That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”
Joseph closes his advice to Pharaoh with the reason for the whole plan: Egypt must not starve. A verse about grain storage raises the largest questions — who gives such wisdom, who holds the reserve, and who lives through the famine.
Plenty that is saved, not spent
Most people treat abundance as an invitation to spend. Joseph treated it as a chance to prepare.
William KellyThe details that follow show Joseph's excellent administration. For most people, overflowing plenty leads to reckless spending and waste. But he knew Whom he had believed. He entered wisely into the duty that fell on him more than on anyone else in Egypt, and he made provision for the years of extreme want. So everyone living on that soil was to benefit enormously, from the ruler down to every subject — and so would people far beyond Egypt. The overflowing plenty set the first seal on the prophecy God had given and interpreted; the famine set the second.
Wisdom recognised as God's
Pharaoh saw more than a good reading of the dream. Joseph also handed him a plan.
William KellyPharaoh recognised the wisdom of God not only in the interpretation but also in the counsel that Joseph gave. And who was wiser than Joseph to take Egypt's critical case in hand? He could manage its resources during the seven years of plenty, and hand out the stores during the seven years of famine that would surely follow.
A reserve for more than Egypt
The verse looks no further than Egypt. Joseph's new name shows how much further the reserve reached.
H Forbes WitherbyLittle did aged Jacob dream how Egypt had become the life-centre for the countries around it. Little did he think that the son he mourned as dead had been raised by the hand of God to chief power in Egypt. Nor did he know that by his wisdom Joseph was the sustainer of life, not only of Egypt, but of the world around it. His name, Zaphnath-paaneah, means The food of life, or, of the living.
Who does the gathering
The account is careful about who does the work. It never credits the saved grain to the people who would later eat it.
Hamilton SmithDuring the years of plenty Joseph uses his place of exaltation to reap a great harvest for Egypt. He deals with the harvest of Egypt during the years of plenty; he will deal with the men of Egypt during the years of famine. Apparently the men of Egypt took no advantage of the years of plenty to lay up for the years of famine. We do not read that they gathered up any food. It was Joseph who went throughout the land and gathered up the grain. And so today it is the exalted Christ who is reaping a harvest of souls during the day of grace. He is going through the world gathering His people out of the world. But when the days of grace have run their course He will deal with the men of the world.
One wise man set over all
The verse puts a whole nation's survival in one man's hands. Commentators find in that a pattern for how God will govern.
Hamilton SmithThis, too, is God's plan for the future government of the world. Not by parliaments, or cabinets, not by counsellors and ministers, will God govern, but by "a Man discreet and wise" set over all. And all will be brought under His sway either by the day of grace or in the day of judgment — the years of plenty or the years of famine.
Commentators apply the same two seasons to the world's own future.
Frederick W GrantEven now the world is enjoying its plenteous years, and it hardly believes in its plainly predicted future. Yet the time of famine is surely not far off. It will reveal the resources of the One who will then be seen as the only One able to meet its terrible needs.
The personal lesson
Joseph's counsel was policy for a nation. One writer turns it on the reader.
W. T. P. WolstonJoseph was wise. He said in effect to Pharaoh, Make provision for the future. Now I do not want you to be thinking of the things of this world. I want you to be ready for eternity. I want you to be ready for that moment of unequalled importance in your history, when you have to pass out of this world.
Summary
- Reserve. The seven full years were never about the harvest itself. They were about the store kept back from it. Plenty exists to answer a famine that has not arrived.
- Wisdom. Pharaoh saw God's wisdom in the plan, not just in the reading of the dream. No one else could both save the surplus and share it out later.
- Gatherer. Egypt's people laid up nothing; Joseph gathered. The man they never chose built the store that saved them.
- Reach. The stated aim was Egypt's survival. Yet Joseph's name — "the food of life" — marks him as the sustainer of the world around Egypt too.
- Urgency. Commentators read the plenteous years as today's day of grace, and the famine as what follows. The one question left is personal: have you made provision before it comes?