More Marauding Armies by L. E. F.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 18, 1916

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 28.

More Marauding Armies

By L. E. F.

THE following newspaper headlines are, to say the least, interesting: "Caterpillar army and beetle brigade prepare for attack . . . Destructive insect pests, which damage fruit and shade trees to the value of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, are preparing for their summer raid . . . It's going to be a real battle . . . The tent caterpillar, notorious enemy of the apple orchard . . . The tussock caterpillar, the long-haired worm which denudes poplars, maples, and other shade trees of their foliage."

Place beside these statements the following scriptures, and the interest increases:

"That which the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. . . . For a nation is come up upon My land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid My vine waste, and barked My fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white."

"Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. . . . And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great: for He is strong that executeth His word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" Joel 1: 4, 6, 7, 15; 2: 1, 11.

There is a striking similarity between the two quotations, for the former is a partial fulfillment of the latter, the prophetic description written over two thousand five hundred years ago.

The earth is indeed "waxing old." Isa. 51: 6 and Heb. 1: 10-12. Every tiller of the soil is painfully aware of it. The "armies" of pests are beginning to "devour" the fruitful places to an extent that is causing consternation among agriculturists.

The ever increasing varieties of destructive insects, together with the alarming ravages of the same, constitute another plain evidence that "the day of the Lord" is rapidly approaching.

These marauding armies will before long become a tremendous problem. They will increase to such an extent that the beasts will "groan," the herds of cattle will be "perplexed, because they have no pasture" (Joel 1: 18), and there will be shortage of food for the human race. The last-day famines and pestilences foretold in Holy Writ (Luke 21: 11) will come partly as a result of the marauding armies.

In view of these approaching events, how consoling the promise to every child of God:

"Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off." Isa. 33: 16, 17.

Troublous times are before this old world; but he who by faith lays hold on the promises of God, need fear no evil. His God will supply his every need. L. E. F.