Week 2 Genesis 47
Jacob’s family had emigrated to Egypt in the middle of a devastating multi-year famine and against all odds they prospered and thrived in Egypt (thanks to their connection with Joseph).
The really interesting & disturbing part of the story is how this national emergency was used by the Egyptian state to a) gain absolute despotic control and to b) totally subjugate the country’s entire working class (illustrating that there’s nothing more useful to powerful people than a good emergency).
It’s hard to know how much or little the people of Egypt knew about Joseph’s forecast of troubles that were coming. But either way they didn’t prepare for famine. By contrast the government had been busy for years stockpiling millions of tons of grain. And then the hammer fell.
First the people spent all their money buying government-supplied food
…when their money ran out they traded livestock-for-food
…then they sold their land-for-food
…and finally with nothing left but their bodies they became slaves of the state.
So in the end they-had-nothing.
I’m not sure why this story is included in Genesis. Maybe to contrast the suffering of the Egyptians with the Hebrew’s unexpected prosperity.
But for me the story is dominated by how quickly a powerful country’s fortune can turn and especially how quickly citizens can be pauperized by the actions of their state.
Note: the story of the awesome power of state power is in Genesis 47:13-25. The prosperity of the Hebrews is told briefly in 47:11-12 & 27.