You saved our lives (Gen 47 q/a)

You saved our lives

Gen 47:11-27

Gen 47:25   "You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."

1.       [11-12]  Where did Joseph settle his father and brothers? What did he provide them with?

a.        So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed.

b.      ¹² Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their children.

c.       In comparison to Egyptians, Joseph's family did not pay anything for the land and for food to survive through the famine.

2.     [13-17] What was the extent of famine? (13) How did Joseph manage the famine? What was the result? (14) When money was gone, what did the people face? What was Joseph's suggestion for solution? What was the result? (17)

a.     ¹³ There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. ;

This is a clear statement of comparison in contrast to the family of Joseph living in the district of Rameses.
The famine covered the entire land of Egypt and Canaan; The extent of famine covered pretty much all the land ; In general, Egypt was the best land, fertile and abundance of food even when the other parts of the world was suffering from famine. Yet this famine struck the land of Egypt and its vicinity.
It was so severe enough to threaten lives; lasting for seven years. 

b.    ¹⁴ Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace.

All the liquid asset, money, were used to buy food in order to survive. They were left with no money at all at end. All money was put in the treasury of Pharaoh.

c.     ¹⁵ When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone."

Their lives were in danger. Their death was sure outcome if food was not provided immediately and only in Joseph's hand(king Pharaoh's) was food.

d.    ¹⁶ "Then bring your livestock," said Joseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone." ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

e.     They sold all the livestock to Joseph in order to buy food. In this way they survived through the year.: All the livestock were deeded to the Pharaoh.

3.       [18-22] How long could they survive after selling live stocks? What were left for them to buy food? (18b) If Joseph would not buy these, what was the danger? What were they willing to do to save their lives? (19b) What was the end result? (20-21) Who's land Joseph did not buy? (22) In what way were they similar to or different from ordinary Egyptians?

a.       ¹⁸ When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

                                                   i.      By selling livestock and land,  they could sustain their lives for a year. They could not sustain their lives any longer. The famine was long and severe. Money, livestock and did not provide them enough value to sustain lives through the famine. (Matt 6:26 ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Mat 6:26 NIV) ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mat 16:26 NIV)

b.      ¹⁹ Why should we perish before your eyes-- we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate."

                                                   i.      compare with v15; "die" vs. "perish" in v19.

                                                 ii.      They offered the land they were living on and themselves in exchange for food. If not we will 'perish' --threat to life is so grim and unavoidable; again the severity of famine did not wane.

c.       ²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's, ²¹ and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.

                                                   i.      All the land of Egypt was deeded to Pharaoh and people became the possession of the king Pharaoh. They were not any more independent beings ; they became servants of the King Pharaoh—servitude

                                                 ii.      The entire land and people were under the King Pharaoh and became Pharaoh's possession except the priests.

d.      ²² However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

                                                   i.      The priests could keep their land because they were given "free supply of food" from the Royal treasury. Because of their status as priest of the king or kingdom, they were treated along with the king and were offered free food. As the result they did not need to sell their land or themselves.  

                                                 ii.      They also survived by the food supplied from royal treasury. In this regard they were same as the ordinary people of Egypt.

4.       [23-26] What became the binding rule for the nation? (24) Why? (23) What was dominant feeling of Egyptians as they were passing through the famine? (25) What new law did Joseph establish on the land?  What was the difference between this and the Law of Moses? (ref. Deut 14:22; Gen 28:22) Why? (Discuss this by comparing the setting and initiator of these two laws)

a.       ²³ Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. ²⁴ But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."

                                                   i.      This is Joseph's offer for them after they had nothing to pay for food.

                                                 ii.      The foundation or reason for such offer was in the fact that they themselves as well as the land are all Pharaoh's. They had nothing of their own.

                                                iii.      Yet in Joseph's favor, they were offered to sustain their lives by giving seeds and lands so that they could sustain their lives.

b.    ²⁵ "You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh."

                                  i.    The people were happy to do this with willing and great gratitude because what Joseph offered was all free and they were able to survive. 

                                 ii.    ²⁶ So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt-- still in force today-- that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.

                                iii.    Joseph established this as the law of the land;

                                iv.    Only the priests were exempt from this law; v22, and 26

c.       The difference

                                                   i.      Deuteronomy 14:22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. (Deu 14:22 NIV)
Genesis 28:22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." (Gen 28:22 NIV)

                                                 ii.      This was set up by God's ordinance for his people. God's initiative as his demand for his people since God saved them and blessed them; it was a token of acknowledging what God did to them.

                                                iii.      For Egyptians, all of them, including their lives and the land, were not theirs. They were all deeded to Pharaoh. It was by the grace of the king that they could continue their lives. They were willing to do so with glad heart.

5.       [27] How did Israelites do through this famine and afterward? (cf. 11-12) How were their lives different from Egyptians? Why?

a.     ²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

b.      In between v11-12 and v27 is what went on the land of Egypt by Joseph's administration of famine.

c.       They repented of their sin and have become God's children and were not needed to sell anything to survive through the famine.  They prospered in the land they owned.

6.       Discuss the will of God who sent seven years of abundance and seven years of famine, Joseph's role in surviving of the people of the land, and God's purpose in raising Joseph.

a.       God's will in sending the seven years of abundance and famine: 
He gave dreams to Joseph and that dreams were the pictures of what happened in Egypt during the seven years of abundance and seven years of famine.  (Gen 37:5, 9)
This dream was fulfilled as he became prime minister of Egypt.  So it is obvious that God planned this long before He gave dreams to Joseph.
This plan covered the entire land of Canaan and Egypt.
It came in form of abundance of grain for seven years and following seven years of famine.
As we noted in this passage, during the seven years of famine, no one could survive unless it was prepared during the seven years of abundance.
This preparation could not happen if God did not prepare Joseph and Joseph were not the administrator of these 14 years.
The entire world was under famine and no one could escape from this famine and would suffered death if there were not Joseph or his wise administration through godly revelation.
The final outcome of this famine was salvation of all men and all men became the possession of the king and all were happy to offer tribute to this king at least one fifth of their harvest with great joy.

b.      God prepared Joseph over 14 years in order to make him the one who could represent Him and execute His will through these 14 years of implementation of His plan.  This includes; a. God being with him throughout his life from young age,  b. training him for 14 years as slave and prisoner,  c. three dreams that God revealed to Joseph--One for his own in regard to his personal life and his family, the second one was about king’s bakers and cupbearers. The subject of this revelation was blessing and judgment; the one who offended the king was hanged and the one who did not offend was restored to his position in king’s court.  The third one was Pharaoh’s and its subject was what would happen to the world. It was God’s plan to subject all under God’s grace through famine. In implementing this plan, Joseph was to be at the center as the one that God trusted his plan and to execute administration of salvation.

c.       So the entire event of Jacob's family is inevitably entangled with the world history where 'seven years of famine would decimate the world. Unless this is prepared, there won't be any one survive. In the middle of this salvation work, Joseph, the 11th son of Jacob, played the key role in salvation of his own family as well as the salvation of the entire nation Egypt.

d.      The seven years of famine was so severe that no one could survive if Joseph did not prepare in advance. They used up all of their money, sold live stocks, their land and themselves. Simply there was nothing left for them. It was all by the grace of Joseph they could survive the remaining years of famine.

e.      In this situation, Joseph offered them a salvation from famine  despite of the fact that they even sold everything including themselves. This became the source of great thanks and gratitude from those who were  saved.  In thankfulness, they were happy to offer two tenth of what they harvested to Pharaoh.  This is a clear contrast to what Jacob was willing to do under a certain condition; a binding contract he made in his own accord and God demanded it as covenant from Israel.(Gen 28:22)    

f.        Last thing that we must note is that Joseph made all people and assets of the world a tribute to King Pharaoh, making the king the sole possessor of the entire kingdom. (ref. 1 Cor 15:25-28)

@ These are important observations that we must take into consideration in our effort to find the significance of this event to us; Is it just an old history to reveal certain principles of God's outworking of salvation of men? If it is more than just to reveal few principles of God, then can it be a revelation of what is yet to come in world history that consummate in salvation of the world? Many have thought that Joseph was a prototype of Messiah, Jesus. This has been an undeniable conviction on many people's mind because of so many similarities between Joseph's life and Jesus. If this is so, then why do we not take the entire scope of this history as the revelation of God's salvation history? As much as the Law of Moses contains a prophetic aspect, so is this as well. I consider that these two seven years’ of abundance and famine was not only a history but also a prophetic revelation for God’s plan for the world in coming ages.  If we say yes to this, then questions comes, what is the seven years of abundance and then seven years of famine that might decimate the entire human race where by the Messiah works out salvation for many?