Famine: When Context Starves, So Does the Church

Famine: When Context Starves, So Does the Church

Some themes in Scripture carry what I call layered significance—layers that push far beyond the basic who, what, when, where, and why. 

These layers often make up an explanation of context that go far beyond the 5 W’s.  It is an explicit issue.  Meaning that when you say the word “famine” to an eastern culture biblical generation, they immediately know what you are referring to plus its meaning.  And meaning is what we are going after here, not the truth. 

So, what is the big deal about famine and how does it shape the story being told.  Not only are these family stories that are being told, but they are also experiences that people are having.  You and I as readers are not having these same experiences.  Famine today is much different than famine was in the Biblical era.  This narrative shapes the story and is just another reason why context is so important.

Famine is not just about a natural disaster or a food shortage.  We often think this as the obvious answer.  The magic of understanding comes when we start asking why? 

Why was there a famine in this story?

Was it a lack of rain thus a reduced food supply scenario?  Maybe there was plenty of rain but a outbreak of pestilence such as insect storms or natural blight?  This era did not have all the advanced technology of irrigation or pesticides to fight off these natural phenomena. 

Is there more here? Because the event of famine is mentioned or experienced several times in the Bible, it’s important to use the text to determine why.  Yes, the answers are always in the text, and this is what makes it an explicit contextual concept.  People knew this in this era because it was their history.

Here is a brief paraphrased outline that is going on in Deuteronomy 28 specifically verse 23.

“And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron.”
(Deut. 28:23)

• Israel is on the edge of entering the land after 40 years in the wilderness.
• Moses is giving a final set of instructions (Deuteronomy = “second law”).
• Chapters 27–30 lay out the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.

Deut. 28 is especially stark—68 verses long, with only 14 about blessings and the rest about what will happen if they abandon God’s commands.

In Deut. 28:23, “bronze skies” and “iron ground” are visual metaphors for divine silence and barrenness:

• Bronze: no rain from above
• Iron: no fruit from below
  → It’s a reversal of Eden. Instead of harmony between heaven and earth, there’s hostility.

Rain in ancient Israel wasn’t just about food—it symbolized God’s active presence and favor.
So when God withholds rain, He’s saying:

“You broke covenant. Now creation itself will reflect that breach.”

So ask the question.  Why did God give such a severe warning? (because that is what we do right? We ask questions)

Because Israel had just been rescued from Egypt. They:

• Had seen God’s miracles
• Had received the Torah at Sinai
• Had wandered 40 years because of rebellion
• Were now on the cusp of inheriting a land “flowing with milk and honey”

God was calling them to live distinctively—to reflect His justice, compassion, and holiness. But He knew the danger ahead:

“You’ll forget Me. You’ll worship other gods. You’ll exploit each other. You’ll live like the Canaanites I’m displacing.”

So Deuteronomy 28 isn’t God being cruel—it’s God being clear:

“You are entering a land of abundance—but your survival depends on covenantal fidelity, not geography.”

This verse is a theological earthquake:
It says God doesn’t just allow famine—He sometimes initiates it as a mirror to expose hearts.

That’s the kind of famine Amos describes later—not just a lack of food, but a withdrawal of divine favor and revelation. In both cases, the people had access to truth—but chose convenience, idols, and self.

Ok that is our starting point, now we can go on.

So let’s ask another question, because that is what we do.

Can there be anything good or significant about famine that God uses to lay down the background of a story?

Of course.

Surprisingly, famine also plays a redemptive role in biblical narratives.

• In Genesis 12, Abraham leaves Canaan because of famine—this detour shapes his journey of faith.
• Joseph's rise to power in Egypt is directly tied to famine, ultimately saving his family and preserving the covenant line (Genesis 41–47).
• The Book of Ruth opens with a famine, leading Elimelech's family to Moab—setting the stage for Ruth's inclusion in the messianic line.

Famine moves the story forward—disruption becomes a doorway to deeper trust, new alliances, and surprising reversals.

So now we have two powerful concepts:

1. When covenant is broken, God responds with removing his presence and favor (rain and famine)
2. Famine is a backdrop that moves the story or the meaning of something forward. It causes responses.

Perhaps the most profound biblical use of famine is metaphorical: (a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract.)

“Behold, the days are coming... when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”
— Amos 8:11

This is a famine of revelation. God’s silence becomes the crisis. It’s not the stomach that’s empty—it’s the soul. And this was a cutting rebuke to religious people who had the Scriptures, but weren’t listening.

So let’s take a theological break and look at famine from a practical view of what happens to families when they occur.

So, what happens when there is a famine?

• Lack of rain, lack of food (crops)
• Some people worry and fortify by figuring out solutions, some lack diligence in discerning what their families’ next move is.
• People become desperate,
• People shift to other food sources (fish) which strains those resources
• People steal from others (yep)
• Families sold land (this was huge)
• People moved to areas that were less impacted by lack of rain such as fertile valleys. Think of what fertile rivers do such as the Nile River, enrich the soil and create healthy crops.  If the river is there, there is still a way to water plants.
• People sold livestock and even children (Genesis)
• The homeless population exploded, imagine a town full of beggars and refugees.
• Governments—like Rome—used food control as a tool of power (e.g., the grain dole in Rome) This led to price gouging, cheating, misinformation, deceit, black markets, looting and advanced crimes such as raiding granaries and food caravans to other cities.

