Joseph Herrin (05-31-2012)

Sacks of Grain

Genesis 41:49
Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea…

Boxes of Beans

I have been very busy of late. As you can see from the photos above, the grains and beans I had ordered have come in. Everything is on hand except for 50 lbs. of garbanzo beans that should arrive Monday. Now I have to sort the grains and beans and pack them in the plastic pails I purchased for this purpose.

The freezer and roller/flaker I ordered also came in.

Freezer/Refrigerator, Grain Mill, and Flaker

The gadget mounted on the right side of the counter top is a roller/flaker. I will be using it to make oatmeal. Oatmeal is simply oat groats that have been rolled thin between two wheels. That is why oatmeal is also called “rolled oats.” Unlike the grain mill that grinds the grain into flour, the roller flaker simply mashes the grain flat, making it easier to cook and to chew. I have never rolled, or flaked, my own oats, but people who do so speak about the enhanced freshness and flavor of freshly rolled grains. I am looking forward to trying it out. Perhaps in the morning I will go out and roll just enough for a bowl of oatmeal to go with some of the strawberries I recently picked.

Along with the grains and beans, I mentioned in an earlier post that I have ordered spices and cooking supplies. My honey and molasses came in, as did two #10 cans of tomato powder, five pounds of cocoa powder, bean spice, and four cans of bouillon, both beef and chicken. My active dry yeast arrived also, and is now in my freezer in the bus.

More Stores

I am quickly filling up every nook and cranny, and I am beginning to feel satisfied that I have done all that I can in the way of physical preparation to be ready for the days of dislocation that are drawing ever nearer.

I have also attended to a few other items. I purchased a mobile clothes washer, as well as tools needed for cutting wood. My bus has a woodstove in it for heating when electricity is not available. The woodstove can also be used for cooking. I also have a rocket stove that uses small pieces of wood for fuel. So I purchased a hatchet, an axe, a sharpener, and a bow saw. That should take care of all my firewood needs.

Wood Cutting Tools

The blue plunger-looking item in the back is the mobile washer. It works like an agitator in a washing machine, but you provide the power. You place your dirty clothes in a 5 gallon bucket with some soap and plunge away. When the dirt has been removed from the clothes you rinse out the bucket and put clean water in and plunge some more until the clothes are rinsed well. This rinsing may need to be repeated a couple times. This strikes me as an improvement to a washtub and washboard which would also take up considerably more space.

I have given some consideration to the spiritual aspect of performing such practical preparation. A sister wrote the other day and said she was praying about what the Father would have her to do regarding being ready for the coming day and she sensed God speaking to her about the birds.

Matthew 6:25-27
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

On the surface, these words of the Lord would appear to be a reproof against the type of preparation I have been making. This is the problem with trying to be guided by principles and precepts drawn from the Scriptures. There is always some verse we can pull out to justify any action (or inaction.) Some who are avid preppers could just as easily point to the following Scripture.

Proverbs 6:6-7
Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest.

Yahshua spoke of the last days being like the days of Noah. A number of saints have been led to prepare vessels, such as I have done with my bus, and have sensed the Spirit indicating that they are like arks. We could easily run with this analogy and be guided by the following Scripture.

Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household…

The heart of the matter is to make sure it is God who is guiding you to those works you are doing. Whether you are told to prepare an ark, or wait while making no provision, trusting in the care of Yahweh, we must all be submitted to the guidance of the Spirit of Christ. My admonition to the saints has consistently been that they need to do whatever the Father instructs them to do. Do not be driven by fear and guided by your soul. Neither should you be complacent, saying “Well, God will take care of me.” Seek the Father and get your marching orders from Him. If He tells you to do nothing in the way of physical preparation, then it would be a failure of faith to do what you see others doing. Yet, if Yahweh instructs you to make preparation, you should do so with a good heart and not delay.

The body of Christ is many parts, and not every part will be called to do the same thing. Yahweh has often shown forth parallels in my life to men in the Bible who shared the same name with me. Joseph, the son of Jacob was instructed by God to store up grain in preparation for a time of famine. By doing so he was able to preserve a remnant of God’s people alive.

Genesis 45:7-11
“God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance… You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished.”

Perhaps it did not seem like a particularly spiritual work to Joseph to store up grain. Do we not deride people in menial tasks today as “bean counters?” Joseph is a type and shadow of Christ. There are many profound parallels between their lives. Both were rejected by brothers. Both were betrayed for money by a brother named Judah. Both went down into Egypt. Both were falsely accused and condemned. And both were raised suddenly and triumphantly to the throne. These are just a few of the parallels between their lives.

You may well ask, where is there a parallel in Joseph’s life to Christ storing up grain to feed famished people? On a number of occasions we read of Christ telling His disciples to search out whatever food there was among the multitude and bring it to Him. He then blessed it, broke it, and distributed it to His disciples. Yahshua’s disciples in turn gave it to the multitudes and had some left over.

Christ could have turned the stones into bread, the grass into grapes, and the flowers into figs. After all, He turned the water into wine. Yahweh is a God of diversity, however. He does not operate by formula. The saying is true that “You cannot put God in a box.” There were times when Yahshua and His disciples had walked far and not eaten. They were hungry. Yahshua did not at such times multiply the loaves and fishes. He couldn’t say, “That is what My Father showed me to do before when people were hungry, so that is what I will do now.” No, Christ was always beholding the Father and He would do nothing of His own initiative. On occasion we read of His disciples threshing grain in their hands as they walked through the fields, eating the grain to satisfy their hunger.

Faith is not expecting God to do some miracle to meet YOUR expectation. Faith is doing whatever God directs you to do. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This is why I have stressed the fact that every person needs to seek the Father themselves and do whatever He directs them to do. I do not discount the possibility that Yahweh will tell some to do nothing, but to trust Him to feed them like He does the birds. You need to be certain, however, that this is indeed Yahweh’s counsel for you. Do not be presumptuous or you may have a very empty belly in coming days. If you have erred, the only thing you may be filling your mouth with is complaint and regret.

In the past 12 years there have been many times when I did not have a nickel in my pocket and I had a wife and children to feed. The Father always sent a provision. There was not a day my family went to bed without having eaten. We could truly say the Father was faithful to “Give us this day our daily bread.” At this particular time the Father is instructing me to do something different. He has never guided me to store up grain before, but then I suppose it was a new thing for Joseph in Egypt as well. There is an appointed time for all things. We are faithful servants when we do that which the Spirit of Christ is directing us to do.

When I saw all the sacks of grain and boxes of beans in my trailer today, the trailer that Yahweh instructed me to purchase, I felt a sense of peace. I had carried out those instructions the Father gave to me. He had helped me all along the way. He sent the financial provision to be able to make the necessary purchases. He showed me where to buy the grain and beans. He guided me in building shelves in the trailer and purchasing the precise number of buckets that would fit under them.

There were, of course, things I had to do. I had to arise and set about the Father’s will, trusting Him to guide me. I researched what types of grains and beans to get, how to store them, how to grind them, how to cook them. I had to approach the task with diligence and a willing heart. He then prospered my way.

It would be nice, I suppose, if we could all walk on water, and command the skies to rain bread, but it is not the Father’s will that this be our common experience at this time. He would instruct us and have us obey. This is the essence of sonship. There is no formula for the Christian life, other than the following:

Romans 8:14
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

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Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063