Are there any volcanoes mentioned in the Bible?

There were no volcanoes in the land of Israel or in the neighbouring countries yet we find the following records of the Spirit's dictation. "He looks on the earth and it trembles, He touches the hills and they spake." (Ps. 104:32). "Who removes the mountains and they know not: who overturns them in His anger." (Job 9:5). There were no mines or deep borings in Mesopotamia yet Job could leave on record that "under the earth is turned up as if it were fire." Modern investigation shows that for every 54 feet descent one degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature is observed. Although easy to supply further examples it will suffice to say that while the textbooks of science are changing twice every generation and as a philosopher aptly said "the curiosity of to-day may be the common-place of to-morrow," Scripture remains securely established and sees human cosmogonies framed and displaced by more feasible propositions. All are illustrative of the Scriptural declaration "They shall perish: but Thou remainest—they shalt be changed, but Thou art the same and Thy years shall not fail." (Heb. 1:11-12).

It is useless striving to reach a mountain peak that will be blown down in a moment! Previous to the eruption that overwhelmed Herculaneum and Pompeii in 79 A.D., Vesuvius had never been known to manifest volcanic action. Doubtless the dwellers on its slopes scoffed at the possibility of such an occurrence, yet that did not relieve them from the effects of the mountain top being suddenly blown off! So the world tendencies will come to a similar climax as described in the prophetic Word of God.

Lot having been withdrawn, the judgment fell from heaven. Those who have examined that region, in the light of modern discoveries as to oil and bitumen-bearing sites, tell us it is quite easy to visualize what happened. Perhaps so, but the miracle consisted in fire from the Lord out of heaven starting the mighty conflagration and eruptions that blasted these four cities out of existence, and left their sites to this day as "an example to those that after should live ungodly." (2 Peter 2:6). The thought of the evil and its judgment has persisted, for the word "sodomy" is found in our language as designating sin of a specially vile and unnatural sort. This judgment, moreover, was a sample of what is yet to come on a much greater scale in "the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:7)

By the time Lot entered Zoar the sun had risen (v.23). The people of Sodom and Gomorrah, seeing the bright sunshine, would be happily prepared for another day of sinful pleasure. But what a shock! Judgment from God suddenly falls in the form of brimstone and fire such as a volcanic eruption might produce (v.24), though we are not told the means of this terrible catastrophe. Some would be killed immediately, no doubt others would have time to realize that God was punishing them for their gross wickedness. But it was too late to escape. The judgment and desolation was total. Every inhabitant of the cities and all the vegetation was destroyed. But this is a picture of a greater judgment still: "As it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:28-30). 1 Thessalonians 5:3 comments on this, "When they say, Peace and safety, "then sudden destruction comes upon them -- and they shall not escape."

By the time Lot entered Zoar the sun had risen (v. 23). The people of Sodom and Gomorrah, seeing the bright sunshine, would be happily prepared for another day of sinful pleasure. But what a shock! Judgment from God suddenly falls in the form of brimstone and fire such as a volcanic eruption might produce (v. 24), though we are not told the means of this terrible catastrophe. Some would be killed immediately, no doubt others would have time to realize that God was punishing them for their gross wickedness. But it was too late to escape. The judgment and desolation was total. Every inhabitant of the cities and all the vegetation was destroyed. But this is a picture of a greater judgment still: “As it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:28-30). 1 Thessalonians 5:3 comments on this, “When they say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction comes upon them — and they shall not escape.”

Besides these there are in various parts of the earth conflagrations, earthquakes, eruptions, cyclones, avalanches, floods, frosts, shipwrecks, sea-waves, etc., some of which happen every year. These occur in the providential government of God, and by them He continually makes Himself heard, and manifests His power: cf. Job 37:13. But beside this providential government, there are often direct judgements, hence the prophet said, "When thy judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." Isa. 26:9. Such judgements are, alas, too often accounted as natural phenomena or mere accidents or calamities, without any recognition of God, and are soon forgotten. They should warn men; as a slight shower often falls before a storm, so these frequent judgements are but the forerunners of the great storm of the wrath of God that will surely fall upon this guilty world, when the vials of His fury are poured out: cf. Rev. 6 - 20.

Beside this, Edom remains desolate, and, to come near to what is before us, Babylon also. (Isa. 13:20; Isa. 34:9-10.) How suitable that Rome, the seat of a power far worse and of far longer continuance should be so visited! Such a judgment would fill out the prophecy most fully and exactly. What a picture of eternal judgment is that of Idumea, in that "year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion"! "And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever." Rome is the great Edom as it is the great Babylon, and it would be really strange if there were not to be in her case a similar recompense. Barnes quotes from a traveler in Italy in 1850 what is only a striking confirmation of the story told by all who with eyes open have visited the country: "I behold everywhere, in Rome, near Rome, and through the whole region from Rome to Naples, the most astounding proofs, not merely of the possibility, but the probability, that the whole region of central Italy will one day be destroyed by such a catastrophe. The soil of Rome is tufa, with a volcanic subterranean action going on. At Naples, the boiling sulphur is to be seen bubbling near the surface of the earth. When I drew a stick along the ground, the sulphurous smoke followed the indentation. … The entire country and district is volcanic. It is saturated with beds of sulphur and the substrata of destruction. It seems as certainly prepared for the flames as the wood and coal on the hearth are prepared for the taper which shall kindle the fire to consume them. The divine hand alone seems to me to hold the fire in check by a miracle as great as that which protected the cities of the plain till the righteous Lot had made his escape to the mountains."

Besides this, Edom remains desolate, and, to come near to what is before us, Babylon also (Isa. 13:20; 34:9-10). How suitable that Rome, the seat of a power far worse, and of far greater significance, should be so visited! Such a judgment would fill out the prophecy most fully and exactly. What a picture of eternal judgment is that of Idumea, in that "year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion"! "And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever." Rome is the great Edom, as it is the great Babylon; and it would be really strange if there were not to be in her case a similar recompense. Barnes quotes from a traveler in Italy in 1850 what is only a striking confirmation of the story told by all who with eyes open have visited the country: "I behold everywhere, in Rome, near Rome, and through the whole region from Rome to Naples, the most astounding proofs, not merely of the possibility, but the probability, that the whole region of central Italy will one day be destroyed by such a catastrophe. The soil of Rome is tufa, with a volcanic subterranean action going on. At Naples the boiling sulphur is to be seen bubbling near the surface of the earth. When I drew a stick along the ground, the sulphurous smoke followed the indentation. … The entire country and district is volcanic. It is saturated with beds of sulphur and the substrata of destruction. It seems as certainly prepared for the flames as the wood and coal on the hearth are prepared for the taper which shall kindle the fire to consume them. The divine hand alone seems to me to hold the fire in check by a miracle as great as that which protected the cities of the plain till the righteous Lot had made his escape to the mountains."

So here a great power, that seemed to be settled, is removed from its place, and that power is not so much shattered itself as it is made the means of suffering to others. It is burning with fire, and the consequence is destruction to the third of living creatures and ships in the sea, the whole being a figure taken from what would be the effect of a volcano cast into the sea. It is thus that the Lord fills up the picture of destruction by a great consuming power that falls upon confused masses of people, with human carnage and political anarchy as the result. There may be some more precise meaning, but I am only presenting what little I see of the symbols, independent of their application to a particular time, place, or people.

The great burning mountain may be a symbol of power removed from its accustomed place, and thrown into that which brings terrible judgment upon the people.