Human Suffering
Starvation and disease are problems that will worsen even if short-term relief measures are successfully implemented. Jesus foretold a time of unprecedented trouble in the �last days� that will include widespread famine. He prophesied of �famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places� (Matthew 24:7).
Pestilence-disease epidemics-often accompanies famines. When destructive earthquakes strike, particularly in poor nations, a ravaged infrastructure prevents the flow of food into the afflicted areas. Disease and hunger soon take their deadly toll.
Although wars make the headlines, the number of deaths from armed conflict is small compared with those who die from disease. According to some estimates, AIDS kills 10 times as many in Africa alone as die in wars worldwide.
Man willfully spreads suffering
Although the toll of suffering from food shortages and disease is monumental, raw greed brings yet more suffering. Slavery, for example, is an ancient and supposedly obsolete institution, yet it remains a cancer in many countries.
Current Events comments on the numbers: �... More than 200 million slaves live in the world today-more than at any time in history.� Time magazine reports that �tens of millions of people around the globe, including children as young as six, are working in bondage-in dangerous and degrading conditions that often involve 18-hour workdays, beatings and sexual abuse.�
Many more, although not held against their will, live in virtual slavery, trapped by economic circumstances and long work hours while eking out a meager living. Such conditions crush the human spirit. Imagine a life bereft of joy, an existence in which people never enjoy such simple pleasures as the sound of beautiful music, the fun of good humor, the feel of a new garment or the comfort of a secure roof overhead.
Greed takes a deadly toll in hundreds of more subtle ways. Advertisers hawk products that can ruin our health and eventually kill us. Entertainment promotes selfish, arrogant lifestyles that focus on short-term pleasure even as they ultimately destroy personal relationships and ruin opportunities for long-term happiness. Some businesses, manufacturers and governments poison the air, land and water with toxins that threaten health and safety. The list goes on and on.
Will the picture change?
When Jesus Christ came to earth two millennia ago, He saw His share of misery. He witnessed the plight of outcast lepers, widows in need and people with debilitating mental disorders. He reacted with compassion to alleviate misery.
Jesus� concern and compassion were evident when He wept openly as He approached Jerusalem for the final time (Luke 19:41-44). He could foresee the anguish that warfare would bring on the beloved city and its people in A.D. 70 when a Jewish rebellion would result in Roman armies laying siege to the city, with horrible consequences.
He proclaimed that part of His mission was �to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed� (Luke 4:18). Such a time has not yet occurred for all mankind, but God promises He will bring an end to suffering in general during Christ�s millennial reign and will eventually banish it (Revelation 21:4).
