Could Your Faith Survive a Famine?

Famine is a word that few in America or the West are acquainted with personally. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly disrupted supply chains and made commodities – like gasoline, toilet paper and meat – difficult to get for short periods. We could shrug these inconveniences off as “first-world problems.”

However, third world nations have been impacted worse by the economic downturns, government shutdowns and scarcity that accompanied the virus. Right now, The United Nations World Food Programme is reporting that “acute hunger is at a five-year high as famine looms for millions.” According to this source, at least 155 million people in 55 countries faced acute hunger in 2020-2021.[1] Additionally, as many as 11 people are likely dying of hunger and malnutrition each minute. This is more than the current global death rate of COVID-19, which is around seven people per minute![2]

The sad reality is that while Americans are fighting the Federal Government for the freedom of medical choice, vast swaths of humanity are more concerned with a struggle even more basic: a fight that’s as old as civilization, finding the next meal.     

We are not accustomed to empty stomachs and hunger pangs, but when you study the Bible, you discover the theme of famine is strong throughout. Sometimes famine occurs as the natural result of life on a fallen, sin-cursed planet, and other times famine is a remedial judgment from the hand of God upon a stiff-necked and rebellious people. Here’s just a few highlights. 

·         A famine drove Abraham down to Egypt where he faced his first test of faith (Gen. 12:10).

·         Seven years of Joseph’s career as the Prime Minister of Egypt was occupied with collecting grain so that the nation could survive a God-predicted famine (Gen. 41:35-36).

·         On the eve of his death, Moses warned Israel that if they failed to obey God’s commandants in the Promised Land that they would suffer famine as divine punishment (Deut. 11:17).

·         The book of Ruth begins with a famine which caused Elimelech and Naomi to go in search of food in Moab, where one of their sons would marry Ruth (Ruth 1:1).

·         Don’t forget the prophet Elijah who pronounced a 3½-year drought on the land of Israel for Ahab’s idolatry, which eventually led to a famine (1 Kings 17:1).

·         The obscure, but prophetic book of Joel describes a locust invasion upon Israel which devastated crops and caused a food crisis (Joel 1:10-12).

·         Even worse than a famine of physical food is a famine of spiritual food. Because Israel rejected the prophets, God promised a severe judgment: “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ‘when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD’” (Amos 8:11).

·         Finally, during the Tribulation period Jesus predicted that worldwide famines would be a sign preceding His return (Matt. 24:7). Likewise, in Revelation 6:5-8 we read that two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will be able to devastate ¼ of the world population with economic inflation, hunger, war and beasts of the earth.

Could we ever see famine in America – the land of plenty? Prudence would say that the “that-can’t-happen-here” mentality is not a wise approach. In the wake of Tyrant-in-Chief Biden’s recent vaccine mandates for business over 100 emplyees, there have been many in the workforce who have already contemplated quitting their job rather than take the jab.

What if those who decide to walk away are those in the food industry? One journalist and blogger, Leo Hohmann, does some out-loud thinking when he writes:

“One of the most important functions of any society is food production. That industry is also about to be decimated by Biden’s vaccine mandates. Liberty Counsel, a public-interest law firm that is providing legal help to hundreds of Americans now under threat of losing their jobs, announced Sept. 10 it has sent a demand letter to Tyson Foods, the giant meat-packing company, on behalf of dozens of Tyson workers who are being threatened with termination if they don’t get Joe’s jab. Think of the impact this will have on food stocks if all of the major food-processing and trucking companies follow the order handed down Sept. 9 by Dictator Biden: Every company with more than 100 employees must fire those who refuse the jab, Biden said, or face fines of up to $14,000 a day. This could easily entail 20 to 30 percent of a company’s workforce. It’s not difficult to imagine bare store shelves within a few weeks of when these terminations take effect, which could be as soon as November. Prepare accordingly.”[3]

I’m not trying to peddle fear or be a doomsday prophet. But I am pointing out what many in the US are starting to realize - as a nation in decline we will have to think about facing new challenges that we never thought we’d have to in our lifetimes.

Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure - God’s sending or allowing famine upon Israel was always a sure-fire way to gain His people’s attention through their stomachs. As we draw closer to the last days, we should expect shortages to be more frequent as world conditions are being prepared for the unfolding of Bible prophecy. Physical and spiritual famine should point us to Christ, for He is “the Bread of Life” (John 6:35). In Christ there is no shortage of truth, grace and hope. Just as the people of the world flocked to Joseph for bread during a 7-year famine, may the people of today be compelled to Christ for salvation before the Tribulation hits.

-DM

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[1] James Belgrave and Peyvand Khorsandi, “Acute Hunger at Five-Year High, Study Warns, as Famine Looms for Millions,” The United Nations World Food Programme, 6 May 2021 <https://www.wfp.org/stories/acute-hunger-five-year-high-study-warns-famine-looms-millions>

[2] Nesrine Aly, “Six-Fold Increase in People Suffering Famine-like Conditions Since Pandemic Began,” OXFAM, 9 July 2021 <https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/six-fold-increase-people-suffering-famine-conditions-pandemic-began>

[3] Leo Hohmann, “Joe Biden is Not Incompetent: He is Doing Exactly What He Was Hired to Do — Collapse America,” 10 Sept. 2021 <https://leohohmann.com/2021/09/10/joe-biden-is-not-incompetent-he-is-doing-exactly-what-he-was-hired-to-do-collapse-america/>