God Sends Disaster On All - Genesis 40-43

Genesis 41:56-57 (ESV)

So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

Joseph and Pharaoh, both, benefited financially from a crisis created by God.  God sent a famine on the entire earth.  We have no idea why.   But the famine was sent by God. From the first day the Joseph meet Pharaoh, he gave the reason for the famine to be from the hand of God.  

Genesis 41:25 (ESV)

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

God is not afraid to take responsibility for these type of things either:

Isaiah 45:5-7 (ESV)

I am the LORD, and there is no other,

besides me there is no God;

I equip you, though you do not know me,

that people may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is none besides me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

I form light and create darkness;

I make well-being and create calamity;

I am the LORD, who does all these things.

In the midst of this famine, God gave Joesph extreme wisdom on how to manage the situation.   This is a key learning point:

God does not always deliver His people from crisis, but will give them wisdom and strength to deal with crisis. 

God will use this crisis to bring Israel (Joesph’s father and the father of the nation) to Egypt.   He will then redeem them out of Egypt.   This entire famine, come to Egypt, be delivered from Egypt, is a picture of God’s plan of redemption.    God will use this for His glory.  He will have glory over the gods of Egypt as a result of these events.  But in the process Joesph is benefited and certainly Pharaoh will be as well.  Sometimes the disasters, allowed and/or brought on by God, benefit the unbelieving world.  Sometimes they benefit the believing world.   Sometimes they benefit both and hurt others.  Remember this famine was on the entire earth. That means people were hurting.    Yet, God used it for His glory.  When crisis comes we have to remember that God is sovereign and there will be times when both believer and non-believer benefit materially as a result.  There will be times when they both suffer.   Note how Jesus stated it centuries later:

Matthew 5:45 (ESV)

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.