and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it.
The seven good years come just as Joseph said they would. He travels through Egypt and stores each city's harvest in that city, and commentators press one question: why did it all rest on one man?
Wisdom at work in the good years
Plenty usually makes people careless with it. Joseph did the opposite, and one writer traces his steadiness to what he believed:
William KellyThe details that follow reveal the admirable administration of Joseph. Great plenty with most people leads to extravagance and waste. But he knew in Whom he believed, and he entered wisely into the duty which fell on him more than on anyone in the land of Egypt, and provided accordingly for the years of extreme want.
The same writer adds that the plenty did two things — it fed people, and it proved God's word true:
William KellyIn this way everyone living on the soil was to benefit in the highest degree, from the ruler to every subject, and far beyond that land. The overflowing plenty put the first seal on the prophetic truth God had given and interpreted; the famine put the second.
One man gathering, a whole people idle
The verse names only one gatherer. One writer draws a picture out of that:
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. In this day of grace the world is passing through its "seven plentiful years." The grace of God is giving blessings by "handfuls." The men of the world may completely ignore the blessings that grace brings to their door. They go on their way with no thought for the future. 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 grain. And so today it is the exalted Christ who is reaping a harvest of souls during the day of grace.
The seven years that brought everyone under him
Egypt now had one man over all its food. One writer takes that as a picture of what God plans for the world:
Hamilton SmithThis, too, is God's plan for the future government of the world. Not by parliaments or cabinets, not by advisers and ministers, will God govern, but by "a Man discreet and wise" set over all. And all will be brought under His rule either by the day of grace or in the day of judgment — the years of plenty or the years of famine.
Grain preserved for the whole earth
The storehouses Joseph filled reached far past Egypt's borders. One writer says the world's wheat supply hung on them:
H J VineNaturally speaking, wheat would have disappeared from the earth altogether if Joseph had not stored up the precious grain in Egypt with the wisdom God gave him. Through seed time and harvest it has been reproduced and kept in the earth as the true staff of life. And in it, given by God, we have a remarkable picture of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Another writer notes how Egypt treated that mercy later:
J. G. BellettAs to Egypt: Joseph was given to that land in mercy, and by him God made it the head of the nations, and the granary of the whole earth. But Joseph was forgotten, mercy was slighted, and then Moses and the plagues were sent.
A warning for full years
Joseph filled the cities while nobody was hungry. One writer applies that to the ministry of God's word:
The Christian's FriendIn a time of plenty who thinks of famine? But famine sometimes follows plenty. It was so in Egypt. There were first seven years of plenty, and then seven years of famine. All the plenty was forgotten when the famine consumed the land. So it is sometimes with the ministry of the word of God. Many honoured servants of the Lord are busy ministering Christ to souls. At such a time few perhaps consider that scarcity may follow the plenty.
Summary
- Store, not squander. Great plenty usually ends in waste; Joseph "knew in Whom he believed" and worked the good years for the bad ones.
- Store by one hand. The Egyptians gathered nothing. Joseph went through the land — a picture of the exalted Christ gathering souls during the day of grace.
- Store as God's method. God will rule the world not by parliaments or cabinets but by one wise Man set over all. Plenty or famine, grace or judgment, all are brought under Him.
- Store for the world. The grain fed everyone from the ruler down to the poorest subject, and far beyond Egypt. Without it, one writer says, wheat itself would have been lost.
- Store before you need it. In years of plenty nobody thinks of famine. The same thing can happen with the ministry of God's word.