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A Note On Preparation
Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/13-prepare-ef.mp3
Surviving Ezekiel's Fire will be a challenge, but such things are not difficult for God. And, there is much that we can do to improve our chances of surviving so that we can continue to serve God. And yes, I truly believe that God requires us to take steps to prepare for catastrophe. And, there are a few things that might help, if you can do them:
Devote Your Life To Serving God - I don't know why anyone would expect God to rescue them from calamity, if they weren't willing to serve Him. God didn't send His Only Son to suffer and die for us so that we would be Christians just once a week.
Find Good Neighbors - The biggest threat to your safety will always be those who live closest to you. If you cannot trust your neighbors when everything falls apart, it's time to get new ones. And yes, that means moving.
Escape the City - Few buildings - if any - will survive. So, do not expect ANY city to survive. Those city dwellers who survive the earthquakes will most likely die from violence, thirst, starvation and disease.
Live Near Food And Water - Electricity will not work. Nor will transportation. So, if you do not have easy access to water and good farmland, you'll die of thirst and starvation.
Prepare To Help Others - The Light of Christ shines brightest during the darkest times. If you are serious about being a follower of Jesus Christ, this moment will be a wonderful opportunity to show what it means to be a Christian. Remember that we do not stop being Christians when disaster strikes.
Expect Good Things - The hardest preparation of all will be the challenge of looking forward to the good that will come out of this. I struggle with this myself, but I know that there will goodness in the midst of this awful time. If nothing else, we will rejoice that the Children of Jacob have Returned to their Lord and Savior.
I'm no expert on preparation, and that isn't a comprehensive list. There are many who would make that list longer, but I think that those are some pretty good ideas to start out with. However, there are some details that you should pay attention to.
Devote Your Life To Serving God
I will never understand why a Christian would know that Jesus suffered and died for them, yet only practice their faith on Sundays. I'm not saying that you need to volunteer for the mission field or teach Sunday School. But, I am saying that every day of your life should be dedicated to God - at work, at home and everywhere else.
Can you...
...forgive and seek the blessing for those who have done terrible things to you?
...share the gospel with those who do not deserve it, especially when it could cost you everything?
...love God more than anything or anyone on this planet?
...obey God, no matter the cost?
Those are hard, so you might need start with this.
Can you...
...read your Bible?
And no, I do not mean a couple psalms and a proverb. I mean all of the Bible. Cover-to-cover. All year. Every year. Over and over and over. It takes just about 71 hours to read all of your Bible. That's less than 15 minutes a day. That's such a small amount of time that I'd be embarrassed to admit that this would be a burden.
How can a Christian find it hard to spend just 15 minutes a day reading the precious words of God?
Jesus suffered terribly for our sins and gave His life on the cross. He received the punishment that we were supposed to get, yet some of us are so ungrateful that we can barely open our Bible on a Sunday.
There's a verse in Hosea that seems to fit our moment in time:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
- Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
It is time to fix our lack of knowledge by reading the Bible. And, the easiest way to do that is with the One Year Bible. And, if reading is too difficult - and for some, it is - there are free audio versions of the Bible that you can download and listen to. It is so easy to get started, that it would be criminal not to.
Just remember this, that you cannot expect God to preserve you in the dark days ahead, if you have not submitted to God with all your heart. Because our churches are full of wickedness and disobedience, judgment is coming for us. Yes, there will be punishment for those outside the Body of Christ, but the Lord always starts with His own people who have sinned against Him.
Oh, and one more thing:
We do not stop being Christians when disaster strikes.
In fact, our job isn't to survive. Our job is to continue serving God to the best of our ability, even if it means dying. Remember this verse about how we have victory over Satan:
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
- Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)
Our job is to follow Christ. He is our life, so we should not hesitate to give ours - if that is what we are called to do. In fact, you might want to think of it this way:
We should be more afraid of disobeying God, than suffering Ezekiel's Fire.
There is very little that scares me, but I can tell you that I am truly afraid of disobeying God. It doesn't mean that I'm good at obedience to God, but it does mean that I do my best. And, I hope that this is as true for you, as it is for me. Fear isn't our guiding principle, but it does help to keep us from going against what God wishes for us.
We love God, but we also need to fear Him.
So, as you prepare for the worst, make sure that you are doing so to serve God, not to prolong a worthless life.
