creation...
Welcome to the fourth episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old earth...

NEWS
''Inside-Out'' Fossil is Amazingly Preserved
It is widely known that vast numbers of fossils—vertebrate and invertebrate—have been discovered incredibly well-preserved.1,2...

NEWS
The Resurrection and the Origin of Life
At Easter time we focus on the cardinal Christian doctrine of the Resurrection. Without the Resurrection, Christianity is a sham. The truth that Jesus...

NEWS
Is an Ancient Extinct Tree-Dweller Our Relative?
Human evolution has always been hazy with seemingly as many attempted explanations for how we evolved from animals as there are paleoanthropologists. Evolutionists...

NEWS
The Return of the Dire Wolf?
There’s been much recent excitement about the birth of three dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus) puppies by a Dallas-based biotech company: Colossal Bioscience....

CREATION PODCAST
Cracks in the Layers: Lake Suigetsu and the Old Earth Illusion...
Welcome to the third episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old earth...

NEWS
Fish Fossil Vomit
A rather unsavory news story recently appeared regarding fossilized vomit. Although it’s hardly dinner table conversation, it nonetheless supports...

NEWS
Dino Footprints Down Under
Dinosaur trackways1 are once again making the news. Australia is the setting of a remarkable series of dinosaur tracks attributed to ornithischian...

NEWS
April 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things...