Genesis 47:23

The money went into Joseph's treasury. The cattle became his. The lands fell into his hand. And last of all, Joseph acquired the people themselves for Pharaoh. Nothing brings a man down like hunger… Nothing brings a man down like soul-hunger, and it is a great thing when that hunger takes over, when a man feels that he is a sinner, and has need of Christ, and must have Christ.

Now they ask Joseph to take their land and also make the people the property of Pharaoh. Are we not to learn from this that it is good for us to be brought down to nothing?

A second great fact is noticeable: in claiming all, 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). Again, if the land comes under Joseph's control, we read that he "bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh" (v. 20). So too of the people Joseph can say, "I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh." Joseph uses his supreme power, not for his own advancement, but for the glory of Pharaoh.

In all this Joseph is a striking picture of Christ in exaltation… If the Father has glorified the Son, it is so that the Son may glorify the Father. In His great prayer the Lord can say, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You" (John 17:1). Moreover if the Father is glorified, His people are blessed.

Joseph was not a cruel dictator who was seeking his own wealth by impoverishing the people. Some have strangely criticized the plan he carried out, but the people themselves appreciated it (v. 25). He had bought them and their land. Now he tells them he will give them seed to sow the land. For their labour they would receive four fifths of the crop.

Bit by bit everything in Egypt fell into the hands of Pharaoh. Joseph made a law that the people must acknowledge Pharaoh's ownership by paying rent in produce — a fifth of everything the land grew. This was oppressive law indeed, but it was quite ordinary in those days.

The people, bankrupt through the famine, receive back their lands from the generosity of the king. They return to him one fifth of what the land produces. That fifth is the token of their debt to the grace which has given them everything. Two tenths may remind us of the double claim of God upon us — by creation and by redemption. All the world shall own this in the day to come.

The famine in Egypt made the people the property of Pharaoh. In the same way, the great famine of the tribulation will make Jews and Gentiles 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 they have ever been before. All the people of Egypt found the same blessing through the wisdom and kindness of Joseph.

We are naturally selfish. We think that what we have is strictly our own, and through the years this has done terrible damage to our own happiness. For nothing really belongs to us… Let believers now remember that we are only stewards. We are put in charge of what belongs to our Lord, and we are responsible to give Him some return for all the goodness He shows to us. Only this attitude will give true happiness.