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nerable to fluctuations in the wor ld
economy. Inflation has hovered
around the 50 percent mark for
severa! years-giving lie to the the–
ory that no democracy can survive
consistent double digi t inflation.
Democracy is in no danger in Ice–
land .
lt
would be hard to imagine
anythi ng less like a police state.
The country maintains no armed
forces except a small coast guard.
Even the president's official resi–
dence seems to be unguarded.
The single greatest factor in l ce–
land's economic survival is the fish–
ing industry. The waters of the
North Atlantic abound (at least,
they used to) with a ll kinds of
fish--cod, hali but, herring, had–
dock, whiting, s tockfish, not to
mention shellfish. They are the key
to prosperity. Iceland's fis hermen
are among the world's most ski llful
and best equipped. Hundreds of
thousands of tons of fresh and ·fro–
zen fish are exported each year–
mainly to the United States and
Europe. There is also a thriving
dried fish trade with West Africa.
Nothing worries lcelanders more
than the fish catch failing.
lt
has
bee n said of the country,
" It
is a
rock in the ocean surrounded by
fish. Take them away and what do
you have?"
The closest l celand has come to
war in modern times was over fish–
ing rights. Concerned with dimin–
ishing catcbes, the normally amia–
ble nation unilateral ly extended its
coastal water zone (and tbus its
exclusive fishing rights) from 3 to
12, and then 50 a nd finally 200
mi les. This brought them into con–
Riel with the Bri tish fishing fleets
that regularly fi shed those waters.
In a series of grim but gentle–
manly ..cod wars" the Icelandic
coast guard took on the Royal Navy.
Sorne shots were fired, but in the end
the dispute was resolved in Iceland's
favor. Most people agree today that
it was only fai r. For while Britain
and other European nations have a
need to fish the waters of the North
Atlantic, for Iceland it is a matter of
national
survival.
And once again,
Iceland did survive.
What t h e Future Holds
The fiercely nationalistic and
pat riotic lcelanders tend to look
inwardly. They have a confidence
August 1982
in themselves and their abil ity to
overcome obstacles. Catastrophes
that might dismay other nations
leave Iceland al! the more deter–
mined to carry on. But if trade and
commerce were to be cut off- if
the climate should once again take
a turn for the worse, if earthquake
a nd volcani c activity were to
increase- and
if
the fish were to
die--could
Iceland still survive?
But surely suc h disasters are
unthinkable.
No. Unfortunately, it happens to
be a true picture of the future . Ice-
Iceland did not become
permanently settled
until the ninth century
when Viking explorers
probing the Atlantic in
longships settled here.
land, like the rest of the world,
s tands on the threshold of events
that will shake c ivilizat ion to its
foundations. No nation can expect
to escape unscathed.
Icelanders have chosen to be
more familiar with their own sagas
than the lessons of the Bible, even
though the Bible has been trans–
lated into the Icelandic language
since the 14th century. But if the
sagas are a key to Iceland's past,
the Bible holds the key to its
future.
For nearly 50 years,
The P/ain
Truth
has cried out a warning,
making clear the
true
meaning of
biblical prophecies that wi ll shor t–
ly be fulfilled. World-shattering
events will once again alter the
course of Iceland's history. Those
prophecies tell of earthquakes and
increased volcanic activity world–
wide, of great plagues once again
stalking the earth, accompanied
by famine.
It
tells of a time when
nation will rise agains t nation , and
world trade as we know it col–
lapses (Matt. 24:7). Iceland's his–
tory s hows just how vulnerable
their coun try is to such disas–
ters.
A nd this is only the beginning.
In the final catastrophes that will
mark the end o f this age, the
Bible tells of disasters of unprec–
edented proport ions that will rav–
age the earth's seas and oceans
(Rev. 8:9), culminating in mass
death of marine life (Rev. 16:3).
Yes- the fish
are
going to die.
It
is time for the people of lce–
land to take seriously these ancient
prophecies. And
every
reader can
learn more by asking for our free
booklet
Are We Living in the Last
Days?
If these pred icted catastro–
phes are imminent, then Iceland–
and the whole world-is in greater
peril today than at any other time
in her history. And this time, no
amount of courage, determination
and resourcefulness can s tave off
disaster.
" And except those days should
be shortened, there should no Aesh
be saved ..." (Matt. 24:22). Those
days will be shortened. Thank God
there is a God who will interven·e
and save the nations (including Ice–
land) and establish peace between
nations once more. The prophecies
of the Bible do not end in gloom,
doom and destruct ion, but foretell
the good news beyond the bad
news.
God will send Jesus Chr is t to
earth to rule, forcing the nations of
earth to work together in peace,
cooperation and harmony for l ,000
years.
Iceland will survive. Indeed , the
second thousand years of her his–
tory is destined to be more impres–
sive than the first.
o
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