Find Good Neighbors
Once you have your spiritual life on track, it's time to think about the most dangerous threat that you will face, immediately after Ezekiel's Fire occurs:
You neighbors.
As long as Joe Sixpack next door has a steady supply of Budweiser, he probably won't be much of a threat. It's only when he can't get enough food to eat, that he'll come for what you have. And, it won't matter how good you've been to him in the past. He'll still come and take what you have, and anything else of value - including your life.
When Ezekiel's Fire hits, law and order will disappear, and when food and water cease to be available, law and order will disappear faster. Members of the police will retreat to their homes and communities to defend them from the rampaging Joe Sixpacks. Those communities that do not have police officers living among them, will need to quickly organize their own security forces. Those who do not act fast enough will disintegrate completely in an orgy of violence, murder and mayhem.
Take the example of the Siege of Sarajevo. It was a modern, prosperous city one day. The next day, it was destruction and death. Suddenly, people without any survival skills were forced to learn them the hard way. Those without family and friends died quickly. Neighborhoods that did not pull together, also died quickly. Death became routine. Life was cheap, and ammunition was expensive. Mothers sold themselves for cans of food to feed their starving children. Water became undrinkable. And, the only food that anyone could get, came from supply drops via airplane.
Unfortunately, when Ezekiel's Fire happens, you won't get any of those 'supply drops'. No one on the 'outside' will be there to help you through your hell on earth. You and all you care about will be alone in a sea of violence, destruction and death unless you have neighbors who will stand with you - that you can depend upon to watch your back, as you watch theirs.
If you remain unconvinced, read what Selco Begovic says about what the Seige of Sarajevo was like, and the lessons that he shares:
Category Archives for Selco
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/category/preppers/selco/
SELCO: The Brutal Truth About Violence When the SHTF
https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/selco-the-brutal-truth-about-violence-when-the-shtf
The Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival: The Brutal Truth About Violence, Death, & Mayhem You Must Know to Survive
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Secrets-SHTF-Survival-Violence-ebook/dp/B087N92QDT
SHTF School
https://shtfschool.com/
Now, I'm not advocating that you take his advice. As followers of Christ, there are limits to what we are allowed to do, to save our own lives. But, what I want you to do is learn what it took to survive, and make sure that you never, ever have to be in that situation. Or, if you know that you will be in such a situation, that you are willing to die rather than sin against God.
Here, let me make the point more clear:
When the choice is between sin and death, our job as Christians is to die.
There literally can be no question about this. None. We are required by God to sacrifice ANYTHING to avoid sin. This means preparing ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically before any Stuff Hits The Fan (SHTF). We will all stand before God one day, and answer for what we chose not to do, that led us to the sins that we chose to commit.
Oh, and just in case you think that our dear leaders will ride to the rescue:
The US government has its own plans for personal survival, and you aren't included.
All 'Continuity Of Government' (COG) plans are for their own survival. Once the dust settles, they'll come out of their holes to try and resume their control over your life. And if they succeed, it will be a far more brutal tyranny than anything that we have ever seen. But, that's for a different kind of discussion.
Moral Leadership
So, let's say that you positioned yourself properly. Good location. Good neighbors. Strong community...
...are you ready to help refugees?
Unfortunately, those communities that organize quickly will soon suffer a deluge of refugees fleeing the violence of their neighborhoods. Food will quickly disappear and the local leadership will be faced with tough moral choices. Moral leadership will be slow to resort to violence against those in search of food. Immoral leadership will quickly choose to take what you have by force, along with the lives of any who resist. And, the kind of leadership a community has will depend on how moral it is.
And yes, immoral leaders can make moral judgments, if a moral community forces them to.
Oh, and morality has everything to do with the faith in and fear of God. Without God, there can be no true morality. Without God, leadership will always do what is best for themselves, and not for the community. So, think carefully about the morality of the community in which you live.
For those living in the US, states in the Bible Belt will offer a greater chance of finding a community with stronger codes of morality:
North and South Carolina have the most religious cities, but Mississippi is the most religious state. But, finding a good church that won't fall apart when catastrophe hits, will be your most important consideration. And no, there aren't a lot of those, and there are fewer and fewer of them every year.
Remember that part of the reason why all of this is happening, is precisely due to the corruption in our churches. We have sinned before God, and it is only right that we suffer for that.
Escape The City
If you think carefully about what I've written in this book, it should be clear that this will be a judgment upon cities. They are the places with the highest concentration of evil. They are also the foundation of wealth and world power. Destroying the cities will be the deadly wound that will kill the Beast System. Only when the Antichrist arises, will The Beast revive.
Cities will also be where most of the death and destruction happens. Those who are not killed by falling buildings, will die of violence, thirst, starvation and disease. Those who flee the cities in search of safety, water and food, will run right into those communities that have organized themselves to keep them from getting it.
Think of this wave of refugees as something like a zombie apocalypse. In fact, advanced starvation will create the kinds of behaviors depicted in zombie apocalypse thrillers. And, these refugees will flee outwards along highways and roads looking for anything that would help them and their children survive. And, there will be nothing that they will not do for survival. And, if you are caught in a city when Ezekiel's Fire happens, there is not much chance that you will live through it.
If you live just outside of a city, you will still be in grave danger because refugees will loot and pillage each town and village they come to. This will add more refugees to the swarm moving towards you. The only thing that will stop them is physical distance, geographical obstructions and the weather. In the north, the first winter will kill anyone who hasn't found shelter. Rivers and mountains will also act as barriers. But, the most dependable safety measure of all will be distance.
The farther away from a city you are, the safer you will be. And years ago, Ken Jorgustin of modernsurvivalblog.com created an excellent map showing the most dangerous areas to be when cities collapse:
Danger Zones in the US
In the above image, it’s difficult to see the danger zones properly, so be sure to take a good hard look at the full size image, here:
https://www.ezekielsfire.com/images/300-mile-danger-zones-usa.jpg
That image comes from this excellent article:
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/retreat-living/safer-survival-distance-from-usa-city-hordes/
And, he has a companion article here:
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/retreat-living/survival-retreat-population-density/
Now, Ken made that image based upon the average range of most civilian vehicles. Should there be any vehicles that still run, they probably wouldn't get farther than the 150 mile mark. Those on foot will usually walk at a rate of 3 miles per hour and probably get no farther than 25 miles in a day - especially those in poor health. So, it would take six days for a normal city dweller to walk 150 miles.
Would you still be safe, 75 miles from a city?
Probably.
Just remember that our goal would be to try and avoid killing people who are doing their best to survive. And, I consider this kind of cold-blooded calculation to be absolutely horrifying. It makes me sick to think that we would need to stay as far away from people in such desperate need, so that they would not threaten us as they die. But, I don't know how to help people who have placed themselves in such a terrible situation - other than to do our best to provide as much food and water as we can.
I don't want ANYONE to choose to suffer and die.
But, I can't stop people from making this decision.
Again, remember the most important point. Our job in this life is not survival, but serving God. If God called you to serve Him in a big city, that's what you must do. But, it might be good to have a place to get to, when you see Gog and Magog about to invade Israel.
Live Near Food And Water
Okay, so now that you understand the need for security, you still have a problem - if you don't have access to food and water. Dying of thirst or starvation is a bad way to go. This means living near surface water, or a well that is shallow enough to be manually pumped. It also means living near farms that don't require irrigation or industrial fertilizers. Also agricultural areas will need all the help that they can get to keep producing food, so they might be glad to have you around. When the tractors no longer work, things need to be done by hand.
This lack of tractors is going to be a worldwide killer. Those who did not die by earthquakes, thirst or starvation, would still die when farmers can't use their tractors to plant and harvest what the world needs. The only thing that can replace the tractor is the horse-drawn plow and harvester. And, we don't have many of those right now, which means that it will take a while to switch over.
However, this question might have been answered by the time that we get to this point. I believe that Seal Three (Revelation 6:5-6) happens due to a lack of fuel for tractors and natural gas to manufacture fertilizer. An oil crisis is coming as global oil production collapses, as has been predicted by petroleum geologists. The only debate on this issue is the timing. And, without oil and other hydrocarbons, it will be very expensive to run farm tractors, and our ability to make fertilizer will collapse along with oil.
