Saved in a Time of Calamities — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

Saved in a Time of Calamities

THE five-story department store in Seoul, Korea, collapsed suddenly, trapping hundreds of people inside! Rescue workers labored around the clock to save as many lives as possible. As the days passed, the chances of finding any more survivors buried in the mountain of concrete and steel began to fade.

Just as all hope had been abandoned, something astonishing occurred. A feeble, plaintive cry was heard from beneath the rubble. Rescuers dug frantically with their bare hands in order to free a 19-year-old woman who had been buried alive for 16 long days. A collapsed elevator shaft had formed a protective cavity over her and had shielded her from tons of falling concrete. Although badly dehydrated and cut, she had escaped death!

Nowadays, hardly a month passes without reports of some disaster, whether it be an earthquake, a violent storm, a volcanic eruption, an accident, or a famine. And spectacular stories of rescues and survivals intrigue and fascinate millions who follow the news. However, warning of a coming calamity—one greater than any other in human history—has by and large been ignored. (Matthew 24:21) The Bible describes this coming event in these words: “Look! A calamity is going forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest itself will be roused up from the remotest parts of the earth. And those slain by Jehovah will certainly come to be in that day from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth. They will not be bewailed, neither will they be gathered up or be buried. As manure on the surface of the ground they will become.”—Jeremiah 25:32, 33.

Startling words! But unlike natural disasters and accidents, this calamity will not be an indiscriminate slaughter. In fact, survival—your survival—is possible!

A Time of Urgency

To grasp this fact fully, one must understand why this global calamity will come about in the first place. Actually, it is the only real solution to mankind’s problems. Few people today feel safe and secure. In spite of the best efforts of science, infectious diseases continue to ravage earth’s population. Wars resulting from religious, tribal, and political differences claim human lives by the thousands. Famine adds to the misery and suffering of innocent men, women, and children. Moral decay eats away at the very foundation of society; even children have been corrupted.

With remarkable accuracy, a Bible prophecy written over 1,900 years ago describes our situation. It says: “You must realize that in the last days the times will be full of danger.”—2 Timothy 3:1, The New Testament in Modern English, by J. B. Phillips; compare Matthew 24:3-22.

Does it seem reasonable to you that a loving God would be indifferent to our plight? The Bible says: “He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, . . . did not create it simply for nothing, [he] formed it even to be inhabited.” (Isaiah 45:18) Yes, rather than allow this beautiful planet to be ruined and all its inhabitants to come to an end, God will intervene. The question is, How will he do so?

Choose Life!

The Bible answers at Psalm 92:7: “When the wicked ones sprout as the vegetation and all the practicers of what is hurtful blossom forth, it is that they may be annihilated forever.” God’s solution to earth’s problems is the elimination of wickedness itself. Happily, this does not mean that all people need to be eliminated. Psalm 37:34 assures us: “Hope in Jehovah and keep his way, and he will exalt you to take possession of the earth. When the wicked ones are cut off, you will see it.”

These words indicate that there is a chance of being saved through the greatest calamity that will ever befall mankind. God has given us a choice. The words with which Moses exhorted the Israelites as they were getting ready to enter the Promised Land are equally applicable to us today: “I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the malediction; and you must choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring.” (Deuteronomy 30:19) But just how does one “choose life” and get saved? What does true salvation really mean?

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Yunhap News Agency/Sipa Press