FULFILLED PROPHECY : THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS - 13
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
God's Vessels Of Wrath, Man's Wisdom Is No Match For God,
Evil Heart Of Man, Black Horse Of The Apocalypse, Hurricanes
Typhoons, Tropical Cyclones, Worldwide Floods & Tidal Waves
Before concluding this section of our series on famines,
allow me to share a few more important pieces of information
with you. While we have seen that the Lord often judges and
punishes peoples and nations by withholding the rain, or by
using other natural forces to bring about His Will, we must
realize that God can also use man's own sins of greed and
lust as a scourge against the nations. Such is the case with
wars, as I discuss in such articles as 'The Children Of God
And Politics', 'The Holocaust: Did God Make A Mistake?',
'The Fruits Of Disobedience', and 'The Seven Heads'. These
military leaders, as pagan as they are, are sometimes God's
vessels of wrath, as in the case of Pharaoh of Egypt, the
kings of Assyria, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Roman
emperors, etc. Let me mention again that famine is often a
by-product of war as the previous Biblical examples and news
reports clearly reveal.
Earlier, I rhetorically asked how famines can continue to
occur in our modern day, in light of man's science, and his
advanced technology. As with certain incurable diseases, we
have now seen that man's wisdom is simply no match for the
Almighty God. If He wishes to judge a nation or people, He
will do it, no matter how much man may try to prevent such
things from happening; even if man tries to 'play God' by
seeding the clouds so that they will send un natural rain,
or by inventing his drugs which will combat the myriad of
viruses and bacteria which attack the human system. In fact,
as Paul tells us, man's wisdom is simply foolishness in
God's sight:
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For
it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."
1 Corinthians 3:19, KJV
But allow me to expand slightly on my answer. In the Gospel
of Matthew, the Lord made a rather interesting statement.
Consider the following verse:
"For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not
always." Matthew 26:11, KJV
Why would the Lord say that we always have the poor with us?
In my view, it is because He knows the evil heart of man; or
as the Apostle John wrote, He knows what is in man:
"And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew
what was in man." John 2:25, KJV
In other words, Jesus knows that the evil heart of man never
changes, and that some of the things which caused poverty
and famine thousands of years ago, still exist today. This
of course includes war and the fruits of war. Jesus and the
Prophet Jeremiah both expose man's basic evil and sinful
nature in the following verses:
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9, KJV
"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth
from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are
the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen
hands defileth not a man." Matthew 15:18-20, KJV
What we have seen thus far is that famines can be the result
of droughts induced by the Lord Himself, or they can be the
by-product of war, which also leads to other things such as
poverty, homelessness, destroyed economies, etc. However, I
believe that there is another catalyst which contributes to
famine and poverty; and that is the questionable politics,
and the unfair business and international trade practices,
such as unjustified trade sanctions, which are conducted by
certain corrupt governments of the world, in order to subdue
their economic enemies, and bring them under subjection and
bondage through financial manipulation; even if such evil
practices result in inducing poverty and famine in a certain
country. I am not alone in this view. In a 1998 news report,
the Cable News Network released the following information:
----- Begin Quote -----
Exploring The Roots Of Famine
(CNN) -- A famine, by definition, is a widespread lack of
food that results in misery and death. But Indian economist
Amartya Sen makes the argument that misguided politics, not
lack of food, is what makes that misery and death possible
in the first place.
It is a hypothesis that springs not only from his academic
research but also from his own experience. He was just 9
years old when he witnessed the devastating 1943 famine in
Bengal, India, that killed more than 3 million poor people
in the middle of an economic boom.
----- End Of Quote -----
How much this sounds just like the great famine which struck
China during Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward as we discussed
before. The granaries were full, yet millions of people died
from starvation. Truly the apocalyptic Black Horse of social
and economic injustice, famine and poverty is indeed riding
strong in these Last Days. Consider again the words of the
Prophet John regarding this Endtime horse and its rider:
"And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third
beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse;
and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A
measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine."
Revelation 6:5-6, KJV
Thus, whether it be by the Direct Hand of God, or through
man's own evilness to man, God's Will is being performed,
until the time when He will rid the Earth of all evil and
corrupt men. Let me again encourage you to read Psalm
thirty-seven. Please also consider the ending of this verse:
"And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the
time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou
shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to
the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great;
and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."
