The Seed of Life

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE SEED OF LIFE

Gen 47:11-26

11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their children. 13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh's palace. 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, "Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up." 16 "Then bring your livestock," said Joseph. "I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone." 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock. 18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, "We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes — we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate." 20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land. 23 Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children." 25 "You have saved our lives," they said. "May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh." 26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt — still in force today — that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh's.

NIV

All this happened as it was to be an example of the grace of God at work through Joseph so that Pharaoh's wealth became greater each year until he owned all of Egypt, all the livestock in Egypt, and all the people of Egypt, except the priest. Although not stated, his ownership did not include the Israelites, for Joesph always provided food for them throughout the famine. How does all this fit into our story? Could we use this to show how we all belong to the Lord our God? After all, we were created in their image for the express reason of God’s pleasure, and fellowship. When have we ever been our own? When can we say that we just came into existence on our own, or that we ever created life? Of course, sin is our attempt to be our own boss, the caption of our own ship, or the ruler of our own lives. However, God took care of that as well by sending Jesus to pay the price for our sins, to redeem us, and to buy us back so that once again He is our Lord and Master, not simply the caption, but the Supreme authority of our lives. The Egyptians looked to Pharoah through Joseph for what they needed to survive the famine in the land. This is our story as well. We look to God through Jesus to survive the famine of this land. Of course, there is not a physical famine as there was in those days in Egypt, but we live in a land of spiritual famine. The people who do not look to God through Jesus are starving to death in this land. Jesus is referred to as the seed of Abraham through all nations will be blessed. If we are in Christ then we have the seed of life, the needed seed to plant in our hearts to give us life. The Egyptians received seed from Joseph to plant in the land, but we have planted the seed in ourselves, the seed that produces a good crop, the seed that is the bread of life. What a beautiful picture this narrative gives us our how we live because of the grace of God, Jesus, the seed of life, and that all we have is His, all we are is His, and our very lives are His.