#123 Bought Genesis 47

13 Meanwhile, the famine became so severe that all the food was used up, and people were starving throughout the lands of Egypt and Canaan. 14 By selling grain to the people, Joseph eventually collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan, and he put the money in Pharaoh’s treasury. 15 When the people of Egypt and Canaan ran out of money, all the Egyptians came to Joseph. “Our money is gone!” they cried. “But please give us food, or we will die before your very eyes!”16 Joseph replied, “Since your money is gone, bring me your livestock. I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph in exchange for food. In exchange for their horses, flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and donkeys, Joseph provided them with food for another year.18 But that year ended, and the next year they came again and said, “We cannot hide the truth from you, my lord. Our money is gone, and all our livestock and cattle are yours. We have nothing left to give but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your very eyes? Buy us and our land in exchange for food; we offer our land and ourselves as slaves for Pharaoh. Just give us grain so we may live and not die, and so the land does not become empty and desolate.”20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh. 21 As for the people, he made them all slaves, from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 The only land he did not buy was the land belonging to the priests. They received an allotment of food directly from Pharaoh, so they didn't need to sell their land.23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Look, today I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. I will provide you with seed so you can plant the fields. 24 Then when you harvest it, one-fifth of your crop will belong to Pharaoh. You may keep the remaining four-fifths as seed for your fields and as food for you, your households, and your little ones.”25 “You have saved our lives!” they exclaimed. “May it please you, my lord, to let us be Pharaoh’s servants.” 26 Joseph then issued a decree still in effect in the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should receive one-fifth of all the crops grown on his land. Only the land belonging to the priests was not given to Pharaoh.27 Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population grew rapidly. 28 Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so he lived 147 years in all.29 As the time of his death drew near, Jacob called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I die, please take my body out of Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.”So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”31 “Swear that you will do it,” Jacob insisted. So Joseph gave his oath, and Jacob bowed humbly at the head of his bed. Genesis 47: 13-31 KJV

The famine has reached a point that would normally be terminal. There is no more food, and what they buy from Joseph is no longer supplementary. They have exhausted their financial resources, but hunger demands they seek out the one who had planned for this very thing. Joseph doesn't just open up the store houses though and ration the food. He requires payment in the way of their livestock. For their lives, it must seem worth the trade, as he acquires all the livestock of Egypt for Pharaoh. What is the value of life? The famine continues and the people have nothing left but their land and their person. "Buy us and our land in exchange for food." It is sobering, especially for an American, but do you really ever own your land? Would you recognize the famine before it came and make the necessary preparations? The story is far reaching and digs deeper then the ground or the starving of the flesh. Since the garden there has been and will be a famine. There have been many messengers, signs and a Word that has stayed with men since old. Many false messengers have also come, but they cannot open the store houses, and they cannot save your life in return for your gold. 

How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men! -  Psalm 31:19

So what is it that you really own? Did you make the land you stand upon or the water that you drink? It is difficult to see, in the Creator of all things, the need for the things we think belong to us. 

I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds.10"For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11"I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.… Psalm 50:10

Did you make yourself, and can you save yourself?

8"All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.…John 10:8-10