PREPARED FOR  SUCH A TIME AS THIS

A TIME OF FAMINE

The term 'famine' refers to a period of time when food has become scarce because the crops have failed. This may be due to poor rainfall or some other natural disaster. The first recorded experience of famine in the Scriptures happened during the life of Abraham. For him it was a time of testing. It occurred in the early years of his settling in the land of Canaan.

   At that time there was a severe famine in the land, so Abraham went down to Egypt to wait it out. (Genesis 12:10).

Abraham’s son Isaac, like his father, also found his faith tested during a time of famine.

   Now a severe famine struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived. (Genesis 26:1).

We read how a later famine brought about major changes for the members of Elimelech’s family.

   In the days when judges ruled in Israel, a man from Bethlehem in Judah left the country because of a severe famine. He took his wife and two sons and went to live in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. (Ruth 1:1-2a).

David had to deal with the ravages of famine. “There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted three years, so David asked the LORD about it.” (2 Samuel 21:1a).

Elijah ministered to his people during several years of drought. “After many months passed, in the third year of the drought, the LORD said to Elijah, ‘Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain.’ So Elijah went to appear before Ahab. Meanwhile the famine had become very severe in Samaria.” (1 Kings 18:1-2).

Elisha witnessed a number of miracles during a time of famine. Here is the story of one of them.

   “Elisha returned to Gilgal, but there was famine in the land … One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, ‘Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat.’

   ‘What?’ his servant exclaimed. ‘Feed one hundred people with only this?’

   But Elisha repeated, ‘Give it to the group of prophets so they can eat, for the LORD says there will be plenty for all. There will even be some left over!’ And sure enough, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised.” (2 Kings 4:38a, 42-44).

Famines have occurred throughout history. Encyclopædia Britannica[1] lists over fifty major famines that have occurred between BC 3500 and AD 1985. Of the famine in Central and Western Europe during the years 1315-1317, Britannica makes these notes: “Caused by excessive rain in the spring and summer of 1315. Deaths from starvation and disease may have been 10% over a wide area.” Of the famine in North China between 1876-1879, “Drought for three years. Children sold. Cannibalism. Estimated deaths—nine to thirteen million.” In the Sahel, Eastern and Southern Africa, 1983-1985, “Prolonged drought beginning in he late 1970’s; twenty two million people endangered in as many as twenty two countries, according to UN agencies, though numbers and degree of malnourishment or starvation fluctuated. Cattle and crops afflicted as well.”

GOD’S PURPOSE IN ALLOWING FAMINES

The lack of rain or too much rain, hail, thunderstorms, crop failure, or hungry locusts can all bring on famine conditions. The Lord allows these natural phenomena to run their course in order that people may come to understand how dependent they really are on him. This was revealed to Solomon on an occasion when he may have been thinking how self sufficient he was.

   “So Solomon finished building the Temple of the LORD, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do. Then one night the LORD appeared to Solomon and said, ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this temple as the place for making sacrifices. At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or I might command locusts to devour your crops, or I might send plagues among you.

   Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sins and heal their land.’ ” (2 Chronicles 7:11-14).

God’s purpose in sending famine may also be as a warning of judgements yet to come. Speaking to his disciples, Jesus said …

   “Don’t let anyone mislead you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will lead many astray. And wars will break out near and far, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won’t follow immediately. The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come.” (Matthew 24:4-8).

FAMINE OF ANOTHER KIND

The natural disaster of famine pictures the spiritual famine that has spread across the world.

   “The time is surely coming,” says the LORD, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger everywhere from sea to sea, searching for the word of the LORD, running here and going there, but they will not find it. Beautiful girls and fine young men will grow faint and weary, thirsting for the LORD’s word.” (Amos 8:11-14).

Spiritual famine follows the rejection of God’s truth. The acceptance of a lie, is an attempt to fill the empty space. But the space remains empty. Paul writes …

   Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of his coming. This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. So God will send a great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).

When people refuse to believe the truth, spiritual famine prevails. There is no ‘bread of life’ to eat, no ‘water of life’ to drink. Only ‘dried up springs of water.’[2]

JOSEPH AND THE FAMINE IN EGYPT

When famine spread across Egypt and surrounding countries the Lord was not taken by surprise. He had someone ready to help in just that situation. We find that person in prison of all places. When all the magicians and wise men of Egypt were unable to interpret some worrying dreams the Egyptian ruler had been having, Joseph was called in to see if he could explain them. Pharaoh had heard that he might be just the person who could do it. And so we hear Joseph explaining to the king …

   “Both dreams mean the same thing,” Joseph told Pharaoh. “God was telling you what he is about to do. The seven fat cows and the seven plump heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. The seven thin, ugly cows and the seven withered heads of grain represent seven years of famine. This will happen just as I have described it, for God has shown you what he is about to do. The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt. But afterwards there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten and wiped out. Famine will destroy the land. This famine will be so terrible that even the memory of the good years will be erased. As for having the dream twice, it means that the matter has been decreed by God and that he will make these events happen soon.

  My suggestion is that you find the wisest man in Egypt and put him in charge of a nation wide program. Let Pharaoh appoint officials over the land, and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. Have them gather all the food and grain of these good years into the royal storehouses, and store it away so there will be food in the cities. That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come. Otherwise disaster will surely strike the land, and the people will die.” (Genesis 41:25-36).

John Thompson[3] tells us about those times …

   We have a great deal of information about the families in Egypt. Years of drought and bad harvests are well attested in Pharaoh’s domain. There is evidence of a seven year famine. The famous King Zoser (about 2700 B.C.) once sent a message to the governor of one region down the Nile. Here are his words:

   “I am very much concerned about the people in the palace. My heart is heavy over the calamitous failure of the Nile floods for the past seven years. There is little fruit; vegetables are in short supply; there is a shortage of food generally.”

It may not be stretching the imagination too far to suggest that Joseph’s plan may well have been adopted as the way to survive anticipated famines. For, as Thompson[4] continues ...

   That great granaries were built and that steps were taken to appoint officers to control the storing and the issue of food for this great land is now well established. The message of the Pharaoh Zoser tells of the storehouses. However, in that case he sadly reported,

“…the storehouses have been opened, but everything that was in them has been consumed.”

   The instructions outlined in the Bible in Genesis 41:33-36 and 47-49 are therefore quite in keeping with what we now know of Egyptian practice.

On hearing the explanation of his dreams, the Pharaoh then called in his advisers to discuss what to do. They decided that Joseph himself was just the person to put the plan into effect.

   Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his advisers. As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, “Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the spirit of God.”

   Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the land! I hereby appoint you to direct this project. You will manage my household and organise all my people. Only I will have a rank higher than yours.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:37-41).

And so it was that Joseph found himself directing a famine relief  program in Egypt. He was deputy leader of the country. Like Esther he had been “elevated to the palace for just such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14).

How was Joseph prepared for such a role? We will learn about the education God planned for him in Lesson 2.