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According to a recent report in the Economist, hundreds of millions of poor people around the world lack access to two services that people in rich countries take entirely for granted:

• clean water
• basic sanitation

As a result, it has been estimated that close to half the population in the developing world are suffering from one or more associated diseases. One study showed that there are about 4 billion cases of diarrhoeal disease a year, resulting in between 1m and 2m deaths, 90% of them among children under five. The global burden of illness due to dirty water, bad or non-existent sanitation and poor standards of hygiene is immense.

But the problem is apparently not about a shortage of water for washing, drinking and cooking – there is plenty to go around. The problem is one of delivery. In many poor countries, available supplies very often fail to reach the poor, who are forced to fetch every drop of their water every day from sources many miles away. Although the economic benefits of improving domestic water supply in poor countries far exceeds the costs, efforts to solve this problem have made little progress due to wars, conflicts and competing issues.

The use of water for agriculture is an even bigger problem. In some parts of the world there is a real risk of wars being fought over ownership of water supplies. In a recent interview on BBC Radio 4, the former UN Secretary General, Boutros Boutros Ghali said that competition for water resources could provoke wars in Africa and the Middle East. He concluded:

“military confrontation between countries of the Nile basin was almost inevitable”.

Mr Boutros Ghali went on to say that despite hopeful signs in the peace process in the Middle East, a future Palestinian state would not be viable if so much water in that area remained under Israeli control.

In a separate interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Prince Hassan of Jordan said that the current situation was creating resentment that threatened to engulf the Middle East region in further violence. Pointing to the tensions over water supplies, the Prince said:

“I think the region is going to implode. People can put up with so much but they cannot put up with injustice.”

The Bible clearly predicts future conflicts in the Middle East and disputes over water might well be a cause. While discussions continue towards a peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, there are also growing tensions about the ownership and use of limited water supplies in the region. Such conflicts and tensions are moving world events in the direction the Bible predicted so long ago, towards the moment when God himself will intervene.

The wise king Solomon understood that God controls rulers and governments to achieve his purpose in the same way as he manages natural resources:

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1)

Clearly, while there is contention over water supplies in the Middle East, an opportunity for lasting peace is in doubt. But God plans to bring lasting peace to the Middle East, and all the world, when he solves the world’s problems forever:

“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water…That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this…” (Isaiah 41:17-18, 20)

Even though well intentioned leaders and responsible governments may fail to find a solution to water shortages and conflicts over water supplies, current events show that God will soon intervene and send his son Jesus back to this earth to take control. When he does it will demonstrate clearly that his power alone is able to solve this world’s problems.

In addition, Jesus made a promise that will benefit us all:

“I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” (Rev.21:6)

Water is essential to life now, but this promise goes further. As Jesus explained on another occasion:

“Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” (John 4:14)

For those who currently suffer so terribly from water shortages and conflicts, the return of Jesus to establish God's kingdom on earth cannot come too soon. And when he does come, he will reward with everlasting life all those who follow him now.