Friday, December 30, 2011

The Eruption of Mount Pelee, St. Pierre, Martinique, 1902

Eruption of Mount Pelee, 1902

Bible-exposition.com:

At the beginning of this century, the French island of Martinique was a prosperous colony in the Caribbean and was known as the Paris of the West Indies. The capital St. Pierre had a population of some 30,000 and lay at the foot of Mount Pelée, an old dormant volcano. During 1902, boiling water and steam were seen erupting from the crater and on April 25th, a scientific expedition was sent up to investigate. The island's newspaper, Les Colonies published the findings and told the inhabitants that there was no reason to be afraid.

However, some individuals began to get worried, but were mocked by various editorials of the newspaper.  Day by day, life became unbearable on the island. A hideous odour of sulphur filled the air and birds dropped out of the air asphyxiated by the ash and sulphur.

By May 3rd businessmen and prudent individuals moved to the Southern part of the Island. However, the newspaper continued to mock, and on May 7th it published an interview with Professor M. Landes which read, "Mont Pelee presents no more danger to the inhabitants of St. Pierre than does Vesuvius to those of Naples." The Newspaper added, "We confess we cannot understand this panic. Where could one be better off than in St. Pierre?"

On the morning of May 8th, at 7:52 AM exactly, the Volcano erupted and exploded. There was no warning as the side of the mountain ripped out. Super heated steam at a temperature of 1000 degrees Centigrade blasted out at hurricane speed obliterating the whole town and incinerating 30,000 people. Only two men survived the destruction, a prisoner, who was in the town dungeon and a cobbler who hid in his cellar.

How like many in the world today who treat God like an extinct volcano. They doubt His existence, mock at the thought of hell and judgment, laugh at the Bible, and continue in their sinful ways, all the while neglecting the salvation of their souls.

The Bible tells us:

"the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1).

The good news of the gospel message is that you can be saved from the wrath to come by hiding in Christ. He bore the judgment of God against sin, when He died upon the cross. He rose again from the dead and is in heaven today. He is a refuge for sinners who put their faith in Him. To neglect Christ is to put yourself in danger for God will judge this sinful world. The Bible warns us "Be not deceived, God is not mocked" (Galatians 6v7)


Victor Hugo Street Before Eruption
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May 8, 1902, account of a catastrophe:

VOLCANO DESTROYS WEST INDIAN TOWN

St. Pierre, Martinique, Entirely Wiped Out

DEAD MAY NUMBER 25,000

It is Said that All the Inhabitants of the Town Have Been Killed

May 8 7H50 in the morning, Saint-Pierre and the Preacher are wiped off the map

May 8, it is the catastrophe. The stopper of lava which blocks the crater resisted the pressure of the gases which then make burst the most fragile part of the Mount Pelé. Gas clouds charged with ashes and with sulfur, heated with 1000°, descend on the city at more than 200 km/h. A little before 8 hours in the morning, the volcanic cloud strikes Saint-Pierre. The pressure of gases, projected at high speed, reverses all on its passage. In a few seconds any trace of life disappears. Houses and monuments are puffed up. Solid walls of stone, broad of one measures, break down. 30,000 people die instantaneously, thrown out of gear, asphyxiated on the spot by the violence of the shock. Heat causes the explosion of thousands of rum barrels piled up in the multiple warehouses and factories of the city. The explosions follow one another, still a long time after the passage of the cloud. Floods of ignited liquid run out in the streets, completing to calcine the bodies. The shock wave reaches the sea. A tidal wave of 3 meter high falls down on the ships at anchor, at the same time as the gas cloud. Capsized or set fire to, a score of boats run. The city and the neighbourhood are shaven. Small pieces of rock torn off with the volcano are projected to Fort-de-France. A shroud of hot ashes covers all the island with Martinique. The "Small Paris of the Antilles" ceased existing.




