Sermon Notes- Matthew 24:7-8 - Earthquakes and Famines - Littleby Baptist Church - March 27, 2022

 1.     Wars and rumors of wars.

a.      God will use Gog the leader of Magog to carry out His will.

b.     Russia, Iran, Ukraine, most of the former Soviet States, and other countries will invade Israel.

c.      We don’t know when it will happen, but we see signs of the likelihood building.

d.     Israel has been restored.

e.      They are regathering with 45% of the Jewish people living in Israel.

f.      They are on the path to living securely with trade relationships and the Abraham accords.

g.     They are becoming prosperous, with tremendous growth in the GDP and the find of oil and natural gas.

h.     Damascus is close to being destroyed.

i.       And I think we can see politics playing out in a way that Israel could stand alone with no one by their side.

2.     Not a lot of fun stuff, but we are told to not be alarmed.

a.      These events must happen.

b.     But our Hope is secure in our Jesus.

c.      We need to trust in that Hope.

d.     And let His peace guard our hearts and minds.

3.     Matthew 24:7-8

a.      Famine and earthquakes are part of the labor pains we have been talking about.

4.     Let’s start with earthquakes and natural disasters.

a.      I have listened to people talk about how waves are increasing in height.

b.     Storms, tornados, hurricanes, etc… are getting worse year by year.

c.      These things are hard to measure, and scripture does not give us a measuring stick to use.

d.     They may be getting worse, but probably in the realm of normal.

e.      Earthquakes are measured on the Richter scale and a study has been done on the number of quakes rated at 2.0 or more in the USA.

                                                    i.     In 2017 the count was 242.

                                                  ii.     In 2020 the count was 4X and 2021 was 5X.

                                                iii.     The number is increasing.

f.      The cause is explainable as they inject dirty water from oil drilling and production underground.

g.     Protects surface water but is contributing to the unstable ground/earthquakes.

h.     Is the increase in earthquakes a sign of the end of days? Could God be using our own behavior as part of the labor pains?

                                                    i.     Could be.

                                                  ii.     Unlike the things that must fall in place for Israel, re-established, gathered, prosperous, etc… God has not given us a guideline to use here.

                                                iii.     So, while the number of increases may be getting worse, there is no definitive answer here.

5.     Which brings us to famines.

a.      Revelation 6:5-6 – the third seal of the Tribulation.  

                                                    i.     A day’s wages for a day’s food.

b.     Today famine impacts 30-40M people around the world.

c.      Food scarcity, going to bed hungry, impacts that same number of people in the USA each day.

d.     One of the things the last two years have opened our eyes to, is that it does not take much for there to be a food shortage.

e.      A famine can happen here easier than many realize.

f.      The traditional causes of droughts and war are happening in other parts of the world.

                                                    i.     As the strain continues it will grow.

g.     Russia and Ukraine combined provide 30% of the world’s wheat exports, 17% of the world’s corn, and 50% of the sunflower oil.

h.     Ukraine, known as the breadbasket of the world, has stopped exporting wheat, grains, sugar, oats, and cattle.

                                                    i.     Their ports are being attacked by Russia.

i.       Russia exports are being blocked.

j.       With the war going on, other countries have stopped exporting food to ensure they have enough for their people.

k.     Russia invading Ukraine will have a significant impact on the cost and availability of food in the world.

6.     That is not the only thing in the world today that could contribute to a famine.

a.      Fertilizer costs are 3-4X more than they were a year ago.

                                                    i.     With limited fertilizer, crop yields will drop.

                                                  ii.     Amount of food available will be reduced and costs will increase.

b.     Read about some farmers switching from corn to soybeans, as it uses less fertilizer.

                                                    i.     A reduction or corn will affect a lot of our food as well as feed for many of the animals we eat.

                                                  ii.     Availability will decrease and costs will increase.

7.     If we look past the farms and look at logistics, the moving of the equipment, supplies, and food.

a.      Supply chain struggles with container costs 4-5X more than 2 years ago, with no forecast to return to previous costs.

                                                    i.     What food that does ship from overseas will cost more.

b.     Truck driver shortages is a big issue in the USA.

c.      There are 5 truckloads of product available for every truck driver.

                                                    i.     Flatbeds it 89 to 1.  

                                                  ii.     It is hard to move product overseas and around the country.

                                                iii.     Availability will be impacted, and costs will increase.

8.     How do famines start?

a.      Any of these issues can impact the food supply of a region or country and trigger a famine.

b.     When they stack on top of each other, they can impact the world.

c.      If you add in inflation and the weakening of the US Dollar.

9.     It does not take much of an imagination to see how a day’s wage for a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley could be possible.

10.  When we talked about wars and rumors of wars, we had a few things we could make a solid educated guess on if the box had been checked or not.

a.      This list is harder to measure.

b.     Are earthquakes getting worse and food scarcity increasing? Yes.

c.      Are these end times events, are we seeing a cycle of things, of will this pass in the coming months? Too soon to tell.

d.     The Bible does not give us a litmus test for earthquakes and famines.

e.      But when we look at it all together, we can see that things are moving in that direction.

f.      Events in the tribulation that felt like they could be a hundred years away, could happen in a matter of months or years.

g.     We don’t know how long it will take, but with how things are unfolding in this world we are getting close.

11.  John 6:35

a.      If our lives our His, we have a Glorious future ahead of us.

b.     This side of eternity will have its challenges.

c.      We will not go through the Tribulation; we will avoid the worst of it.

                                                    i.     But I firmly believe that we will see the build up to the Tribulation.

                                                  ii.     Things will get worse before the Lord calls us home.

12.  1 John 4:4

a.      God is on His throne!

b.     Jesus has paved the way to salvation!

c.      And the Holy Spirit is in us!

d.     Whatever life brings our way, however bad it gets, we get to rely on God.

e.      He will not leave us or forsake us.

f.      Keep your faith in Jesus and watch how He works in your life!