Read with Me
Genesis 41:53-57 (HCSB)
Then the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. Extreme hunger came to all the land of Egypt, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh told all Egypt, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.” Because the famine had spread across the whole country, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, for the famine was severe in every land.
Listen with Me
God always keeps his promises, even the ones we wish He wouldn’t. At the end of the seven years of plenty, the Nile River failed to flood as it always did toward the middle of summer. The rains did not materialize, and the crops died in the field. That meant no food for the people, and none for the animals either.
During normal times of famine, the people simply cut back to small rations of the preserved crops from previous year. There was no such thing as trucking or flying in food from other areas where the crops hadn’t failed. And Joseph and the whole upper echelon of Egyptian society knew that this complete crop failure was only the beginning of the seven-year famine. It was going to be brutal.
When the people came to Pharaoh looking for solutions, he referred them to Joseph. And Joseph, who had been planning for this very situation, opened the store houses and sold portions of the stored up grain to the people.
Some might take issue with Joseph selling the grain to the people instead of simply giving it to them for free. After all, didn’t they grow and harvest the crops that produce that surplus over the previous seven years? But Joseph knew that simply giving the food away would lead to ruin. People would take huge amounts of the free grain, and the store houses would be empty long before the famine was over. But if people had to spend their own money, they would only buy what they really needed.
Also, as part of God’s plan, the famine was more widespread than just the one country. It affected the nations that bordered Egypt as well. And when people in those outlying areas heard that there was grain available for sale in Egypt, they came with money to buy grain to take back to their homes. And since God had blessed the crops of Egypt so thoroughly during the previous seven years, there was actually enough grain stored up to sell to those foreigners and further enrich Egypt without threatening their own future.
Pray with Me
Father, it’s fascinating to me that Your plan didn’t just focus on Egypt, but on the whole area, thus drawing people from all the surrounding nations into Egypt. That would soon include Joseph’s own family from Canaan. You are not the God of a nation or a people group. You are the infinite, omnipresent God who controls the whole world. And I am so glad that You have revealed Yourself to me, so that I can worship and serve You myself. Amen.