שלום חברי   אל שדי  רוח הקודש

Family

The times were severe, the famine lasted, and Joseph had a family to provide for and a Country to govern. To be prime minister for a Country and to be concerned for a close family is to different things. Joseph helped his father and his camp with everything they needed and supplied them with grain.

Be wise

The Holy Spirit, Ruach Hacodesh, gave Joseph wisdom to lead the Egyptians in these difficult times and it would be wise for the politicians of today to study how Joseph did this.

Step one;

do connect with God by The Holy Spirit, Ruach Hakodesh, to know what lies ahead, then prepare for the future. Joseph prepared for the seven years of famine by storing up grain throughout the land during the seven years of plenty.

Step two;

do not give to people things for free, if you do, they lose their self-respect and the value of their own ability. Joseph in verse 14, sold grain for money and brought all the money to Pharaoh, thus, he respected both the people and the leadership. The Egyptians now understood the effort of preparing for the future, storing up grain dispersed throughout the country in the big cities.

Step three;

Payment is not just money, now the Egyptians had no more of it, and offered their animals, flocks and herds, and horses and monkeys for grain. They sold their livestock and themselves, Joseph bought all the animals for grain, and he also bought the men, Joseph needed someone to look after the herds and flocks. In this manner, Egypt became a wealthy country and, the people got used to hard work, and they respected Joseph and Pharaoh who saved their life.

Step four;

be practical. Joseph now as prime minister was the leader of administrating and organizing the people. Sometimes the leadership must think practical, what is best for the country according to the present circumstances. All the grain was stored in the big cities, and the land was barren, there were no reason for the people to stay out in the farmlands, the agrarian area. Temporarily Joseph therefor moved people into the big cities as we see in verse 21. Notice that the people were moved into the cities, they didn’t move there on their own, they were ordered.

Step five;

Keep the people motivated and informed. The Egyptians now had food enough and Joseph made a smart political move, he gave the Egyptian farmers seed to sow the land with an important condition to give Pharaoh One fifth of the crop when harvested. When the farmers sowed the land, they knew that 20 % of the harvest belonged to Pharaoh and 80 % belonged to them and their children and the seed they needed to sow. This meant that the more they produced the more they got, and the more Pharaoh got as well.  

Step six;

Think of the future and make laws. Joseph made this tax of one-fifth a written law that lasted for hundreds of years into the times of Moses.

To be buried

After 17 years in Egypt Israel felt he was about to die and called for Joseph to make him swear to carry his dead body to Canaan, to the cave of Machpelah and burry him there where his Grandfather, his father, his grandmother and his wife Leah were buried. And Joseph promised to do it, he believed his awesome God would see it through.

Questions to consider

1. During what period did Egypt become a rich country?
2. Should your relationship with your family be different to that of other people?  
3. What is the basic for taking the right decisions?  
4. How should you help people?
5. How should we relate to the leadership of our country?
6. What is the value of labor, in your mind, in your thinking?
7. What is the importance of knowledge, information?
8. How do you avoid misunderstanding when making deals?