Now 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. And 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. And 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.” And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” So 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. And 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. Why 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.”
In the midst of this section of Genesis and the story of Joesph and his family, we ought not miss the above passage. While we might be totally carried away with the previous chapters of Joesph being united with his family and father, the above tells us something deeper about Joseph and his walk with God and his mission for God. If the story of his revelation of himself to his brothers shows his wisdom, the above story shows his shrewdness. If the story of his reunion with his family shows his brotherly compassion, the above tells us about his business administration. In the midst of the reunification of the family we can’t forget the intention of the entire story: God brought Joesph to this point to save lives. Remember what he told his brothers when he revealed himself to them:
Genesis 45:5-8 (ESV)
And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Yes, there is a great family story of forgiveness in this section. But there is also the fact that Joseph was now the second highest governing person in the world. He still had a job to do and in the process of doing his job, he made Pharaoh rich. Sometimes God uses a person to accomplish one thing and it also accomplishes other things. God will eventually destroy all that the Pharaoh accumulates by taking Israel out of Egypt. But it is not riches they owned anyhow. It was riches God gave them by sending Joesph to save them in the first place. The same can be said of Daniel and David and many other men of God. When God blesses His people He often blesses the world around them:
Proverbs 29:2 (ESV)
When the righteous increase, the people rejoice,
but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
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