And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land.
In the second year of the famine the Egyptians come back to Joseph. The money is gone. The livestock is gone. All they have left is their own bodies and their land. Commentators read this both as history — a whole nation brought to nothing — and as a picture of how need drives people to the one who has bread.
The Stages of Stripping
Each step of the famine takes one more thing out of the people's hands. One writer traces the sequence and draws a plain lesson:
W. T. P. WolstonGenesis 47 gives four points. When there was "no food in all the land," the people were faint from the famine, and they had to go to Joseph to buy grain. First, Joseph "gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt" (Gen. 47:14). Second, he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year (v. 17). Third, he "bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh" (v. 20). Last, he says, "I have this day bought you" (v. 23). So you see: the money fell into Joseph's hands, and the cattle became his. The land fell into his hand too, and in the end Joseph acquired the people themselves for his master. Nothing brings a man down like hunger. Neither a man's pride nor his family line can fill him in the day of hunger and need. Nothing brings a man down like soul-hunger. It is a great thing when a man feels that he is a sinner, and must have Christ.
Down to Nothing
Here the people stop bargaining and tell the truth about themselves. One commentator turns that into a question:
L. M. GrantWhen the year ended, the people came to Joseph again telling him they had nothing left except their bodies and their lands. Are we not to learn from this that it is good for us to be brought down to nothing?
What Emptiness Teaches
Another writer says what such need teaches, and where it points:
Frederick W. GrantFace to face with our need, we learn our true nothingness. Then we cry out to Him, and He proves Himself the living God. But God's remedy is Christ alone. He has put all things in His hand, absolutely and without changing His mind. He would have all men to be saved, but there is no other name given by which we can be saved.
Everything Into One Man's Hands
The demands here are not merely heavy. They are total, and no one resists them:
Hamilton SmithSo everything passes under Joseph's complete control: money, cattle, the land, and in the end the people themselves. Pharaoh's words come true to the letter: "Without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt" (Gen. 41:44). Joseph uses his power to bring all into subjection. No earthly king, before or since, has ever made such claims. Many a ruler has made crushing claims, but not one has dared to claim everything the way Joseph did. Joseph makes his claims good without a single voice raised in rebellion.
Notice who Joseph gathers it all for. What the people hand over does not stop with the man in front of them:
Hamilton SmithA second great fact is noticeable: in claiming everything, Joseph does so for Pharaoh. If Joseph gathers up all the money, we read that he "brought the money into Pharaoh's house" (v. 14). If the land comes under Joseph's control, we read that he "bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh" (v. 20). Of the people too Joseph can say, "I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh." So Joseph uses his supreme power, not for his own advancement, but for the glory of Pharaoh.
Total Loss, Total Provision
The people who give up everything are not ruined by it. The same writer names the condition:
Hamilton SmithOn one side, Joseph uses his power to subdue everything for Pharaoh. On the other side, he uses his supremacy over all for the blessing of the people. He keeps Pharaoh's glory, and he secures the people's blessing — but only as they submit to him without reserve.
A Picture of a Coming Day
Some writers read the famine as a picture of a coming worldwide time of trouble:
L. M. GrantThe famine in Egypt made the people the property of Pharaoh. In the same way, the great famine of the tribulation period will bring Jews and Gentiles to see that they are really the property of the Lord Jesus, the King of kings. Because of their great trouble they will become more content and happy than ever before. All the people of Egypt found that same blessing through the wisdom and kindness of Joseph.
Summary
- Stripped — money, then livestock, then land, then the people themselves. Hunger takes away everything a person leans on. Pride and family name cannot feed anyone.
- Honest — here the Egyptians stop bargaining and admit the truth about themselves. Commentators ask whether it is good for us, too, to be brought down to nothing.
- Surrendered — need is where we learn our real nothingness and cry out to God. God's remedy is Christ alone.
- Owned — Joseph claims everything, and claims it all for Pharaoh, not for himself.
- Blessed — those who surrender without reserve lose nothing in the end. The one who owns them keeps them alive and provides for them.