V13 – The famine continues just as Joseph had explained from the dreams that God had given Pharaoh. When God says something about the future, it’s important to listen and prepare according to the wisdom He gives us.
V14 – Joseph here is an example of how effective we can be when we hear God’s word and prepare. In a time of famine, Joseph prospered. Every person depended on Him for life. And just like in the previous times, Joseph is still very faithful to Pharaoh because He puts the money He gets into Pharaoh’s treasury. He continues to remain faithful and wise.
V15 – It seems that there are two categories of people during times of famine: the one who saved and the others who did not save enough. The one who prepared and the one who did not. The one who was not prepared comes to beg from the one who saved.
V16 -20 – Joseph now has all the people’s money, the livestock, the land, and the people themselves and He gives all to Pharaoh. Simply put, Joseph makes his master Pharaoh a very powerful man. Pharaoh must have obviously been very happy with Joseph.
By God’s spirit of wisdom, one man completely turned around the nation of Egypt and made its government very powerful. There is a big lesson to be learned here; Nations prosper through God’s wisdom, not any human wisdom. When a nation stops trusting in the Lord, it cannot prosper. When we trust in the Lord, He is able to raise men and women like Joseph who will have his wisdom in policy creation. These God-given policies, no matter how strange, go on to transform a country.
(Father, I pray for my nation. Lord, may you cause men and women in this country to honor you and to fear you. Forgive us and cause us to truly turn to you. May you cause us a nation to repent from all our evil ways and may you restore the fear of God in the hearts of every person in this nation. Come and be highly glorified in my nation. May your word be exalted in this land. May the name of Jesus be exalted in this land.)
V23 – 26 – Joseph also continues to look to the future. Through God’s wisdom, He sets up a way for the Egyptians to give a fifth of their produce to Pharaoh and this is for the future. This set the land of Egypt to be very powerful.
V27 – The people of Israel also prosper because they were led to Egypt. It is God’s plan to grow them and make them a big nation here.
Remember what God had told Jacob in Genesis 46: 3-4 NLT
I am God, the God of your father,” the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.”
V28 – 31– Jacob always kept God’s word in his heart. He knows and understands that Egypt was not the promised land. And He, in faith, ensures that his body will not be buried in Egypt. He was to be buried with his father, Isaac, and grandfather, Abraham.
Faith focuses on the Lord and what He said. When we trust the Lord, He directs our path.
Proverbs 3:5-12-5-12 The Message (MSG)
Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to GOD! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor GOD with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. But don’t, dear friend, resent GOD’s discipline; don’t sulk under his loving correction. It’s the child he loves that GOD corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this.