…and the Government takes over. Some things never change.
Joseph was intelligent, and shrewd. He knows what Pharaoh likes and dislikes, and uses that knowledge to acquire the best land in Egypt for his family. This is all part of God’s plan, of course. The Lord has decided to introduce Jesus through the family tree of Abraham, so that family must survive the famine. And, they not only survive, but they thrive. 66 people travel to Egypt, but in 430 years a million will leave. By my quick calculation there would be over a million people in 200 years (I figured every family had 5 children every 40 years) If you do the math, the first 160 years stays small, but between year 160 and 200 it explodes. I wonder if that’s when they wore out their welcome. If my numbers are anywhere near correct, a million people is a fraction of who left. Numbers tells us that 600,000 men left, so add to that number all the women, and then double it for the number of children….. wow. This family knew how to grow!
The key theme here is one of God keeping His promise. He promised Abraham, then Isaac, and now Jacob. There will be too many descendants to count, and very soon that will be true. Now consider that all Christians are “adopted” members of Abraham’s family, and you see the big picture. Only God knows that number.
I wonder if this enormous number of people contributed to the building of the Pyramids.
Joseph sells the grain for cash, then belongings, then the property, and then the people themselves. There are some who say the Pharaoh was just another tribal leader until Joseph came along with his wisdom and insight and made him the most powerful ruler in the region. Perhaps the reason Pharaoh became so wealthy was because he was housing God’s people. As long as he was doing the Lord’s bidding, he was blessed. Even though he himself was pagan. That’s interesting…the idea of God blessing a pagan leader for the purposes of providing for his people. I wonder if God would bless a family with an unbelieving father if the mother and children were believers. I wonder if God would bless a family if the children believed. It seems to be the same concept to me.
It makes me wonder if we really know why we are blessed in the first place. It would be fairly arrogant to think that our blessings are because of our own efforts. Perhaps we are being blessed so that others we are responsible for will receive what they need. It may have nothing to do with us. Whatever the reason, I pray that God continues to bless, and that each of us continue to remain obedient to Him, because that is the only path into eternal blessing.
Faithfully,
PR