Genesis 47:17-23

Joseph guides the nation through famine, and in the process makes all the land, livestock and people property of Pharaoh.  What is the value of liberty?

"So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
¹⁸  When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
¹⁹  Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate."
²⁰  Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's.
²¹  And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.
²²  Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.

²³  Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land"

Note:  I  note that years later, there arose a Pharaoh who did not know, or care, about Joseph and did not regard his descendants and enslaved them, attempted to kill them and eliminate them as a separate people group.  This is in the context that the general populace of Egypt had sold themselves into slavery to Pharaoh.  Did this include children yet born?  If so, then the entire country, people and land, were property of Pharaoh.  While I can see the desperate situation of the people, I find the sacrifice of liberty to be a horror.  Would it not be better to die than to sell our liberty?  Yet, how would I act, however,  in the face of a relentless drought that had destroyed the entire food supply save what was provided by government?  How much do I love liberty?  Would I defend it, even in the face of dire circumstances?  Would I choose death (here it would be death by thirst or starvation) rather than give up liberty?  Would I choose to immigrate to another land?  Would I be able to do so if I wanted?  What if my life circumstances and the government were like this now?  It's very sobering to consider.

Compare this to the situation described in Revelation in which the "other beast" (the False Prophet?) causes those on earth to worship the Beast.  Revelation 13:16-17 says, "He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."  While Joseph, in ancient times, cleverly guided the people of the whole region through a terrible famine, here we again find the ability to gain food, and even to participate in the economy, used to force people into an allegiance the takes away liberty, and makes the people prisoners to an ruler; this one horrifically evil.  One could consider that this taking of liberty in Egypt happened long ago, but it has happened over and again, and will happen again.  I don't know when, but it makes me wonder about my dependency on the economy and the national food supply for my survival.  What would I do if I could not access either?

Genesis 47:1-10 (NKJV)
¹  Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen."
²  And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
³  Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers."
⁴  And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
⁵  Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
⁶  The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock."
⁷  Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
⁸  Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How old are you?"
⁹  And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."
¹⁰  So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

"Life is a journey" is a phrase used so often that it risks becoming trite, even if there is some truth to it.  Still, it is a biblical and valuable concept.  Life is a journey, and the type of journey used by Jacob to describe life caught my attention.  As a Congregationalist minister the word that often describes someone taking a spiritual journey-"pilgrim" resonates in a special way.  Our denomination was founded by people who looked at life as a pilgrimage toward God and were willing to travel far to do it.  So I paused when I found that Jacob, now an old man who has left his homeland and is before the Emperor of Egypt, twice refers to life as a pilgrimage. 

I have barely even a beginner's knowledge of Hebrew, but I looked the word up.  The word here translated "pilgrimage" means "a temporary abode", and by extension refers to a person whose life is a journey back home.  This earth is not the pilgrim's home; heaven is.  That was true for Abraham, the great patriarch (Hebrews 11:10), and it is true for us.  Our home is heaven, with Christ our Lord.  All of this life on earth is a pilgrimage, and we should not expect the comforts and security of a good home if we are on a pilgrimage.  There will always be challenges.

It is interesting to me that the word for pilgrimage is so close to the word for "fear" or "fright".  It speaks to the nature of life in a fallen world.  There are dangers, and as pilgrims to the Lord we must always be conscious that we are passing through and traveling, if not in terms of distance then travelling through the days of our lives, seeking to be pleasing to the Lord.  Don't be surprised when challenges arise, or that there is ultimately very little true security outside of the Lord. 

Perhaps by way of application, we should seek always to be alert to those around us who find that life is "not secure".  Their needs are not met, their home life is not what it should be, they are struggling with health or financial issues.  I find that people facing troubles that remind us that this life is not our home are always nearby.  Sometimes I am among them in some fashion or another.  If we are all really pilgrims, then we should be quick to help each other out as much as we possibly can.  Life is a pilgrimage, and that can be scary sometimes.  Try to look out for one another.