Lesson 86 The Gathering from the Land. Genesis 41:46- 57

Joseph Prospers in His Egyptian Life, But the Famine is Coming. 41:46-49

English Standard Version (Chapter 41)

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. 47 During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly,

48 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. 49 And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.

At this juncture, Joseph had lived almost half of his life in prison or slavery. Joseph became a student of Egypt. He went out through all the land. He oversaw the collection of grain and storage. The first 7 years were years of great abundance. The word used for “plentiful” in verse 47 means “overflowing.” There was plenty. The word “abundant’ means holding something with a closed fist. In other words, when your hand has more than enough, you close up your fist so it does not spill out. There was so much, that every city had its own store house for grain:”every city, the food from fields around it.”- verse 48

The idea is the grain was piling up, like the sand of he sea. In the end, they had no idea, how much they had as it was more than their little abacus could count. They actually stopped measuring it. But the famine is still coming. You can almost hear the famine footsteps coming up close at hand. But Joseph keep putting away grain. He probably even had grain in his sock drawer. You can almost hear Asenath saying to Joseph, “Honey, I tried putting your clean socks in the drawer but your sock drawer is full of corn.” Then he says , “maybe that’s my problem. I have corns!!!

Tee hee.

Two Sons arrive and the Famine Keeps on Coming

41:50- 54

English Standard Version (Chapter 41)

50 Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. 51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”

52 The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”53 The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end,

54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

Notice that Joseph does not name any of his kids after his father or brothers. He has basically forgotten about them (verse 51- God has made me forget my hardship and all my fathers house.”) The son would be Manasseh, the first born. The second born is Ephraim, the son of fruitfulness. Joseph sees his kids and forgets the past and sees fruit in the future. That is a great way to look at life. The problem with the story is that the fruitfulness and plenty came to an end. But that does not end the story of the kids, they remain important throughout the Bible. The famine has its start in verse 54. The famine was not just in Egypt, but it was everywhere. The only place you could buy bread was Egypt. They are soon going to start living off the 20%. They are thinking, this was a good plan because the famine was here. Right here in River City, and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pharaoh 2- Joseph.

Joseph Sells Grain 41:55- 57

English Standard Version (Chapter 41)

55 When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.”

56 So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

It is a very clever way to get the nations of the world to come bow at your doorstep, have all of the available food. Even the Egyptians panicked. vs 55- “the people cried to pharaoh.”

Every place had the famine badly, even Egypt. Joseph had the word and the only authority to sell the grain, whether to the Egyptians or the known world (all the earth came to Joseph, and he was not an Egyptian.) Joseph opens the storehouses to sell grain for food and as they say, “the story begins.” Joseph’s hard luck story is sweetened by his leadership and plans to get the people of Egypt through the famine.

English Standard Version (Chapter 42)

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt 42:1- 5

42 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”

3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. 5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

If Jacob only knew what we know. We’ve read the entire book, but he has not. The word that there was grain in Egypt travels fast. He challenges his sons, why are you standing around looking at each other, doing nothing. Don’t just stand there, Get your hands out of your pockets and go get us some supper! It is a bit on the dramatic side, but he does say so that we may ‘Live and not die.”

It is here 10 of Joseph’s brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. Benjamin, Joseph’s blood brother did not travel with the 10. I think because Jacob did not trust them to bring him back (harm might come to him.) Let’s face it, they did not go before they felt the pangs of some sense or fear of starving. A few months of no rain is not going to cause panic. The famine is in full gear. Pharaoh officially recognized it and said, Joseph is the man with the plan. Go see him, he is my second in command.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Genesis 42:1–6)

It is observable that all the three patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), to whom Canaan was the land of promise, met with famine in that land, which was not only to try their faith, whether they could trust God though he should slay them, though he should starve them, but to teach them to seek the better country, that is, the heavenly, Heb. 11:14–16

The 10 brothers who sold Joseph are now standing in line, waiting with the rest of the available humanity, to buy grain from the one they had wronged. Joseph is not going to force them on a poultry diet quite yet and make them to eat crow. Canaan has not always proved to be the most wonderful place in the world. They have left to buy their meager fare from the neighboring Egyptians, descendants of Ham, and definitely not their choice for redemption from these circumstances. The Famine is here and Joseph will soon be re-united with his family.