Genesis 47:13-31
Joseph Deals with the Famine
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.
Joseph’s Vow to Jacob
27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”
And he said, “I will do as you have said.”
31 Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.
Faith led to following God into His promise of deliverance from famine and the development into a multitude of His people In a foreign country while waiting to enter the promised land. We as Christians who are called out of the world instead of Ur or Egypt have been similarly called by faith like Abram who trusted God’s word and left the world to journey towards that heavenly kingdom (Hebrews 11:16, 12:22) to come. We were starving for God’s word and good will towards us as sinners in rebellious defiance as we opposed Him and His righteousness until He sent His Son as our deliverer and brought our souls into His kingdom of plenty which increases as we bear witness of this good news to others whom Jesus is calling out to join us with Him. In the famine of food at the time of this historical account in Egypt and Canaan we see how God gave grace and wisdom to Joseph to start a central bank to provide food for the nation, and then assimilated the animals and land of the citizens for food to survive the seven year famine. The land became property of the Pharaoh and the people were moved to urban centers to gain access to the stored food bought with all they owned. Yet they survived. They were then given seed to replant afterwards with the promise for all the people except the priests to give one-fifth of their harvest to Pharaoh in return. A system was setup to rebuild the crops and economy by this wisdom given by God to Joseph as His servant and instrument of grace to the nation. How would it be today if leaders would first follow God and then provide for others instead of themselves! These actions are partly the basis for our laws to not tax churches and to pay taxes on our land and food to distribute some of what we have been given to help one another. Joseph then vowed to his father that he would bury him in the promised land and not the land of their fruitful sojourning. We also have the promise of the Lord as sojourners (Hebrews 11:13, 1 Peter 2:11) in this world to be buried in the land God gives us with the future hope of a resurrection into the true promised land of the heavenly kingdom to come. For this we work and live by His promises and grace, no longer merely sojourners (Ephesians 2:19) of this world, but are citizens of heaven and of the household of God.
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