Land without shelter is exposure. Shelter without land is captivity. The homestead requires both, and choosing them well is among the most consequential decisions a family will make. The wrong property in the wrong place can undo years of preparation. The right one becomes a sanctuary.
What the counsel says about location
The servant of the Lord was specific about where God’s people should settle. “As far as possible, our institutions should be located away from the cities. We must have workers for these institutions, and if they are located in the city, that means that families of Sabbathkeepers must settle near them” (Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 358).
The instruction was not merely to leave the city but to go somewhere productive. Not a suburb. Not a small town that functions as a suburb. True country, where the land can work and the noise of Babylon cannot reach.
Choosing land
Good land for a homestead has water — a spring, a creek, or a water table shallow enough to drill. It has soil that can be improved, even if it is not perfect. It has sun exposure for gardens and orchards. And it is affordable enough that the family is not enslaved to a mortgage that defeats the whole purpose of leaving the city.
“For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills” (Deuteronomy 8:7, KJV). God brought Israel to a land that could sustain them. Pray for the same discernment when choosing yours.
Building shelter
A homestead dwelling does not need to be large. It needs to be sturdy, warm, and paid for. Consider what is local and available: timber, stone, earth. A well-built cabin of eight hundred square feet serves a family better than a mortgaged house of three thousand.
Greenhouses extend the growing season by months and can provide fresh greens through the deepest winter. Even a simple cold frame against a south-facing wall is a meaningful step. A greenhouse attached to the home can also contribute passive solar heat.
Outbuildings matter as much as the house itself. A root cellar, a woodshed, a workshop, a chicken coop, a barn for feed and tools — each one represents capacity and resilience. Build them as you can, in order of need.
The land as teacher
Ellen White wrote: “The earth has blessings hidden in her depths for those who have courage and will and perseverance to gather her treasures” (Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 327). Land is not a passive investment. It is a living partner in the work of sustaining a family. Walk it in every season before you build. Learn where the water collects, where the frost settles, where the wind breaks. Let the land tell you where to put the garden, the house, the orchard.
Do not wait for perfect conditions. Begin with what the Lord provides, and improve it with the strength He gives.
