THE GIFT OF EVERYTHING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.

Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace. When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up."

"Then bring your livestock," said Joseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone."

So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."

So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's, and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."

"You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."

So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.

Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

Genesis 47:13-27

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we saw in yesterday’s message, Jacob, his sons, and their families made the journey from Canaan to Egypt where they were treated with great hospitality by the nation’s leader, Pharaoh, and his second command, none other than Joseph, their own flesh and blood. The scriptures tell us that the Israelites were given “property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses” as well as “food, according to the number of their children”.

Everything seemed great but there was still one problem that had not yet been resolved.

For as we see in today’s scripture passage, the seven year famine that afflicted Egypt and its surrounding nations was still raging on and it began to impact the Egyptian people in a negative way. Look again at these verses as we continue our study of Genesis, chapter 47:

There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.

Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace. When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up."

"Then bring your livestock," said Joseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone."

So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."

So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's, and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."

"You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."

So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.

Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number. Vv.13-27

You may remember that God had revealed His plan for Egypt through the dream experienced by Pharaoh (Genesis 41). The plan was all around the harvest over a fourteen year period with the first seven years being a time of plenty followed by seven years of famine. In order to survive those latter seven years, we find Joseph implement a plan to store up grain during the years of plenty so to have enough food when the period of famine began.

When the famine struck, we saw where it not only impacted Egypt but the other nations around it as well. In fact, those surrounding nations came to Egypt with the hope of being able to buy grain and this was the impetus that got Joseph reconnected with his family who lived in Canaan.

Fast forward ahead to our scripture passage today and we find where there was plenty of grain to purchase in Egypt but many of the Egyptians ran out of money to pay for their food. And so we read where they took the issue to Joseph, saying:

“Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up."

In response to this, Joseph lets them know that they could pay in another way:

"Then bring your livestock. I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone."

And so livestock became a new currency of sorts and we read where the people brought Joseph their livestock, exchanging them for food.

Well, this arrangement continued on for a whole year before another problem arose. For soon, the Egyptians had exhausted their supply of livestock and were once again in a place where they could not pay for their food.

And so they came to Joseph, again voicing their situation, saying:

"We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."

In response to this, we read where Joseph accepts their proposal and buys "all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh” as the Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was too severe for them. As a result, all the land in Egypt belonged to Pharaoh and Joseph reduced the Egyptian people to servitude.

Now, we should note that Joseph didn’t bring all the Egyptians into bondage, forcing them to leave their homes and surrender their freedoms. No, he permitted them to stay where they were and continue to work their land, even giving them seed to grow new crops. The only stipulation in this deal was that the Egyptians were required to give one fifth of their crop go to Pharaoh and it’s important to note that this twenty percent asking was well below the average as most rulers demanded forty percent or greater from their people.

Now, if we read this in 21st century terms, it would appear harsh for any government to take someone’s livestock, land, and then the person themselves in return for providing food. But we need to keep in mind that we’re reading about a culture that existed well over 2,000 years ago and things were different. It certainly wasn’t unusual for a nation’s people to live in servitude to their ruler and this was definitely the case with Egypt’s Pharaoh. The Egyptian people were already his servants and at any time, he could seize their land and livestock if he so chose to. Here, they had the chance to willingly surrender their possessions so to gain the food they needed for survival.

Looking at this through the lens of the culture found in Genesis, we need to see that what happened in Egypt was actually an act of mercy by Pharaoh and Joseph. For many rulers of that time may have let their people starve to death if they couldn’t afford the price demanded and there would be no consideration for any substitute form of payment. But that’s not what happened in Egypt as its leader was willing to make sure everyone had food to eat while Pharaoh’s kingdom continued to thrive.

In the end translation, the Egyptians learned that sometimes, life might require great sacrifice, even losing everything, in order to simply survive.

You know, this whole account got me thinking about us as Christian believers. For every day we awake to, we’re usually looking to live well with the hope of realizing our individual desires and dreams but at a minimum, we hope to just have the basics, like a roof over our heads and food on the table.

We do all this fully aware that we too often face our own personal famines in life, just as the Egyptians did in the days of Genesis. These famines usually impact our finances, leaving us wondering if we’re going to have enough to survive from one month to the next and in very difficult circumstance, from one day to the next. In these times, we can find ourselves crying out for help as the Egyptians did, desperate and willing to sacrifice if need be to make it through the times we’re going through. And as we cry out, we can always count on God being there for us, like Joseph was for the people of Egypt, ready to help us but not giving everything freely. For like Joseph, God expects that we give Him something in return, dedicating all our possessions and ourselves to Him fully.

And while it might seem a lot for God to ask for, we need to remember how He gave up His only Son Jesus, sacrificing Him out of love for us so that we would not perish but gain everlasting life (John 3:16). If God was willing to give up all He had in Jesus for us, we should be willing to give up everything for Him as well.

Need an example of what that looks like?

Go back to Gospels when Jesus called His first disciples. They were Peter and his brother Andrew, and James and his brothers John, all of which were fishermen by trade. Jesus comes on the scene and offers to make them “fishers of men” if they would leave everything to follow Him and that’s exactly what they did, without hesitation (Matthew 4:18-22).  

They left their job.

They left their possessions.

They left their families behind.

The act for the four men was one of total surrender and by giving up all that they had, they actually gained eternal riches as they found the gift of everything, a gift that only comes through belief and trust in Jesus.

Today, anyone who places their faith in Jesus, denying themselves and taking up their cross to follow Him, receive the same gift of everything. For in Christ, a believer has all they could ever hope for and all they could ever need, both now and forevermore.

Thanks be to God for the gift of His Son! (2 Corinthians 9:15)

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.