A famine is when many people in an area do not have enough food to eat, usually lasting for months or years. During a famine, crops fail to grow, and food becomes very hard to find. This causes great suffering for the people living in that area.
Famine has always been part of human life, along with other disasters (like war and disease). Sometimes there was enough rain, but other times rain would fall too early, too late, or too little Leviticus 26:19; Amos 4:7–8). People in the Near East, including the Israelites, thought famine was a judgment from God. Since God is the Creator and Sustainer, he controls the natural world. Famine was not an accident. Whether a famine was caused by lack of rain, hail, or any other event, God was the cause.
What Causes Famines in the Ancient Near East?
The most common cause of famine was lack of rain. These famines occurred in the time of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 12:10; 26:1). Joseph was very worried about surviving the famines in Egypt (Genesis 41–47). The Nile River was very important for growing food in ancient Egypt. The river brought water from distant mountain regions to water the crops. If not enough water came down the river, people in Egypt would not have enough food to eat.
Besides lack of rain, famine could also be caused by:
Hail and thunderstorms (Exodus 9:28; 1 Samuel 12:17)
Locusts and other pests (Exodus 10:15; Amos 4:9)
Invasion by foreign armies (Deuteronomy 28:53; 2 Kings 6:25; 25:3; Lamentations 4:9–10)
When famines happened, diseases often spread among the people (1 Kings 8:37; Jeremiah 14:12; 21:9).
How Did Famines Affect People in the Bible?
Famines affected the lives of many people in the Bible. It changed the lives of Naomi and Ruth (Ruth 1:1). God raised Joseph to a position of power during a famine. Famine also affected the lives of:
King David (2 Samuel 21:1)
Why Did God Send Famines?
God sent famines for different reasons:
To warn (1 Kings 17:1)
To correct (2 Samuel 21:1)
To punish (Jeremiah 14:12, 15)
The famines predicted by Jesus and the writer of Revelation were signs of judgment (Mark 13:8; Revelation 18:8).