I was in Canada last week speaking to groups of subscribers to World News and prophecy. It is always a pleasure go to Canada. This time I saw the varied parts of British Columbia from Vancouver to the delightful Okanagon Valley.

I paid more for basic commodities than I do in the United States. A fish sandwich at McDonalds was slightly more than my corner store and I paid 1.22 (Canadian) for a liter of gas. that translates to $4.60–quite a bit more than the $3.25 I pay here. Food prices in general were advertised higher than America. But at least there was food on the shelves, in some parts of the world right now there are food shortages.

In poorer countries recent food riots from Haiti to the Ivory Coast have highlighted the shortages and spread fear of increased levels of poverty. Riots in Egypt have led to several deaths. When people don’t have the basic bread and rice of life they take to the streets. Ancient Rome learned this lesson well and kept its citizens pacified with ample bread supplies.

One of the reasons for the crisis is in the past twenty years developing countries have become net importers of food because of rising internal consumption and a decline in agricultural output. In addition the growing emphasis on biofuels has diverted grains to other uses other than food for people.

What does this mean? It means that efforts to reduce poverty in these nations in recent years has been set back, at least for the short term. In poorer countries people pay fifty to sixty percent of their annual income for food–and this is just basic foodstuffs, not much meat and very little delicacies. Food shortages can lead to civil unrest and the untimely deaths of the innocent.

Food is a basic need and the lack of it can shift the course of nations. In Revelation 6 we see food shortages defined in the end time by the third seal–the “Third Horseman”, carrying a set of scales signifying food scarcity. You can read more on this prophecy in this article.

World food supplies are nowhere near the crisis level of this prophecy. But each time we see shortages develop we should be aware of just how quickly events can change the best plans made by governments. Even in the best of times famine can quickly raise its head and lead to suffering. When the events foretold in Revelation unfold the whole world will be caught unprepared.

In America and Canada we may be paying more for food and energy but we can be thankful we have the wealth to buy what is still available. Even the poorest among us is rich compared to the masses in developing nations. All the more reason to be thankful to God for the abundance of our lands.