Famine Prophesied
Jesus Christ told us that close to his second coming there would be certain events which would take place on the world scene. The rise of false prophets, war, famine and earthquakes (and other natural disasters) are what he told us would increase just before his return. These events would bring about suffering more "than anything the world has ever seen or will ever see again." (Matthew chapter 24).

False prophets and war we are, unfortunately, familiar with. Earthquakes and other natural disasters have certainly increased within the last few years. Famine is something we have only associated with on the African continent.

I want to focus on famine because as I mentioned before we generally associate famine to Africa. Certain African countries have been plagued by famine for years. Many of us have turned a blind eye to the situation asserting that it is not our problem, "there is nothing we can do, let the UN and the Missionaries handle it. We believe that it cannot happen here in the western world.

However we are seeing that food prices have risen drastically in recent months and there are shortages of certain basic items such as rice and flour. These have sparked riots in countries such as Haiti and Mexico. Even the experts are saying that if something is not done soon many people will suffer and starve.? They also speculate that countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Nepal will experience food shortages as well. There is no doubt that the poorer countries would be the ones to suffer most.

According to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research "wheat production in India could drop by 50% within 40 years, putting as many as 200 million people at risk of worsening food shortages."

The third horse of the "Four horsemen of the Apocalypse" in the Book of Revelation represents that of famine.

"And I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. And a voice from among the four living beings said, "A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley for a day's pay. And don't waste the olive oil and wine". (Revelation 6:5-6).

We can determine from this scripture that in the very near future, more money would have to be spent on food and what we do have would have to be carefully preserved and not wasted.

The situation is not that bad - yet. But all the signs are there that indicate that we are living in the end time and we need to prepare ourselves for the return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to set up his new Kingdom.