If you have ever watched National Geographic Channel’s “Doomsday Preppers” show (and it would be hard to imagine that you would take the time to read this series if you have not), then you are probably familiar with the general format of the show. A person or family is introduced, they explain the disaster scenario that they are anticipating with their plans, they detail their supplies and survival skills, and finally a team of “experts” review and score their effort which translates into a projected doomsday survival time for the individuals. The final commentary on each episode is a somewhat dismissive-sounding faceless voice explaining the unlikely odds against the catastrophic event about which the featured preppers were concerned.
Chances are high that this final reassurance from the narrator is the only portion that many Americans take away from each episode. After rolling their eyes and chuckling at the sometimes strange prepping habits of the featured profiles, they get to hear how “most scientists” or “most economists” agree with them about the unlikely nature of that particular doomsday event. If you are a prepper yourself, you have no doubt had these so-called “expert assessments” thrown in your face by doubting friends or family when questioned about your own motivations. It is a lot easier (and less troubling) to believe that nothing out of the ordinary will happen in your lifetime and that your current lifestyle will go unchallenged until your dying days. The consequences are very high for those that choose this easier road if they are wrong, though.
Maybe you think you have it rough when it comes to justifying your prepping lifestyle to your friends and family. Maybe you feel ostracized and ridiculed when others learn about your food storage or bug-out plans. Maybe you think that trusting your instincts and ensuring the safety of your family makes you look a little crazy in today’s society. If so, allow me to tell you about a guy that had it really bad. I call him the original doomsday prepper, but you can just call him Noah.
What? You already know the story of Noah and his oversized bug-out vehicle called an ark? Good. That will save us a lot of time and explanation in this week’s installment. (If you do not know the story of Noah’s ark or you just want to refresh your memory on the finer details, check out Genesis chapters 6-9.)
Now, imagine if the Doomsday Preppers show had been around back in the times of Noah. How fast would the production crew have been on its way once it heard about the 600-year-old man that was building a gigantic boat in the desert because he said a flood was coming? How many viewers would have been rolling on their floors laughing during Noah’s segment?
There is no way on earth that the narrator could have kept the condescension out of his voice on this one. Here was a man that was preparing for a cataclysmic flood in an area that never saw rain. Here was a man building a boat of staggering dimensions in the middle of a desert. Can you imagine the jaws dropping once Noah explained that the ark was not just for his family, but that he had made enough decks and rooms for pairs of every living animal to board…because all these animals were just going to show up when the time was right?
I am sure this would be the most talked-about prepper in the show’s history. People would be on the edge of their seats to see the expert scores for Noah. Let me try and predict how this would have gone down…
First up is water. The experts would point out Noah’s surprising lack of water storage given his desert location. Noah would counter that he was not worried because there would be more than enough water soon enough. Score: 5 points.
Second is food. The experts would be very impressed with Noah’s food storage inside the ark. Noah would express concern at needing more for all the animals that were on their way. Score: 18 points.
Third is shelter. The experts would likely question the efficiency of building a giant boat in a desert land, but they would have to be impressed by its sheer sturdiness. Noah would nod and smile. Score: 14 points.
Fourth is security. The experts would tell Noah about the need to train himself and his sons to protect the ark. Noah would point to the heavy door and explain that the Lord would take care of the rest. Score: 7 points.
Last up is the X factor. The experts would likely highlight Noah’s determination to build such an impressive structure at his advanced age. Noah would explain that he was just following directions. Score: 10 points.
The final score for Noah would be 54 out of 100 possible points. That would mean a predicted survival time of 4-8 months beyond doomsday. The narrator would follow this report with his usual disclaimers. “In the past 100 years, not a single inch of rain has fallen in this desert. Most scientists agree that the likelihood of a catastrophic flood occurring in the coming 100 years is astronomically remote.”
Noah’s friends and peers would smile and shake their heads and turn off their televisions amused. They would wonder why a man would devote so much time to building an ark on the off chance that a flood happened to hit their desert. The predictions of the scientists would match the assessments of their own minds, and they would dismiss Noah and mock him as a crazy man.
They would laugh and point fingers right up until the point that the floodgates of the heavens opened and they saw water like they had never seen it before. Rain fell in torrents from the skies and underground springs burst forth from below, and suddenly Noah and his ark looked a lot smarter than the rest of society and their experts. The same fingers that pointed at Noah in scorn were now clenched in fists and pounding on the door of the ark, but the Lord had shut it and the case was closed.
Yes, Noah was the original doomsday prepper, and his ark makes any stocked pantry or underground bunker of yours look downright sensible. Whenever you get discouraged because your friends and neighbors fail to understand the instincts that seem logical and reasonable to you, remember Noah. Remind those friends and neighbors of how bizarre that Noah must have seemed in his time, but how regretful everyone was for dismissing him once the flood came.
In the end, being prepared and suffering some public ridicule for it certainly beats the alternative of blending into the crowd and standing unprepared when disaster strikes. Noah got it right and his family (and all the animals of the planet, too) was spared as a result. Oh…and for the record…he lived another 350 years after his encounter with doomsday. That is quite a bit longer than 4-8 months, huh? Take that, so-called “experts!”
#DoomsDelay Tip of the Week
Read, read, read! If you are like me, you can sometimes go through phases in life where you are reading fast and furious and other times when you struggle to find opportunities or engaging material to read. Lately, I have been back on a reading binge, and there is a world of great reading material out there about the basics of survival skills and prepping. You never know what small tip or trick that you read this week could end up saving your life in the future.
Read, read, read! If you are like me, you can sometimes go through phases in life where you are reading fast and furious and other times when you struggle to find opportunities or engaging material to read. Lately, I have been back on a reading binge, and there is a world of great reading material out there about the basics of survival skills and prepping. You never know what small tip or trick that you read this week could end up saving your life in the future.
