Genesis 47:13-27 / Pastor Dave VanAcker

Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 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. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” 20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s. 27 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

In another remarkable—albeit low-key—display of the good and uninterruptible plan of God to bless His people, we find that Joseph secured all Egypt for Pharaoh and therein demonstrated that all glory belongs to God. From this, there are three main takeaways I hope to impress upon you this morning: 1. God is infinitely glorious, 2. God’s people are always blessed by God to be a blessing, and 3. Faithfulness does not mean comfort or ease in this life. Let's pray that God would help us see these things in the text and apply them to our lives. And let's pray that God would help us remember that our only and certain hope in those things is Jesus.

Service Order

Memory Verse

Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

Service Times

Prayer
8:45-9:00am
Sunday School and Berea
9:00-10:00am
Worship Service
10:30am-Noon

Berea

Join us this Sunday at 9am as we dig into the scriptures. We have classes for all ages from toddlers up to adults. Adults and older kids (12+) will be going through the course, "How to Study the Bible". This week we'll start looking at some of the skills for study. Please come and join us as we strive together to know God and His Word rightly. Questions? contact pastormike@gracewyoming.com.