Bee Mystery

Unprecedented changes are occurring in the world that are subtle enough that they could easily be dismissed unless you are actively watching for signs of the Lord’s soon return. A good example of this is that more than one-third of the nation's commercial honey bee population has mysteriously disappeared.

This phenomenon is not limited to the United States but has been observed in other food exporting nations worldwide. It was in fact first documented in Israel which indicates to me that this development has special prophetic significance. Ohio State University's state honey bee specialist, James Tew said if bees are unable to pollinate the nation's crops, Americans could be forced to settle for a menu of wheat and corn.

God is the source of the diversity we enjoy and His reducing our food options foreshadows the coming Tribulation. The Third Horse of the Apocalypse symbolizes one of mankind’s afflictions after the Antichrist emerges. Revelation 6:5-6 says, “when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come and see.’ So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine’” (NKJ).

A denarius represents a day’s wages. The time is coming when war and plagues from God pouring out His wrath on the earth will result in so much scarcity that a typical day’s wages will be required to pay for a day’s food. Jesus said that an increase in famines would be a sign of His soon return in Luke 21:11. These famines will get so bad during the Tribulation that most of the world will be touched by them during this time.

Most people dismiss the idea that we will experience a famine here in America. But there is more than the disappearing honey bees that threaten our food supply. The coming war in the Mid-East will disrupt the oil supply which will drive up the cost of producing and distributing food. A major terrorist attack on this country or some other macro-economic event that crashes our economy would also make food scarcer. One of the effects of a nuclear attack is EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) that will fry electrical systems including the ignition systems in vehicles used to transport food.

Of course, such events are unthinkable and painful to imagine for our life time. But upon considering all the trends we are seeing today and the accelerating pace of developments; it is hard not to conclude that the Bible's dramatic culmination of history can not be far off.

The mysterious disappearance of the honey bees is just a subtle foreshadowing of what is to come. I expect we’ll see increasingly less subtle signs up until the Rapture when it will be hard for people to deny that God is trying to shake the world awake.