Lux Lucet

The Building of Noah’s Ark, c. 1675.

Prepping has interested me for several years, but it has been only recently that I felt compelled to write on the subject. Prepping – I would define prepping as, in light of God’s Word, foreseeing possible political, economic and social crises and taking precautions to protect oneself against them – is seen by some as a bit negative, a bit antisocial. After all, if you’re building an ark, you must be rooting for a flood. Because if nothing happens, you’re just going to look foolish.

But while it may be common for people to look down on prepping and those who practice it, preppers actually have a good Biblical basis for doing what they do. As Proverbs tells us, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (22:3). When one considers the massive and unpayable debts of the Western nations, the geopolitical tensions that seem to be growing all the time, and the spiritual and moral decline seen all around us, it is hard to believe that the current decrepit system can long continue. It has been the position of this author in this series 1) that serious shocks to the West’s political and economic systems are coming in the near future, 2) that most people – and even most Christians – are unprepared materially, physically and spiritually to deal with them, and 3) that the Bible provides an almost embarrassment of riches on the subject of how to get ready for and endure extreme economic, social and political crises.

This series on prepping is not about finding the best type of food to store or how to protect your savings in the event of large scale bank runs. These are important subjects. I do not deny that. But there are other who are better positioned to talk about them. It has been my aim in writing these posts to make the Biblical case for prepping. To show from the pages of Scripture that not only is prepping consistent with the Christian faith, but that it is actually a Biblical imperative.

In particular, this study has looked at the case of Noah, a man faced with a quite literal end-of-the-world-as-he-knew-it scenario. Last week, we looked at the basis of Noah’s salvation from destruction: God’s grace. Noah was not a perfect man. He was a sinner, just like all the others on the earth in his day. But God purposed to save him. Not for anything in Noah or because God was under any obligation to save him, but because the Lord freely, sovereignly elected to do so. This week, I would like to take a closer look at Noah and consider just what sort of man he was.

Noah, a Hero of Faith

The author of Hebrews has this to say about Noah, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared and ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

Just as it was said of Abraham that he believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness, so too is this the case with Noah. But what does it mean to have faith or to believe? Faith, or better belief, is simply understanding what someone says and accepting it as true. If we were to state is a bit more formally, we would say that belief is assent to an understood proposition. In the case of Noah, he understood the warning that God gave him about the impending destruction of the world and accepted what God told him as true. He also followed God’s commands as to the building of the ark itself. Noah was saved, both temporally and eternally, because he believed God. The actions he took in building the ark were the result of his saving faith.

Now someone may object by saying that, “but it was easy for Noah to have faith. After all, God spoke directly to him. If God came down and spoke to me like he did to Noah, sure, I’d have faith to start prepping too.” It certainly is true that Noah was the recipient of special revelation. And I must admit, yes, sometimes I wish a booming voice from heaven would tell me what to do when I’m faced with a tough decision. But if we look this in the light of Scripture, God’s speaking directly to people does not necessarily mean that they come away with saving faith, or that they act wisely. The children of Israel all heard God thunder the Ten Commandments at Mount Horeb, but in a very short time they made for themselves the golden calf. Balaam was a prophet of God, but he acted very foolishly. Jonah comes to mind as another man who, despite his privileged position as a prophet, struggled with faith. And how many people in the New Testament witnessed the words and miracles of Jesus, God himself standing right in front of them, and came away in unbelief?

Noah was a hero of the faith, because he believed God’ warning about things not yet seen. This should nerve Christians who, taking seriously the warnings in Scripture about what happens to nations that turn their back on God, faithfully make preparations for times of trouble. One may suppose that Noah found this easy. But consider that it took him 120 years to build the ark. What abuse must he have taken during that time? Peter calls Noah, “a preacher of righteousness,” which tells us that, not only did Noah build the ark, but he must have had conversations with his unbelieving neighbors about why he was undertaking what must have seemed like a rather eccentric activity.

Christians today honor God when they take seriously what he says in his Word. It is true that in some ways Noah had an advantage on us. He received specific verbal revelation about the impending destruction of the world and was provided detailed instructions on what to do to avoid the cataclysm. The author of Hebrews says of Noah that he was “divinely warned.” Noah acted on knowledge, which, as did John Robbins argued, is defined as justified true belief. None of the ways natural man claims to find knowledge – sensory experience or unaided reason – actually justify any truth claims. The best man can do on his own is develop opinions, which may be true or may be false. Knowledge comes by God’s gracious revelation alone. We do not acquire knowledge on our own. Instead, we are just as dependent on God for knowledge as we are on him for salvation. Noah knew the world was going to be destroyed in a flood, because God revealed this information to him and caused him to believe it.

The fact that Noah knew the world was going to be destroyed in a flood was a great advantage he had over people in our own time. Since God has ceased giving special prophetic revelation, no one today strictly can claim to know that the West is going to collapse with the certainty that Noah knew the world was going to be destroyed in his day. It is possible, though unlikely, that we have been too pessimistic about the moral and financial situation in the West. Perhaps a second Reformation is in the offing. Perhaps Christ soon will return.