Revelation 11:18, KJV
While we have now seen how God can chastise a nation or
people for its sins by withholding the rain, thus inducing
crop failure and famine, a preview of some of the world's
news headlines will also quickly reveal that the Lord can
accomplish the same purpose by allowing too much rain, and
too much wind. Such is the case with hurricanes, typhoons,
tropical cyclones, floods and tidal waves. For the sake of
clarification, hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cylcones
all refer to the same meteorological phenomenon. They are
simply called by different names in different areas of the
world. Concerning these monstrous storms which leave death
and destruction in their paths, consider the following
sample reports which have appeared in the world mass media
during the past few years:
----- Begin Quotes -----
Epidemic Threat Looms 11 Days After India Cyclone
CNN -- Masked rescue workers were struggling to clear mounds
of bloated corpses 11 days after a fierce cyclone in India,
and the Red Cross estimated Tuesday that 10,000 people had
died -- far more than Indian authorities were reporting. A
Red Cross disaster expert said the official death figure of
3,426 seemed inaccurate because thousands of bodies were
cremated or buried by relatives or neighbors before official
help arrived.
. . .
Indian Army Helicopters Drop Aid To Desperate And Angry
Cyclone Victims
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Army helicopters on Tuesday
dropped relief supplies to victims of one the most powerful
cyclones ever to strike India, but the effort was not nearly
enough to reach millions of residents demanding clean water
and food.
"This is the worst flooding in 100 years, I would say it's
the worst in India's history," said Asim Kumar Vaisshnav,
chief adminstrator of Baleshwar, the capital of Orrissa.
Thousands of people are feared dead from the cyclone, which
slammed into the northeastern coast on Friday with winds up
to 260 km/h (160 mph) and waves 10 meters high. Entire
villages along the Bay of Bengal were reportedly washed
away.
Communications were severed to most of the state and the
hardest-hit areas remained inaccessible Tuesday. One witness
who managed to get out told CNN correspondent Jane Arraf
that he saw more than 100 bodies drift by as he drove
through washed-out roads.
Others reported seeing human bodies and animal carcasses
hung in trees after the floodwaters receded.
Helicopters dropped packets of protein-rich food and fresh
water to survivors on Tuesday, but were only able to reach
thousands of the estimated 2 million people affected along
the 90-mile stretch of coast.
. . .
Author Recounts 'The Deadliest Hurricane In History'
The 1999 hurricane season may have gotten off to a slow
start, but with three tropical storms now lurking in the
Atlantic and Hurricane Bret fresh in the minds of Texans,
weather is the hot topic as summer turns into fall. In his
new book, "Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest
Hurricane in History," Erik Larson uses interviews,
telegrams and other sources to walk his readers through the
events of September 8, 1900: the day 8,000 people died in a
hurricane in Galveston, Texas.
. . .
As Death Toll Rises, Mitch Ranked Among Deadliest of
Atlantic Hurricanes
Disaster Relief -- More than 200 years ago, a massive
hurricane raged through the Caribbean, killing an estimated
22,000 people. Although the death toll from Hurricane Mitch
won't reach those numbers, forecasters and historians
already are calling it the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in
200 years.
At least 11,000 people reportedly were killed during Mitch's
week-long assault on Central America, including more than
6,000 in Honduras and 4,000 in neighboring Nicaragua.
On Thursday, Honduran officials lowered their estimate of
the number of people missing from 11,000 to 4,621. The
confirmed death toll was put at 4,621. In Nicaragua, the
number of dead was raised from 2,400 to 4,000. The number of
people said to be homeless in the region also was lowered
from one million to 569,000.
Regardless of the corrections, most officials believe that
the final death toll easily will rank Mitch among the
deadliest hurricanes ever to strike the Caribbean. Hurricane
Fifi, which struck Honduras in 1974, was blamed for
approximately 10,000 deaths. But then, as now, an accurate
accounting of the carnage was difficult to establish. At the
turn of the century, a hurricane slammed into Galveston,
Texas, killing at least 8,000 people (the naming of
hurricanes is a relatively recent phenomenon).
. . .
Death Toll From Storm Babs Rises to 192
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - The recovery of more bodies in the
Philippines raised the death toll from tropical storm Babs
to 192, officials said today, but the storm lost much of its
punch while moving along the southern coast of China.
