Joseph Buys a Country

Hi! Here's a short story for a change:

Before I start this story, I’m going to tell you what surprised me when I read the commentaries about it: not one commentator said anything negative about Joseph for this. I don’t know whether I’m looking at it wrong, or whether nobody wanted to denigrate one of Scripture’s heroes, but I am not too sure that Joseph did a particularly good thing here. Maybe it was what had to be done, and clearly he didn’t do it selfishly or line his pockets at the people’s expense. He seemed to have no other motive but kindness and concern for the well-being of the people. I think, too, it was probably much better than what would have happened in our own country, where people seem to think it is the government’s job to just give them whatever they need. Joseph didn’t create any entitlements. But even still, his policies for dealing with the Egyptian people during the famine brought an entire nation into servitude to their government, and took away all, or most, private ownership of property. When Joseph got done, nearly everything and everybody in the entire country belonged to Pharaoh.

In both Egypt and Canaan, nothing grew during the famine, but Joseph, as Pharaoh’s right hand man, had food to sell to the people of both countries, plenty to last throughout the entire famine. There was plenty of food, but not plenty of money. Before the famine was in any way near to being over, Joseph had collected all the money to be found anywhere in either country.

Nothing more is said about the Canaanites after this. I don’t know what they did to tough out the rest of the famine, but since there were obviously still Canaanites in existence after it was over, they must have done something to survive. But apparently, once they didn’t have any more money, they didn’t try to get their food from Egypt anymore. I’m sure they weren’t willing to pay the price the Egyptians did.
The Egyptians, had no other way to get food than through Joseph. They came to Joseph and demanded that he give them food so they wouldn’t starve to death in front of him. But Joseph, generous as he was, was not generous enough to give out the food that he had collected for free. Never mind that the Egyptian farmers had grown the food in the first place; it now belonged to the government. “I’ll give it to you in exchange for your livestock,” he told them.

Nothing is said that the Egyptians complained about this. One of the commentaries said that the animals would have probably died had Joseph not done this. Joseph wasn’t getting strong, healthy animals, but starving ones. Only he had the wherewithal to feed them. Within a year, he had all the animals in Egypt.

So then the people offered themselves and their land so that they could continue to eat. It seems that the purchase of the animals was Joseph’s idea, but it was the people’s idea to become Pharaoh’s slaves, and allow him to have ownership of their lands, so that Joseph could give them grain to eat. Joseph didn’t say no.

One class of people did not become Pharaoh’s slaves: the priests to the Egyptian gods. Pharaoh was already taking care of them, so they got to keep their land.
After this, the famine was over, but at this point, the people had no seed to plant. Joseph had it all. Now that the people had nothing and had become slaves to Pharaoh, Joseph provided them with seed. Even that was not free. He made a law in Egypt that lasted far longer than his lifetime that 20% of all crops belonged to Pharaoh. Income tax?

During this time, Jacob and the rest of the family settled down in Goshen, the land that had been set aside for them, the land that Joseph had declared the best in Egypt. According to Genesis 47:27, “they acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.” Quite a contrast to what was happening to the Egyptians. But like I said, it was probably what had to happen, the best of the bad situation. But how is it that visitors in the country were doing better than the native born?

When God chooses to bless somebody, He blesses them. He doesn’t need perfect circumstances in the world around the person he chooses to bless in order to be able to give that person something good. He can give whatever He wants to, regardless of whether or not it looks possible for the recipient to have it. How could the earliest Israelites have increased while their host country was brought to servitude? Of course, the situation would be reversed before long. But for now, what a testimony to God’s ability to bless whom He wants to bless!