Questions & Answers 
Good News Magazine
June-July 1985
Volume: VOL. XXXII, NO. 6
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Questions & Answers
Good News Staff  

Are we headed for a time of worldwide catastrophes? Is this what Jesus meant in Matthew 24:8, when He said: "All these are the beginning of sorrows"?

   Bible prophecy not only speaks of a time of chaos affecting all nations, but it singles out the peoples of the United States, Britain and other areas of the English-speaking world.
   God, through the pen of the prophet Ezekiel, forewarned that fully two thirds of our people will perish by catastrophic warfare and disease: "One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them [captivity and slavery]" (Ezekiel 5:12).
   Ezekiel never reached the peoples of ancient Israel with this prophecy. They had gone into captivity more than 100 years before his time. This prophecy is for our peoples, the descendants of the House of Israel, today!
   The clear proof of our national identity is revealed in our startling book The United States and Britain in Prophecy. You may have a free copy by writing to our address nearest you.
   Why is this national destruction to come upon our lands? "Because you have not lived by my laws nor followed my orders but have followed the practices of the nations around you, therefore — it is the sentence of the Lord the Eternal — I am against you, I am; I will inflict punishment upon you" (verses 7-8, Moffatt).
   God, who controls all events and would intervene on our behalf if we turned in repentance to Him, is going to allow disasters to teach us once and for all that it doesn't pay to transgress the laws He gives us for our good.
   God told our forefathers, after He had rescued them from the slavery of Egypt, that if they were obedient to His laws, He would bless them greatly. Disobedience, on the other hand, would bring nothing but drought, misery, hunger and every frightful curse. Read it for yourself in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.
   Most Bible prophecy is dual. The horrible penalties of disobedience listed in these two chapters not only are prophetic for the near future, but they were inflicted upon ancient Israel when they rebelled against God.
   One account of ancient Israel's destruction has been preserved for us by the Greek historian Dionysius, a native of Halicarnassus. Born around 54 B.C., Dionysius went to Rome about 30 B.C. He specialized in the study of the early peoples who dwelt on and controlled the sea routes of the Mediterranean.
   Our ancestors anciently controlled the sea. For that reason Dionysius called the ancient Israelites who settled on the shores of the Mediterranean "sea peoples" — pelasgians in Greek.
   Note what Dionysius says about these people: "The Pelasgians" — the ancient Greek name for the House of Israel — "after conquering a large and fertile region, taking over many towns and building others, made great and rapid progress, becoming populous, rich and in every way prosperous. Nevertheless, they did not long enjoy prosperity, but at the moment when they seemed to all the world to be in the most flourishing condition they were visited by divine wrath, and some of them were destroyed by calamities inflicted by the hand of heaven, others by their barbarian neighbors....
   "The first cause of the desolation of their cities seemed to be a drought which laid waste the land [notice Leviticus 26: 19, 26, Deuteronomy 28:24 and Joel 1:12], when neither any fruit remained on the trees till it was ripe, but dropped while still green [Deuteronomy 28 :40], nor did such of the seed corn as sent up shoots and flowered stand for the usual period till the ear was ripe, nor did sufficient grass grow for the cattle [Joel 1:18]; and of the waters some were no longer fit to drink, others shrank during the summer, and others were totally dried up [verse 20].
   "And like misfortunes attended the offspring both of cattle and of women [Deuteronomy 28:18]. For they were either abortive or died at birth, some by their death destroying also those that bore them; and if any got safely past the danger of their delivery, they were either maimed or defective or, being injured by some other accident, were not fit to be reared.
   "The rest of the people also, particularly those in the prime of life, were afflicted with many unusual diseases and uncommon deaths [verses 35, 60-61]....
   "And there began to be disorderly emigrations, such as might well be expected from a people driven forth by a frenzy and madness inflicted by the hand of heaven [verse 28]....
   "Many, also under specious pretences, were being driven away by their enemies through hatred; so that there were many emigrations and the Pelasgian nation was scattered over most of the earth [verse 64, Leviticus 26:33]."
   There you have the amazing, detailed account of what happened to Israel of old. The same punishments are to fall on our peoples around the world today!
   If the nations as a whole will not repent, you as an individual can be spared. Repent of disobedience to God's laws. Obey Him in every way as truth is revealed to you. Only in this way can you expect God's protection as mighty forces are unleashed in full fury in the months and years immediately ahead.

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Good News MagazineJune-July 1985VOL. XXXII, NO. 6