But while we cannot say we know the West is going to face extreme difficulty in the coming years, we can, on the basis of the knowledge revealed to us in the Scriptures, develop an informed opinion about the future. The proper application of the knowledge revealed to us in Word of God is what the Bible calls wisdom. Wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing. We can know the Word of God but lack the wisdom to apply it properly. For example, one can know from Scripture that stealing is wrong and ought to be punished by the civil authorities. But while we know that stealing is sinful and criminal, it is possible that we may misapply this knowledge by accusing an innocent man of theft and having him convicted. Wisdom is the proper application of the Word of God.

And as James tells us, those who lack wisdom are to ask God for it. But not only are they to ask for it, they are to ask for wisdom in faith, doubting nothing, and avoid being double minded. In the case before us, asking in faith and avoiding double mindedness means that we are to assess the situation of the world in light of what the Scripture says, not in light of our own wishful thinking or sense of patriotism. As an American, I truly wish I had good things to say about the state of my country. But an honest assessment of the condition of the US in 2016 reveals a nation that is walking far from the will of God. One could go on and on about the ills facing America today, but no other single issue better stands for the whole mess than this: gay marriage. What can we say about a nation so foolish, so hard of heart, that its people allow the government to declare legal what God calls an abomination? Can such a people expect to receive anything good from the Lord? “God bless America,” we like to say. But why should he? Wisdom would tell us unequivocally that far from a blessing, the American nation should expect judgment .

In light of this, American Christians as well as those in similar situations elsewhere ought, as did Noah, make provisions to “hide themselves” and avoid the distress that is all but certain to befall the West.

Moved with Godly Fear

Regarding the parable of the Prodigal Son, commentators like to note the extraordinary behavior of the father upon the return of his son. The text reads, “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). As the note on this verse in the New Geneva Study Bible puts it, “It was undignified for an older man to lift up his robes and run.” But the father here was not concerned about his own dignity. He was more interested in welcoming home is lost son. Given the circumstances, no blame attaches to his actions.

On the other hand, what if the father were constantly running here and running there at the slightest disturbance. His neighbors would have properly considered him at best to be poorly organized and given to panic. I bring this up, because it seems to me that we Christians have not paid enough attention to the gathering storms around us and have not, in general, taken the precautions that we ought. As such, it concerns me that, when economic and social distress come our way, we may find ourselves just as panicked and discombobulated as the unbelievers. That would hardly be a good witness to our faith in Christ. If we’re just as beside ourselves as the unbelievers, why should any of them take our claims about Jesus seriously?

According to Hebrews, Noah was “moved with godly fear.” He was not panicked. He did not run about screaming that the sky was falling. He moved deliberately and faithfully to fulfill the charge that God gave to him. Scripture tells us that, after God finished warning him and giving instructions about the construction of the ark, he went about the task at hand deliberately. The Scripture reads, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did” (Genesis 6:22) . Keep calm and carry on was not a slogan for Noah. It was a way.

Noah the Prepper

Worth noting, is that the Scriptures state plainly that Noah was a prepper. The text of Hebrews says of him that he, “prepared an ark for the saving of his household” (Hebrews 11:7).

This verse should settle the argument about whether prepping is Christian. Of course it is. But some may still have doubts. I recall a discussion I once had with a brother in Christ about insurance. He had expressed his concern that taking out home owners insurance could be seen as a lack of faith. This is not an uncommon view among Christians. Some fear that by availing themselves of ordinary means of protection, they somehow are not trusting in God.

But such a thought process omits the important idea that not only does God ordain blessings for his people, but he also ordains the means by which those blessings come. Think about another prepper from the pages of Scripture, Joseph. Joseph used his position in pharaoh’s government to prepare for a very severe, seven-year-long famine, a famine that he knew would take place as a result of the interpretation God gave him of pharaoh’s dreams. Once Joseph knew of the coming famine by God’s grace, he did not sit just around pharaoh’s palace and hope that somehow all the grain would miraculously be collected during the seven good years. Scripture tells us, “Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable” (Genesis 41:49). Later, Joseph told his brothers that God intended his ordeal in Egypt for good, “in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). Not only did God have in mind the end of saving many people from starvation, but he also provided the means by which this was to be done, equipping Joseph with the knowledge and ability to make necessary preparations.

Worth noting too is that in both the case of Noah and that of Joseph, the faithful actions of these two men not only preserved their own lives, but the lives of their families also. Prepping is not just about saving our own skin, but that of the people we love also. And even beyond our own family, who can know what effect we may have on unbelievers if we’re in a position to help them in time of need. As Christians, we’re called to be salt and light to a lost world. In the event of an economic collapse, the ability and willingness to help those in need is a powerful witness to the goodness of God.

Noah Condemned the World

Hebrews tells us that by his faith, “[Noah] condemned the world.” But what does this mean. One commentary puts it this way,

Noah stood alone in the midst of a hostile world. Apart from the immediate members of his own family, he could not find any support…He constructed the ark and by doing so demonstrated his firm confidence in God. His faith became his testimony that condemned the unbelieving world around him. Noah’s faith stood diametrically opposed to the unbelief of the world (Hebrews, William Hendricksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, 318, 319).

