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Moved by Mount St. Helens
Matt Miles • Oct 27, 2021
It has long been argued in evolutionary circles, as well as in old earth creation, that geological timeframe is measured in millions and billions of years through gradual processes we observe today, also known as uniformitarianism. But then something happened in1980, and the evolutionary understanding began to shift from uniformitarianism to catastrophism. For years Dr. Sharp has taught about the 1980 Mount St. Helens’ eruption and the impact it has had on the geological timeframe. Personally, one of the more impactful presentations in my life was Doc’s “Thousand Years in a Day.”
Bob and I finally had the opportunity to experience Mount St. Helens for ourselves. A few weeks ago, while in Vancouver, WA, we had a couple of days to venture north and east to the famous mountain. All I can say to begin with is WOW! All these years of learning, teaching, and presenting about the eruption events fractionally prepared me for the area, but it did nothing for the magnitude of it all. Mount St. Helens is a large mountain, as many have described, but it is very hard to convey properly. Being there is an awe-inspiring experience, especially when teamed with the knowledge of the 1980 event. There are still remnants of the forest that was laid down for miles in a matter of seconds. There are still large log mats in Spirit Lake, over 40 years later. Everywhere I looked the evidence is there from the eruptions.
But still, if there were no signs or visitors’ center, one might not understand how recently the area had been impacted. There are many areas where trees have recovered or been seeded. A great amount of wildlife inhabit the area around the mountain. It is quite a beautiful place to visit and spend a couple of days hiking and exploring.
2 Peter 3:3-9 kept resonating in my mind, “But they deliberately forget…the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.”
Mount St. Helens is such a powerful reminder, yet minuscule in scope, of the globally devastating judgement against sin during the Flood. The Flood was the most devastating disaster that we could ever comprehend. The earth still shows evidence of it, but many are blind to it. The Lord also reminded me over and over again those days on the mountain that He is faithful to those who are faithful to Him today, just as He was to Noah. There is salvation for those who honor the all-powerful Lord that holds fire in reserve for the final judgement against sin. As I kept looking up at the mountain top with the large section that is no longer present on Mount St. Helens, all I could do was respond by LOOKING UP and praising Him for His faithful Word and eternal salvation. Blessings.
