Famine

 In years past Abraham went to Egypt to sojourn there by reason of a famine that was  in his land. He had to go to a heathen country to seek refuge and be fed there for a time. Years later his prosperity would also seek refuge in Egypt, a heathen land, by reason of a famine that affected the whole world at that time. While I'm itching to write a comparison between these two incidents, it is the latter famine I will focus on.

In Egypt, Pharaoh had a dream where he saw 7 fat cows and 7 thin cows. As he looked, the 7 thin cows swallowed up the 7 fat cows. Again he saw 7 ears of corn that were good and 7 ears of corn that were thin. As he looked, the 7 thin ears of corn devoured the 7 good ears of corn. Joseph, because he had interpreted the dreams of the baker and the cupbearer in prison two years prior (See Genesis 40), was summoned to interpret the dream for Pharoah, and God showed him the interpretation. The two dreams that Pharoah had are one and the same. The meaning of them was that there would be 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. Joseph advised the king that he should appoint a wise man who would be in charge of storing up food during the 7 years of plenty so that there would be food during the 7 years of famine. (Read full story in Genesis 41). According to Genesis 41:35, 36 this food was to be gathered up IN THE CITIES and would be stored there for the time of the famine.  Subsequently, Joseph is appointed to take up this position.

He begins his work and has storehouses built all over Egypt and he gathered of the plentious harvests within and without the cities until he could no longer count how much food was gathered, it was so much. Soon the 7 years of plenty were over and the famine began. Here is where things get interesting:

Famine hits the land of Egypt and they go to Pharoah for food and he tells them to go to Joseph. In Genesis 41:56,57 it says "And 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. And ALL COUNTRIES CAME INTO EGYPT TO JOSEPH FOR TO BUY CORN; BECAUSE THAT THE FAMINE WAS SORE IN ALL THE LANDS." The famine was in ALL the lands, in ALL the countries. None escaped! It gets more interesting:

Fast forward to Genesis chapter 47. In verse  13 it tells us there was no bread (food) left in the land because the famine was very sore that all in Egypt and Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. By this I see that the famine affected EVERYONE whether you're an unbeliever (Egypt) or a believer (Canaan). It did not discriminate. Notice what happens next: In verse 14 Joseph collects ALL the money he collected from Egypt and Canaan for all the food that was bought from him and he took it to Pharoah (who was seen as both a stately authority as king as well as a god on earth i.e. unification of church and state). In verse 15 we are told that all the money ran out both in Egypt and in Canaan and the Egyptians cried out to Joseph for bread telling him that they are out of money. In verse 16 Joseph tells them if you have no money then give me your cattle in exchange for bread (food). But notice that in verse 17 it didn't end with just their cattle. For that year the people received their food by giving Joseph their herd of cattle as well as their horses, donkies and all their flocks in exchange for it. So now they have no money and they have no livestock! But it doesn't end there:

In verse 18 we read the following: "When the year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, BUT OUR BODIES, AND OUR LANDS:" So they were willing to give up their bodies and their lands in exchange for food! Notice what they say to Joseph in verse 19: "Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? BUY US AND OUR LAND FOR BREAD, AND WE AND OUR LAND WILL BE SERVANTS UNTO PHAROAH: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate." In verse 20 we are given a most horrifying account which says: "And Joseph BOUGHT ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT FOR PHAROAH; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharoah's." If you think this is bad, notice what he does with the people! Verse 21 says "And as for the people, HE REMOVED THEM TO CITIES from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof."
Interestingly, Pharoah's priests did not have to sell their land which Pharoah apportioned to them and they ate of the bread which Pharoah gave to them (verse 22). We also see that during the famine Joseph's family moved to Egypt and through Joseph they were given a piece of land outside the city in the countryside, in a place called Goshen, and, by virtue of their connection to Joseph, their bread was sure.

In verses 23-26 Joseph tells the people that he has now bought them and their lands for Pharoah. He gives them seed to sow and tells them a fifth of it will be for Pharoah and four parts will be for them to eat with their families and to sow back to the fields.