It is a very easy thing to become preoccupied with this world, even for the believer. But what hope do those who are not in Christ have of escaping the cares of the present age? Jesus said of those preoccupied with the honors and pleasures of this life, “Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward” (Matthew 6:2).

Sometimes we hear it said of someone that someone is so heavenly minded he is of no earthly good. To put it another way, Christians are at times accused of not being practical. But ask yourself this, in the end who was the most practical, Noah or those who scoffed at his faith? Heavenly minded Noah and his family lived. It was the practical folks who perished.

Frederic Bastiat was a 19th century French economist who wrote an essay titled What is Seen and What is Unseen, in which he introduced a concept called opportunity cost. He argued that in order to purchase one item, a buyer was required to forego the purchase of something else (e.g. if you want a new car, you may not be able to take that vacation to Hawaii). The buyer’s opportunity cost is not the money used to purchase the new car, it’s the vacation in Hawaii that he had to give up. Sometimes people have a hard time believing in opportunity cost, because what is not purchased is “unseen,” and, as the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.

Statue of Liberty scene from Planet of the Apes

Faith is like that unseen Hawaiian vacation, the one the buyer never purchased. It seems like pie in the sky to unbelievers and impractical…until all the sudden it isn’t. According to Hebrews, “[F]aith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The practical, worldly minded folks in Noah’s day probably thought the man was a little weird. After all, everything looked normal. “For as in the days before he flood,” as Jesus tells us, “they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away” (Matthew 24:39). Now of course there’s nothing wrong with eating, drinking, and marrying. These are normal activities of everyday life. But what was sinful was the complete lack of regard for God that was evidenced among Noah’s contemporaries. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. He showed them for 120 years by his words and his deeds what was coming, but they did not listen.

Conclusion

In this fourth and final installment of this series on Biblical prepping, we have looked at the character of Noah. The author of Hebrews description of Noah, though brief, tells us a lot about the man. He was saved by faith, believing the warning given to him by God. His actions did not betray panic at the thought of the destruction of the world. Rather, Noah worked diligently to make preparations just as God instructed him. In the end, Noah’s “impractical” faith proved far more practical than the worldly notions advanced by the unbelievers of his time. It is not sinful to anticipate difficulties and to make preparations for surviving them, for there are ample examples individuals doing this very thing in the Word of God and they are praised for their wisdom.

This series is intended to be an encouragement to Christians who already are prepping. At the same time, it is this author’s hope that it also will act as a spur to those who have not yet taken action. As Christians, we do not want to be hearers of the Word only, but doers also. God has shown us in his Word what is pleasing to him, and what is not. Further, he has demonstrated time and again that he can and will judge individual men, and even entire civilizations, who ignore his law and his calls to repentance. In light of this, Christians who make no attempt to protect themselves and their families from the difficult times ahead are disregarding the clear warnings of the God they claim to serve.

By the standards of Scripture, the West, the civilization produced by the Reformation, stands in grave danger of God’s judgment. When talking about the collapsing financial system of the West, it is common to hear commentators use the analogy of a heroin user in an advanced state of addition. The addict comes to a point where he has two choices, both of which are painful. He can face his problems honestly and quit cold turkey. If he does this, he will suffer withdrawal pains. And even once he gets through those, there is the additional painful process of rebuilding his shattered life. But for all that, the pain is curative. On the other hand, the addict can elect to dull his pain with another hit. But while the drugs make him feel better for the moment, in the end he will suffer another type of pain. The pain of death. And there’s no hope in death.

Unless there is a major change of heart among the people of the West, and by this I mean a second Reformation along the lines of what occurred in the 16th century, it is the view of this author that the West will continue taking hits from the statist heroin needles of socialism, humanism, and warfareism, all which are financed by a profoundly dishonest financial system run by central bankers beholden to the lies of Keynesian economics, until such time as it dies a most painful death.

But God is still God. And his people are still his people. And God has promised to provide for his people. Sometimes in history he has done this through miraculous works, such as the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army. But more often it has been accomplished through ordinary means.

But Christian prepping is more than just about surviving an economic collapse. It is about honoring God by wisely applying his word to the world around us, and in particular by bearing witnessing Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. As Christian, we of all people ought to know that the world is hastening to disaster. And as did Noah, so too ought we to be preachers of righteousness to this generation, speaking God’s truth, warning of his judgment, perhaps, even as Jude would say, saving some by pulling them from the fire.

David tells us the Lord is a shield to all who trust in him (2 Samuel 2:31). As Christians, we can face the worst the world can throw at us, knowing that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from the love of God. And knowing this, let us face the coming difficulties, not with the fear of death or long faces, but in godly fear, obedient to his Word, honoring Christ and fulfilling our calling as salt and light in a dark world that badly needs to hear the truth. If Christians do not speak the truth and act upon it, who will?