of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the L ORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you."
Matt rarely got emotional, but today's scripture and the reality of what was happening to America and why it was happening hit him like a ton of bricks. He couldn't put his finger on why this passage of scripture had disturbed him so much today. Was it because he loved his country? Indeed, he did love it, but he had come to terms with the decay long ago. Was it because his country had disappointed God? Perhaps it was because of the pain he knew was just over the horizon. Maybe it was the understanding that it did not have to be this way if the United States had just been faithful to their God. If they had continued to serve God faithfully, they would still be enjoying the blessings of obedience, but now America was certainly reaping the curses of disobedience. Now the sky above is bronze and the earth beneath is iron. We are borrowing from many, yet lending to none. Maybe it was the overwhelming tragedy of the entire situation that had unsettled him. Indeed, it seemed it would not be long before we would be in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty.
He shook off the unpleasant thoughts and poured his coffee. He went to his office and as usual, started his morning news routine with Drudge Report. The top story was the federal food stamp program. SNAP benefits had been slashed in half with no advance warning. There was simply no funding to fully resupply them. Users whose cards ended in the digit "1" had their EBT cards reloaded with the SNAP benefits on the first of each month. Today was November 1st. The administration had not mentioned anything prior to today because they were obviously trying to push the event past the election. All the midnight, backroom deals could not buy them one more week. Exactly seven days to Election Day and the mother of all financial disasters had just hit.
Matt and Karen were preppers, but there was no way to prepare for what was coming. Matt did not hesitate. He texted Karen and told her to tell everyone at work that she was not feeling well and to come straight home. He preceded the message with the term "CODE RED". They knew this meant get home right away.
Matt opened the safe and got two credit cards out. He also took a few hundred dollars in cash. He stuck his Ruger LC9 in the holster, grabbed the extra magazine and headed out the door. The Ruger was small and compact, it only held eight rounds with one in the pipe, but he liked the fact that it was chambered in 9mm. It was a relatively large round for a concealed carry gun.
Matt's first stop was the Winn Dixie just around the corner. He had no idea what to expect when he walked in the door. Surprisingly, it looked like business as usual. However, there was someone yelling at the cashier because her EBT card did not have as much as she expected. She was throwing the groceries on the floor to bring her balance down to the amount she had on her card. Evidently, this was the first she had heard of the benefit reduction. Other people were stopping to watch the action between the irate lady and the cashier. Not Matt though, he headed straight for the canned meat section. He loaded up the cart with canned tuna, canned chicken, canned beef and canned turkey. When the cart was nearly full, he headed for the checkout. He paid with the credit card without any issue. He unloaded the canned goods into the passenger seat of the truck. He returned to the store with the cart and went straight to the rice and beans. He bought 5 twenty-pound bags of parboiled rice and 100 pounds of dried beans. He bought various sizes and varieties. Matt made a quick pass down the coffee aisle and loaded up on several pounds of coffee as well. He took his haul and headed home. As he was unloading, Karen pulled into the driveway.
"More beans and rice? I