3 There was no food,
however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and
Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 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. 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.”
Lesson One: So there was no food in Egypt and Canaan
because of the famine. This was a severe
time for that region. The wonderful
thing is God will take care of us in the times of famine and hardship. He promises never to leave or forsake
us. He will supply all or needs
according to his riches in glory. When
you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness everything will be
added to you. God will supply either
supernaturally or a Joseph personality for you.
When you feel like you are wasting away God will fill you. They that hunger and thirst after
righteousness will be filled.
Joseph collected all the money that was to found in Egypt and Canaan and
brought it to Pharaoh’s palace. Now in
times of hardship the wise actually prosper.
Did you know that Isaac prospered 100 fold in a time of famine because
he trusted God. Gen 26:12 The Bible has five ways to prosper in famine
conditions. First be wise. Solomon asked
for wisdom in 1 King 4:5-15 It was the wisdom of God that brought him such
tremendous prosperity. It helped him in all the affairs of life. Next, in Proverbs
22:4. It says, “By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and
life”. Be humble. Thirdly, Be generous to others. Proverbs 22:9 says, “He who has a generous
eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.” When you give it
is given to you. Fourthly, Labor to give
to those in need. Ephesians 4;28 says,
“Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let labor, working with his hands what is good,
that he may have something to give him who has need.” What we have should be available for others
if they have need. True generosity is
releasing your resources for others.
Lastly. Jesus said in Matthew
6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven. Remember you are
not of this world. You are passing
through. You cannot take anything with
you.
The people of Egypt learned that when you are hungry and your money is
gone you need someone to be generous.
Talk about the guy who was a welder out of work for nine months standing
on the street with a sign looking for work and people offered him a job. People can and will be generous if they know
the need. Whenever we do a radiothon I
am always amazed at the generosity of God’s people. You have to choose to be generous.
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.
Lesson Two: Now remember this famine was going to be for
seven years. So the people brought all
their livestock and Joseph bought it all in exchange for food. A lesson we learn is that sometimes hard
times can be for a long time. When you
are in hard times for a long period you learn four things. First, you learn who your real friends
are. You learn who really matters, you
will be grateful for them. I am grateful
for Lois she has been with me through the good and bad times. Next, it builds the strength of your
character. It builds character,” was my
mom’s favorite response to any complaint I had growing up. As annoying as that
line was, it is true. Nothing builds our strength like surviving difficulty.
Nothing forces us to leverage what we have, dig deep and come up with every
ounce of integrity, patience and strength like a hard time. Thirdly, we see what matters most, we’ll be
able to look a little more closely at those things, take a bit better care of
them and love them even more for being unmovable. God’s love, grace, mercy, favor, anointing
and promises are what matters. Lastly, Difficult
times leave us with a lasting impression. They alter us and change the way we
view our lives. We have learned who and what matters in our life and
undoubtedly we have a greater appreciation for them. Surviving hardship gives
us a broader perspective on what hardship really is. You will look back on the
things you use to complain about and be thankful they are your only worries.
After we have survived a difficult time, we are given a deep gratitude for our
life. Difficult times will happen. To find the light, we have to go through the
darkness. God uses hard times to change
us. The people learned this.
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. 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.”
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. 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.
Lesson Three: So the people then the next year came and
sold their land and themselves. Joseph
bought everything. Now there were people
who tried to hold out but eventually reality kicked in and they sold. Now this is interesting. They then asked Joseph for seed that they may
live and not die and the land would not be desolate. They had hope in the midst of famine. Now hope can be built is built through good
leadership. The people saw Joseph as a
good leader. They knew he would be fair,
just, good and generous. Godly
leadership does five things. First, hope
works with faith and love. 1 Cor 13:13,
we must work with God or hope. Our faith
and hope in God inspires others to believe as well. Next, hope build confidence in God, us and
others. The people saw that the one
stable thing in Egypt and that was Joseph.
Joseph became a symbol of hope in a dark and famine time. Hope brings clarity into life. The people saw what really matter and they
knew that they needed seed for the next year or the land would be
desolate. This is amazing they saw a
future because of Joseph and the king.
Fourthly, hope inspired productivity and hard work ethic. The people learned that only through hard
work, productivity and clarity they would survive. Lastly, Hope is a powerful force that brings
people together. It instills a sense of
unity, collective pride and strengthens optimism when people work together as
one. This is why teambuilding is so
powerful. The people became workers
together with Joseph. I believe that
Joseph said, “We are in this together and we will get through it together.
” He knew that the famine would end and
told them. Hard times need good
leadership. This is not just for
countries, province and municipalities but families. Mon dad, your faith in God, each other will
get you through the hardest times.
Remember we all have hard times but they do not last forever. The only people who did not sell their lands
were the priests of the land. They got a
regular allotment from the crown. This
gives a picture of the religious life of Egypt.
Here is a truth; a godly leader can influence a land of polytheistic
belief. Shine even in a dark place. Joseph did.
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. 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.” 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.
This last lesson is so important. Joseph did not take advantage of his position
or circumstance. He could have put the
people into slavery he did not. Never
take advantage of someone when they are down and out. Evil, selfishness, prejudice proud do
that. It happens all the time. God hates it when people exploit others. Employers, bosses, workers and families do it
as well. Joseph did not. He made a law that only 20% of the harvest
would go to pharaoh. The rest was for
them. Now get this. Joseph imposed a flat tax. The people were to pay only 20% of what they
earned to the government. Now listen to
this in the following countries income to government at all levels tax levels
are. In Austria and Denmark the tax rate
for a family is 55%, Belgium is 50% and Germany is 45%, Canada is 48% and US is
26.5%. Joseph imposed 20%, no wondered
they said, “you have saved us.” Egypt
had the lowest form of taxation in the known world. The answer to your question is does the
government exploit us, yes. Do we get
value for government services, no? Two
things are for certain death and taxes.
True godly leadership looks for ways to lesson a burden not impose one. The answer to your question does Canada have
godly leadership No? That is why we need
to pray for those in authority so we can live quiet and peaceful lives. Remember righteousness exalts a nation and
sin is a reproach to a people. So never,
never, never exploit a situation, you are being selfish, vain, prejudice and
evil. True love, compassion, faith and
generosity won’t.
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