Victor Hugo Street After Eruption


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Summary of sermon by Rev Erlo Stegen:

I recently read the story of the French island of Martinique. In 1902, it was noticed that Mt. Pelée was giving off smoke and had minor eruptions. Scientists gave soothing predictions but, on 8 May 1902, they were buried along with a population of about 30,000 who were wiped out in the cataclysmic eruption.  Many islanders had been mockers of God. Over Easter, some had "crucified" a pig. Little did they expect a literal fiery hell that was soon to swallow them.



St. Pierre Before Eruption

St. Pierre After Eruption
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Eruption of Vesuvius:    Destruction of Pompeii, 79 A.D.:

[from Conservapedia]

One notable aspect of Pompeii which archaeologists have abundantly evidenced is its pervasive eroticism, which, as was typical, was associated with pagan religion (even the gladiator games began as honoring pagan gods).

The discovery of this lewdness shocked researchers from Christian influenced English society, as one expressed:


Ancient relics . . . are full of objects so indecent, if we compare them to modern compositions, that the brush or needle of our Artists hardly dares to reproduce them for us.  The word chosen for their classification was pornography, a word formulated by German art historian C.O Muller, who’s alluded in his book, Handbuch der Archaolgie der Kunst, 1850, to "the great number of obscene representations . . . to which mythology gave frequent occasion."

Scott Ashley informs that:


Up to several dozen buildings have been identified as likely houses of prostitution. Some, due to the explicit wall paintings and graffiti found in them, leave no doubt as to their purpose. Even in private homes, wall paintings and mosaics depict all kinds of sexual activity, and many common household objects such as lamps, dishes, vases and fountains have been found with sexual motifs. Recent excavations at one of Pompeii's public baths indicate that one floor of the structure may have been a brothel.

Due to its pervasive immorality, prior to or shortly after the destruction of Pompeii, someone wrote "Sodom and Gomorrah" onto a wall near the cities central crossroads. The early church leader Tertullian defended Christians against the charge that their neglect of pagan worship resulted in pagan gods causing natural disasters, by indicating that no Christians lived in Pompeii when it was destroyed. Many Christians have since invoked the destruction of Pompeii as an example of God's judgment against rampant immorality.

http://conservapedia.com/Pompeii
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Famous Last Words:

“However, the newspaper continued to mock, and on May 7th it published an interview with Professor M. Landes which read, ‘Mont Pelee presents no more danger to the inhabitants of St. Pierre than does Vesuvius to those of Naples.’ The Newspaper added, ‘We confess we cannot understand this panic. Where could one be better off than in St. Pierre?’”
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Sodom and Gomorrah. Pompeii. St Pierre. Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Earthquake 
Pompeii Under Siege
Images of Pompeii 
The Great Fire of London
This is Sodom! This is Sodom!
Jackson, Wyoming Fire, 2012
Jackson Hole Landslide by Jeremy Aughenbaugh
God Will Draw the Wicked into Cities Marked for Destruction
Three minutes of horror when 30,000 perished
A Vision about George Washington and America
It's Time For Justice
Catastrophic Explosion at Mt. St. Helens

8 comments:

  1. you are invited to follow my blog

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  2. Powerful Blog, Tim. Thank you.
    I've been to Naples, the modern day city of Pompeii. After nearly 2,000 years, the place still stands as a very sobering reminder of that event. Like photo snap shots, bodies were frozen in place while in various final moments of their life, e.g., running in terror or sitting, hopelessly resigned to their fate while holding their children etc... The heat from the pyroclastic flow,1,000 degree super heated gas travelling almost 100 miles an hour, was instantaneously lethal. Wow! If this ain't Sodom and Gomorrah nothing else is.
    Regarding St. Pierre, it's an obvious comparison. It is also VERY interesting to note how the French would name this town after their (catholic influenced patron saint Peter). What sacrilege. It's strikingly ironic that the pagan catholic prayer to their patron saint Peter begins with these words: "O Holy Apostle, because you are the Rock upon which Almighty God has built His Church, obtain for me I pray you: lively faith, firm hope, and burning love, complete detachment from myself, contempt of the world,..." It is also amazing to me that the community of Saint Pierre was living in open contempt to God (crucifying a pig on Easter sickens me) would have their town named after a man of God who wrote, "Because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.' And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear,"(translated as "holy terror"). 1 Peter 1:16,17.

