Grocery Stores In Lebanon Close Amid Record Poverty As Prophesied In Book Of Zechariah


With more than 50 percent of Lebanese today living in poverty, Israel’s neighbor to the north is going through a crisis many are describing as worse than the civil war that killed over 125,000 people. But this crisis, in a country that from Biblical times until recently, is unfolding in a manner that precisely conforms to Biblical prophecy.


Lebanon: From riches to rags

Once considered a world center for trade, nicknamed the Paris on the Mediterranean, Lebanon is currently suffering its worse economic crisis in 30 years, even worse than it experienced during its 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. The Lebanese lira has plummeted to record lows, losing 90% of its value in two years. The banks have lent up to70% of their assets and many are facing insolvency and bankruptcy. The fourth most indebted country in the world, Lebanon defaulted on its international debt last March for the first time in its history.

But this economic crisis is hitting the average person the hardest. Lebanon imports about 80 % of the goods it consumes so the abysmal exchange rate means that basic goods cost five times what they did two years ago. Inflation last year stood at 84% and is expected to reach 77% this year. Food inflation reached over 400%. With 40% unemployment, many Lebanese find themselves today unable to afford basic necessities.

This is a country that just half a century ago was dubbed Paris on the Mediterranean. With offshore oil and natural gas deposits, Lebanon should be wealthy. Its vibrant pharmaceutical industry is suffering. There are 12 gold-processing plants in Lebanon and some of the goldsmith’s shops have been operating for 120 years and while the average citizen is struggling to buy bread, the merchants in Beirut are buying up gold, silver, and precious gems smuggled in from neighboring war-torn Syria.

Zechariah: Gold like mud in the streets; Consumed by fire

This contradictory dichotomy of potential wealth coupled with pressing poverty was predicted by the Prophet Zechariah.

Zechariah 9:3-4
Tyre has built herself a fortress; She has amassed silver like dust, And gold like the mud in the streets. But my Lord will impoverish her; He will defeat her forces at sea, And she herself shall be consumed by fire.

The prophesied fire manifested in August 2020 when explosive material, stored at the Beirut port by Hamas, destroyed half of the city, causing at least 215 deaths, 7,500 injuries, and $15 billion in property damage, and leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless.