Like Lightning
“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” [Matthew 24:27]
Very few natural phenomenon’s are as impressive as lightning – and it’s more common than you might think. Every day 44,000 lightning storms occur worldwide with lightning striking the earth 6,000 times a minute. The idea that lightning never strikes the same place twice is a complete myth. For example, the top of the Empire State Building averages over 20 hits per year. While most lightning occurs during thunderstorms, lightning can also be sparked by volcanic eruptions, intense forest fires, hurricanes, and even snowstorms! The average lightning stroke is three to four miles long, and it can raise the temperature of the immediately surrounding air to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hotter than the surface of the sun!
Lightning enthusiasts have given names to several varieties of lightning with special characteristics. A “positive giant” is a lightning strike that hits the ground up to 20 miles away from the thunderstorm. They are often called “a bolt from the blue” because they seem to strike from a clear sky. Originating from the top of the storm cloud, they are especially destructive, with several times the energy of a typical lightning strike. “Crawlers” are a rare and beautiful form of lightning that seems to crawl along the horizon as it zaps from cloud to cloud. Radar has detected crawlers that are 75 miles long!
To estimate your distance from a lightning strike, count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning flash and hear the thunder. Each five second interval is roughly equivalent to one mile in distance. On average, thunder can only be heard over a distance of five or six miles, but at night lightning can be seen 100 miles away.
Perhaps this visibility is why Jesus compared His second coming to a strike of lightning. While we can’t set a time for His coming, we’ll certainly see it when it happens! Like a lightning storm on a divine scale, it will be an event with incomparable beauty and power. While it is wise to take shelter during earthly lightning storms, the Bible teaches that only the wicked will try to hide from Jesus’ coming – the righteous will be anxious to watch the show. That’s one display I don’t want to miss!