I have read this story so many times but it was just a story. A historical account of what has been. These past few weeks this story has been on my mind and I felt impressed to go through it again. When I read this in light of what is currently taking place in the world, it just blew my mind! This story of the famine in Egypt is a prophetic parallel of what is to take place globally in our current time! I don't have exact knowledge of the intricacies of how and when it will happen, but I am sure that it will happen, and I pray that God, in His mercy, will shorten the time. Everything that happened in days of old will be our experience today.

For the past couple of months I have been hearing of famines that are ravaging some countries around the world. Even in our country we are experiencing a drought, there is no water and therefore famine will soon follow. I kept thinking about how our water situation was pre-empted or if we were being warned about it. I remembered adverts telling us how WW3 would not be like the other wars but be a war over water. While God warned Pharoah about the famine that was to come, I couldn't help but think whether this famine that we are about to experience is natural or caused by those who have an evil agenda. A famine is coming and it will affect the entire world.

With the Covid lockdowns so many businesses have closed down and millions of people are without jobs. These numbers of closures and job losses are, sadly, going to increase until the majority of the world's population are desolate. Just as it happened in Egypt all those years ago, people are going to be without food. They will buy food wherever it is stored up but as their pockets become empty they will have nothing to buy with. People will sell what they have; their herds, their flocks and eventually their lands. If there's no water to keep up their farms, what's he point of having them when they are hungry? People will give up everything just to put food on the table for their families.

Interestingly enough, I came across something that was written on the World Economic Forum's instagram page where they said "Own nothing by 2030". It could well be that their vision will come to fruition. I saw a video that said that the governments of the world are to move to a system where they offer to pay off people's debts but then they would own nothing. Everything would be given to the state and that the people would also belong to the state as they are indebted to the state so they are not their own. They would then work for the state and receive a type of stipend. This was dismissed as a conspiracy theory, but after having read this story of Joseph, my thoughts are that if it happened before, it can happen again.

A deep concern is that the people in Egypt also sold their bodies. When you give your body up it can be used for anything. Like experiments maybe? What experiments are currently taking place on people's bodies just so that they can get food? If you don't allow your body to be experimented on then ultimately you cannot get food. And notice that it is the people who came to Joseph and gave their bodies, just like people today are giving their bodies for bread. There are those who did not want to be experimented on but because bread would be withdrawn from them they gave their bodies in exchange for bread. There are those who'd rather endure hunger than give their bodies up, but these will suffer persecution by virtue of their decisions. And now the people, with no money, no land and not even having charge over themselves, gave themselves over to the mercy of the state. They were given seed but it wasn't theirs, it belonged to Pharoah. They sowed for Pharoah and reaped for Pharoah. They and their families could eat, but only what was aportioned to them. Suddenly the so-called conspiracy of belonging to the state and owning nothing and receiving only a stipend or living allowance, which you have to use as stipulated, doesn't sound so far off.

The Egyptians were moved from their land into cities all over the relm of Egypt. This is EXACTLY what's going to happen in our day. People are already crowded in the cities but the aim is to move EVERYONE into cities all over. Presidents around the globe, including ours, are talking about building smart cities. They want their populace to live in these cities. They are selling it to the people as something good like how convenient they will be and all the technological advances that will be therein. The rollout of 5g is paramount to the smooth running of these cities. We in South Africa may be slow in rolling out these plans but it's happening in other parts of the world. Have you thought about these smart cities? Are they really for our good and our convenience?

In line of giving up our bodies for bread, I came across a video of a certain doctor who attended a business owners' meeting and this doctor shared the plans that were discussed in that meeting. The plans are that using the current medical experiments (which I cannot name because speaking about them in any light contrary to mainstream media is deamed fake news and I don't want to be a spreader of fake news) certain technologies are injected into human beings thus giving them a digital identity. Said human beings will be forced to live in these smart cities (that's where work will be available for them) and because of the technologies now in them they become a commodity. There is no cash money system anymore, in this new world order only crypto currency is used. Through the technology in the human, everything is monitored; what you do, who you're with, what you eat, where you go, and even what you think! Based on whether you're "good" or "bad" you accumulate or forfeit points which you use to buy or sell. Basically, do as you're told or else. Of course this was also dismissed as a conspiracy theory so... But we all know that a certain tech giant (whose name I won't mention) has a patent for a digital ID system that does just what is described by this doctor. You can decide what you think of it but all I know is that according to Genesis 47:21 all the people were forced to move to the cities.

