How to Become a Perfect Prepper

Survival Tips From Preppers

A prepper is someone who is prepared—someone who actively gets ready for unexpected emergencies, like natural disasters or war. Preppers aim to ensure their survival even if society collapses. They set up shelters in basements, stockpile survival supplies, and take steps to prepare for any possible scenario. While the term prepper is less known in some countries, there are reportedly over three million preppers in the United States.

A few years back, an office worker gained attention by publishing a book filled with survival tips for various disasters. This book shared ways to source fuel independently, essential food info, and more. The author has spent over a decade researching survival methods and even keeps a backpack under his office desk packed with the essentials for 72 hours of survival. He also carries a portable survival pack at all times, including a fire starter (a tool used to make fire, like flint), a lighter, a paracord bracelet (made from parachute cord that can be unraveled in emergencies), a multitool knife, a whistle, a compass, a gas mask, an emergency blanket, a flashlight, and glucose candies.

Although preppers are found more in disaster-prone countries like the U.S. and Japan, more people in other countries have embraced it since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many preppers have even secured secluded shelters in the mountains as a precaution. Preppers advise others to start getting ready now by stocking up on essentials like bottled water, food, cash, comfortable shoes, warm clothing, and snacks like crackers. They also suggest that watching disaster movies can be a practical way to prepare for real-life crises.

But can these survival strategies really provide a perfect, comprehensive solution for surviving a disaster?

How to Become a Perfect Prepper

The Bible warns that in the last days, there will be a time of great tribulation unlike anything since the beginning of creation. It also foretells that no human method can avoid the final disaster.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. . . . That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

2 Peter 3:10–12

Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

Amos 9:2-3

Even if someone prepares a shelter underground, in the sky, under the sea, or on a mountain peak, such methods won’t guarantee escape from the final disaster. Therefore, instead of relying on human wisdom and strategies, we need to seek the method God has shown us. 
In fact, the Bible contains clear instructions for surviving through times of trouble.

The Most Certain Way to Survive Disaster: The Passover

[I]t is the LORD’s Passover. “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, . . . The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance.”

Exodus 12:11–14

Around 1500 B.C., the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. They were enduring harsh labor like making bricks and working in fields, while longing for freedom. To deliver them, God sent nine plagues upon Egypt, but Pharaoh still refused to release the Israelites. Finally, God decided to bring a final plague: the death of all the firstborn. God also revealed a way for the Israelites to escape this deadly plague—by keeping the Passover.

On the evening of the 14th day of the first month in the sacred calendar, God instructed them to put the blood of a lamb to the sides and top of their doorframes. That night, they were to roast the lamb’s meat and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. God promised that when the plague came, the blood on their doorframes would be a sign, sparing the households marked by it. On that Passover night, all the firstborn in Egypt who did not have this sign perished, while every Israelite who observed the Passover was protected from the plague (Exodus 12:29–30).

In the Old Testament, the lamb’s blood on the door served as a sign for a disaster to pass over their homes. Today, in the New Testament times, it is through the blood of Jesus—the reality of the Passover lamb—that we can be protected from disaster (1 Corinthians 5:7–8). Then, how can we receive the blood of Jesus?

“I [Jesus] have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. . . .” . . . And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you . . .” . . . In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Luke 22:15, 19–20

On the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month by the sacred calendar, Jesus celebrated the Passover, which had been kept by slaughtering the lamb, in a new way. Instead of the traditional lamb, Jesus gave His disciples bread symbolizing His body, and wine symbolizing His blood. Today, by partaking of the bread and wine of the New Covenant Passover, we receive Jesus’ flesh and blood and are promised protection from disaster.

The relationship between the Passover and protection from disaster is clear even in the meaning of the name. In Chinese characters, Passover is written with characters that mean “to pass” (逾) and “to cross over (越)”; in Hebrew, Pesach (פֶּסַח); and in Greek, Pascha (πασχα). They all mean “to pass over” or “to skip.” The name itself signifies that disasters pass over. Thus, the Passover is a sacred festival carrying God’s promise of protection from disaster.

Human thoughts and methods alone cannot protect us from the disasters soon to come. Before preparing a survival kit or stocking up on food and supplies, we need to keep the New Covenant Passover, which is God’s sure promise of protection. This is the most complete way to be prepared for disasters and become a perfectly prepared prepper.

[Reference]

• “COVID-19 Disaster—Rise in Prepper Survival Kits,” Jang Gu-seul, E-Daily, 2020. 9. 26.
• “‘Do You Know What a Prepper Is? There Are 10,000 in Korea,’” Chosun Ilbo, 2014 8. 7.
• “Urban Survival Expert Woo Seung-yeop: ‘Surviving Together Is the Most Important Thing,’ ” Monthly Chosun, November 2014