What Is the Real Solution?

TRUE, more things could be eaten by people than are eaten now. But being realistic, we cannot think that everybody will suddenly develop a taste for what he does not want to eat. That is why some will continue to go hungry when nearby there may be a source of nutrition, but too different from what they customarily eat.

Nor, as previously has been observed, will some new breakthrough by human efforts solve the problem. If such breakthroughs had been possible, there would not now be 1,000,000,000 people going to bed hungry every night. So we cannot escape the fact that, however sincere and noble the proposed remedies, the race to feed the poorer part of earth’s population is being lost.

Dr. Walter Santos of the Brazilian Nutrition Society said: “There is almost a general frustration in all developed countries as regards the promises and forecasts made and what was achieved. Everywhere there is a desire, a necessity for drastic changes in the development of policies hitherto adopted, for they have aggravated rather than eased the social and economic differences.”

Why has this been the case? Because the answer to the food problem lies beyond the scope of what humans can accomplish. The smartest scientists, the wisest political leaders, the most intelligent economists have not been able to solve the problem after all the time, effort and money put into it. Nor will they in the future.

Man’s selfishness and greed, his thirst for power, his willingness to benefit while others suffer, all stand in the way. And those are only some of the deep-rooted problems that block a permanent solution.

If man is not likely to come up with the solution, what then? Are those scientists right who foretell coming mass starvation on a scale dwarfing anything mankind has yet experienced? Is there no way out?

Real Solution at Hand

The solution is at hand? How can that be? Have we not just explained that experts view the future with dread?

Yes, but the very facts of today’s dismal conditions and outlook are an encouragement. In what way? In that all these things are part of the evidence that we are nearing the real solution. Note what Jesus Christ said in a prophecy about our time: “Men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.”​—Luke 21:26.

Present-day famine, as well as many other events, pinpoint our generation as being at “the conclusion of the system of things,” which Jesus foretold. For among the things Jesus foretold was that “there will be food shortages.”​—Matt. 24:3, 7, 8.

The last book of the Bible prophetically spoke about the ride of four symbolic “horsemen” in our time. One result would be high prices for food: “A whole day’s wage for a loaf of bread,” is the way Revelation 6:6 is rendered by the Weymouth translation. This fits exactly this comment made by the New York Times: “For many people the price of a single meal now exceeds a day’s income.”

The worst food shortages have taken place in our era. So have many other events unprecedented in history, beginning with the first world war, from 1914-1918. That war was the turning point of modern history. It was one of many events that clearly indicated that we were entering the time period known as “the conclusion of the system of things,” or “the end of the world.”​—Authorized Version.

A New Order of Abundance

Happily, though, Bible prophecy gives us a preview of a marvelous change that will shortly occur earth wide when this time period comes to its finish. It says:

“‘Now at last God has his dwelling among men! . . . He will wipe every tear from their eyes; there shall be an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain; for the old order has passed away!’

“Then he who sat on the throne [God] said, ‘Behold! I am making all things new!’”​—Rev. 21:3-5, “New English Bible.”

Thus, what world events really mean, including the gloomy outlook regarding the food situation, is that we are nearing the end of the present unsatisfactory system now dominating mankind. God’s promise is that shortly he will intervene in man’s affairs to crush this bad system, paving the way for a new era that will bring about enormous transformations. It will mean, as Peter foretold, a “new heavens and a new earth.”​—2 Pet. 3:13.

Yes, a new government of God will take over human affairs and direct them from the heavenly realm. (Matt. 6:9, 10) That government will bring about marvelous changes on earth. It will bring an end to social injustice, to selfish economics and greedy people. It will also bring an end to divisive national barriers. And forever it will end hunger, starvation and poverty. Gone for all time will be the bloated bellies and pencil-thin legs and arms of the starving. Gone forever will be the unhappy prospect hundreds of millions of people now have of going to bed hungry every night.

So we are fast nearing the time when the specter of hunger will be a thing of the past, never to raise its ugly head again. Instead, God’s new order on earth will be marked by an abundance of good things, including “a banquet of well-oiled dishes” and ‘plenty of grain, an overflow.’ Then there will be more than enough food for everyone to eat.​—Isa. 25:6; Ps. 72:16.