In Manila, an official at the Philippine Office of Civil
Defense said emergency crews have recovered 189 bodies and
that 53 people were listed as missing. Previously, the
official death count stood at 156.
. . .
Death Toll from Typhoon Winnie Could Be Much Higher
The death toll in China from typhoon Winnie may be much
higher than originally indicated.
The South China Morning Post is reporting that as many as
240 people may have been killed in the storm that tore
through China's eastern Zhejiang province earlier this week.
Reuters news service is reporting that 140 people died in
the storm.
A Zhejiang province foreign affairs official said that
figures were still being collected.
. . .
Storm Hits India, State Executive Says Death Toll May Reach
2,000
HYDERABAD, India (AP) - Flooding rice paddies and villages,
ripping power poles from the ground, a fierce cyclone roared
through India's southeast coast. The state's top official
said Thursday the death toll could reach 2,000.
At least 670 residents were killed, another 1,500 people are
missing and 10,000 homes were destroyed, Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu said after an aerial survey of Andhra
Pradesh state.
It was the second major storm in three weeks, coming before
the battered region had time to recover from widespread
storms and flooding that killed 350 people.
State Chief Secretary M.S. Rajaji said at least 250 villages
were under water Thursday and many communities on the Bay of
Bengal were inundated by 12-foot-high waves. Hundreds of
thousands of acres of rice crops were destroyed.
. . .
Hard-Hit Dominican Republic Welcomes Relief As Death, Damage
Toll Rises
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Sept. 25, 1998 -- As the
death toll on this hurricane-ravaged island continued to
climb Friday, the first international relief efforts arrived
here with promises of more support on the way.
The Dominican government, which was caught largely
unprepared Tuesday for the force of Hurricane Georges,
listed 125 dead and at least 90 missing, but news reports
from hard-hit rural communities put the number of possible
missing in the thousands.
The front page of one daily newspaper bore the stark
headline: "Mesopotamia No Longer Exists," referring to a
city in the western part of this country of 8 million people
that was overwhelmed by torrential floodwaters. About 9,000
people were evacuated from the area, but U.S. Embassy
spokesman Franklin Polanco said "nobody knows how many are
in the mud."
In the town of Cambita, about 30 miles west of the capital,
about 40 people were reported missing when floods swept away
the shelter in which they were seeking refuge.
. . .
Typhoon Bart Kills 22 In Japan
Typhoon Bart battered Japan on Friday, killing nearly two
dozen people and injuring more than 300 as it clawed its way
up the Japanese coast. Japanese authorities blamed the storm
for 22 deaths and 333 injuries Friday as it hit southern
Japan with winds of 144 km/h (90 mph). Gusts of up to 238
km/h (150 mph) were recorded early on Friday.
. . .
Australia's Worst Cyclone Fizzles
PERTH, Australia (AP) -- The most powerful cyclone ever
recorded in Australia lost power Thursday, but not before it
wreaked havoc on a town along the country's remote northwest
coast.
Residents of Whim Creek were picking over the damage caused
when Cyclone John crashed into their town Wednesday, packing
sustained winds of 130 mph and gusts of up to 180 mph.
Forecasters said it was the strongest cyclone to hit the
country since they began keeping records. Cyclone is the
term used for hurricanes in Australia.
----- End Of Quotes -----
As the following news reports reveal, in recent years, the
world has also experienced a number of devastating floods
which have taken the lives of thousands of people, and left
millions more either missing or homeless. Sometimes these
floods result from severe storms, from heavy monsoon rains,
from hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones, or from the
Springtime thaw. Regardless of the physical cause of their
origin, as with the other Endtime signs we have discussed,
as Christians, we must learn to view these things as being
ordained by the Hand of God, in order to fulfill His Divine
Purposes, whatever they might be. To do otherwise, is to say
that God is not All-Powerful, and that He is not in control
of His Creation. Having said that, consider these reports:
----- Begin Quotes -----
Survivors Gather As Venezuelan Flood Toll Soars
CNN -- Workers dug 1,500 graves in a Caracas cemetery for
victims of mudslides along the Caribbean coast as the
estimated death toll in Venezuela's worst natural disaster
in 100 years reached more than 5,000 on Monday.
. . .
