The Voice of Famines

In the most recent general conference, Bishop Waddell taught about self-reliance and preparing for the future. He invited us to follow the example of Joseph in Egypt in our own efforts in this regard: “When considering the principle of preparedness, we can look back to Joseph in Egypt for inspiration. Knowing what would happen would not have been sufficient to carry them through the ‘lean’ years without a degree of sacrifice during the years of abundance. Rather than consume all that Pharaoh’s subjects could produce, limits were established and followed, providing sufficient for their immediate, as well as their future, needs. It was not enough to know that challenging times would come. They had to act, and because of their effort, ‘there was bread.’” His message was that we must do what we can to prepare for difficult days in the future where we may indeed struggle to have enough bread. The key action that saved Egypt was Joseph’s insistence on not using up all they had when things were going well. They prepared for the future by not over-indulging in the present.

                It is easy for me to think that this kind of severe famine described in the Bible in Egypt would never happen to us here—unlike many in other parts of the world, I have never lived through a famine—but the scriptures would suggest otherwise. For example, Joseph Smith recounted this about the prophet Moroni’s initial teachings to him: “He informed me of great judgments which were coming upon the earth, with great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth in this generation” (JSH 1:45). Famine was one of the calamities he foretold would come in our day, causing “great desolations.” Later in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith the Lord lamented how the children of men would not hearken to His voice: “How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice… and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind… and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not!” (Doctrine and Covenants 43:25) One of the voices He calls us by is the voice of famine, and what He has done in the past surely He will do in the future. He confirmed this in another revelation about the coming desolations: “And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations” (Doctrine and Covenants 87:6).

Famine is indeed one of the means that His judgments will come upon us, particularly in the last days. He also prophesied to His disciples in the meridian of time concerning our day in these words: “Behold I speak for mine elect’s sake; for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places” (JSM 1:29). If we believe the scriptures, we would do well to prepare for the possibility of these kinds of challenges in the future, including famine. As Bishop Waddell taught, “Key home storage principles include the storage of food, the storage of water, and the storage of other necessities based on individual and family needs, all because ‘the best storehouse’ is the home, which becomes the ‘most accessible reserve in times of need.’” And like Joseph of old, in addition to that preparation for ourselves we must seek to do all we can to make bread available to those around us even today who so struggle.