Russia, short of food, is forced to buy wheat from U.S. Canada sells grain to starving China. 50,000 drought-stricken square miles of Brazil goes up in flames in 1963. Drought returns to U.S. What does it all mean?
TODAY the world faces a major population explosion. Over three billion people now inhabit the globe. Last year the world's population increased by 60 million! That's 60 million more births than deaths! Yet, almost one third of the earth's surface is DESERT! And that desert is increasing by hundreds of square miles each year!
More Dangerous Than Hydrogen Bomb
Statesmen and world leaders are just beginning to wake up to the threat of mass starvation. It's more serious than the threat of hydrogen-bomb warfare. At this very moment one quarter a earth's inhabitants are directly suffering from droughts, floods, famines, and other natural catastrophes. And in the wake, an unparalleled spread of diseases from the dead and dying. Hundreds of millions of others are chronically undernourished. In Africa and Asia superstition so grips the native mind that millions of sickly children are denied milk even though it may be readily available. In many of these lands milk is considered a vile excrement of cattle — more loathsome than urine or dung! The tragedy of it all is that the world has waited TOO LONG. It is TOO LATE to turn back and undo the events that have pushed humanity to the brink of mass starvation. Only God can save now! What most people do not realize is that the present crisis is new. The world has not always been this way. Only a few centuries ago the population was only a fraction of what it now is. The rich soils of China, India, and the Russian Ukraine were providing the needed food supplies. Minor periodic catastrophes were easily weathered. Today the world is different. The land in underdeveloped countries is no longer capable of supplying the needs of its mounting inhabitants. The surplus food supplies of Europe, North America and Australia would vanish in a few months if evenly distributed to the billion in need. Now we face the return of drought to the United States, and its continued threat in Australia. Our own supplies of food are precariously small. Other than cotton, America's much-touted surplus would last the nation hardly more than a year. That is how close the whole world is to catastrophe! Have we forgotten the lesson of Joseph in Egypt? Joseph warned the Pharaoh of Egypt, in time of prosperity and abundance, to lay up for the day of natural catastrophe! The warning of Joseph, prophetically, has been beamed around the world on The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast. The message of Joseph has been sent, but where is the Pharaoh who heeds? Perhaps you thought this was a meaningless little Bible story? It is not. It's a prophecy for us today! If it had no meaning for us today, God would have left it out of the Bible! But it is there — as a final warning today of impending disaster.
Don't Be Fooled
Despite the admissions of weather reporters and scientists, most news articles on the weather are soft-pedaling the TRUTH. A definite campaign is being waged which aims at discrediting the real significance behind the momentous changes in weather patterns. Many scientists are frankly frightened, but too scared to admit it. They are afraid to face realities! They are afraid to recognize that the WORST IS YET TO COME! All the freaks in the weather in 1963 are merely forerunners — advance warnings of a horrifying period of drought such as has NEVER OCCURRED SINCE RECORDED HISTORY BEAN. This is a bold statement — but it is true — and it is time we faced realities and quit fooling ourselves. For years we have been warning this nation — and the world — of the devastating weather changes which are occurring before YOUR VERY EYES! Science has no real solution — no guaranteed way — to protect your home from flood, drought or famine. It's time you wake up! It's time you learn WHY weather changes are occurring — and what God expects you to do about it!