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  3. Thanks, Randy, for your comment.

    "It is also VERY interesting to note how the French would name this town after their (catholic influenced patron saint Peter). What sacrilege. It's strikingly ironic that the pagan catholic prayer to their patron saint Peter begins with these words: 'O Holy Apostle, because you are the Rock upon which Almighty God has built His Church, obtain for me I pray you: lively faith, firm hope, and burning love, complete detachment from myself, contempt of the world,...'"

    The sad thing about the Catholic church is that they think Peter was the first pope because of the above quote. When Jesus is talking to Peter in Scriptures, he said, blessed are you Peter because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but our Father in heaven has revealed this to you. And on this rock (of revelation knowledge) shall I build this church (a spiritual church, not a worldly, physical, man-made church) and the gates (the strategies) of hell shall not prevail against it.

    The city of St. Pierre definitely was not built on a Christian foundation, but a pagan Catholic foundation. And the wordly, man-made city of St. Pierre was later destroyed by a physical fire--a volcanic eruption--God's wrath.

    Matthew 16: 18: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

    Again, in the Scripture above, the rock that the spiritual church of Christ is built upon is direct revelation from the Father to individual believers--the rock is NOT Peter. If anyone thinks that Peter is the rock, they are idolaters (which is sin).

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  4. "The Gates of Hell"

    http://tim-shey.blogspot.com/2010/03/gates-of-hell.html

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  5. Martinique was a French colony. As far as I know, France has never been known to send Christian missionaries anywhere (no wonder they had the bloody, Satanic French Revolution). Haiti was a French colony; New Orleans was a French colony. In recent years, the Lord destroyed New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina and the Lord destroyed Haiti with an earthquake (devil worship is an official religion in Haiti).

    Now we go to the Las Vegas earthquake dream that I had back in 2006. In that dream, I am rebuking the Pope. I have often wondered what significance the Pope has with the destruction of Las Vegas.

    Now go to the film "The Godfather". We all know that the mafia helped build Las Vegas into an empire of gambling and prostitution and other evils. If most of the gangsters that helped build Las Vegas (on unrighteous foundations) were Italian (and most or all of the Italian mafia were Catholic), then Las Vegas was built on sinful foundations of sand.

    Sand is the opposite of rock. If you are submitted to Satan, you are building on sand. If your are submitted to Christ, you are building on rock. Las Vegas is built on sand. St. Pierre, Martinique was built on sand.

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  6. Very interesting threads of thought Tim. Thank you for sharing.

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  7. THE ELECTION

    "Living near the volcano became increasingly stressful, leading many to consider leaving St. Pierre for Martinique's second city, Fort-de-France. On the day of the lahar, however, Governor Louis Mouttet received a report from a committee of civic leaders who climbed the volcano to assess the danger. The only scientist in the group was a local high school teacher. The report stated that 'there is nothing in the activity of Mt. Pelée that warrants a departure from St. Pierre.' It concluded that 'the safety of St. Pierre is completely assured.' The report eased the public's fears, and gave hope to city officials who were particularly anxious that voters remain in the city to cast their ballots for an election that was to be held on May 11. The only people with enough money to leave the island were the wealthy, nearly all of which belonged to the Progressive Party of Governor Mouttet. Mouttet convinced the conservative editor of the daily newspaper Les Colonies to downplay the danger of the volcano, and to lead the effort to encourage people to remain. Still, some residents left the city for Fort-de-France. This prompted Governor Mouttet to send in troops to patrol the road to Fort-de-France, with orders to turn back refugees who were trying to leave. Based on the soothing articles that appeared in Les Colonies, many people in the countryside flocked to St. Pierre thinking that it was the safest place to be. The population ballooned to about 28,000, nearly all of which would perish in the cataclysmic eruption of May 8."

    "Mt. Pelee Eruption (1902)"
    http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Pelee.html

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  8. Great article! I have an associate of mine doing an article for my blog about this same topic!

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