Lesson 44
A Welfare State, Really?
Genesis 47:13-27
In my opinion the election of 2012 was not between Democrats and Republicans. It was not even between Liberals and Conservatives. The election was won by what many call the takers of society. When we come down to what truly defines the secular world there are basically two groups of people. They are those who produce or make and the other group are those who take. When I refer to the makers it is not just the rich but everyone who works hard and pays their way in this world. There are those who want to take from the makers without having to work for what they get. One form of this taking is expecting the so called rich to pay more in taxes so that the takers can continue to receive from all the entitlement programs available through the government. For the life of me I do not know what happened to the work ethic that built this country into what it has been in the past.
If we are not careful we can develop this same kind of consumer attitude in the church. When we hear statistics that say that eighty percent of the serving is done by twenty percent of the people this is bordering on the maker taker mentality. This mindset is one of the primary reasons that there is no commitment to a particular body of Christ. People are always looking for the best deal in town, the church that has the best programs to meet my own personal needs. The lesson today says that way of thinking is just not acceptable. We are called to serve and spend our lives for Christ not always being the one standing there with our hands out.
Genesis 47:13-14
As Joseph prophesied the famine continued to be very severe in the all the land. Outside of what he had collected there was no food available anywhere. There could have been a number of reasons for the famine to go on. One might have been to make sure that the family of Jacob remained in Egypt. If the famine had ended quickly they may have wanted to return back to Canaan. God was going to grow His people into a great nation and it was going to happen in Egypt.
One might say that under those circumstances it was the government’s responsibility to provide for the people after all had not what was in the storehouses been exacted from them. The Scripture paints a completely different picture. The people were required to pay for the grain they needed to live. They did this until all of the money was gone. By selling it, Joseph could make sure there was enough to last for the duration of the famine. Since funds were limited he could be assured that the people would buy what they needed and no more.
- Why did the famine continue?
- Since Jacob’s family was now safe under the protection of Joseph why did God not just end the famine?
- Why did Joseph sell the grain and not just give it to them?
- How does this episode speak to the way our government handles things today?
- What would our nation look like if we followed Joseph’s example?
Genesis 47:15-17
The money was gone and the famine continued. All the people came to Joseph looking for assistance. His answer to them was you still have the means to purchase grain. They were to use the livestock as payment for food. Without grain the animals would have been of no benefit to them anyway. When they brought their horses, flocks, livestock and even the donkeys they were provided food for that year.
- Why did Joseph continue to require the people to pay for the food they received?
- What good were the animals to them at that point?
- Why did they agree so quickly?
- In what ways does this compare to what God requires of us to receive the “Bread of Life?”
Genesis 47:18-19
By the end of the year the Egyptians had exhausted all of their material resources. All of the animals now belonged to the king. The famine still persisted and the people still needed to eat. The only possessions they had left was the land and their own bodies. Rather than expecting to receive the grain for free the Egyptians approached Joseph with a proposal. They were willing to sell the land to him and to become slaves to Pharaoh in order to get seed to plant and make the land productive again.
- What did the Egyptians have left with which they could bargain for food?
- Why did they not expect to receive the grain for free?
- What does their request show us about their work ethic?
- What can we learn from the approach they took?
Genesis 47:20-21
Joseph listened to the people and bought their land. All of the land then belonged to Pharaoh. He did one other thing. He relocated the people from the far corners of Egypt into the cities. This was a good decision that would make the food distribution more centralized and easier to manage. By this time some of the outlying areas may also have begun to run out of food supplies.
- What was Joseph’s decision concerning the land?
- Why did he do it?
- Why did he relocate the people from the outlying areas into the cities?
- Why was it a good decision to do so?
Genesis 47:22
There was one group that did not have to sell the land. The priests were under the protection of Pharaoh who provided them with an allotment. They were able to live off of the allotment.
- Why would the Pharaoh provide for the priests?
- What were they allowed to do when others sold their property?
- What do you think of that situation?
- In what ways do churches benefit in our society that is akin to what took place?
- Why did this country put in the first amendment to the Constitution?
