“Suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?”
—Luke 14:31
WINTER 2006, near the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan. We are headed through vast minefields on either side of the road to some of the Pashtun tribes who are badly in need of warm winter clothing and shoes. Our convoy is heavily guarded with front and aft gun trucks as we approach tribal territory. We are loaded with as many goods as we can carry. I notice children running around the mountainous area with no shoes on this bitter cold day, and my heart breaks.
We have interpreters and liaison personnel with us who have done this sort of mission many times before. This is my first one. We have been told during the pre-mission planning session to allow the liaisons to talk to the tribal chiefs first so there will be no trouble with crowds stampeding us, causing injuries or even our deaths. I take great joy knowing that our team is handing out scores of coats, blankets, shoes, pants and other items. Most of these have been donated by churches back home.
My battalion chaplain—then Captain—Scott Koeman, spent months planning this. The plan is not only to help the tribes, but to continue friendly relations with the tribal chiefs and warlords.
As I stand back and watch the scenario unfold, I cannot help but remember that we need each other’s help on this planet. It also occurs to me that if it were not for the grace of God, we, too, could be in the same situation in the future as the end times progress toward Armageddon—a tribe of people in the midst of a bloody war in need of food and clothes with no money to buy anything and no place to run.
Physical Preparation
Logistics, in the words of Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, is getting the force to the “fight at the right place and the right time.”1 The military takes seriously the need for logistical support in combat. Many armies over the centuries have gone into combat without the right equipment and supplies—and perished.
The elite and storied 82nd Airborne Division must have enough supplies on hand to sustain airborne combat operations (meaning parachuting out of airplanes into combat) for about 36 hours. After that, if no logistical support is available, its fighting capability is cut drastically. They need the three Bs: beans, bullets and Band-Aids (food, ammo and medical supplies).
Let’s put it bluntly: If you don’t have enough food, water, bullets and basic necessities, you cannot win a war.
The Germans in World War II discovered this the hard way. Its army overextended itself in its march to Stalingrad, Russia. It outpaced its own supply lines and, in the end, could not sustain its massive force, even with the German Luftwaffe (air force) dropping supplies to them from the air. The Russians eventually surrounded the Sixth Army German forces with better equipped, better fed and better clothed soldiers in the Battle of Stalingrad during the winter of 1942–1943. On January 31, 1943, Germany surrendered. Casualties were massive.
Emergency Preparedness
We have focused for most of this book on spiritual and mental preparation for the end of days. But we are human beings and have physical needs. We hunger, thirst and get tired. And you don’t have to be a genius to see that viral pandemics and natural disasters are already wreaking havoc on planet earth. We hear about hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, fires, earthquakes, storms and volcanoes. It is only prudent to have the necessities on hand.
Having an emergency preparedness kit is a must. It should include the following items:2
This list covers only the basics for a short duration. A more complete list appears in the appendix, “Prioritized Checklist for the End Times,” at the end of this book. When the Antichrist comes to power, the global economy starts to fail, nations go to war against other nations, and natural and manmade disasters strike, that is when serious prior planning will be vital to survival.
Other Considerations
It is important to note that prepping goes well beyond our own individual or family needs. God put us here to be able to help others in need, too. Some people will undertake extensive preparations for the last days. There are many things to think about in terms of the next steps in this process.
It should be noted that some people in recent years have given prepping a bad name. The kind of prepping we are referring to does not involve some anarchist desire to overthrow the government, but the type of preparation necessary for survival in the last days, so we can share with and care for each other. In the military, going to war involves a logistical plan to stock up on the right amount of food, ammunition and equipment. That logistical and prudent plan is another term for prepping.
Depending on whether you live in an urban or rural area, we recommend water resources that include filtration systems, firearms for hunting and protection, a garden, solar power generation (including generators), underground shelters, long-term food storage, money management (yes, it is wise to pay off all your debts as soon as possible), and a host of other recommendations available in the appendix of this book. These are important things to know and think about as we race toward the future.
“Number one, you should be healthy,” says Ken Dahl, former commanding general at IMCOM. He explains:
Your physical health, your mental health and your spiritual health are paramount. You can’t invest in those things when a disaster comes. It’s a little late. Here comes a forest fire. Here comes a tsunami. Here comes whatever—a pandemic. It’s too late. If you’re going to endure hardship, it’s going to stress your body and your mind, so you need to have a body and mind prepared and ready. And that is something—physical exercise, spiritual disciplines and mental conditioning—you need to do every single day. If you’re not doing that, and you’re vulnerable or weak, then you will likely succumb. It’s just that simple. So that’s what the daily investment is all about.3
Here are some scriptural admonitions about preparing:
In contrast to the last proverb—about the ant gathering food during the summer since winter is coming—some people say to themselves, Well, when it comes to it, God will supply my needs and take care of me in the midst of trouble. Our answer: What if God is using this book to tell you to prepare?