I will write about the issue of Pharoah in another article. All you need to know right now is that as Pharoah was a king (state) and also viewed as a type of god (church)so it shall be in our time that a system that is both a church and a state will control ALL the wealth of the world and ALL the people of the world. It may seem impossible but it will happen. But that for another time.

There were two groups whose bread was sure: Pharoah's priests and Joseph's family. Neither group had to sell their land. One group because they did the biddings of Pharoah and the other group because they followed God the Creator. There will be a remnant of the people who fall under this latter group. They live outside of the cities in the country, just as Goshen was in the country. God will take care of them and feed them just as Joseph took care of his family and fed them. While there was famine, their bread was sure. If we want to be in this group we need to have an unshakable trust in God. We need to be obedient to Him, come what may, and He will take care of us. Nothing should separate us from Him, not even hunger. In the end we will ALL have to choose. Will we do the biddings of God or the biddings of Pharoah? Each person will have to choose for themselves.

All over the news we have been hearing about food shortages, and talks about food insecurity, not just in South Africa, but all over the world. A famine is coming. Food prices are going to skyrocket. Wherever possible please grow your own food. Use all the space you have, every single corner, every single wall, everything. Just grow food. If you can move away from the cities and go to a country dwelling, please do that.

But a time will come where you will have no money to buy food. You will sell/give up your possessions and even your bodies for food. But if you're growing your own food, especially if you're in the country, the impact won't hit you as much as in the cities. We are going to be faced with such hard decisions to make but this is just the beginning of sorrows according to Matthew 24:7,8.

I want to encourage you that all these things are a sign of the soon return of Jesus Christ. He is faithful and true. He will take care of you. Trust Him. Trust Him. Trust Him. Let us pray for each other that we will overcome all that is coming our way. Seek to obey His every word. May God be with us all. May we be faithful to Him until the end. May we be able to stand.


  

Why Sabbath?

 I read somewhere that Pastor John N. Andrews once said "It is right to worship God in any day, but it is imperative duty that the seventh day should be observed as a memorial of the creation of the heavens and the earth." It may seem immaterial as to when a person worships, as long as they worship, but I would argue otherwise. 

These days, when celebrating their birthdays, people will often say that it's their birthday month, and therefore they will celebrate their birthday for that entire month. Be that as it may, if on their actual birth day there was no celebration of any sort, it would, in their minds, nullify all the other days in which they celebrated. They may try to console themselves that at least they celebrated on the other days, but because it wasn't on their particular special day, it's just not the same.

Perhaps you're called for an interview on a specified day and time, but you feel you will perform better the next day, so you don't show up to your interview until a day later. It doesn't matter what your qualifications are, how good your CV looks or how well spoken you are; if you miss your interview appointment, that's it... you've missed it, and it's rare to be given another opportunity for an interview unless your circumstances are extremely peculiar.

Consider a memorial day. Here in South Africa we have many: Youth Day, Freedom Day, Heritage Day, Women's Day, etc. Would it not be appropriate to hold a memorial on the exact date of the event being memorialized? We can certainly discuss these events on any given day but would the memorial have the same effect or make any impact if it were kept on any other day but the particularly significant one? I think not.

In like manner, God has given us a memorial day to  keep each week in remembrance of creation, the work that He had made. This day is to constantly bring our minds to God who in six literal days created the heaven and the earth and all that in them is and then rested on the seventh day from all the work that He had made. When He rested on the seventh day He blessed the day and made it holy. Genesis 2:1-4. Having set this day aside for a holy purpose, He calls us to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Exodus 20: 8. The remeberance of the Sabbath day is the fourth of God's ten commandments. Just like any monarch would have a seal, this commandment is the seal of God as it has His name, His title, and His dominion, and it is on this day that all humanity is called to show their allegiance to their Creator. There is only one Sabbath day, not many. While it is good to worship God everyday, any day, it is essential to worship Him on the seventh day Sabbath as that is His requirement of us. While we may choose to worship on other days, that worship cannot stand in place of the Sabbath because no other day was blessed and sanctified, except the seventh day Sabbath.

