Fire & Earthquake (Psalm 18)

Without prophetic interpretation, every thing that happened or happens just by chance or just the run of the mill event. For sure, many things happen naturally and there is no interpretation needed. But I do not believe the massive earthquake (7.1 Richter Scale, some say it is 6.8) happens per chance. One Emeritus Professor of Tectonics in Scotland asked the question: Why there? Why just about 100kms from where I live in Kota Kinabalu?

If it happens near the surface such magnitude earthquake would have caused substantial damage to the West Coast all the way north, from Kudat to Sipitang in the south. The tremors were felt as far as Miri, a town in Sarawak and in Singapore. The Ranau 6.0 earthquake in 2015 caused damage to villages more than 70-80kms from its epicentre. 

Why did it happen less than an hour into 23rd Feb 2026 Malaysian time (12.57am) while most of the world westward was still timed as 22nd Feb 2026. I read Psalm 18 and realised what just had happened. David in Psalm 18 was persecuted by his enemies, by King Saul and his lapdogs. He cried out to the Lord and the Lord reached down to rescue David by fire and earthquake. 

Thrice it said, the earth shook, the foundations of the world were shaken - the earthquake happened deep down in the mantle of the earth, some 660kms deep. The earth shook because the Lord was angry (Psalm 18:7) and in LXX it added that the Lord “was angry with them” (David’s enemies). God sent forth fire by His wrath and David was rescued from his enemies as he narrated in Psalm 18. 

There was a great fire last Saturday one day before I had to resign. In fact, on Sunday I felt a sense of relief to be rescued from all my enemies, from King Saul and his followers. I was brought into a large place, my home where now (soon) I shall be writing in peace. I will take a whole week to celebrate my rescue from the Lord’s enemies. He had sent fire and earthquake to show His displeasure and rescue His anointed one. It was also a wake-up call, now we have become earthquake prone, it can happen anytime and the visions I saw during the weekend were meant to reassure God’s protection on His people if we stay alert and pray at all times.