Fulfillment of Prophecy
These weather changes are only the fulfillment of prophecy, believe it or not! In His Mt. Olivet prophecy, Jesus warned of this revolution in nature. Study it in Luke 21:11 and 25; then compare it with Revelation 6:5-8. Here it is, plainly revealed. First, came the great conspiracy by Simon Magus. He plotted to destroy the true Church of God which Jesus founded. He had his men secretly pose as Christians, profess the name of Christ, then introduce their ancient Babylonian mystery religion in the guise of Christianity. It deceived millions. That's the little-understood origin of today's Babel of competing sects and denominations all calling themselves Christian, but none practicing what Christ taught or believing what He preached! Second, said Jesus, would come the wars that would eventually destroy the Roman Empire. They began in 256 A.D. This was followed, beginning around A.D. 300, by centuries of drought and famine and flood, climaxing 600 years ago in Europe. From A.D. 1300 to 1400, Europe suffered such climatic storms as had never been equaled since the so, called "Ice Ages"! Frightening disease epidemics immediately followed. Then the great religious persecution of the Middle Ages. But Jesus' prophecy is DUAL. It is being repeated once again. First came the second spread of false teachers, beginning 1517 in the Protestant Reformation. Then World Wars, beginning in 1914. And now Cold War. Now turn again to the prophetic warning in Luke 21. As a result of present-day drought, HORRIFYING FAMINES will rage. Gigantic tropical storms at sea will sweep onto the land with devastating force, obliterating entire communities, causing untold hundreds, and even thousands, to perish from heart failure — from stark fear of what's coming! These events are just beginning to happen NOW! Observe that the climax of this prophesied revolution in the weather ends not in the Middle Ages, but with this PRESENT AGE WHEN GOD IS ABOUT TO INTERVENE IN WORLD AFFAIRS BY SENDING JESUS CHRIST "WITH POWER" TO RULE THE NATIONS AND TO BRING PEACE AT LAST. "Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with POWER and great glory" (Luke 21:27). History always repeats itself. THOSE PAST EVENTS WERE ONLY THE FORERUNNERS OF MORE DEVASTATING WEATHER CHANGES now beginning to take place. Duality is found in almost every prophecy. The former fulfillment is only a TYPE of the cataclysmic age-end destructive forces set in motion by man and nature. Specialists who study weather understand this principle. Said Dr. James E. McDonald, of Iowa State College, a few years ago: "It has at some time in the past been as bad, or worse — and will be as bad, or worse, again."
Today's REVOLUTION in WEATHER
But how did the present world come to face such a tragedy as is now upon us? Here, in simple form, is the scientific answer. Forests are a major factor in altering the weather. They provide natural watersheds, prevent floods, modify the extremes of climate and temperature, increase humidity, decrease evaporation, and hold and conserve soil moisture. In America over two fifths of the original forest area is gone! — destroyed by man! In a lust for quick wealth, much of this area has been unwisely turned into farmland. Forests reflect the heat. Farmed lands absorb heat. This absorption of heat raises the temperature of the countryside. Little wonder that hot winds last year destroyed our forests at a record rate. And the trees that are not droughted out are burned in constantly increasing forest fires — many set deliberately by man! Without forests, rain waters become floods. They are no longer absorbed into the soil. The water level naturally drops. Many farming communities find that deep wells must be bored deeper! The nation today is not only preventing waters from being stored in the soil, but we are borrowing the water of future generations by removing what little remains in the soil! Why don't we wake up to the calamity we are bringing on ourselves! Deserts are fast expanding — in the U.S.A., Africa and Asia. Severe droughts are occurring in the virgin lands of Siberia — in the highlands near the equator — all because the climate is changing. The great Sahara is, in some areas, expanding at 30 miles per year! Vast areas are drying up — at the same time other regions are having their worst floods in 600 years! Even wildlife is on the march! The REVOLUTION in weather is witnessing the mass migration of trees, grains, vegetables, bugs, fish, birds and animals to more northern zones. England's supply of fish is greatly diminished by migration to warming northern waters. The hardwood trees of the northern U.S.A. and southern Canada are becoming sick because they can't stand the rise in temperature. Insects and diseases are increasing in areas where the established plant life can't accommodate itself to a warmer climate.
What's Ahead in the Next Few Years?
