The numbers describing this past week’s wildfires in southern California are staggering. More than 747,600 acres consumed by flames — 1,168 square miles, an area almost 25 times as large as the entire city of San Francisco. 3,339 homes destroyed. 20 lives lost. One official stated that even a momentary shift in the wind could have brought the conflagration down on San Diego and its 1.3 million people.

Following the news reports by television, radio and Internet, I was struck by three intriguing parallels between the southern California fires and another firestorm, prophesied in Scripture by the apostle Peter: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

Parallel One: the firestorm happens unexpectedly. No one in southern California woke up a week ago last Thursday with the thought, “I bet half the neighborhood will be ablaze before the weekend’s over.” The disaster struck without warning.

So will the great firestorm arrive: “as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Paul describes the end of the world coming “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52). The time to prepare, then, is before the fire starts — not in the midst of it.

Parallel Two: human action spawns horror. In the California wildfires, officials believe that several of the blazes were initiated by arson. One fire was touched off by a man who fired a flare into the woods when he became lost during a hunting excursion.

Although the last firestorm will be delivered at the hand of God, not of men, those who suffer its consequences will do so as a result of their own actions. On the day of that firestorm, all humanity that has ever lived will be “judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Revelation 20:12; also 2 Corinthians 5:10), the “books” being the Scriptures. John observed, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

Parallel Three: a good cleanup averts tragedy. Wildfires are primarily fueled by old dead trees, and by the dense accumulation of dry vegetable matter — leaves, fallen branches, and the like — on the forest floor. Eradicating the dead trees and debris on a periodic basis can, firefighters say, help minimize the risk of a fast-spreading blaze.

The same will be true in the day of the last great fire. Those who failed to purge the debris in their lives will suffer loss as a result: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Those, however, who “clean up their forests” will be justified (1 Corinthians 6:11; Romans 2:7; Matthew 25:46).

A day is coming, “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8). In that same day, the saints will be glorified and rested (verses 7, 10). Where will you stand when that firestorm falls?