Egyptian Economy

11-22-09

Egyptian Economy

Genesis 47:13-27

Many of you may remember the debate between Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and Sen. Dan Quayle

Quayle was a young man by Presidential standards

He was only 41 during the 1988 Presidential campaign

He was running as Vice President in George H. W. Bush’s Presidential campaign

Quayle had often compared himself to President Kennedy in age and experience

This set him up for Sen. Bentsen’s answer, “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.”

Of course, in spite of this, or maybe because of this, Dukakis and Bentsen were soundly defeated.

Four years later, in the 1992 Republican National Convention, Ronald Reagan poked fun at his own age when he said,

“The other team believes they are running the next Thomas Jefferson. Let me tell you something, I knew Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson was a friend of mine, and Governor Clinton, you are no Thomas Jefferson.”

You all know I spend very little time on politics

I believe, no matter who is Caesar, you and I should be about the King’s business

Our marching orders are the same

We are to “Go, preach, teach, baptize and make disciples” (Matt 28:10-20, Mark 16:15-16)

There is a person I know that teaches his disciples about the Biltbergers, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Illuminati, the Tri-lateral Commission and the Zionists

He has “proof” that each are attempting to take over the world with the help of American government and business interests

He cannot explain how the Americans plan to help so many separate organizations take over the world

He calls me “deceived” and “blinded by the very education” I have received

He considers himself lucky he did not receive or has overcome his education

He goes to the internet to get “special knowledge”

From others that no one of any stature follow

Today, we call these “Conspiracy Theorists”

2000 years ago they were called “Gnostics” from the Greek word gnosis or “knowledge”

They, also, claimed special and secret knowledge that, even, the disciples did not have

They were ignored or debunked by the disciples and by the leaders of the Early Christian movement

Even Christ, in Revelations, spoke against them

They are still around today

The internet is not necessarily a bad or good place to look for information

However, you must check the information out yourself to test its validity

That is what I have done about an interesting comparison I received on the internet this week

Somewhere around 4000 years ago Egypt had a famine

Most of us know the story

Joseph was taken out of a wrongful prison sentence to interpret Pharaoh’s dream

In doing so, Joseph was made Prime Minister over everyone but Pharaoh

In our reading today, we can see how bad the famine and the Egyptian economy became

Pharaoh, through Joseph, used the economy and starvation to take over all of the land and enslave the Egyptians

However, Joseph got Pharaoh to give the land of Goshen (do you remember you grand-mother saying, “Land o’ Goshen?”) to his family

When Pharaoh did this, Goshen was considered to be good, fertile land

God had positioned Joseph, not only to save his family (the Children of Israel), but to prosper them during the time of want

Vs: 27 says that the Israelites “had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly

You must remember that this was while Joseph lived

Later, in Exodus 1:8 the Bible tells us, “(T)here arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.”

That King was afraid of the Israelites because God had made them a strong and mighty people

The Egyptians, on the other hand, had given everything they owned, even their own bodies, to Pharaoh

They willingly became slaves

Egypt was an agricultural society then

Pharaoh nationalized wheat, animals, etc.

Now come forward 4200 years, or so

America is an industrial nation

If we were to copy Egypt, we would nationalize financial institutions, automakers, healthcare like we nationalized education and welfare

We would voluntarily give up our money, in the form of tax increases to let the government provide for us

As the Egyptians found out, the government cannot provide for us

But, God can

He is the only one that can

But, we have to ask him and let him provide

Is it already too late? I hope not

This is not a conspiracy theory; this is right out of God’s Word

It happened before and will happen again of we let it

How can we prevent it?

First, we must repent

Some may have been guilty of ignoring the little, the least and the

lost

They do need medical care and food and homes

But, it is the churches that Christ called on to give that care