Genesis 47: 13-26
Joseph has become the lord of all the land of Egypt when he interpreted Pharaoh's dream, in order to prepare during the seven years of super-plenty for the following seven years of severe drought.
Then he was also in charge of doling out the food to the people. So he was the one who made sure everyone had enough to eat. This is how he did it.
(13) Now there was no food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
This means that no food could be grown, no crops could be planted, no harvest of any kind of foodstuffs at all, there was just no water to irrigate the fields, the Nile must have been at an all-time low.
(14) Joseph gathered 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.
While the people's finances held out they could still buy the grain that Joseph had stored up, and they apparently had several years of finances. I wonder how many years of finances people today have stored up for a non-"rainy day."
(15) When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone."
Now all their money was gone, what could they do now since the drought is still raging in the land and they still can't plant.
(16) Then Joseph said, "Give up your livestock, since your money is gone." (17) So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.
These people were honest citizens, they didn't expect to get something for nothing, they had no sense of entitlement at all, and wanted to pay something for the food they needed. So Joseph told them they could pay with their animals. So he bartered with them exchanging their livestock for grain. This kept everyone honest.
(18) When that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the cattle are my lord's. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands.
These people are still not able to provide for themselves, and all their money and animals already belong to Pharaoh, so all they have left to pay with is their properties they own, and their own selves. They still don't want something for nothing.
(19) "Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate."
So they are willing to give up their lands and even their own freedom in order to get food to eat, so they won't starve to death. Still no sense of entitlement. They are still honest people.
(20) So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh's.
Now all the property and fields and lands of the whole country now belong to Pharaoh, because the people sold them for food.
(21) As for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt's border to the other.
Now that the people were slaves to Pharaoh, he needed to know where they were to command them, so Joseph took them out of the rural areas into the cities where his servants could keep an eye on them.
Remember this when the governmental authorities start to involuntarily move the rural population to ever more crowded cities, so that the cameras can keep track of each person. Control is what they crave, and we need to recognize this.
(22) Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land.
The priests were already on the dole, so they always were given their food in payment of their religious services to Pharaoh.
(23) Then Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. (24) At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones."
Now that the seven years of drought are about to end, Joseph is instituting the new normal. The people are not free any more, they're slaves of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh will take care of them now. So Joseph is giving them seed to plant in the fields that now belong to Pharaoh; so whenever anything will grow to harvest, then they must give a 20% tax to Pharaoh, and the rest can be used by them for seed to plant the next season, and for food for them and their families. This looks like a good deal for the people.
(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 slaves."
This looks so good to the people that they are saying, "Thank you so much for making us your slaves!" They have given up their freedom for slavery, because they didn't think they could take care of themselves any more. It's like being in prison, you can't do anything for yourself, but you will be cared for and get enough food to eat every day. Is it worth it?
(26) Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh's.
So it became the law in Egypt that all the people would pay a 20% tax of all their income to the king, and the government would take care of them. Only the religious institutions were exempt from taxes, because what they earned was from the government, anyway.
God had brought these conditions onto the people of that whole geographic area (Egypt and Canaan). So God showed Joseph how to save the lives of many people in that area so that they wouldn't starve to death; including his own family.
God also put this story into His written Word so that we could learn from it. These people had no way to grow their food for this extended time, so, even though they were able-bodied, they were still helpless to take care of themselves. That is why they were so willing to give away their property, possessions and freedom, and become slaves.
I see today that the government is reducing as many people as they can into this mindset, to think that they cannot earn anything for themselves, so they have a right to be supported by others who can earn wages and make wealth.
And today government officials are even going so far as to consider if thieves and looters are stealing others' property because they "need" it before charging them with theft. I think this is ridiculous and evil, and only encourages more people to do wrong against their neighbor.
We as Christians are God's people, and He has given us the ability to make wealth for ourselves so that we can enjoy His prosperity and share with others.
See Deuteronomy 8: 18; "But you are to remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth ..." God gives each one of us the ability to create wealth.
And II Thessalonians 3: 10-12; "If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, ... Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread;" we are each to work to earn our own living, not mooch off of others.
And Ephesians 4: 28; "He who steals should steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." We are never to take for ourselves what someone else has earned. We are instead to work to make our own living, to have something to share with someone else who may be disabled or diseased or otherwise unable to work, sharing of our own volition.
When people who are able-bodied refuse to do physical labor, or people who have intelligent minds refuse to use them to create wealth, then they are shirking their responsibility to take care of themselves and their families, choosing instead to be a leech and a parasite on the society in which they live. This is evil and a detriment to their whole culture.
God's people need to think God's way and realize that they are royal children of the King, and are expected to give benefit to their society and lift it up to higher standards; for the benefit and prosperity of their whole nation.
O my Father, You gave us this story of Joseph making a "new normal" for Egypt not as an example for us to follow, but as a warning to be aware of the trap of enslavement. The Egyptian people truly were helped by Joseph's management of the economy, but that is because it was Your way to save lives, especially to save the lives of Joseph's family. You arranged this to let Israel grow into a great nation without the attractions and seductions of the gross immorality happening in Canaan.
And today it is a good example to recognize when our "powers that be" in the world are attracting and seducing people into modern-day slavery.
My Father, please wake up and open the eyes of Your people today, to see what is going on, and to realize what each of us can do to either fight against the evil or to promote Your good that You have programmed into this Earth for us to enjoy.
O Father, teach us how we can go out to the whole world, speaking Your wonderful Truth in the face of destructive deceptions; and to find all of Your unborn babies who are searching for You, even if they don't realize it is You they are looking for. Father, I didn't know that I was looking for Jesus when I searched for Truth, and You found me! Let all of Your children come to the birth, and grow us all up to the maturity of the full stature of the body of Christ.
For every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will profess that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Messiah, the Lord God Almighty, King over the whole World and all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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