But it is the coming dry cycle in the early 1970's that FRIGHTENS weather experts — and it ought to frighten us all! By that time rural, city and industrial demands will have depleted our remaining underground water resources. With that final drought coming unexpectedly — as most droughts do — we will have no reserve! So terrible will it become that one third of the entire population WILL DIE OF FAMINE AND DISEASE. So said the prophets (Joel 1:10; Ezekiel 5:12). You say it can't happen here? BUT IT WILL! History and prophecy prove it! Human civilization has always brought disaster to the land and death to its inhabitants. There has been no exception! Do we think that we will escape any more than other people? Have we forgotten that the forefathers, our English-speaking peoples — the "lost" ten-tribed House of Israel — brought ruin upon the land of Palestine? In Abraham's day the Jordan Valley was well watered, like the garden of Eden. But by the time that God cast our forefathers out of the land, Palestine had become desolate. Notice what happened to Babylon. Ancient Babylonia was watered by the Tigris River. The inhabitants denuded the mountains of forests; the river beds were filled with silt; fields were flooded, sweeping away irrigation works. The remainder were destroyed over the centuries by invading armies. A decaying, pleasure-loving nation looked to the government for help — just as we are doing today! But what the people could not do for themselves, the government could NOT do! Have we forgotten that vast portions of the Sahara were once forested and inhabited? Look at it today! Persia, Syria, Israel were all civilizations based upon irrigation. And it was the exploitation of this system that made the land a desert.
America Going the Way of Rome
In 1952, while traveling with Mr. Dick Armstrong through Yugoslavia, I stood in amazement at the desolate, rocky countryside. I have since found out why the 'soil is untillable, the region arid. At one time the hills surrounding the Mediterranean were heavily forested — today not a trace remains! The Romans began the destruction of the forests. The Slav inhabitants continued to denude the hill slopes. The Venetians consumed the remaining trees for timber for their fleets. The hillsides can't be reforested today. They are too badly eroded. The same process is occurring in the U.S.A. today. WE SEEM TO BE UNAWARE THAT SOIL EXHAUSTION AND EROSION HAVE PROGRESSED MORE RAPIDLY IN THE UNITED STATES THAN IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, except perhaps South Africa. Apparently we have also forgotten that the Romans knew the value of contouring, the value of grasses and legumes, the rotation of crops and organic manuring! Simkhovitch, a historian who wrote about the fall of Rome, said that Roman knowledge of agriculture was "fairly startling." Yet Rome fell! Why? Listen to the answer! Taxation to support an ever-increasing bureaucracy and a huge army, wiped out the farmers who couldn't make sufficient profit. Most Roman farmers then borrowed money. Taxes increased. The farmer, in turn, had to exploit the soil to pay his debts. Within a few generations of the height of the Roman Empire, the soil of the entire Mediterranean (except Egypt) became sterile by overwork and ruthless exploitation. TODAY taxes — for a huge bureaucracy and great military machine — eat away more than one third of all income. Poor farmers are being forced off their lands. Drought in 1963 covered most of the United. States east of the Rockies. The land is constantly becoming more exhausted. History Is repeating itself! We are going the way of Rome. Most farmers know many of the better agricultural methods — but for economic reasons they do not practice them. Better farming methods are not always immediately profitable. The initial cost is often high. Many farmers are victims of circumstance — sometimes victims of their own poor judgment or faulty management. As we have said before — periodic droughts and floods are here to stay: They are going to become worse and worse until this nation is brought to its knees and DESTROYED! There is only one hope that could change the outcome.
Only One Way of Escape
Learning better farming methods — applying sound principles of forest conservation — the building of many small dams — these and other practices need to be done, but they will NOT solve the problem. At most they can only forestall doom! Let's understand why. First, the world situation is such that the average man feels he must exploit his land in order to make a living. Taxes — both direct and hidden — are consuming one third of the entire earnings of the average American. No country can stand such a burden for long. Second, even if we should practice better methods of conservation, our neighbors will NOT do so. We often have to suffer with them for their mistakes. That is why drought will strike even the best farm lands. This generation will literally REAP THE WHIRLWIND. There is no stopping it. Humanity will not change its course. That leaves us only one solution. What we need is protection — DIVINE PROTECTION — in the times ahead. God has not deserted the world. He can intervene in nature. God is not only the Creator; He is also the Controller and Preserver of the universe. HE CONTROLS THE WEATHER. And He can intervene for you if . . . . . . if you do what He tells you. This is your only chance of deliverance. God nowhere promises you won't have afflictions, but He has promised to deliver you out of them. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Eternal delivereth him out of them all" (Psalm 34:19). Droughts and floods are not new. They have always plagued mankind. They are scheduled to become progressively worse until ONE THIRD OF OUR PEOPLE DIE OF FAMINE AND OF RESULTING DISEASES! — unless our nations repent. In the days of the early Church, when the world brought punishments upon itself for its sins, a drought struck the Mediterranean area and Palestine. God's people needed deliverance from the famine. They cried out to Him and He sent them relief (Acts 11:28-29). You may suffer from the sins of the world, but God will always deliver you if you remain faithful to Him. Submit to Him, trust Him, obey Him.
