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hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind,
fu lfilling His word" (Ps. 148:8,
RAV). God intervenes in weather
to work out his purposes among
nations.
The P/ain Truth
has stood
out as one of the few voices pro–
claiming this fact!
Plagues of disastrous weather are
a warning to humanity. Weather
for the most part operates accord–
ing to natural laws. Damaging
weather patterns sometimes devel–
op. God simp1y may not choose to
intervene to stop them because of
nations' various sins and idolatry.
The Bib le reveals God also
directly intervenes to cause weather
plagues to warn certain nations. " 1
have smitten you with blasting and
mildew ... yet have ye not re–
turned unto me, saith the Lord"
(Amos 4:9). He, in his great pur–
pose, may also allow Satan-the
god of this world ( II Cor. 4:4)-to
have a role in producing calamitous
weather, for man's ultimate learn–
ing (see Job, chapter 1).
In the 1950s, as earlier, North
America was ravaged by severa!
years of severe drought. But people
as a whole didn't get the message.
Then between the late 1950s and
the early 1970s, North America and
REUGION
(Continued from page 11 )
other religions in far-flung parts of
the world suffering similar persecu–
t ions- foreshadowing a time yet
ahead of unprecedented horrendous
atrocities, including a prophesied
great martyrdom of true Chris–
tians, as
The Plain Truth
has
explained. Most recently, the
oppression of the Bahai community
in Iran would grab the attention
and sympathy of the world.
In the United States and many
ot her Western count r ies, you
would have read of a steady down–
trend in church and synagogue
membership (percentage of adults
who are members of a congrega–
t ion) during the past five decades.
Dwindl ing congregations would be
attributed to growing materialism
and the failure of institutionalized
religion to be "relevant" in the
modern world .
At the same time, you would
have witnessed a much-publicized
period of increasing strain between
20
many other areas of the world expe–
rienced unusually favorable weather.
The United States produced year
after year of record crops. Monsoons
arrived on schedule in India, West
Africa and China.
World population grew rapidly
during this period. Good weather
permitted the Green Revolution to
take off. Many became complacent.
But weathermen say this period of
unusually favorable weather was a
ftuke.
lt
should have been much
more variable.
Few understood that God in
recent years has granted many
nations added prosperity and time
for us to finish his work of pro–
claiming Christ's gospel of the
kingdom of God to the world.
That's the good news of Christ's
soon return to earth to establish the
government of God and put down
sinning nations.
As the work of God's warning
nears completion, the Bible reveals
great upsets in weather and
increasing natural disasters before
the end of man 's age of rule.
Meteorologists themselves predict
we are in for a period of more un–
stable and variable weather.
Human activities have a part in
Church and State in the United
States, fostering what many would
see asan erosion of religious liber ty
in America.
lslamic Revival
In contrast to declining church
memberships in the West, news
reports would have told you of an
opposite trend in the Moslem
world. Islam would become the
world's fastest-growing religion
(see chart). By the late 1970s, for
example, one of every two births in
tbe Soviet Union would be to
Islamic parents!
By the early 1980s, Islam would
be the religion of more than one fifth
of humanity, second only to Chris–
tianity.
lt
would be the dominant
belief in sorne 40 countries. The rise
of an lslamic fundamentalist move–
ment would be reported across the
Middle East-a reaction to Western
mores and values that contradict the
principies of the Koran. The biggest
triumph would be in lran, where a
revolution would install a Shiite
regime in 1979.
The P1ain Truth
has
causing changes in weather. In
recent decades, scientists have
begun to understand that industrial
air pollution, harmful agricultura!
practices and deforestation are
causing changes in local weather
patterns. Man's burgeoning indus–
trial activities and burning of coa!
and oi l are significantly increasing
carbon dioxide buildup in the
atmosphere, threatening to alter
wor1d weather patterns.
God allows mankind to reap the
consequences of these physical sins.
But many have yet to awaken to the
fact that God intervenes in the
weather to punish for
spiritua/
sins.
Centuries ago wise king Solomon
understood the relationship be–
tween transgression of God's spiri–
tual laws and bad weather. When
he dedicated the Temple of God,
Solomon prayed, "When the heav–
ens are shut up and there is no rain
because your people have
sinned
[emphasis ours] against you ..."
( ll
Chron. 6:26, NIV) .
Modern nations-even Christian–
professing nations-are gravely sin–
ning. We bave ignored God's laws.
God is now speaking to sinning
nations in prolonged upset weather
patterns.
o
been there and would have told you
the
true
story behind this volatile
region.
Most Significant Devel opment
But the most significant and far–
reaching of all developments in the
religious sphere during the past
half century would be the begin–
ning of the fulfillment of a major
prophecy of the Bible, found in
Matthew 24:14. That prophecy
declares:
"And this gospel [good news] of
tbe kingdom shall be preached in
all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end
come." This is not a gospel about
Jesus but Jesus ' own gospel of the
kingdom of God!
It
was 50 years ago this month
tbat this gospel began to be dissem–
inated by way of this magazine.
This worldwide endeavor is now
blanketing the globe, heralding the
fast-approaching crisis at the end of
this age-and the soon-coming
establishment of the millennial
kingdom of God on earth!
o
The PLAIN TRUTH