Genesis 47:20-21 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh. As for the people, he made them all slaves, from one end of Egypt to the other. (NLT)
It was not by chance that Joseph had food to sell in Egypt, because the famine happened in Egypt too. The only reason they had food was because they had loads of food storage. And the only reason they had saved up so much food storage was because Pharaoh had a dream. It was a nightmare. And Joseph, who at this time was just a prisoner in Pharaoh’s dungeon, was the only person who understood why Pharaoh was having nightmares. It was a sign from God. And God helped Joseph understand what it meant. It meant that in seven years there would be a famine, and so the Pharaoh needed to save up food. So much food. Seven years of food.
And because Joseph could read the Pharaoh’s dreams, the Pharaoh took Joseph out of his dungeon and put him in charge of gathering all the food storage. Soon Joseph had a building full of corn. And then another with beef jerky. And then more and more and more buildings full of lentils and chickpeas and dates and figs and garlic and onions and so on. And after the buildings were full, they started putting their food storage under tables and beds. They even put some under Pharaoh’s throne.
They had enough food to feed a whole city for years and years. And just when they were running out of places to put the food, the famine started. Everyone’s crops withered and turned brown and started to rot. And soon enough, there was nothing to eat but the food storage.
Before long, there was a line of people outside the pharaoh’s palace. Joseph would let the families in one by one. And the families would come to him and ask, “Please sir, can I have some food?” And every day, he’d sell them the food they desperately needed.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” they’d say. “Without this food, we’d all die. You’re our hero. How can we ever thank you enough?”
But Joseph would not accept their compliments. “This is food from God,” he’d say. “God is the one who warned us about this famine. So if you’re going to praise someone, praise God.”
And this is how Joseph saved the entire country and his own long-lost family as well. And that’s a pretty remarkable accomplishment. But sometimes when we are doing good things, we end up doing some bad things along the way. Such is the case with Joseph, as you will soon see.
At first, Joseph was selling one head of corn for just 69 cents or two for a dollar. But as more and more people came, Joseph had to raise the prices. Soon it was five dollars a head, then ten, then twenty, and still the grocery prices climbed higher and higher.
Eventually, the people were paying fifty dollars for just a single loaf of bread. When they were out of cash, they started trading large bags of gold. Because what good is money or gold if you starve to death?
And Joseph put all that money and gold into Pharaoh’s storehouses. And soon the storehouses were being filled with treasure as fast as they were being emptied of food. And on it went until Joseph had collected all the money in Egypt. There was nothing left. And still the famine continued, and still Joseph had food to sell, and the people needed to eat.
“But we don’t have any money?” the people said. “We have already given it all to you. You are richer than rich! But what good is it to be rich if everyone else starves? You won’t be able to buy anything from anyone if we’re all dead. There won’t be any bakers or chair makers. No teachers or preachers, no artists or florists, no painters or dancers, no musicians or magicians, no chefs or refs. It would just be you. And money is worthless without other people around to spend it on.”
This made a lot of sense, and so instead of taking money, Joseph allowed the people to start trading in all of their other things. Any and everything they owned. They gave away their cattle and horses and flocks and donkeys. They gave their games, toys, books, and art. They gave their silverware, and pottery, and toilet paper. But as you might have guessed, they quickly ran out of things to give. And still the famine continued, and still the people were hungry. And so the people returned to Joseph and said, “We have nothing left but our land and our own selves. Should we sell that too?
And Joseph said, “Sure, why not.” And so the people sold their land and their own freedom, just so they could get food.
And this was too bad because Joseph should have known better. Joseph, himself, had been taken and sold into slavery. He’d felt what it was like to move from being your father’s son to a stranger’s property. He knew what it was like to not own your own home, or camel, or future, or freedom. It was empty, hollow, desperate, depressing.
Joseph knew all this, but he forgot. And while his brothers had sold him into slavery to help themselves, Joseph sold all of Egypt into slavery to help the Pharaoh. And that was a very big mistake, and all of his family would pay the price. And here’s how it happened.
During the famine, everyone was grateful for Joseph. He was a hero, a visionary, a business celebrity. They hung his picture on their living room walls and named buildings and roads in his honor. And when his family arrived in Egypt, they welcomed his brothers and sisters and parents, too. “Welcome,” they said. “A friend of Joseph is a friend of ours.” And they brought housewarming presents like cacti, candles, and gift baskets.
But as the years passed, the famine ended, and everything changed. The Egyptians were all working for the Pharaoh now. They plowed his fields, raised his cows, and paid his taxes. They were entangled in a system that was extracting more than their resources. Slowly, it was stripping away their dignity.
They had once been farmers, but now they were sharecroppers, hired hands, slaves. They wanted their old lives back. They wanted to be who they were before the famine. They wanted to own their own land, to be their own person. And when they thought of Joseph, they didn’t remember him as a hero. Instead, he was more like a tyrant. At their hour of distress, when they were desperately in need of help, he’d taken advantage of the opportunity and enslaved them all.
And while the Egyptians were reduced to slaves, the family of Jacob was building large homes, buying up land, and having new babies. There were more and more of them all the time. And so the Egyptians began to resent the family of Jacob. And their resentment festered. Then the Pharaoh died, and a new Pharaoh was in charge. And together the new Pharaoh and the Egyptians began to hate the family of Jacob. And the more they hated, the more they hated. And it wasn’t very long before the Egyptians hated the family of Jacob enough to do something terrible.
They chased the family of Jacob out of their new land and new homes, and then gathered them all up. And they turned each and every one of them into slaves. Pharaoh’s slaves. “How do you like that?” they said. “Try a taste of your own medicine.”
And that is how Joseph saved all of Egypt but enslaved his own family. But Joseph wasn’t the first to make a huge, terrible mistake, and he won’t be the last. Because we all mess up. We try to do great things, and while we are doing it, we do something bad. Sometimes people will cheer your name and think you’re extraordinary, and other times they will call you names and say they hate you. And it can be easy to believe what you hear. But when you are raised up, when people are telling you how awesome you are, when the world is your oyster, remember that the world is not an oyster. And people are more precious than pearls.
Remember what Joseph forgot. Remember that no matter how great you seem or how high you’ve reached or how far you’ve come, you are just another person. No one is your property. No one is your slave. Prisoners read dreams. Foreigners save countries. Pharaohs die. Heroes fall. Circumstances change. But one thing remains true: every person on the planet is just as important and loved as you.
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