The Famine was Over

The Famine was Over

Genesis 47: ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. ²⁴ And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

 

²⁵ So they said, “You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” ²⁶ And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

 

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In the final year of the famine, Joseph told the Egyptians what to do with the land he purchased. Each household were now under the rule of Pharaoh and had to give one-fifth of their harvest annually. This became a law that was pleasing to Pharaoh.

 

My Observations:

• Every household had to clearly divide the way they planted their fields so it could be monitored by the Egyptian enforcers.
• Five fields had to be planted and one of the best would go to Pharaoh.
• The people gladly bought into this new way of life because they did not have seed to plant in their fields during the famine.

 

Joseph essentially developed commerce amongst the Egyptians that did not exist before the famine. Pharaoh would get a twenty percent cut and the people could do as they pleased with the rest. GOD put Joseph in a position to make

 

This shrewd move would keep Pharaoh wealthy without having to lift a finger. There were only seventy Israelites at this time. They would tend the best land and plant food for themselves and their animals. Joseph had developed a semi-harmonious lifestyle for Pharaoh, the Egyptians and the Israelites. The Egyptian priests, did not have to pay. The famine was over. GOD brought them out of the famine.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD tell Moses about the tax Joseph placed on the Egyptians?
• Have you ever been put in a position where you had to do something different and you gladly did it?
• When GOD takes you out of your famine, will you stay with HIM and be a new creation for HIM?