Herbert W Armstrong

Douglas S Winnail  

The population explosion and the threat of widespread famines in the near future are real. World leaders, prominent scientists, and people who have troubled themselves to study the problem are deeply concerned. Newspapers, magazines and professional journals carry articles on a regular basis discussing aspects of the population dilemma facing mankind, yet few — if any — understand the real significance of these events.

THE POPULATION EXPLOSION and the associated problems of massive famine are global problems today. Reference is often made to Thomas Malthus, a nineteenth-century Englishman who observed that famine, pestilence and war operate as natural curbs on population. What is generally overlooked in such cases is that Malthus had merely come to the same conclusion that someone else had already pointed out some 1800 years before! In fact, Malthus probably owned a copy of the book that contained this "prophetic" information. That book was the Bible — and the person who beat Malthus to the punch was none other than Jesus Christ! However, Christ did Malthus (and modern "prophetic" journalists) one better. He told WHY such events as famine, war and pestilence — when they would come to pass on a global scale — would be significant. In other words, Jesus Christ — almost 2000 years ago — gave the real meaning of events that are making headlines today!
   The written record can be found in the 24th chapter of the book of Matthew. It is there for all to see — and has been for almost 2,000 years. During a discussion with His disciples concerning a very significant future event, Jesus stated quite plainly, "Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars... for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (world wars): and there shall be FAMINES, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places" (Matt. 24:6-7). Here we see "famines," which are now being predicted by population biologists and world leaders, were prophesied to occur in conjunction with "wars and rumours of wars."
   Jesus went on to mention later in the chapter that, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matt. 24:37). When you turn to the story of Noah in Genesis 6:1, you find these words, "Now a population explosion took place upon the earth" (Gen. 6:1, Living Books of Moses).
   In plain Biblical language, then, the wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes spoken of in Matthew 24 are to be accompanied by a population explosion. These events, occurring together on a worldwide scale, will announce the imminent return of Jesus Christ to this earth and the close of this present age! Read it for yourself in Matthew 24:3.
   While you may not believe what your eyes have just read, it's there in black and white, in the pages of the Bible — the so-called outdated Book "written by ignorant men groping for a concept of God." What is all the more remarkable is that those "ignorant" men were able to somehow predict the very events that are making headlines today!

LEADERS WARN OF FAMINE 

"We are told more and more frequently with messages of steadily rising urgency that the present rapid expansion of the world load of human beings must inevitably and quickly lead to a crisis in the degradation of the environment and to enormous catastrophes in human suffering through FAMINE.... THE CRISIS IN FACT IS ALREADY HERE in its preliminary stages...."
— David M. Prescott
Editor, BioScience

"In 1950 many students of the population resource situation concluded that a major catastrophe was in the making. TODAY, when we view the growth of world population in relation to what mankind is doing about the situation, THAT CATASTROPHE APPEARS A NEAR-CERTAINTY."
— Dr. Harrison Brown

"I stress again that ALL responsible investigators agree that the tragedy will occur. They differ only as to whether it will take place in ten years or less, or in ten years or a little more."
— Dr. James Bonner

"Mass starvation will be the most painful fact of life on this planet in ten years." — Sen. George McGovern "If the rate of food production cannot be significantly increased, we must be prepared for the FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE!".
— Dr. Binay Sen

"If all the food in the world were equally distributed and each human received identical quantities, we would all be malnourished".
— Dr. Georg A. Borgstrom

Tomorrow's World Magazine

August 1971

Vol III, No. 08