The Bible Answers Short Questions From Our Readers
Plain Truth Magazine
July 1968
Volume: Vol XXXIII, No.7
Issue:
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The Bible Answers Short Questions From Our Readers
Plain Truth Staff  

"Are we headed for a time of worldwide national catastrophes? Is this what Jesus meant in Matthew 24, when he said: 'All these are the beginning of sorrows.' Is the worst yet to come?"

   Bible prophecy speaks not only of a time of worsening worldwide weather chaos affecting all nations, but it specifically singles out the peoples of the United States, Great Britain and other areas of the English-speaking world.
   God, through the pen of the prophet Ezekiel, forewarned that fully one third of our people were to perish by catastrophic weather calamities and disease. Notice the startling words of Ezekiel: "A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with FAMINE shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee [warfare]; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them [captivity and slavery]" (Ezek. 5:12).
   Ezekiel never reached the peoples of ancient Israel with this prophecy. They had gone into captivity well over 100 years before this time. This prophecy is for our peoples, the descendants of the House of Israel, today! The dear, unmistakable proof of our national identity — where our people are mentioned in Bible prophecy — may be had by writing for our free book, The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy .
   Why is this complete national destruction, starting with the hammering blows of violent weather, 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 before the eyes of the nations [complete ignominy that all of our enemies and hired "allies" will view in abhorrence], and do to you what I have never done before, a thing that I will never do again) owing to all your detestable deeds" (Ezek. 5:7-9, Moffatt translation).
   God, who controls the weather and would intervene on our behalf if we as a nation turned in utter repentance to Him, is going to allow weather disasters to hit us so hard that we learn once and for all that it just doesn't pay to transgress the commandments and laws He gives us for our good.
   With the weather, God blesses or curses a nation (see Job 37:1-13, and Nahum 1:3-4). He told our forefathers after He had rescued them from the slavery of Egypt, that if we were obedient to His Laws) He would be with us in our national development — and the weather would be one of our greatest blessings. Disobedience on the other hand would bring nothing but drought, misery, hunger and every frightful curse under the sky. Read this for yourself in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.
   Most Bible prophecy is dual. The horrible penalties of disobedience listed in these two chapters) and also the first chapter of Joel, not only are prophetic for the near future (compare Lev. 26:23 and Deut. 28:64 with the latter part of Ezek. 5:12 — practically the same wording). but they were inflicted upon ancient Israel exactly as predicted when they rebelled against God.
   One amazing 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 the shores of, and controlled the sea routes of, the Mediterranean. Among his many writings, Dionysius commented on events surrounding the time of the fall of the House of Israel.
   Our ancestors anciently controlled the sea — just as they do today. 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 [exactly the position of post World War II United States] 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 [Lev. 26:19, 26; Deut. 28:24; Joel 1:12], when neither any fruit remained on the trees till it was ripe, but dropped while still green [Deut. 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 [Joel 1:20]. And like misfortunes attended the off-spring both of cattle and of women [Deut. 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 [Deut. 28:35, 60, 61; how descriptive of our society today]. But when they asked the oracle what god or divinity they had offended to be thus afflicted and by what means they might hope for relief, the god answered that, although they had obtained what they desired, they had neglected to pay what they had promised, and that the things of greatest value were still due from them."
   Dionysius then elaborated on how the Israelites — Pelasgians in Greek — had not been faithful in rendering their full financial responsibilities to their God. Our almost total neglect of this same responsibility to God is one of the major reasons for our impending doom. Notice what God says in Malachi 3:8-9: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation,"
   Paying God's tithe, giving to Him the one-tenth of one's income that is rightfully His is one sure way to receive His blessing even in the terrible times ahead. (Write for the free booklet, Ending Your Financial Worries.)
   To continue Dionysius' account:
   "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 [Deut. 28:28
   "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 earth" (Deut. 28:64; Lev. 26:33). From Book I, sections XXIII and XXIV.
   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 your disobedience to God's Laws! Obey Him in every way as Truth is revealed to you. Remember the obligations you have to your Creator! Only in this way can you expect God's protection as the mighty forces of nature are unleashed in full fury in the months and years immediately ahead of us.

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Plain Truth MagazineJuly 1968Vol XXXIII, No.7