Disaster Preparedness
The Bible Version
Sometimes around our church, the topic of preparedness comes up in
casual conversation. Among church folk, as in any other group, you
will find a wide range of opinions. Some are die-hard preppers planning
for the worst and others are mixing faith with foolishness and believe
somehow they will be miraculously protected and provided for in the
event of a disaster. In light of that I researched the Bible and
surprisingly I find there are quite a few references on the topic.
Beginning
with the story of Joseph in Genesis (the coat-of-many-colors guy), it
seems King Pharoah had a puzzling dream. The dream was about seven fat
cows and seven skinny cows with the skinny cows eating up the fat cows.
Joseph interpreted the dream to mean that there would be seven years of
agricultural and economic plenty followed by seven years of famine.
The overall message was to stock up during the good years so there
would be no shortage when hard times came. (Genesis 41) Sure enough,
Joseph advised Pharoah to stock up and when hard times came, there was
plenty, not only for their own country, but enough to share. But it was
only because they had heeded the warning and laid in supplies ahead of
time.
Then
there is the Proverb I have posted on my blog that says, “A prudent
person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly
on and suffers the consequences.” Proverbs 22:3 (New Living
Translation) The message there is that fool gets warned and does
nothing, while the wise person makes preparation against dangers.
Consider
now the story of the ten virgins in the New Testament. (Matthew 25)
They were waiting for a wedding. Half were ready, half were not. They
are described as “five were wise, five were foolish.” The five
“preppers” were allowed access to the wedding and the other five were
excluded. Although there are several interpretations of that story, I’m
sure there’s a lesson on preparedness in there somewhere. If failure
to prepare equates to foolishness, then it would be wise to be ready.
And
finally, Jesus held a powwow with the disciples the night he was
arrested. (Luke 22) In essence He said, “Remember when I sent you out
the last time, I told you not to take any money or supplies?” They all
nodded in agreement. He continued, “Now this time when you go, make sure
to take your knapsack, your money and some supplies. And also take a
sword, if you don’t have one, sell your coat and buy one.”
If your interpretation of these passages of the Bible differs from mine or you have a comment or question you may email me at disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment