Drought affecting Europe and western USA and food production
Friday, August 12th, 2022Europe and the western USA are experiencing major drought:
More than half of Europe affected by extreme drought
12 August 2022
About 60% of the EU and the UK has been affected by drought, according to the European Drought Observatory. https://www.dw.com/en/more-than-half-of-europe-affected-by-extreme-drought/av-62786604
The drought in Iowa is deepening and expanding, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed Thursday, browning lawns and burning up crops in parts of Iowa. … Half the state’s topsoil was considered short to very short of moisture, the USDA report showed. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2022/08/11/u-s-drought-monitor-shows-iowa-drought-growing-south-northwest/10303017002/
California Governor Gavin Newsom released a new plan designed to boost water supplies in the face of worsening droughts …
The Democratic governor said the new strategy will focus on capturing and storing more water runoff from big storms, recycling, desalination projects and conservation. The actions are needed in light of recent state projections indicating that water supplies could fall 10% by 2040 due to hotter, drier weather, he said. …
Farmers say his administration, despite a record high-budget surplus, is ignoring an industry in crisis as water access is cut off and hundreds of fields go unplanted. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-11/california-governor-speeds-up-drought-plan-stops-short-of-restrictions
Serious drought hitting Europe, wider world — updates
12 August 2022
Much of Europe and the Northern Hemisphere is battling either wildfires, low water levels, harvest warnings, water use restrictions or a mixture of all these. …
Around much of the Northern Hemisphere, from Hungary to Hawaii, from the drying Rhine River to the now-recovering Rio Grande, or from Casablanca to California, summer droughts and high temperatures are having a serious impact on everything from agriculture to the freight industry. …
The president of the German Farmers’ Association, Joachim Rukwied, warned on Friday that without imminent rain, this year’s harvests could be severely affected by the late-summer heat wave.
He added that the combined issues of inflation and the conflict in Ukraine were exacerbating the situation even for farmers in Western Europe, hundreds or thousands of kilometers from the front lines.
“At the moment we are fighting on many fronts,” Rukwied told German news agency dpa. “Fertilizer prices are four times higher than they were a year ago. Energy prices are twice as high. Feed prices have risen.”
Rukwied said that “if it does not rain thoroughly and soon, then we fear harvest yields could be reduced by as much as 30% or 40%.” …
The deputy governor of the Hungary’s central bank, Barnabas Virag, has warned that the lengthy period of drought, coupled with the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food supply, could push food prices higher in the coming months and exacerbate the existing inflationary pressures facing the country. …
Meanwhile, the British government said that parts of southern, central and eastern England had officially moved into drought status. …
Returning to Germany, one core focus of the drought is the Rhine River, which ultimately connects the Alps with the North Sea. Europe’s second-longest river after the Danube, it is also a core shipping lane for western Germany. It is still open to freight traffic for now, but already boats are unable to run fully laden. Germany’s Federal Institute of Hydrology warned on Thursday that without rain, one notorious shallow point on the river could become completely impassable next week. https://www.dw.com/en/serious-drought-hitting-europe-wider-world-updates/a-62786406
The drying up of the Rhine River will impact food transportation. Droughts impact food production. Russia’s “special military operation” into Ukraine is also affecting food production.
As most of you are well aware, the Bible warns of food shortages and pestilences. Nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus taught:
7…And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7-8)
We seem to be in the time Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows.”