Genesis 47:23-24
In exchange for the land Joseph gave the people seed to plant. There would however be a twenty percent tax on the harvest that would be given to Pharaoh. The people did not see the tax as a burden. Instead they understood that Joseph by his actions had saved their lives. To be alive and able to produce their own food was a privilege they did not take for granted. They were more than willing at that point to be slaves under Pharaoh. With a man of Joseph’s character as a leader in Egypt they could expect to be treated fairly by the government. The tax was put in as a law in the land which was still in effect when Moses wrote the book of Genesis over four hundred years later. As part of the statute the priest continued to be exempt from the tax.
- What does the fact that Joseph gave the people seed tell us about the famine?
- Why did they not see the twenty percent tax as burdensome?
- How did they view Joseph?
- Why were they willing to become slaves of the Pharaoh?
- Why did Joseph make a statute concerning the tax?
- Pray for the Lord will give you a clean slate to begin the new year.
- Search your heart to see if you have been a taker or a maker this past year.
- Begin to look for ways that you may serve Jesus Christ in and outside His church.
- Find out how God has equipped you for service and begin using the gift.
- Be doers and not just hearers during the coming year.
If you need help in discovering where you may serve let the elders know and you will be put in contact with leaders of a particular ministry. Let this be the year when the eighty twenty rule is changed.
We have an opportunity today to change the climate of the church. For too long we have been like the society around us and been takers or consumers of church programs. This trend needs to stop if there is to be a future for the church. The taker says give me programs and meet all of my needs. The makers say let me know how I can minister to others and share Christ wherever I find myself. The lesson today showed us that Joseph would not permit a welfare state to exist under his watch. Under our watch we should want to do even more because we serve a risen Lord. He set the example for all us when he said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” The question that we need to answer is, are we to do less. This new year can provide the answer to that question for each of us. It will take a cooperative effort to make it happen, but that is why Jesus established His church.
Additional notes:
If God had not intervened Jacob on his own would have never decided to relocate his family to Egypt even during a time of famine in the land. He knew what a catastrophe the journeys of Abraham and Isaac into Egypt had been and was not about to make the same mistake. God had promised the land to Abraham and there Jacob planned to stay. (Gen 47-49)
BL-In chapter 47, vv.1-7, Joseph chooses five of his brothers to appear before Pharoah with his father. Pharoah graciously receives Jacob’s family and gives them the rich land of Goshen, a large, fertile valley east of the Nile, to use while they sojourn in his land. Then Pharoah gets a surprise–instead of him, the rich and powerful ruler, blessing Jacob, he receives Jacob’s blessing! As Pharoah’s elder, a messenger from the one true God, and the patriarch of his OWN nation, Jacob is entitled to pass a blessing down to Pharoah! We, too, are royalty–Romans 8:17 calls us “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ”–and we are to be a blessing to the unsaved around us. Have you and I been conducting ourselves as children of the King this week? How can we spread the “fragrance of the knowledge of Him” to the world today (see 2 Cor. 2:14)?
UE-Coming face to face with the most powerful man of his day did not keep Jacob from blessing the Pharaoh. (Gen. 47:7, 10)
GC-We are admonished to give thanks in all things. (1 Thess. 5:18) Because of his relationship with his Father Jacob was able to accept everything that had happened in his life. He had experienced many times of mental anguish and disappointment. His had not been an easy life, therefore when he came before the Pharaoh he confessed that his 130 years had been difficult. When we consider the final 17 years that God gave him things changed, because he now had his entire family around him including Joseph, who provided for his father’s every need. (Gen. 47:9)
UE-Jacob confessed to Pharaoh, a pagan king, the life that he had led for most of his 130 years had for the most part had been unhappy. (Gen. 47:9)
WM-For all of his striving after success, Jacob had experienced the peace and joy that comes from a close relationship with God. Jacob started out looking at life in such a positive only to have his experiences to turn him into a pessimist late in life.
(Gen. 47:9) RT-There was a distinct difference between Jacob and the Egyptians. He had all the wealth he would ever need and had lost nothing materially during the famine, yet he was an unhappy man. In comparison the Egyptians had lost everything and were thankful to be alive and once again productive. (Gen. 47:9, 25)
C-The people spent all of their money for food. They then turned over the livestock to Joseph to purchase food. Finally they sold all of their land in order to survive. At that point many of the people were moved into the cities. (Gen. 47:14-21)
C-Even the people became the property of Pharaoh. (Gen. 47:23)
C-Joseph set up a tax system whereby the people give 20% of the annual harvest to Pharaoh. (Gen. 47:24, 26)