Famine wasn’t just hunger—it was societal breakdown.  It stripped people down to instinct, and often, to horror.  In today’s modern world, famine is much less frequent on a large scale.  In a global economy, there is always a way to make up for shortages especially in areas that are known to lack the resources of good soil and technology.  Governments race to give aid and often have money built into budgets for humanitarian effort.  FEMA did not exist back then and there was not the outlook of government making any sort of conscious effort to help. (not that we are super good at it today, but it’s a huge improvement) 

And to top it all off, there was the Roman army (in the New Testament era).  They were masters of the siege.  Taking care of people they have oppressed was not even a thought.  Leveraging a famine meant dominance and that just added to the big bag of suck a family may have to deal with.  Are you seeing a clearer picture?  When you are sick, or hungry, or oppressed, distracted, desperate and marginalized, it affects your story, its personal.

And then to top it off with the ultimate mind game of the Romans, local leaders such as Herod would play those angles and use famine relief as a political angle.  This confused people that were looking for some sort of solution, instead of relying on one another, this became a source of a “caring culture” in disguise. 

Loyalty was always demanded from any relief the Romans supplied and that left anyone in this precarious position of being a good God fearing Jew and being loyal to the Roman army.  What trickery, what confusion, how does anyone going through this kind of conflict keep it all straight and make good conscience decisions for their families.  Guess what, it’s hard.  One of the real lessons in the Jewish law is to be generous in all circumstances, it puts your love of God on display.  The opportunity to be generous to one another was put to the test in dire straits.

• Famines were real, historical events that shaped how the church saw God's providence and their call to generosity.
• But they also echoed Old Testament themes—warning, testing, purification.
• For the early church, famine often symbolized the spiritual hunger of a world waiting for the Bread of Life. (and I find this personally quite interesting because if you know me, I often say that we as modern day churches are dying from misinformation while starving for wisdom…find that)
• In Christ, famine flips: it’s not punishment anymore, but a pointer—the world is starving for truth, and the church is called to feed it.

Here are the incidents in the Bible that deal with a famine:

Old Testament:

Genesis 12:10 – “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while…”

Genesis 26:1 – “Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time…”

Genesis 41:30 – “Seven years of famine will follow them.”

Genesis 43:1 – “Now the famine was severe in the land.”

Ruth 1:1 – “In the days when the judges ruled… there was a famine in the land.”

2 Samuel 21:1 – “There was a famine during the reign of David for three successive years.”

2 Kings 6:25 – “There was a great famine in Samaria; a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver…”

2 Kings 25:3 – “By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe…”

Jeremiah 14:12 – “Though they fast, I will not listen to their cry… I will destroy them with sword, famine and plague.”

Jeremiah 24:10 – “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed…”

Jeremiah 29:17 – “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them…”

Lamentations 4:9 – “Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine…”

Ezekiel 5:16–17 – “I will send famine and wild beasts against you…”

Ezekiel 14:13 – “I stretch out my hand against it and cut off its food supply…”

Ezekiel 14:21 – “How much worse will it be when I send my four dreadful judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts and plague…”

Joel 1:16 – “Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes…?”

Amos 8:11 – “Not a famine of bread… but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

New Testament

Matthew 24:7 – “There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

Luke 4:25 – “There were many widows in Israel… yet Elijah was not sent to any of them but to a widow in Zarephath…”

Luke 15:14 – “After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country…”

Acts 11:28 – “A severe famine spread over the entire Roman world.”

Romans 8:35 – “Who shall separate us… Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine…?”

Revelation 6:8 – “They were given power… to kill by sword, famine, and plague…”

Alright, let’s land the plane.
We’ve spent a lot of time unpacking the context of famine—historically, theologically, and spiritually. If you’ve made it this far, especially after listening to the podcast or reading through our other content on prooftexting and context, then I need to say something plainly:
You are not in the story.
And just as importantly, the story isn’t written for you either.

Famine, as a theme, stretches from Genesis to Revelation. It isn’t random—it’s loaded with meaning, shaping the world of the text and the people who lived through it. It reveals something far bigger than us, and yet we’ve been trained—almost reflexively—to drag ourselves into the narrative as if it’s about us.
Please don’t do that.
I’ve spent over 2,000 words walking you through this—don’t throw it away by sliding back into old habits of self-centered interpretation.

Go back to the five W’s. Peel back the layers. Let the text stand on its own. My goal is to keep building resources like this so that, over time, you’ll learn to step out of the center and finally see the Bible for what it really is—not a mirror of your life, but a record of God's movement through history.

And yes—you’ll hear the opposite. From pulpits, conversations, YouTube videos, or articles, the contrast will be everywhere. Let it remind you that context always speaks louder than clichés.
And when you do hear a prooftext, let it hit you like a punch to the throat, something that wakes you up. Not to argue—but to correct. To realign. To return to the text.
Because that’s where truth lives.

Ready for the Deep Dive?  Listen to this conversation overview