The Bible also connects sin and drought. Scripture shows that water/rain/drought will become a problem for various disobedient peoples:
13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’ 16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you. (Deuteronomy 11:13-17)
10 “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace — and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar — 11 say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. 12 Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?'” 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it. 14 So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 13:10-14)
15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 “The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21 The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. (Deuteronomy 28:15-24)
6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it. (Isaiah 5:6)
1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts. 2 “Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. 3 Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads. 4 Because the ground is parched, For there was no rain in the land, The plowmen were ashamed; They covered their heads. 5 Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field, But left because there was no grass. 6 And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights; They sniffed at the wind like jackals; Their eyes failed because there was no grass.” 7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name’s sake; For our backslidings are many, We have sinned against You. (Jeremiah 14:1-7)
5 “A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord, “Against the inhabitants of Babylon, And against her princes and her wise men. 36 A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed. 37 A sword is against their horses, Against their chariots, And against all the mixed peoples who are in her midst; And they will become like women. A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed. 38 A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols. (Jeremiah 50:35-38)
4 We pay for the water we drink, And our wood comes at a price. 5 They pursue at our heels; We labor and have no rest. (Lamentations 5:4-5)
16 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread, 17 that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and waste away because of their iniquity. (Ezekiel 4:16-17)
7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. 11 For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:7-11)
10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. (Revelation 8:10-11)
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. (Revelation 16:8-9)
Droughts and weather problems, including floods and high heat, can contribute to food shortages, higher food prices, and sometimes famines.
Notice that God uses weather to warn people to turn to Him, but many ignore this:
17 I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the Lord. (Haggai 2:17)
21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. (Revelation 16:21)
The Bible shows:
30 God…commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30)
And weather-food problems are a way that God uses to urge people to repent (cf. Haggai 2:17).
Food shortages and food price inflation are associated with the ride of the third horseman of the Apocalypse:
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 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 barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)
The prophecy of the third horseman of the Apocalypse is starting to come to pass. Perhaps this third horseman’s ride began in the Fall of 2021 or the Spring of 2022.
That, Ukraine, Russia, and even droughts were mentioned in the following Bible News Prophecy video:
Did you know that the sanctioned lands of Russia and Belarus are dominant suppliers of ingredients used in modern fertilizers? Are you aware that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 33% of the farmland in Ukraine may not be planted and/or harvested because of Russia’s ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine? Are parts of the world like Sudan, Lebanon, and the USA experiencing food price inflation? What about impact on the Palestinians in Gaza? Could any of this help lead to the rise of the King of the South? What are some factors that look to increase rice prices? Did Jesus warn of wars and troubles? What are three foods that Ukraine exports that are associated with the shortages and food price inflation of the ride of the third horseman of the Apocalypse? What does Jesus say His followers should do? Dr. Thiel addresses these matters in this video.
Here is a link to the video: Russia, Ukraine, Food, & the ride of the 3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse.
UPDATE 08/15/22: We just uploaded the following new video:
Droughts and Prophecy
Much of the Northern Hemisphere has been experiencing drought. “About 60% of the EU and UK have been affected by drought, according to the European Drought Observatory.” Is this affecting the food supply in the USA? Is it affecting the food supply in Germany and other parts of Europe? What about the Rhine River? Is drought contributing to food price inflation? Does the Bible prophecy food shortages and food price increases? Do the Old or New Testaments deal with the subjects of drought or other weather matters? Does God use weather matters to encourage people to repent? Could the third seal of Revelation (the ride of the third horseman of the Apocalypse) have begun? Steve Dupuie asks Dr. Thiel about these matters which he addresses in this video.
Here is a link to our video: Droughts and Prophecy.
We should take extended droughts to heart.
Furthermore, weather changes show us that our own personal situations can change–quickly and unexpectedly.
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? What does the Bible teach about weather? What about floods, droughts, heat, earthquakes, tornadoes, and solar storms? Here is a related YouTube video Does God Use Weather? A related item in the Spanish language would be Bendiciones y maldiciones del clima.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? A related sermon is also available titled: Real Christian Repentance.
Just What Do You Mean — Repentance? Do you know what repentance is? Have you truly repented? Repented of what? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians. We all know the Bible prophecies famines. Should we do something? Here is a version in the Spanish language Escrituras sobre Preparación física para los Cristianos. Here is a link to a related sermon: Physical preparedness for Christians.
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Could the USA be gone by the end of 2028 or earlier? There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2022, 2023, or 2024? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.