Day 99 – Genesis 47:13-19
When Money Failed
Scripture Reading – Genesis 47:13-19
And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
Genesis 47:13 KJV
And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
Genesis 47:14 KJV
And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
Genesis 47:15 KJV
And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
Genesis 47:16 KJV
And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
Genesis 47:17 KJV
When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
Genesis 47:18 KJV
Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
Genesis 47:19 KJV
Scripture Review
The famine becomes so severe that money fails in Egypt and Canaan. The people come to Joseph for bread, and he exchanges food for their cattle. The next year they return with nothing left but their bodies and land, asking not to die before him. This is a hard passage, describing desperate economic conditions under prolonged famine.
I should resist using the chapter as a quick endorsement of every modern economic policy or as proof that every government action is righteous. The text shows Joseph administering survival within Pharaoh’s ancient kingdom. It also makes the human cost impossible to ignore. A famine is not an abstract chart. It reaches animals, property, labor, families, and the fear of death.
The Egyptians meant to exchange what remained in order to obtain bread and stay alive when money and ordinary resources were exhausted.
God meant to preserve life through the storehouses Joseph had prepared, even as the famine radically altered Egypt’s economy and society.
What this asks of me
Leadership during crisis requires both practical decisions and awareness of the people carrying the cost. I should not reduce suffering to a debate in which no hungry face is visible. Scripture invites careful judgment, not the careless transfer of an ancient emergency policy into every modern question.
Consider
- Do I discuss hardship as an idea while overlooking the people who must live through it?
- Am I using a descriptive Bible passage more broadly than the text allows?