Egypt’s Famine – Template for Today

Can we know the future?  Need we fear it?  Do we need a crystal ball to show what’s next?  For Christians, the answers to these questions should be Yes – No – No.  Yes, we can know what’s coming.  No, God has repeatedly told us not to fear.  No, the last thing we need is a New Age crutch.  We have the sure Word of God.  In Scripture, God has provided foreshadowings and templates though His prophetic Word to guide us into the knowledge and understanding of that which is to come.

The story of Joseph during the famine in Egypt reveals a future reality for us today.  After his redemption from prison by revealing the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph acted on the king’s behalf to preserve Egypt from the prophesied hard times.  During the years of plenty, Joseph assured that the store cities were filled to capacity and more with food.  Once the famine began, he successfully oversaw the distribution of the food, but it came at a great price.

Genesis 47 shows us that first, people used all their money to purchase food.  When they’d spent all their funds, they exchanged their livestock for sustenance.  After they’d given all their animals, the people sold their land in order to eat.  Finally, they sold themselves.  They owned nothing – not even their own bodies.

To consider our current circumstances in the light of Joseph’s necessary but drastic measures that stripped all possessions and human dignity from the people, let’s view some scenes that might occur in the not-too-distant future.  Also, we must not neglect to acknowledge that God allowed this progression in Joseph’s day so as to set up the circumstances for the deliverance of Israel in the Exodus.  What is occurring today, has God’s sanction as He orchestrates conditions for His judgment in these end-times upon the unbelieving world.

Genesis 47:20 sets up the scenario that brought the people of Egypt under total control of Pharaoh:

And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.

To illustrate what this might look like in our present day, consider some possible scenarios that people may encounter:

Gloria turned over in bed and discovered that Lee’s side was empty.  The red digits of the clock read 2:47.  Worried, she found him in the office with his head between his hands, sitting before the glowing computer screen.

“Lee?”

He moaned.  “I don’t know what to do.”  He gestured at the display that showed their farm’s finances.  “It’s worse than I imagined.”

The thought of what she could say kept her from immediately responding, but she had to force out the words.  “We could take the government’s offer.”

“The drought is killing us.  There’s no fertilizer available.  Our land is nothing but cracked earth and sand.  I thought by selling our livestock, that would hold us over.”  He shook his head.  We’re so deep in debt, I can’t see a way out.”

“You remember in the 80s all the farm bankruptcies?  They had no choice.  Maybe we can at least exchange what we own to give us more time.”

Lee switched screens with his computer mouse.  “This is the offer they sent.  There’s no wiggle room.  In exchange for our land, they’ll move us to an apartment in the city.  Period.  We have to give up everything.  Once we do that, they’ll house and feed us.”

“Do we have a choice?”

“I hate it . . . but, no.”

Genesis 47:21 tells us:

And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

In Egypt, Joseph required the people to work their former lands as before.  They had to give Pharaoh twenty percent of their crops and were allowed to retain the rest for their own consumption.  Presumably during the famine years, not much came of these efforts, but the circumstances didn’t change once they exited the final seven years.  Pharaoh continued to own the people and all they did.  They owned nothing themselves:

The government representative opened the door of their new apartment.  Except it wasn’t bright and shiny.  The building was older.  Gloria had wondered on the way up in the creaking elevator if it would stall.  They might be stuck for hours.  Or days.  Would anyone even notice and free them?

The curtains were filthy.  Dingy linoleum on the floor absorbed what little light filtered in through the single window.  Some animal had shredded the old sofa with its sharp claws.  As she passed it on the way to the kitchen, Gloria caught a whiff of stale urine.

Her heart fell as she saw what she’d be faced with each day in preparing meals.  Then she remembered there’d be little to no cooking.  All they required to survive would be delivered to the lobby each mealtime for pickup. 

On their farm, she and Lee had saved for several years to replace the appliances and update the entire kitchen.  It had been her pride and joy.  This small and dreary galley barely fit two people.  She opened the refrigerator and drew back at the odor that assaulted her senses.

“This isn’t plugged in,” she said to the woman who’d made no effort to join her in the tight space.

The agent shrugged.  “We can’t spend money on frivolous expenditures.  Energy is expensive.  It’s been two months since the last people in here moved out – well, died, actually.  Why should we run electricity for nothing?”

Gloria gave a disgusted glance back at the grimy stove as she joined Lee and the government rep in the tiny dining area.  He said, “Isn’t there another place you can show us?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.”  The woman extracted a sheaf of papers from her briefcase.  “Just sign right here and the place is yours.”

Lee’s shoulders drooped.  Gloria knew how badly he felt, as though he’d failed in his role of husband and provider.  They’d been required to leave everything behind: cars, farm equipment, their home for thirty years, and all its furnishings.  From what they’d heard, the man working with the government who’d bought all their prior possessions for a song was the largest landowner in the nation. He planned to bulldoze all they’d left behind and build artificial food factories.