200 Dead, Thousands Missing In Venezuela Floods
Venezuelan officials say tens of thousands of people are
dead, missing or homeless from days of torrential rain,
floods and mudslides. "There are approximately 150,000
people homeless, 7,000 persons are missing and about 200
dead," said Foreign Minister Jose Rangel, quoting figures
for Caracas and seven other states, including the tourist
island of Margarita. Rangel said he expected the casualty
count in northern Venezuela to rise significantly.
. . .
Venezuela Floods Declared Worst In Decades
CNN -- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez is calling this
week's torrential rains and deadly flooding the worst
disaster his nation has seen in half a century. In Caracas,
the city's mayor said more than 100 people had died since
Wednesday in the capital alone. At least 40 people were
reported dead in the coastal state of Vargas, and tens of
thousands were left homeless after 10 days of unyielding
rain and massive flash floods Wednesday and Thursday.
Authorities declared nine northern states and Caracas
disaster areas.
. . .
Vietnam Flood Toll Tops 500, Weather Aids Relief Efforts
HANOI, Vietnam (Reuters) -- Helicopters and trucks filled
with emergency supplies began pushing further into
devastated parts of central Vietnam on Monday as the death
toll from the region's worst floods in a century hit 527.
Official media on Monday said water levels were falling but
that large numbers of people were still hungry and in danger
of getting sick following one week of floods across eight
provinces that stretch for some 600 kilometers (375 miles)
. . .
Floods Maroon Hundreds, Death Toll Hits 2,000 In Southern
Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Heavy rain pounded Ethiopia again
Saturday, feeding the overflowing rivers that have killed
some 2,000 people and are threatening to create an inland
sea in southern Somalia.
A month of flooding has inundated large areas of southern
Somalia between the Ethiopian border and the Indian Ocean.
High water has wiped out the freshly harvested staple crop
of sorghum and left hundreds of thousands homeless and
hungry.
The death toll is rising so fast that aid agencies can only
guess at the carnage.
David Neff, CARE's director for Somalia, said any estimate
below 2,000 dead "has got to be conservative."
He said the Juba River, which originates in Ethiopia and
runs south to the Somali port of Kismayo, is now eight miles
wide at some points. "Normally, this is what we would call a
creek in the American Midwest," Neff said.
. . .
Death Toll From China Floods Tops 2,000 -- 240 Million
Affected
The official death toll from the massive floods that have
plagued China this summer climbed past 2,000 on Thursday,
and authorities have warned that the worst may be yet to
come.
About one-fifth of China's population -- 240 million people
-- are said to be affected by the floods, which are the
result of unusually heavy rains that arrived earlier than
expected this spring. Most of the deaths have been blamed on
landslides and mudflows caused by torrential rains that have
fallen since early June.
The Yangtze -- the world's third largest river -- has kept
the pressure on, with water levels along many stretches at
their highest levels since 1954, when floods killed 30,000
people. A fourth major flood crest has been working its way
down the river, and officials are concerned that waterlogged
levees will begin to fail under the constant stress.
Flooding has been complicated by the arrival of tropical
storm Otto which, although downgraded earlier in the week
from typhoon status, still reached mainland China with
strong winds and heavy rains.
Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Fan Baojun said nearly 14
million people have been forced to abandon their homes, and
that nearly six million homes have been destroyed by the
flood waters. Additionally, he said 53.2 million acres of
farmland have been inundated and 11.8 million acres of crops
destroyed.
. . .
Survivors Dig Desperately For Mexico Mudslide Victims
Digging into mounds of mud with buckets, shovels and their
bare hands, soldiers and survivors hoped to find survivors
of southeastern Mexico's deadly mudslides early Saturday.
President Ernesto Zedillo called the disaster "the tragedy
of the decade." At least 293 people were confirmed dead but
the number "is rising by the hour," Zedillo said on a visit
to this Puebla city of 180,000 people, 110 miles (175
kilometers) east of Mexico City.
. . .
Death Toll Rises From Torrential Rains In Mexico
Rescue teams are intensifying their efforts in central and
southern Mexico, where floods and mudslides brought on by
over a week of rain have killed at least 218 people. The
downpour caused flooding in nine states across the country.
Although the rain has subsided, government officials say the
death toll is certain to rise as more reports come in from
areas that are still cut off.
. . .
