But could such scenes ever be duplicated in the richest nations of the world, nations such as the United States, Great Britain, France or Australia? 

The average American would laugh at such a thought! Food stores bulge with produce, meats, dairy products and canned goods. Farms continue, with what appears to be an endless supply of produce. “How could such a thing happen here?” would be the disdainful reply. One only has to remember the name Katrina to know it can happen anywhere, anytime. 

These warnings have, for years, been the domain of ultra-right and kook-fringe groups, but they have moved uptown and even some of the most conservative financial counselors are sounding urgent advice to their clients on being prepared. 

I recently came across a copy of a special investment report that stated: “Putting some food aside should be at the top of that list [physical needs]. If the public knew how thin the inventory is for many staples, we would see frantic buying” (Global changes and Opportunities Report, Jim Powell, May 2008). 

            Based on the idea that the population of the world continues to climb, nervous financial gurus warn that there isn’t enough food and resources to go around. There are extreme shortages in foodstuffs, such as wheat, rice, fish and resources, such as oil and natural gas to support their production world-wide. Wise investors should take steps to secure their needs. 

            The Bible forecasts such world-shaking events as this happening. The book of Revelation ominously warns about one of the four horsemen: “So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barely for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine’” (Revelation 6:5-6). 

            What the Scripture does not explain is that a denarius relates to one day’s wages, and if calculated upon today’s scale, prices for our food will skyrocket to the point where all our efforts will be just to feed ourselves and our families. 

            A quick survey of the Internet market reports show that world grain supplies have dropped far below the world demand. Rice, corn, wheat, barley prices climb steadily. Shifting weather patterns cause crop-destroying drought and flood. Tragically, in the face of these natural disasters, increasingly large acreages of farmland are being used to produce crops for bio-fuel, not food, which is further exacerbating the situation.

            Tomorrow’s World, the gospel outreach of the Living Church of God, has been at the forefront of warning the nations of the cataclysm of world-ending events outlined in the pages of your Bible.  

            In his booklet, Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return, Roderick C. Meredith states: 

Those of us living in the advanced, developed world have thought these things would only occur in places like India, Bangladesh or Africa. How could famine happen to us? It is practically unthinkable to suggest that one dark day the supermarkets and restaurants would have to close due to lack of food! But famine, the pain of empty stomachs, will occur in the United States of America, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere among the English-speaking peoples of the world. Let us understand what God says and why (Page 6). 

            What is the answer to this impending disaster? Is it hoarding foods, stocking up on tons of MREs, guns, ammunition, one’s own gas storage facility or construction of a self-contained fortress?