The Great Depression Part 11 – Not All is Doom and Gloom
Good day to each of you reading this column on the “Great Depression” and its effects throughout the world.
In our daily activity of life, we are seeing more doom and gloom, but don’t despair there is anecdote which is prosperity after turning to the Lord.
When speaking with my father on the “Great Depression”, not all things were doom and gloom. No, not all businesses tanked and not all people went bankrupt, and not all people committed suicide.
According to Answers.com, At the very height of the Great Depression (1930-33) hardly any businesses did really well, and success was relative. As usual in such circumstances it was the ‘new’ industries that tended to do best, in particular:
- Movies. Almost every town of any size saw the opening of new and bigger cinemas. ‘Talkies’ added to the popularity of the cinema.
- Radio. In the 1930s radio became widely available to better paid workers.
- Mass produced automobiles. (Not really a new industry, but a ‘young’ industry).
- Electrical industries. During the 1930s most houses that weren’t yet on mains electricity were connected. A huge range of companies did well as a result – ranging from the manufacturers of cables and light switches to those producing electric carpet sweepers and so on.
- At the luxury end of the market, air travel did well – but it was still generally expensive and only for the few.
- The very low interest rates encouraged house building, especially when it was clear that prices had stopped falling.
- In Europe, Germany and then Britain spent huge sum on rearmament from about 1934 onwards.
This sets the stage for Deuteronomy 30 for the Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your father. As for the criteria, each of us must obey the Lord our God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (verse 10) NIV.
Simple, yes, no maybe?? Go back to the first 10 verses to read about the fortunes, your fortunes or the fortunes of so many Christian Americans who turned from the curses of the “Great Depression” to the blessings or prosperity from God.
The sorrow and pain of people during this time was excruciating for their world had crashed in and around them. Eyes became wide open as they knew they had wandered from God’s commands and decrees. Were the American people separated from God by sin? Yes, but no matter how far we wandered, God never wavers and promises a fresh beginning if we would make the effort to turn to him. God’s mercy is simply, unbelievable!
Tragedy, despair, doubt and frailty had embarked in America’s culture during the “Great Depression” so we turn to the meat of the subject. Turn to verses 15-18 and read what God says to the Israelites which is the same advice needed in the time of the “Great Depression” and the time we are in today.
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees, and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
When one looks back at the “Great Depression” the American people had life and prosperity until the “crash” and then death and destruction came about for ten years. I am sure that those ten years seemed to feel like an eternity.
I referenced Biblical Mathematics by Evangelist Ed. Vallowe on the number “ten” for ten years. He says this is a number of TESTIMONY. Considered as twice FIVE, TEN Stands for responsibility, intensified, signifying the measure of responsibility and its judgment or reward. This is a number used under the LAW. Man was responsible under the LAW to keep the commandments and bear a testimony to God.
It truly amazes me how God works—Think about this, for ten years prior to 1929, was the end of the 1St World war, Industrial Revolution, stock market booming, agriculture booming, and money, lots and lots of money being made. New gods were created and the focus turned from the originator to man and his greatness.
The reward was great financial wealth for all to cash in with little investment and a great return. Oh, and by the way, where is God? Why do we need him when we have everything we need. Let us create our own gods and reap the reward for as long as it lasts.
Meanwhile, God takes the back seat to a country that he richly blessed, a country filled with people he created so they would love him with all their hearts, their minds and souls and God would set them high above all the other nations.
The first commandment given is “You shall have no other gods before me.” Man was responsible under the LAW to keep the commandments and bear a testimony to God. This did not happen and thus America, like a child, had to be punished for falling away. TEN Stands for responsibility, intensified, signifying the measure of responsibility and its judgment or reward.
Ten years of blessings and ten years of curses were upon this great country and then, America saw her ways and repented and again God blessed this great country for he loves each of us so much that no universe can hold his love for us.
The columns that I provide are not scare anyone, but, as Moses says in Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (a) (NIV) This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
So what have we learned and does history repeat itself? Will there be another “Great Depression” in the United States? If so, could it happen in the next ten years?
I will address those questions in the next column—As for the solution, turn with me to 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
This is a wonderful verse that you gives each of us the solution on healing our land whether it be in America or any other part of the world.
May you bless God in all that you do.
Jeff