The first-century Church had to come together to distribute food:
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
Acts 6:1
We do not want to minimize what the Almighty can do. He certainly can and will intervene. But consider another proverb: “The prudent see danger and take refuge; but the simple keep going and pay the penalty” (Proverbs 22:3). And God will give us wisdom as He did for Joseph, who saved a nation by storing food during seven years of plenty prior to seven years of famine:
The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.
Genesis 41:53–57
Biblical Insights
God is aware of our physical limitations and frailties. Not all believers will survive the end times. Many will be martyred during the Great Tribulation:
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
Revelation 6:9–10
These martyrs are taken gloriously into heaven:
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. . . . Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Revelation 7:9, 13–14
Even so, we must all be prepared to endure until we are either called home through death or the Rapture—the literal taking away of the believer from the earth in an instant.
I personally believe in a pre-wrath Rapture, meaning it will happen before the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth. I also believe, however, that first we will see the rise of the Antichrist and the great rebellion against God:
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
2 Thessalonians 2:1–3
When the Rapture happens is up for debate, but it will happen in the Lord’s timing.
Sharing
We must be prepared to help the Jewish people who will be persecuted along with the Church. Just as some Germans helped and supported the Jews during World War II, we need to be there to support them, now and at the end of the age.
Some do not understand the following passage:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Matthew 25:31–40
Many apply this passage to generally helping the poor and downtrodden, but one cannot be saved or go to heaven just because they were generous. We think it is clear that our Lord is speaking about helping Jewish people (the hungry, thirsty and those in prison) in the end times. The context of the passage is the judgment of all peoples living at that time. And in the context of “the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,” I think the Lord is going to judge the nations on their treatment of Israel, the Jews, during the end times, and especially during the persecution by the Antichrist. There will be others as well who refuse the mark of the Beast and are either killed or persecuted.4
Supernatural Provision
At the same time, there are many examples in Scripture of God supernaturally taking care of His people. Elijah, one of the great warriors in the Kingdom of God, was fed supernaturally after he faced a death threat from Queen Jezebel and ran for his life:
He himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
1 Kings 19:4–8 NKJV
God gave Elijah the nutrition he needed in the middle of nowhere to sustain him for the next mission.
In the not-too-distant future, there may be times when we, too, will need that kind of divine provision to survive. So let’s take precautions now to be smart about the coming days.
You may not live in a rural place, or out in the country where you can live off the land, raise livestock and grow vegetable gardens or fields of wheat. But wherever you live, there are ways you can prepare for the future and make contingency plans for natural and manmade disasters.
Joel Richardson, author and filmmaker, notes that if you do not store up food and other supplies and prepare for calamities, the Bible calls you a “fool” (see Proverbs 21:20 and 27:12):
If you see a storm coming and you don’t prepare, you’re a fool. When you see calamity coming and you don’t prepare, you’re a fool. That said, I think the heart of the issue is much more important than rice and beans and bullets. I’m convinced that with every tragedy, trial, season of pain and difficulty we face, the Lord is giving us an opportunity to embrace the lesson of John 15:5. Jesus said, “I am the vine,” and we are just the branches. And “apart from Me, you can do nothing.”5
One of the best examples of how believers should act in the last days, says Richardson, is Rees Howells, intercessor, missionary and founder of The Bible College of Wales. During World War II he housed orphans, trusted God and saw provision come in on a regular basis. Richardson continues:
He didn’t just build a bunker for his own survival; rather he built a home for the homeless and was able to become a shelter amid a period of chaos. I believe that’s what the Lord wants His people to be in the last days—not people who build bunkers out of fear and anxiety, trying to figure out ways to protect their food from hungry neighbors, but those who are thinking how they can be more like Rees Howells or Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Corrie ten Boom, whose family saved Jews during the Holocaust and became a “hiding place” in the midst of the dark hour. We need to be those kinds of people. So we can study some of those great men and women of recent history, and learn how we can be lighthouses and cities of refuge in the days ahead.6
The following tips will help you prepare for any number of calamities.
MILITARY PREPPING PRINCIPLES7
BELIEVER’S PREPPING PRINCIPLES
Here are some practical takeaways in preparing for the end times: