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JOSEPH ENRICHES PHARAOH

Chapter 47

After seeing that his family was well established in the land of Goshen, Joseph returned to the palace of government bringing with him five of his brethren, and obtained an audience with Pharaoh to introduce them.

He immediately informed Pharaoh that they had come with all their flocks and their herds and all they had, from which Pharaoh could infer that they did not need material or financial aid, further facilitating their acceptance.

Joseph informed him that they were already in the land of Goshen. He had been wise, installing his family first before presenting them to Pharaoh: as they were now already settled there, it was more likely that Pharaoh would give them that land, which contained the best pastures of Egypt. The Egyptians would not be concerned since they would not be living in their cities.

On being questioned, his brothers told Pharaoh that they were shepherds, as their ancestors (as Joseph had instructed them), and had come because of lack of pasture for their flocks in the land of Canaan, and asked permission to dwell in the land of Goshen.

Pharaoh then spoke to Joseph, welcoming his father and brothers and allowing them to dwell in the best part of Egypt, the land of Goshen. If Joseph knew any competent men among them, Pharaoh asked that he appoint them chief herdsmen over Pharaoh’s own livestock. 

In view of this success, Joseph also brought in his father and set him before Pharaoh. His first act was to bless Pharaoh (praying for God's blessings upon him). It is the greater that blesses the lesser, and in this case, Jacob was

• the eldest, advanced in years,

• a true believer and

• a patriarch and prophet of God.

He acted like a man who was not ashamed of his faith, and thus demonstrated his gratitude to the Pharaoh for what he had given him and his family.

Jacob did not boast of his success and prosperity, but humbly told Pharaoh that the days of his pilgrimage amounted to a hundred and thirty years, which were few and evil, not reaching the ages of his forebears (it seems he thought he would soon die).

It is an example for our days when so many Christians want to aggrandize themselves, boasting of what they are and what they have done, in addition to exalting each other. In reality we are only sinners who have nothing to be proud of, apart from a wonderful Saviour who has been gracious and patient with us over the years.

Having now obtained the sanction of Pharaoh, Joseph officially passed the deeds (or its equivalent at the time) for the land of Goshen, or of Rameses as it was later called to his father and his brothers, and sustained them all with bread, avoiding the need for them to buy foodstuff themselves.

Hunger prevailed among the people of Egypt and the people of Canaan - only these two peoples are mentioned because they are the two through which Israel and his descendants passed; no doubt other countries in Africa and Asia Minor were also affected. The cereal of the seven years of plenty was stored in Egypt, and was sold by its Governor, Joseph.

Over time, the money to buy grain came to an end: it all went to the coffers of the Pharaoh. For people to continue to buy food, Joseph accepted payment in the form of horses, sheep, cattle, donkeys, and this lasted for a year.

At the end of that year, all animals having been handed over to Pharaoh, Joseph agreed to exchange food for rural properties. In this way, all the land of Egypt eventually became the property of Pharaoh and the people sold themselves as slaves and went to live in the cities, with the exception of the land of the priests, since they were allotted rations by Pharaoh so they had no need to sell their land.

Predicting the end of the drought, Joseph gave seed to the people for them to sow their land on the condition that one-fifth of the harvest every year must be paid to Pharaoh as rent.Thus Pharaoh acquired all the land of Egypt (except for what belonged to the priests), as well as herding animals, and he was guaranteed an income equivalent of 20% of the country's agricultural production. This continued at least until the time this book was written by Moses, four centuries later.

Israel and his sons dwelt in the land of Goshen where they had possessions.Their families grew and multiplied exceedingly, eventually becoming a great people. After seventeen years, Jacob felt that his life was nearing its end, and having called Joseph, made him swear solemnly in the fashion of the time not to bury him in Egypt but to take him away and let him lie with his forebears in their burial place ( in the cave of Machpelah, Canaan).

The following reasons may have led Israel to make this request:

• Having reached the age of 147 years, he was frightened at the prospect of dying in Egypt - he had thought he would just stay there until the drought had ended.
• Joseph's success in acquiring all the land for Pharaoh may have made him think that his family, now comfortably installed in Egypt, would never again wish to return to Canaan.

The desire to be buried with his forebears in Canaan was a testament to the faith of Jacob in the promise made by God to them, which appears often in the Bible.

The hope of the Old Testament was an earthly hope: Abraham believed that he would be resurrected in that land, and wanted to be buried in it. So did Isaac, then Jacob, even if he died in Egypt. Their hope was not to be taken up in the air to meet their Lord as does the church of Christ, but to enter the kingdom Christ will establish in the world. When this happens, the great hope of Israel will be fulfilled, and these people will be resurrected to participate in that kingdom; it will start with the millennium, a trial period, when those born in it shall be proved, and after that the eternal kingdom will come for eternity.

That is why Jacob did not want to be buried in Egypt: if he did not have faith or hope in the promise of God, what difference would it make where he was buried?

For believers of today, our burial place means nothing: wherever our mortal remains may be, they will be resurrected and transformed, joined by our living spirits who will have been with Christ (if we die before this happens).The dead in Christ and those alive in Christ, wherever they may be, will meet the Lord in the air. Our hope is a heavenly hope.

 

R David Jones

1 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen."
2 And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers."
4 And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock."
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How old are you?"
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."
10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12 Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with bread, according to the number in their families.
13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
15 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed."
16 Then Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone."
17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate."
20 Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's.
21 And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.
22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
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.
27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.
28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
29 When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt,
30 but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place." And he said, "I will do as you have said."
31 Then he said, "Swear to me." And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

Genesis chapter 47