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What's
Ahead?
I
T IS
t ime- beginning with
a new year-that t he
readers of
T he P lain
Truth
focus attention on the
major t rends now br inging
this world's soc iety to a
catastrophic climax-just be–
fore the ushering in of the
peaceful world tomorrow.
Today's conditions were dra–
matically foretold by J esus
Christ in his famous O livet
prophecy. Asked what would be
the sign of his coming and of
the end of the age, the coming
King of kings announced, in
part:
"For nation will rise against na–
tion, and kingdom against king–
dom." He also said, "And there
will be famines, pestilénces, and
earthquakes in various places."
Foreseeing today's growing social
evils, he said in Matthew
24:12,
" ... because lawlessness will
abound, the !ove of many will grow
cold" (Revised Authorized Yersion
throughout).
Let's look at these conditions.
Three Major Problems
Warfare.
Around the globe, na-
tions and confl icting forces within
nat ions are locked in deadly strug–
gles for power. More than 140 serí–
ous armed conflicts have occurred
since 1945. Many of these have
t heir origins in the intractable
East-West ideological clash.
Communal strife further threat–
ens to rip asunder key multiethnic
countries such as South Africa, Sri
Lanka and India. The continent of
Africa, said one observer, is "near
a state of decomposition ."
Religious conflicts, the anathe–
mas of ages past, are rearing their
ugly forms once again. Militant Is–
lam is again a force to be reckoned
with. Marxist persecution of reli–
gious bodies is growing in Ethiopia.
And in Israel a surging militant
extremism is steadily gaining
strength, battling for the soul of
Israel. Even in Europe, Moscow's
grip on its satellite nations is
threatened by renewed religious
fervor.
As in the days of Noah (Gen.
6:5),
evi l acts and víolence fill the
ear th- another sign that the great–
est prophet of all, Jesus Christ,
said would characterize the end
time (Matt.
24:37-38). It
was
then-and again is- a time, para–
doxically combining appalling
world evi ls with "eating and d r ink–
ing, marrying and giving in mar–
riage" (marriage and divorce)-the
"good life," as sorne would cal! it.
Famines.
Deaths from malnutri–
tion and hunger on a wide scale,
J esus warned, also would charac–
terize the end of this civilization.
Famines as a result of droughts and
downturns in the weather cycle
have afflicted mankind periodically
throughout history, but appalling
conditions prevailing in Africa il–
lustrate that there are
politica/
reasons
for famínes, as well as for
the farm price collapse in prosper–
ous North America.
Before independence, the African
continent was a net food exporter;
now it is dangerously dependent
upon food imports from a handful of
as-yet abundant producers.
Land abuse, deforestation, gov–
ernmental neglect of agriculture in
favor of the urban masses (who are
easier to control politically), mis–
managed collectivized farming,
and, of course, civil unrest have
brought millions of Africans to the
brink of starvation.
Emergency aid from the devel–
oped world amounts to a mere pit–
tance of what is needed- and does
nothing to change the structural
causes of famine. There is "no
hope for Africa," confesses one
African diplomat, unless these root
causes are tackled.
P estilences.
Extreme famines
naturally lead to pestilences. But
there can be other causes for dis–
ease plagues as well. One cause is
"lawlessness" or "wickedness"–
out-of-favor biblical terms that de–
scribe wholesale disobedience to
the law of God.
The tireless efforts of the scien–
tific community have eliminated or
greatly curbed sorne plagues of the
past, such as smallpox. But new
plagues are exploding in many de–
veloped countries: specifically a
whole host of sexually transmitted
diseases.
The most deadly of these is
AIDS, or Acquired Immune Defi–
ciency Syndrome. Present attitudes
toward this dangerous, almost in–
evitably fatal syndrome will guar–
antee its further spread.
In the United States, for exam–
ple, the number of AIDS cases
doubles every ten months. Of those
who have acquired it, half have
already died. T he reservoir of those
possessing the virus, but not yet
showing symptoms, may be as high
as one million. These people are
capable of infecting others.
H omosexual males compr ise the
largest segment of AIDS victims
a nd carriers, intravenous drug
users a distant second . Exerting po–
litical pressure, "gay rights" orga–
nizations warn that efforts to cur–
tail this end-time plague must not
come at tbe expense of their "civil
rights." T he age-old tool of quaran–
tine should not be used, the public
is told, lest victims be treated as
"lepers."
Sorne unmuzzled experts are
gravely concerned over public
health and the need to give priority
to the "common good." Warns one:
"AIDS is not abou t civi l rights,
política! power, or 'al ternative life
sty les.' I t's a disease. A true
plague. Further, this disease ís only
(Continued on page 42)