Myriads of people claim that the Sabbath is for the Jews alone but before there ever was a Jew, there was the Sabbath. The Sabbath was instituted at creation and God gave it as a blessing to the entire human race. This is a special day where we can set aside our work, our trials and troubles and dedicate an entire day to worshipping God and being in service for Him. We can have our burdens lifted and our beings renewed just by keeping the Sabbath. We can have perfect rest. "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."  Mark 2:27. This special day was made for us and given that we may rest from toiling during the week. Imagine what a huge difference it would make in our lives and and in the world around us if we all kept the Sabbath.

Some argue that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday because Jesus resurrected on Sunday and so they want to memorialize the resurrection. While this may seem noble and while we are to rejoice for the resurrection of Jesus, He Himself made no such call to change His immutable law in order to remember His resurrection. This was a decision made by humans, not God. In fact, God's law still stands to this day that we are to keep the seventh day Sabbath. Jesus Himself, even in death, kept the Sabbath. He died on preparation day (Friday) Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54 and it clearly says that the Sabbath was drawing on and so the women went and saw where Christ's body was laid and they "returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. They rested, and Jesus, even in His death, rested and kept the commandment. He resurrected on Sunday, the first day of the week. Luke 24:1-4. Even after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the disciples kept the Sabbath and called for all to keep the Sabbath. Why then do people insist on keeping Sunday as the sabbath when they are not called to do so? If God's law is so important that Jesus had to die on the cross in our stead because we broke it, why would an exception be made for this one law when all the other laws remain in tact? I argue that the law regarding the Sabbath still stands and is still binding on all humanity.

Soon, very soon, there will come a call from world leaders to keep a sabbath universally. This is a spurious sabbath and is not the Biblical Sabbath ordained by God. This sabbath is in fact the first day of the week. Given what the world experienced during the covid-19 lockdowns, we were shown numerous images of how the environment thrived when we were under lockdown. It was clean, and it was quiet. A rare sight to behold. I believe that in light of "not letting a pandemic to to waste", initially a call will be made to keep one day every week as a lockdown in order to reduce our carbon footprint, thereby helping the ecosystem to have one day a week to recover as we saw the results of what happened when we were on hard lockdowns around the world. The day chosen will be Sunday, and all will adhere to this lockdown in a bid to crack down on climate change. However, as natural disasters rapidly increase on planet earth, it will be pronounced that all these things are happening because we have all forsaken God. There will be a call to return to worshipping God, and again a day will be chosen to do so. Since Sunday was already being used as a weekly lockdown, it will now be used as a day of universal worship, a sabbath, and those who refuse to worship on that day will be severely punished. With the term "ecocide" already being coined, those who refuse to worship on Sunday will be blamed for all the natural disasters taking place all around the world, and they will be accused of perpetuating global warming because they refuse to join in the fight against climate change and are therefore causing God's fury to fall on us by way of natural disasters.

But how will all people of all religions worship under one banner and on one day? The ecumenical movement has paved the way for this as all religions set aside doctrinal beliefs that pull us apart and rather come together on common points of doctrine. And since its conception will be irreligious at first (i.e. climate change/saving the planet), by the time it becomes religious people will either be too invested or too deceived or too afraid to do otherwise.

What about Biblical Sabbath keepers who keep the seventh day Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday Sabbath)? These will, because of their inability to buy or sell unless they worship on the spurious sabbath, and because of fear of severe punishment if they do not worship, abandon the true Sabbath and leave the ranks of those who choose to worship on the true Sabbath. There will, however, be a small remnant which will remain faithful to God and His sanctified day of worship. Whether hardship, scorn or even death befalls them, they will not be shaken. They will stay true to God and keep His commandments, including the fourth commandment.

"The Sabbath will be the greatest test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator." The Great Controversy pg 605 paragraph 2.

Ezekiel 20:12 says "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them." And Ezekiel 20:20 says "And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God." We may all have forgotten the Sabbath commandment but God calls us to remember. "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11.

"It is right to worship God in any day, but it is imperative duty that the seventh day should be observed as a memorial of the creation of the heavens and the earth." Pastor John N. Andrews. In the end we will all be left with a decision to make: will we keep the commandments of God and worship Him on His alloted day, or will we keep the commandments of men and worship on the false sabbath? The choice is ours, and our eternal destinies rest on the choice we make. I pray we may all make the right choice.