Genesis 41:30
And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
According to the International Monetary Fund, over the past 12 months, global food prices have increased on average by more than 40%. Most experts believe that there is no single driver behind this unprecedented rise in the cost of food, but rather that numerous factors threaten the food security and well being of millions of people, particularly the poorest of the poor in the developing world.
Are these a sign of an upcoming world wild famine? Can a famine happen today?
Famine does still exist. Reading the headlines each month you will find stories like these:
Unicef: Six million children in Ethiopia are at risk of acute malnutrition following the failure of rains. (BBC)
North Koreans are dying because of food shortages in rural areas, and a massive famine is just a matter of time. (CNN)
Pakistan: People across South Asia are struggling to cope with a severe shortage of affordable wheat and rice. (BBC)
It’s pretty safe to say that none of us have lived through a real famine. From stories of famines of the past, we never want to see one. In a real famine, there is no food to be had or the little food there is, costs more money than most people have. Everyone needs food to live. In a famine, people give up everything to get food including land, house and jewelry and after that is gone they turn to crime. Families are divided in search of work to buy food at very high prices or go to live in streets and beg for it. Children are even sold for food. John MacArther in his book “The Tale of Two Sons” tells of a famine in the 1800’s
The writer tells of children being sold into slavery to keep them from starving. He speaks of men found dead every morning on the streets. And when the numbers increased, the ruler of the city declared every man responsible for throwing the dead bodies in front of his house into the river. And not wanting to have all the dead bodies in front of their house, inhabitants of the city would drag the dead in front of other people's houses. Every morning quarrels would ring out across the city as men fought over where the dead bodies really died. Small merchants had to keep hippopotamus hide whips nearby to drive off the maddened beggars who would attack them bodily and ravish the little they had in their shops. Small merchants with their wares on the street would throw themselves across their wares as the miserable wretches came by to steal something to eat. Men venturing out at night unarmed were attacked and eaten. Straying animals were killed and eaten raw. Shoe leather, rotten flesh and garbage were all devoured. They ate palm trees. Families in the village seeing death on them bricked up the doors of their houses and awaited death in a room to keep their own bodies from being devoured by hyenas. Entire villages were wiped out in this manner. This is a famine.
But this type of thing is past us. Right? Man has built such a high-level global market system that we will never see famines like this again. Right?
Some have fooled themselves into thinking we live in a blessed land because of something we the people have done. It’s as if they think God will always send the rains needed to grow the corn we need to eat. Just why should God do this? This once great nation that was founded on the Bible, now laughs at the laws of God. Should God bless us anyway?
Just a few years ago, we as a nation saw how helpless we humans are when God sent a great storm that hit our nation hard. Was the storm Katrina God’s judgment on our land? I’m not sure it matters if it was God’s judgment or not. My point is, God did send Hurricane Katrina in all the power we beheld, and for a few months even the Godless person knew he was not in control. Man was helpless in his efforts to place control on the waters. The greatest nation on this earth could not stop it. All the structures of man, built to withstand high winds and water, God laughed at, as He blowed them down as nothing but works of folly. Sadly the nation soon forgot the power of God found in just a storm.
Can something like this not happen to our breadbasket in the Midwest? With fuel prices so high, food prices have gone up as high as 140% in the last year, a long draught or too much rain to the Midwest would only make things worse. Not only would it hurt our food supply even more, but also little food would be left to send to others.
Can this happen?
Deuteronomy 11:17
And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
Back in May of this year WV Standard reporter Carolyn Harmon wrote a story entitled “The End of the Honeybee is the End of the Human.” In the story Harmon quoted Allen Leadmon of Hurricane WV as saying, "Once the honeybees go, humans will go. They pollinate everything."
Honeybees are very important to our food supply. Without honeybees, we would not have a garden and most grains would no longer grow. Our whole food supply would change.
Voice of America (voanews.com) reported in an article “Disappearance of Honey Bees a Mystery”..
What has happened to America's honeybees?
Last fall, beekeepers from states with warm climates began to report a sudden loss of honeybees. Losses were reported in twenty-four states and into Canada. Today, some beekeepers say thirty percent to ninety percent of their honeybees are gone. Food prices could go up as a result.
The mysterious loss of honeybees nationwide has the attention of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for that reason. Although research has not yet identified why the bees are disappearing, many experts believe the changes are being caused by a combination of disease, stress on the bees and pesticides. To get an idea how bad this could be, let’s look at some numbers.
U.S. beekeepers produce approximately $200 million in honey annually. By comparison honeybees as pollinators are valued at $34,159,938,000 according to South East Farm Press.
Honeybees can die during the winter. But few dead bees have been found. Instead, the bees seem to have disappeared. Experts call the condition "colony collapse disorder."
Has man faced another thing he cannot control? Are we not forced to admit that we need honeybees as pollinators, but being sure they are here for that reason is out of our hands? So, where have the honeybees gone? Is this loss of bees a judgment of God on our nation?
Again, I do not know if it’s a judgment or not. But this should show us that there are many things we do not control. Blessings we find in this land can end at any moment.
Jonathan Edwards, a colonial American Congregational preacher of the 1700s, is well known for a sermon called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” In it Edwards repeatedly ask his listeners if they could give any reason for God not to send them to hell that very moment. Is there any reason for God not to send a famine on our land?
For what reason should God not take all the bees away?
For what reason should God not stop the rains for three years?
Give me one reason God should not send another Katrina or two or three Katrinas at once.
In this day when God is nothing more than a curse word in anger to most men, would this give God a reason to let our food supply grow or stop? When states in this nation pass laws that God says are an abomination to Him, why should He bless us as He has in the past?
Just what can we do as a nation, to assure we never see a famine hit our land? Often times the weatherman can get the weather report right. But name me a weatherman that can change the weather. There is none.
Folks, we are not in control as much as we like to kid ourselves. God could send a great famine on us and be just in doing so. Why not send one, when our nation has turned it’s back on Him? We need to pray that this nation will turn back to Him.
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
As Edwards claimed years ago, “It’s a terrible thing to fall into the Hands of an angry God.”
God’s judgment is coming, for He says He will judge the whole earth. Those that laugh at God, will laugh no more.