Difference between revisions of "Chapter Sixteen – The Pale Horse—Pestilence"

Latest revision as of 18:30, 1 June 2012

How Did We Get Here?

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Disease, in all its forms, is loathsome to every human being. It has brought untold suffering for millennia to billions of people—many of whom never saw it coming.

Disease epidemics—rapid, widespread outbreaks among many thousands or millions of people—often strike suddenly. Before authorities can react, the damage has been done. Such has been the case all through history.

Of the 59 million people who die each year, approximately half—nearly 30 million—perish from sickness. The world loses the rough equivalent of one nation of Canada every year to disease.
And it is about to get much worse!

Disease will soon alter the course of history in a profound way. The coming disease pandemics will dwarf all that have previously occurred. Hundreds of millions will perish—and this will not only happen in poor, underdeveloped countries. Horrific epidemics, the likes of which have never been seen, will strike the world’s wealthiest nations—which will collapse from the impact. The ensuing chaos will affect you, and all of your loved ones. Everything around you will change for the worse. Your life will be at risk.

The Last Horseman
The fourth and last horse and rider now enter the picture—pestilence! The final horseman carries a different, broader description, and summarizes the horses riding together: “I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth” (Rev. 6:8).

The word “pale” comes from the Greek word chloros, which indicates the sickly, pale yellow-green color of disease—from which derives the name of yellow chlorine gas.

Coming on the heels of the first three horsemen, the pale horseman’s arrival portends that more hundreds of millions will perish through terrifying disease epidemics. The reference to “Death”—the end result of disease—and “Hell”—hades, meaning the grave—make this clear.

This prospect may seem impossible to believe in this sophisticated modern age—where air travel has allowed man to run “to and fro” across the earth without boundaries (Dan. 12:4)—where the tallest building is nearly half a mile high—and where the Internet has created a global village, connecting every corner of the earth.

This is, however, also a time in which men’s bodies have degenerated through thousands of years of abuse—where “super-diseases” now resist even the strongest antibiotics—and where doctors and scientists no longer speak of if a pandemic is coming, but when.

Growing Threats
As modern medicine seeks to conquer disease, civilization is falling further and further behind. Man and his governments have lost control.

Understand. As new diseases emerge and older ones suddenly mutate, modern medicine has fallen far behind in the effort to eradicate them. Today, diseases thought long ago conquered are back with a vengeance. Tuberculosis, cholera and other deadly scourges from the past have re-emerged—this time much more resistant to standard treatments. This, coupled with poor sanitation, war, overcrowding and poverty, is creating environments ripe for the massive spread of sickness.

At the same time, the world has become more interconnected than at any other time in history. The advent of relatively cheap and fast air travel means that more people now travel abroad. More now also travel for vacations and business—increasing their chances of being infected by foreign viruses, or carrying one with them to others. According to noted Swedish pathologist Folke Henschen, “Infectious diseases…have probably been the most dangerous enemies of mankind, much more so than war.” The global threat posed by infectious diseases has never been greater.

Despite man’s best efforts, old scourges such as tuberculosis, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, anthrax and malaria are still very much alive. Add to this the more recent arrivals of Ebola, hantavirus, E. coli, salmonella (currently spreading very quickly), HIV, West Nile and swine flu. Understand that these are just a few of the possible disease epidemics—or pandemics—on the horizon.

To appreciate the potential impact of any one of these, consider HIV. Over 30 million people in the world are HIV positive—and millions more contract the virus every year. To date, more than 25 million have died from AIDS—which originates from HIV—with the prospect of millions more a virtual certainty. Not surprisingly, AIDS has been called “a viral nightmare that ravages all nations and threatens the very existence of our species” (Killer Germs: Microbes and Diseases that Threaten Humanity, Barry E. Zimmerman and David J. Zimmerman).

Now add the threats of biological warfare and bio-terrorism. The prospect of these occurring is simply too horrifying to contemplate. Yet it is very real. Recall that in 2001, multiple cases of anthrax broke out in the U.S. when letters laced with anthrax were sent to news media outlets and congressional offices. The event, widely thought to be an attack by a foreign terrorist, created havoc nationwide.

With all of the biological agents, biological weapons, and terrorists, with their networks in circulation today, the danger of an intentional biological attack is a very real threat. Here, the red and pale horses ride together.
On top of ever-worsening disease epidemics, the world’s resources—including clean air, water and food—are also being stretched to the limit. Wars between desperate countries competing for scarce resources are increasing, both in scope and intensity. War leads to famine, which ultimately results in disease.

Worse Than Ever?
This begs the question: Has it always been this way—or has there been an escalation in the number of disease outbreaks now widespread across the globe?

Health authorities acknowledge that an acceleration is underway—especially within the last 50 years.

According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, death rates from infectious diseases are rising. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognizes the threat, stating that “we continue to confront new and potentially devastating infectious disease threats.” It has also noted that the threat of an influenza pandemic is “as high as before.” The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases has also affirmed that infectious diseases are an increasing threat to public health.

Indeed, in the United States, infectious diseases rose by nearly 60 percent from 1980 to 1992 and continue to be one of the leading causes of death in this country. According to leading microbiologist Alexander Tomasz, the onset of an era in which antibiotics are useless would be “nothing short of a medical disaster.”

There are further ominous signs of the peril to come. One-third of the world’s population is currently infected by the germs (bacilli) that cause tuberculosis, and new infections are occurring at the rate of one per second! AIDS is devastating entire regions in sub-Saharan Africa and is spreading rapidly around the world. And AIDS and tuberculosis have linked up, becoming tandem infections, with greater devastating effect.

Scientists estimate that around two billion people, 30 percent of the world’s population, have a form of Staphylococcus aureus. And up to 53 million worldwide are thought to be carrying the deadly superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA – pronounced “Mersa”). They say these strains could “potentially become explosive” in hospitals.

In the United States, outbreaks of waterborne diseases are increasing. Globally, rates of diseases like dengue fever are growing. Outbreaks of insect-transmitted diseases like Chikungunya fever are occurring in unexpected locations and are now a threat to even the U.S.

Diseases long thought conquered are proving more difficult to treat. This is true of a new more lethal form of C. difficile, which is more resistant to drug treatments and can cause a potentially fatal strain of diarrhea. This is but the briefest of glances at the growing predicament facing the world.

How Did We Get Here?

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