Floyd Leaves 35 Dead As Flooding Continues
North Carolina struggled with the worst flooding in its
history early Saturday as the death toll from Hurricane
Floyd's march up the East Coast rose to 35. Military air
rescue teams and squadrons of civilian boaters plucked
people out of their homes and off the roofs of buildings.
Authorities recovered seven more bodies from submerged cars
in the state Friday, and braced for more flooding
destruction on Saturday, when the Tar and Neuse Rivers were
expected to crest.
. . .
Texas Flood Victims Recover From Latest Weather Nightmare
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) -- The floods and storms that
killed 29 people and left almost $500 million in property
damage in Texas this week were the latest in a series of
recurring weather nightmares in the state.
Last summer, weeks of triple-digit heat killed at least 131
people and a punishing drought destroyed about $2.1 billion
in crops and livestock. Nine people died in flooding in Del
Rio and the nearby Hill Country in August, and hundreds of
homes were destroyed. Tropical Storm Frances flooded
southeast Texas coastal areas in September, causing $300
million in damage.
"It's very coincidental, which is why it's a 100-year event,
Rydell said. "To get everything to happen all at the same
time is very unusual."
Up to 20 inches of rain fell on some areas around San
Antonio beginning Saturday, October 17. The downpours were
especially dangerous because they came after Texas suffered
through a punishing drought that baked the state for weeks
in triple- digit temperatures.
"Nature is devastating. It was only three months ago that we
were praying for rain, and now in Texas we've got too much
rain," said Gov. George Bush. "It happened so quickly and so
suddenly."
Cuero, a town of 7,000 people 80 miles southeast of San
Antonio, was among the areas hardest hit by the floods.
So many people in Cuero have mentioned the increase in
poisonous snakes after the floods that state emergency
services coordinator Tom Millwee called for snake handlers
to come to the area.
----- End Of Quotes -----
Another way in which the Lord sometimes lets His wrath be
felt in this sinful world, is through a sometimes deadly
phenomenon referred to as 'tsunami', or tidal waves. These
massive walls of water are sometimes generated by undersea
seismic activity, that is, by earthquakes, while at other
times, they are the result of gale force winds created by
hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones, pushing on the
surface waters of the world's oceans. By the time these
towering walls of destruction reach the coastline, they can
contain the force of a moving locamotive, and the collision
of water with land can be devastating, as we see by this
report concerning the tidal wave which struck Papua New
Guinea in July of 1998 following an earthquake:
----- Begin Quote -----
Death Toll From Papua New Guinea Tidal Wave Climbs To 600
Radio Australia -- Disaster relief officials in Papua New
Guinea say the tidal wave that hit the north-west coast on
Friday night killed about 600 people and the figure could
rise to a-thousand.
Rescuers are still retrieving bodies from a lagoon at the
scene of the disaster.
Sean Dorney reports from the Wahiu Catholic Health Centre at
Aitape where hundreds of people are being treated for
injuries suffered when the tidal wave smashed their houses.
The doctor in charge of the Wahiu Health Centre, Dutch
Doctor Menno Swiyar says they're doing war surgery. People
with smashed up bodies are being delivered to them by the
hour and some are having to be treated on the floor. Brother
Gary Hill who's been a Health Extension Officer in Papua New
Guinea for 38 years told me of how yesterday he was pulling
dead bodies from the lagoon behind what was once Arop
Village when he heard some splashing. He found a woman alive
but with a badly broken leg. She had spent the night trying
to keep her head above the water surrounded by five dead
bodies. She's been taken to the Provincial Hospital at
Vonomo for emergency treatment. Sean Dorney Aitape.
----- End Of Quote -----
As we conclude this series in part fourteen, we will turn
our attention to yet another weather phenomenon quite common
in the United States of America; that is, tornadoes. Also to
be discussed will be science and medicine's losing battle,
medical errors, false peace treaties and the inevitability
of war, America's growing vulnerability, Y2K and the threat
of cyber-terrorism, our God of love and God of wrath, the
Lord's forewarning to His children, trust and obedience in
place of fear, the Lord's final shake-up of the Earth, the
Children of Disobedience, the price of sharing our knowledge
with others, Christian persecution, and keeping our eyes on
Jesus. I trust that you will join me.
[ Click Me ] Go To Part Fourteen . . .