Her husband took the stack and shuffled through each page.  “Wait a minute.  There’s a clause in here that stipulates if we have any firearms, we have to relinquish them.  I’ve always had guns.  We’re in the city now.  There’s all sorts of criminals running around.  How are we supposed to protect ourselves?”

“That’s not my problem.  Didn’t you give those up yet?  Are you going to take this place, or not?  If so, you have to comply.”

Gloria knew they had no other options.  The woman was right.  They were nothing but beggars now at the mercy of the government.

The question has been asked and answered as to what the general populace will do when they own nothing.  What will keep them occupied?  What will their lives be like when they don’t have to work because the government gives them everything?  For those in Egypt, some number continued to labor on their land.  It’s doubtful this would occur now.  Yuval Harari, the futurist and author whose influence is growing exponentially has spoken plainly about this:

The blaring TV worked as an anesthetic on Gloria.  She’d never watched much in the past while running their farm household; now she had little else to do.  Every now and then she’d glance at her waist and hips that had expanded from her lack of activity.  On the farm she hardly ever sat; now she seldom walked.  If it weren’t for the three times each day that she took the elevator to the lobby to pick up their meals, she figured she’d be pretty useless.

Kind of like Lee.  Working their land, he toiled early morning until late at night.  A farmer’s job was never done.  After a period of adjustment in the apartment, he’d found a treasure trove of video games that kept him occupied most of the day.  He likewise was putting on the pounds.

Early on he’d complained about boredom, but now Gloria couldn’t tear him away from the video screen.  Periodically he’d cry out in victory or defeat depending on how his virtual character fared in the metaverse.  Other than that, she and Lee had little interaction and less in common.

Gloria had heard that the manufactured food they ate contained various drugs along with essential nutrients.  She thought that might be true.  At first, both of them had been quite unhappy with life in the city in the confines of their apartment.  Over the months, that had changed.  Despite a passing concern, both she and Lee had come to accept their fate, even feeling a sense of satisfaction with their lives.

It was hard to concentrate sometimes and ponder such deep matters.  The thought of their being useless eaters surfaced at odd, intermittent times as a disturbing reality, but mostly the emotion she felt was happiness.

Moving people to the city has its challenges.  Those who are bored and restless are a threat.  Addressing this issue of what to do with all these useless people, Harari said: “My best guess at present is a combination of drugs and computer games.”  This is how little he values his fellow man.

The spiritual entities and the global elites propelling mankind toward their deadline of 2030 to accomplish the New World Order must act ruthlessly.  Controlling a global population requires less of it so that it’s manageable.  Just as the Georgia Guidestones laid out, the number of humans in the world must decrease in drastic measure.  Those that aren’t valuable and haven’t yet succumbed to the genocide agenda must be corralled into cities where they can be manipulated.

We inevitably cite George Orwell’s 1984 for the Big Brother surveillance and monitor systems that are being implemented in every connected device.  However, just as important is the deadening of the human spirit.  Aldous Huxley wrote of this in Brave New World, where the people were kept drugged and content through Soma.  How convenient for the overlords to lessen discomfort, relieve anxiety, and dissipate any stressful feelings so that the populace doesn’t feel any need to rise up in rebellion!

This is a dim and dismal picture.  Is it any wonder large numbers of people are waking up to the potential of where the globalists want to take us?  Before we reach this stage, they say, we must unite and fight back, peacefully at first if possible; or taking up arms if it comes to that.

The problem is the focus on this world and believing that it’s all we have.  Thus, there’s the understandable necessity to preserve it.  God is allowing everything we’re experiencing to happen for a reason.  He has shown in His inerrant Word that such times would come and get worse.  People can wake up, rise up, and fight until they’re blue in the face.  The Lord will probably honor Godly people and their misdirected efforts in this regard, but Bible prophecy will not be thwarted, whether by Satan and his minions or through the concerted efforts of determined humanity.

The convergence of end-times signs is present for a reason.  The point is near when God will judge mankind.  Sin and depravity are rising to unimaginable levels.  The transhumanist movement which intends to improve upon God’s creation because it’s too limiting is close to what likely happened in Noah’s day prior to the flood.  DNA manipulation so as to alter humanity is nearing its tipping point.  All that’s been experimented with in labs worldwide for many years is on the brink of being released.

The only light shining against this darkness comes from the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  If we know Him and His Word, our preparations aren’t to save the world, but to rescue the souls of unredeemed men and women.  All the bad things we can imagine will come about; that’s assured.  The greater certainty, however, is the blood of Christ and the Gospel that gives us hope:  Jesus came, He died, He rose from the dead, and He’s coming back.

When we believe this, we live despite how Death and Hades desire to bring us down.  Let’s not waste our time trying to keep this sinful world intact; rather, let’s declare the glorious future in eternity with our Lord, God, and Savior!