Is famine was a judgment of God? Does God send famine on today’s world as judgment against sinners? 509 - 1 - 2

Famine often is God's judgment for sin. 2 Samual 24 tells of King David ordering a numbering of the people, a counting not ordered by God. Not a good idea as King David was told he would be punished and given three choices. Seven years of famine, three months of fleeing before his enemies while they pursue him or three days of past elements. King David selected pestilence resulting in the death of 70,000 men. While not a famine, lesson learned.

King Zedekiah went against the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah not to resist King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon thereby incurring God’s judgment. 2 Kings 25:3, “And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.” As an aside, King Zedekiah attempted escape but was captured along with his two young sons. Nebuchadnezzar ordered the children to be killed in front of their father and then King Zedekiah was blinded and carried off to Babylon. Remarkably, this fulfilled a prophecy that King Zedekiah would not see Babylon but would die in Babylon.

Ruth 1:1- 2, “As the book opens we meet a Jewish family which left Bethlehem (house of bread) of Judah (praise) because of famine, and settled in the land of Moab, southeast of the Dead Sea. The parents were Elimelech (my God is King) and Naomi (my pleasant one). The sons were Mahlon (sickly) and Chilion (pining). It would have been better to stay in the land and trust God than to emigrate to Moab. Ephrata (root of Ephrathites), the ancient name of Bethlehem, means fruitfulness.” [Believer’s Bible Commentary]

The book of Ruth is set in the time of the judges, a time of moral decline, a time when everybody did what was right in their own eyes. Little surprise that the land was experiencing a severe famine, God's judgment for disobedience.

Fast forward thousands of years and the world is experiencing/ has experienced severe drought and with drought comes famine. Africa is just one example.

The world’s next crisis: drought and famine in the Horn of Africa

"Most quote a figure of 10 million Ethiopians requiring food aid. This is the number provided by the Ethiopian government, but looks wide of the mark."

[http://www.newstatesman.com/world/africa/2016/01/world-s-next-crisis-drought-and-famine-horn-africa]

There is a drought monitoring site on the Internet, U.S. Drought Monitor News.

Excerpt from 12/1/16. “By November 29, exceptional drought (D4) covered nearly one-third (33 percent) of Alabama and Georgia, along with 14 percent of Tennessee, 6 percent of South Carolina, 4 percent of North Carolina, and 3 percent of Mississippi.  Extreme drought (D3) or worse blanketed 97 percent of Alabama, 71 percent of Mississippi, 62 percent of Georgia, and 60 percent of Tennessee…..

[Http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/USDMNews.aspx]

The Fall of Babylon, a final judgment? The United States has been suggested as being the Babylon of Revelation. Revelation 18:8, “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”