Prosperity

Genesis 47:13-31

¹³Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine.

¹⁴And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁵And 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. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.”

¹⁶And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.”

¹⁷So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.

¹⁸And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land.

¹⁹Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

²⁰So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s.

²¹As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other.

²²Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

²³Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.

²⁴And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.”

²⁵And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.”

²⁶So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

²⁸And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

²⁹And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt,

³⁰but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

Joseph’s administration of the disaster relief during the famine goes along without a hitch. As the famine deepens, the people turn to the only source of food available – the Pharaoh. Because of Joseph’s careful planning, there is food for everyone. But in sharing that food, Joseph makes Pharaoh even richer. All of the money and the land in Egypt becomes his property. Eventually, the people sell even themselves into servitude in order to feed their families. But – Joseph gives them seed to eat and to plant, demanding that a fifth of it be returned to Pharaoh. When I consider the fact that most of us would rejoice at an Income Tax of only 20%, I guess returning a fifth to Pharaoh doesn’t seem too bad. I think we can assume Joseph holds that fifth in reserve should another famine strike the land.

Jacob is graciously given another 17 years of life after he is reunited with the son he thought dead. Clearly, he and Joseph have renewed their close relationship and Jacob looks to him as the oldest son, extracting promises from him that would be asked of the oldest. God’s blessings continue to pour out upon His children now located in the Egyptian province of Goshen. They prosper and multiply, just as God had planned. God has saved his people from destruction and the story rolls on.