Why Droughts and Floods
Do you know why God is permitting these terrible afflictions to come upon our people? Turn to Amos 4:7-9: "And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city" — floods — "and caused it not to rain upon another city" — droughts — "one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: YET HAVE YE NOT RETURNED UNTO ME, saith the Lord." Drought, floods, famines are the result of man's having turned from the ways of God. Man is bringing these sufferings upon himself. We are about to reap one final catastrophe as a result of our DISOBEDIENCE. The only way of deliverance is through REPENTANCE — sorrow for having done wrong, and a determination to do what is right from now on.
The Right Way
God created the world. He owns it. God, then, is the Landlord; we are the renters. Maybe we have not thought of it in that way before, but it is true. And what have we done with His property? First, we have ruined it by overwork and exploitation. Wherever man has been he has finally turned a beautiful earth into a desolate wilderness or an arid desert. We have not learned to care for God's property. We have taken from the soil and given little to the soil in return. We have never allowed good farmland to rest — until it becomes too late to restore its fertility. What fools we mortals be! Second, we have not paid our rent to our Supreme Landlord. Yes, you owe God rent, whether you are a farmer, laborer, businessman or housewife. You are using His soil, dwelling on His land, spending His time for your own livelihood. For permitting you the use of everything He created on this earth, He demands only a fraction of the amount which human landlords demand. God gives you 90% of what you acquire, and He asks only 10% in return. That 10%, He calls a tithe. The word tithe means a tenth. Our people have been robbing God of His rightful rent. Says the Creator: "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:9-10). This is God's promise. God promises to bless any nation that trusts Him and faithfully obeys Him. Our nations have NOT done that, and for that reason we face a national catastrophe before 1975! God promises to bless the individual who pays the tithe. Don't think that God does not notice when you pay Him what is His. He is very conscious of it — especially because so few are honest enough to pay Him His tenth.
A Two-fold Reward
Tithing brings a two-fold reward. God will not only return you added blessings during times of prosperity — which you would not otherwise have received — but He also promises you DELIVERANCE during times of economic adversity, as we have read in Psalm 34:19. You may encounter trouble, but God has promised — and He cannot lie — to deliver you out of every drought, flood, tornado or famine. There is no other way of protection. If you value your life, if you value the lives of your family, if you value your property, you had better turn to God, repent of your sins and begin to pay God from now on, the tithes you owe Him. Your past mistakes God overlooks, if you repent. He will not send you any bill for your past failure to pay His tithe. But He will expect you to be faithful from now on. Only remember that if you do not square yourself with the Almighty Ruler of the universe, that He will collect from you all your past obligations by casting you out of your very own home. These are strong words, but they are true. God Almighty has spoken through His servants the prophets that He will punish our people for their sins. He will let our own lust cause such droughts, floods, pestilences and famines that we will be totally consumed and carried away captive to other nations as slaves within probably 8 or 10 years. These prophecies cannot be understood without the KEY to prophecy. You can have it, free, read Mr. Armstrong's booklet "The United States and Great Britain." It makes prophecy plain. None of the dozens of prophecies relating to these catastrophic occurrences, already commencing, have been understood because the nation has been unwilling to admit its national identity — that the English-speaking people ARE THE "LOST" TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL. These amazing prophecies all refer to Israel! Tithing is God's challenge! Are YOU going to practice what He commands you? It is your only protection from the coming disaster that faces our nation.
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