Genesis 47

Once Jacob and his family reach Egypt, Joseph chooses five of his brothers to present to Pharaoh (verse 2). Why only five? And how did he choose these particular five? Did he choose five of his more strapping, ravishing brothers? Maybe he chose five that he knew wouldn't run their mouths off or commit an Egyptian faux pas? Or maybe he just put their names on a dodecahedron-shaped die, rolled it several times, and picked the first five unique names that came up.

After Pharaoh learns that Jacob and his family tend livestock, he banishes them to the land of Goshen. OK, so he does give them "the best part of the land" (verse 6), but this does substantiate Joseph's assertion that Egyptians didn't like to hang out with shepherds. Shepherds probably smelled a bit--a consequence of chilling with animals all day--but at least they didn't put cones of wax on their heads.

As the famine continues, people run out of money to buy food. Joseph, shrewd fellow that he is, tells the denizens of the Egyptian kingdom to give Pharaoh their livestock. And when that runs out, he snatches up their land and then, just like Imhotep, he seizes their very souls. Not only that, but the poor sheeple are grateful for the opportunity to become in thrall to Pharaoh--in verse 25, they say, "You have saved our lives"--for which they are eternally grateful.

I admit that, if you're starving, you'd probably be willing to do almost anything you could to survive. And to Joseph's credit, he tells the people to give Pharaoh only one-fifth of their crop yields. Joseph is probably intending to use this to save up for future famines, but will Pharaoh or his successors be as magnanimous? After all, Joseph pretty much works for Egypt now, still beholden to Pharaoh, who could decide to hoard that food for use to for lavish banquets in his honor. And even though this Pharaoh seems fairly equitable, there's no guarantee that his heirs will be munificent with the use of the subjects' crops.

More troubling is how Joseph "reduce[s] the people to servitude" (verse 21). Now, maybe being a slave under this administration wasn't so bad, and I am reading this from a modern perspective thousands of years later. And of course, I shouldn't judge Joseph--that's God's turf. I doubt I'll ever hold a position of puissance, but I still pray that I don't take advantage of people beneath me. That will require me bringing my every decision before God, living prayerfully in his presence. The struggle, as ever, goes on….