For those who who don't know how the cost of fuel would drive up the price of fertilizer, take a moment to read up on how fertilizer is made:
How Fertilizers Are Made
https://www.fertilizerseurope.com/fertilizers-in-europe/how-fertilizers-are-made/
How Products Are Made: Fertilizer
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Fertilizer.html
Those are extremely good summaries of the process, and it shows how much oil and natural gas are needed to make it. The nitrogen component of fertilizer requires natural gas. Phosphorus is obtained by mining phosphate rock, which requires oil-based fuel to mine and transport. And, almost all of America's potassium comes from potash mined in Canada, which also requires oil-based fuel to mine and transport. And, without Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, you literally cannot have fertilizer. And without fertilizer, the amount of food that we can grow will collapse.
This is why the cost of food will become so very expensive that you will work all day for barely enough to eat - Seal Three. To put it another way, the invention and industrial production of fertilizer was the key to why the world's population grew from two billion in 1927 to almost eight billion today. Fertilizer manufacturing and oil powered farm tractors were the number one reason why we have been able to feed so many people. When manufactured fertilizer and the tractor go away, at least five billion people will die.
The only question is when these five billion die.
Unfortunately, as I update this book, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has actually provided something of an answer. The dying begins this year, and some are projecting that a billion people will die from famine over the coming years. And, I think that this is more than a little optimistic.
Nature and history tell us that populations of anything - deer, rabbits, wolves, people etc. - always overshoot the carrying capacity of the area in which they live, if given the chance. And in the same manner, die-offs also always overshoot. Whole areas of the world will be depopulated as billions die of violence and starvation.
Remember that Seal One is conquest, Seal Two is global violence, and Seal Three is famine. And, as a final blow, Seal Four will bring death.
So, don't wait for the coming of Gog and Magog before relocating to a place that has naturally abundant food and water.
Just make sure that your purpose in relocating is to serve God. If God has put you in a certain place, for a specific reason, you are not allowed to leave until that purpose has been fulfilled.
Prepare To Help Others
As a Christian, you should already understand that helping others is at the core of who we are. It is literally impossible to be a Christian and not seek to be a blessing to everyone you meet. It doesn't always mean that you CAN be a blessing, but you will want to be.
So, preparing for this catastrophe also means preparing to be God's blessing to those who survive. If you prepare only for yourself, then I would have to wonder at where you will wind up, after this life is over. Think of this as a test of whether you really are a true follower of Christ. He sacrificed His life for you, and He has asked you to do the same for others.
How else will people know that you have the gospel of salvation?
Our job on this earth is to reflect the light of Christ into a dark and dying world. And, as these great catastrophes roll down upon us, this will be our chance to not just share who Jesus is, but to demonstrate it in ways that they cannot ignore.
Can there be a more powerful demonstration of faith and truth, than to save the physical lives of those who are dying and pointing them to the way of eternal life?
Seriously, think that through. 99.99% of all 'prepper' websites preach the purest form of selfishness. They tell you to prepare for yourself and your family, with a few 'extra' bags of rice for those who didn't. If that's you, a spiritual heart transplant is needed because the one that you have is dead.
This will be the most desperate time in four millennia. It will be our job to do something about that, if it isn't already too late.
Expect Good Things
Because of how many will suffer and die, it's hard to think about the good that will come of this. I certainly struggle with this myself, so this is as much an admonition for me as it is for you.
Good things will happen. Souls will be saved for eternity. The Body of Christ will be purified from the wickedness in our midst. The foul and evil sins that have taken over our world will be pushed back. The Light of Christ will shine brightly, and you will have a part of that - if you prepare for it.
Remember that your life is absolutely meaningless, if it isn't about serving God. It's our purpose and our mission. We are nothing without it. And in the immortal words of Christ to Peter:
15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep."
- John 21:15-17 (NKJV)
If you love Jesus, you will seek His sheep and feed them. And, I know of one place where you will be guaranteed to find them:
The Land of Israel.
Millions of Israeli Jews will come to Christ when Gog and Magog comes and the Sixth Seal is opened. Yes, two thirds of everyone in the Land will die, but those who survive will join themselves to our Lord and Savior.
Will there be a revival in the rest of the world?
I believe so. The Bible speaks of nations joining themselves to Christ, but we won't be able to serve in this great revival if we aren't ready for it. It is not enough for us to survive what is coming. We must thrive, so that we can proclaim the precious good news that Jesus the Son of God, died for the sins of the world, that whomsoever comes to Him can receive everlasting life.
May God bless this hope that we have.
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© 2022 John Little. All rights reserved.
May God preserve the words that are true
and cast away those that are not.