The Book of Genesis
Part 83
In the Day of Prosperity Consider: Chapter 53-57
What lessons may be learned by the believer from these historical events we have been reviewing! God is not always in a hurry to accomplish His purpose; He may wait many years to execute His plans in the life of His child. When the fulness of time comes, nothing will hinder Him; He may have to disturb the routine of a royal palace, and interfere with the schedule in a prison. “He doeth according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?” (Dan. 4:35).
May the attitude toward the Lord’s dealings with us be that of a humble mind and a submissive will, knowing that “tribulation worketh patience: and patience, experience; and experience, hope” (Rom. 5:3-4).
Slowly, through a painful process God had raised Joseph from the miry clay in a dark pit to the governor’s residence in Egypt. By that process, a discipline in itself, God had trained him for the task that now lay before him. The next section of Joseph’s history, generally speaking, divides itself into two parts, prosperity and preparation, adversity and administration.
Prosperity and Preparation
Pleasant events seem to pass so quickly! With only fifteen words the narrator records the history of seven years, “And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended” (41:53). During these years in which there was no direct indication that Joseph’s predictions would come true, there is no doubt that he busied himself, and that with complete reliance upon the Lord, he executed the plan he had proposed.
With a heavy schedule to keep and tremendous administrative duties to perform, Joseph did not forget his God. Circumstances had so changed that much of the sorrow of the past was obliterated from his memory; notwithstanding, God remained supreme. “God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” Later he added, “God hath caused me to be fruitful.” Solomon realized the tendency of the human heart to stray from the Lord through changes of circumstances, especially when these became advantageous. He wrote, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain” (Prov. 3:8-9).
The Psalmist refers to some of Joseph’s activities during this period. “He (Pharaoh) made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom” (Psa. 105:21-22). Apparently there were those among the counsellors who opposed the adoption of the austerity program when everything seemed so prosperous, and these Joseph had to discipline, he had to imprison some. There were others who were co-operative, and these he had to instruct in the best methods of collecting and conserving grain. Joseph in all those years was an excellent example of the fact, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Adversity and Administration
“And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.” One not only notices in this confirmation the intensity and the extent of the famine but also the wise preparation for the emergency. The provisions gathered in the form of a taxation were stored throughout the entire country. Joseph’s plan was not one of centralization but of distribution. Food was apportioned in such a manner that it was dispensed locally to the communities scattered over all Egypt.
It is common and wise practice to have for so gigantic an undertaking some headquarter in which general management is set. It would be to such an office that non-Egyptians would make application for grain and flour. Fuller details of Joseph’s methods of administration are given in chapter 47.
An interesting account is given by Brugsch of the tomb of one called Buba. It bears the inscription, “When a famine broke out for many years, I gave corn to the city during each famine.” This Historian believes that this inscription dates from the time of Joseph. This may be the tomb of one of the officers under Joseph.
The terrible suffering caused by even one year’s famine is well illustrated for us by happenings in our own day in both China and India. In populous areas we have read of the people eating the thatch of their cottage roofs, of selling their children, and of even suiciding.
In an attempt to piece together the method of administration employed, it would seem that a fourfold objective had been set. First, there was the selling of the grain in order to regain for Pharaoh the moneys originally invested. Second, to leave with the people the feeling of personal responsibility, the plan was not a relief work of charity, for each man retained the sense of individual moral duty. Consequently, they used their cattle and land in making their purchases. The result of this was that each became a tenant on government land at a fair rental. It is confirmed in secular history that the land eventually became Pharaoh’s by this purchase. Third, we read, “And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.” There may have been several reasons for this, but the most probable is that it became a necessity to gather the people near to the distributing centre lest through isolation some of them perish. Fourth, to leave the land belonging to the priest inviolate.
In this way God set in motion the instruments which were eventually to complete the predictions made to Abraham centuries before: “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their’s, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substances” (Gen. 15:13-14). One is constrained to say with the Apostle, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Rom. 11:33).
In all His dealings with men and nations when there has been a yielding to His will in any measure and a following of His guidance, the ultimate end is enrichment. When at last Israel left Egypt, Egypt was impoverished and Israel made wealthy.