Biblical Perspective of Prepping

When we consider what “prepping” is to us today, we generally think of it as a new concept. Preparing for the “End Of The World As We Know It” (EOTWAWKI), “Sewer Hitting The Fan” (SHTF), “Without Rule of Law” (WROL), or various other terms that have been coined from this movement seems to have come around in the most recent years. Actually preparing for disaster is not a new concept. The Bible has several incidences where prepping, sometimes for many years, saved the children of God. Below are two.
I like to think of NOAH as the world’s first prepper.
Hebrews 11:7

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Can you imagine the logistics that Noah and his family must have gone through? Not only was he saving himself and his family, but if the Bible is to be believed, he had to prepare and store food for every pair of land and airborne animal, as well as his family. Not to mention the small task of building an ark to transport them all in. He of course had Divine Guidance of “the what and when” things were going to transpire.
It would be a great help today in knowing “the what and when”, and how long it will last, but unfortunately, we aren’t given those clues. So we prepare in ways that we can only imagine will sustain us for a finite period, and then we hope and pray that we can survive until some semblance of normality return. If it doesn’t, then we will either die, or make the most of the situation, by adapting to a new set of norms.
And then there was Joseph, the original food hoarder.
^{Genesis 41:46-49, 53-57}

⁴⁶And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. ⁴⁸And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. ⁴⁹And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
⁵³And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. ⁵⁴And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. ⁵⁶And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

Now we have a 30 year old Joseph. A prisoner and slave standing before the greatness of the throne of Pharaoh, having just interpreted Pharaoh’s dream about the oncoming 7 years of prosperity as well as the 7 years of famine. Joseph by divine inspiration was able to see the coming economic crash, and was positioned at the right place and the right time to save not only the nation of Canaan, but also Egypt, and in fact the whole known world by setting aside food preps.
It is something to me that God had Pharaoh’s heart opened to the idea that disaster would actually take place. Can you imagine what would happen if a prisoner today were to tell our president of events like these happening, and what the reaction would be? They would probably call him names like “Crazy Uncle Joe”, and dismiss him back to rot in his jail cell. This shows how, with divine inspiration, one man can make a difference to his family, the nation, and the world.
Keep these two in mind while you work your preps out. You may say that “well, they were divinely inspired.” But who is to say that you aren’t. God chose this time, this place, from all the time since the beginning of the world to have you here. He has opened your eyes to events that others cannot see, and given you the tools and mindset to survive.
There just might be a little Noah or Joseph in us after all.