A Prudent Man Foreseeth the Evil Prov. 27:12 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Prov 27:12 says, a prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself.  I have often wondered how we can apply this verse to our lives.  There are some Christians these days who are preparing for the worst by storing food, buying precious metals like gold and silver, stockpiling guns and ammunition and converting to supplies by which they can survive off the grid.  So, we need to consider the scriptures and see what they say about “hiding” in the last days.  Note: we are not talking about emergency supplies for an emergency; we are talking about the hunker-downers.

The Jews hide from the antichrist during the Tribulation – Matt 24:15-21. The prudent man runs for the mountains.  Notice when the time comes to hide, they cannot spare 5 minutes to gather anything out of their homes.  They are to “Remember Lot’s wife” [Lk 17:30-32].  They flee to the wilderness where God has prepared a place for them to hide and where he feeds them [Rev 12:6, 14].  The hidden manna of Rev 2:17 and Mic 7:14-15 is their food.  Thus we see that running away from the danger is their only hope.  If they hunker down, they die.

Obadiah hid 100 prophets of the Lord from Jezebel – 1 Ki 18:3-4. The Lord took care of these prophets by providing sustenance for them while they were in hiding.  God used Obadiah, the governor of Ahab’s house, to feed them.  So it was an inside job going on under the noses of the king and queen.  Obadiah was risking his life to save them.

Elijah hid from Ahab during the drought – 1 Ki 18:10. And while Elijah was hiding, God used ravens to feed him by the brook Cherith. Then a widow woman of Zarephath, with not enough oil and meal to feed herself and her son, fed him.

In all of these cases, the people who survive have to leave. They go into hiding and the Lord has to feed them miraculously. He feeds them by himself or by another individual who can provide for them.  They don’t make preparations in their own hide-outs.

People ask, “Well, what about Joseph?”  Joseph didn’t hide.  In the case of Joseph in Egypt, the government stored up the food. And the government disbursed the food. Then the government bought up all the cattle, the land, and the people. And when they sold out, they were relocated into cities.  Joseph is not an illustration for the hunker downers.

So, if you were going to make preparations to hide, you would need to quit the following: social networking, using a cell phone, using a computer, staying in hotels, flying in planes, renting cars, using credit cards, borrowing money, receiving wages by check and direct deposit, driving on toll roads, using on-star, using electricity and public utilities, and so forth.  In other words, you would have to get out of circulation in this information age.  And you can’t do it unless you move to Idaho or somewhere like that.  Even then you will be easy to find because that’s where people who want to hide are moving.

If you want to hunker down you face this main challenge. You must maintain and protect your treasure but you can’t.  Jas 5:3 says their gold and silver canker and rust [miraculously].  Matt 6:19 says that thieves break through and steal. Don’t think that you will protect yourself from the hungry mobs and informants when it’s time to survive.  When they get hungry enough to eat their own children [Lev 26:29], they’ll kill you if they have to in order to get your food and money.  And Ezek 7:19 says that your gold and silver can’t deliver you and you can’t eat gold and silver anyway.  “Riches profit not in the day of wrath,” Prov 11:4.

So, what are we to do?  Trust God [Prov 3:6-7], give [2 Cor 9:6-8], pray [Jas 1:5; Jn 16:23-24] and keep looking for Jesus [Titus 2:13]. This is what the prudent man will do.