Chapter Eighteen - Earthquakes in the Lord's Day

Conclusion of Tremors in Society

World War II brought another wave of upheavals.   And smaller wars continue to shake the earth as we approach the end of this century. But will the present system  make it that far? The fearful threat of a nuclear holocaust has many people wondering. Happily, the answer rests not with man (thank God) but with his Creator. -Jeremiah 17:5.  

Other things besides wars, though, have shaken human society to its foundations since 1914.  One of the most traumatic upheavals was triggered by the U.S. stock-market crash 1929 an economically sick  world has been patched up by makeshift schemes. Governments indulge in deficit financing.  The oil crisis of 1973 and the stock-market plunge of 1987 added to the shakings of the financial empire. Meantime, millions of people buy largely on credit. Countless number are victimized by financial gimmicks, pyramid scheme, and lotteries and other gambling subterfuges, many of which are sponsored by governments that should be protecting the people.  Even Christendom's television evangelists  stretch their hands out for their multi-million dollar  share! -Compare Jeremiah 5:26-31.

Earlier, economic troubles  had opened the way for Mussolini and Hitler to seize power.  Babylon the Great lost no time in courting their favors, and the Vatican entered into concordats with Italy in 1929 and Germany in 1933.  (Revelation 17:5)  The dark days that followed  were surely a part  of the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy that the sign of his presence  would include "anguish of nations, not knowing the way out . . . while  men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth."  (Luke 21:7-9, 25-31)  Yes, the quakes that began to shake human society in 1914 have continued, with powerful aftershocks. 

Next time: Chapter Eighteen - Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - Jehovah Does Some Shaking

From the book of Revelation