The Book of Genesis
Day 437
Ge 47:13 Now there
was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land
of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that
was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which
they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 So when the money failed in the land of
Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said,
"Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has
failed." 16 Then Joseph said,
"Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the
money is gone." 17 So they brought
their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the
horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed
them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 When that year had ended, they came to him
the next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our
money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left
in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. 19 "Why should we die before your eyes,
both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will
be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the
land may not be desolate." 20 Then
Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians
sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became
Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he
moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other
end. 22 Only the land of the priests he
did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they
ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their
lands. 23 Then Joseph said to the
people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh.
Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 "And it shall come to pass in the
harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your
own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and
as food for your little ones." 25
So they said, "You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of
my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of
Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of
the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's. 27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in
the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied
exceedingly.
Here we see the
natural flow of famine. First the money goes, then the livestock and goods,
then the land, and finally personal freedom. Desperate measures for desperate
times. Egypt, eventually winds up owning everything. The country is reduced to
a feudal state where the citizens are moved to cities where they work the
government owned land and turn over 20% of the profits to the king. That’s not
bad by feudal standards, but you can see how it lays the groundwork for abuses.
Since the government owns the land, they can up the ante at anytime to fund any
kind of programs or any type of lifestyle for those in charge.
It’s interesting
to note that the only ones not affected by the famine were the priests of
Pharaoh, and the family of Joseph. The priests were given rations by the
government and did not have to sell their land, and as we read in v12, Joseph
provided for his family and they had great possessions and grew and multiplied
exceedingly!
We have two
contrasts of religion here. The religion of the world which is state run and
state controlled. (The world likes to keep it’s priests around to help control
the masses) But these priests better toe the line. Don’t rock the boat!
Continue to sanction and bless the activities of the government. This religion
merely exists, it doesn’t prosper and grow and therefore must be funded by the
government.
This religion is
not blessed as the chosen followers of God are. While the priests of the state
church live on rations, the chosen and true followers of God prosper
exceedingly. Rations are legal allotments,
but exceedingly growing and prospering possessions are representative of God’s
grace and mercy.
The two are laid out side by side here in Genesis. Which will
you choose? Dead religion that doesn’t rock the boat, or a personal
relationship with God through Christ. The one that says, “We ought to obey God
rather than men. (Acts 5:29)
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