Egypt: The Patriarchs, Part 4.
We ended last month with the two dreams that Joseph had when he was younger. It seems that these two dreams showed Joseph was in power and his family were all bowing down to him. Pharaoh has just made Joseph one step away from being Pharaoh of Egypt. So let’s continue on with the story. So the people of Egypt were already buying back their own grain, and here comes Joseph’s brothers, to buy grain for their families. Joseph, after being in Egypt all those years, dressed, and talked, and even looked Egyptian, so the brothers would not have recognized him. But what is interesting here is that they were all bowing down to him just like in his dream. Now, if we get into Joseph’s head we can surmise that this gave Joseph a great feeling of satisfaction. I’m sure that just being second in command gave him an empowering feeling. So Joseph begins to play a little cat and mouse game with his brothers by calling them spies. Genesis 42:15-17 says, “And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” And he put them all in custody for three days.”
Joseph felt he had a right to test his brothers to see if they were the same as when they put him into the pit. Genesis 42: 18-21 continues, “On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do. They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.”
It was certainly working because he questions their honesty, and they begin to question the past. Joseph does everything he can to cause them to fear and to question and to be distressed. I’m sure he felt distressed when in the pit, and then being taken away from his family and being sold. Well, the story goes that they had to come back and they brought their younger brother Benjamin, and seeing Benjamin, Joseph had to express his feelings, and expose his identity. Everyone hugged and kissed each other and all was forgiven. Joseph sends for his father and the whole household of Jacob to come and live in Egypt. So now Jacob finds himself in Egypt during a famine like his grandfather Abraham. Genesis 46:26-27 says this about who came to Egypt. “All those who went to Egypt with Jacob,those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons’ wives numbered sixty-six persons. With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.”
It is important that the Scriptures tell us the number who came to Egypt with Jacob, and we will see why as we go on. Like Abraham, Joseph’s family is welcomed with open arms from Pharaoh. Genesis 47:1-6 tells us this, “Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?” “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
Well, now that Joseph and his family are reunited let’s get back to the famine.
Joseph is still 2nd in command of all of Egypt and the famine still had many years before it was going to end. Genesis 47:13-17 goes on to tell us this, “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 all gone.” “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.”
We see here that Joseph has collected all the people’s money and now their livestock. You have to wonder why? Let’s take a moment to consider a very important thing here. Joseph originally told Pharaoh that he should collect a fifth of everyone’s grain. The people for seven years lived on 4/5th of their crop, now you have to wonder how then can they now live on only 1/5 of their crop? And not only that, but people from all over came to buy grain. This had to be a miracle of multiplication from God. We see this in 2 Kings 4:42-44, “A man from Baal Shalishah came to Elisha. He brought 20 loaves of barley bread from the first harvest to Elisha. He also brought fresh grain in his sack. Then Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” Elisha’s servant said, “How can I feed 100 men with so little?” But Elisha said, “Give the bread to the people to eat. This is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and will have food left over.’” Then he gave it to them. The people ate and had food left over, as the Lord had said.” We also see Yeshua doing this same thing when feeding the 4,000 and then the 5,000 with just a few fish and loaves. (Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 15:29-39) We see that God was in control during this whole famine, and in the bringing back of Joseph’s family not in the land of Canaan but in Egypt. With that thought we must look at the end of the story. Genesis 50:5-21 tells us this, “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”
No one knows the plans of God, what we may think is a wrong being done to us, or a bad situation, can be used by God for good, so we must learn to trust God in all situations. We will end here at Genesis 47:18-25, “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 enough food 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.”
We will continue next month with Moses.
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