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NASB | Genesis 47:19 "Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 47:19 "Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed [to plant], that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate." |
Subject: Joseph's iron fist |
Bible Note: Hi, JRM! Again, I understand your position... and though I do have an affinity for Joseph (being the envy of his brothers, being at the threshold of death, sold as a slave, wrongly imprisoned... and keeping his Faith through all!), my views differ because I tend to think in terms of Joseph's immediate historical era: the world was a much harsher place! People in power saw even their own offspring as a threat and they disposed of them readily! Sacrificing a person, a family or a township was nothing short of "good business sense" when conditions dictated so (not that such atrocities do not happen in our times--I hear about them happining much too often now-a-days!)... Could Joseph have engineered a different plan? Anything is possible! Would it have had benefited as much or would the Egyptian people have had to die when foreigners could outbid their purse? Would foreigners be as eager to send Pharoah a fith of their products in exchange for seeds? Would Egypt, as a nation, survive seven years of famine once people lost all hope after experiencing the first couple of years of famine? Could people exercise sound judgment during the famine years if they were provided for by the Pharoah's generosity? It is not just the unknowns that hinders our judgment, but also the fact that today's values did not exist back then... If the US (Canada) government made it voluntary, how many people do you think would send their contributions to the IRS, even those who claim to be "Christians?" How long would a nation last without the capital to bankroll an empire?... Remember reading Scripture that speak on kings purchasing their nation's freedom and autonomy or buying armies to fight for them? If Egypt's economy had lapsed, how long would they have survived the famine's devastation coupled with military assaults from the neighboring powers? God Bless! Angel |