Genesis 47:13-19: a reflection

13There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 14Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.” 16Joseph said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year. 18When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands. 19Why 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 to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”

During the severe famine in Egypt, the people, desperate for food, give up everything they have for bread. First their money, then their livestock, and finally their land and even themselves, all bartered for the bread they need to survive. It is a picture of utter dependence and need: when the famine came and their own resources failed, they had to give everything for the bread that would keep them alive. Their need was total, and the bread came only at a price they could barely pay.

Notice the depth of the people's need, and what they had to give for bread. As the famine ground on and their resources failed, they gave everything, money, livestock, land, themselves, for the bread they could not live without. Their need was absolute; without bread they would die, and they gave all they had to get it. It is a picture of desperate need, and of bread that came only at great cost, everything they had.

That desperate need for bread points, by contrast, to a deeper truth about the bread we most need, and how it comes to us. We too have a deep need, a spiritual famine, for the bread of life, without which our souls die; and we have nothing to give for it, no resources that could purchase it. But here is the wonder: the bread of life, which we could never afford, God gives freely in Christ. The Egyptians gave everything for perishable bread; but the bread of life, which we could never buy, God offers freely, at his own cost, not ours. Do not imagine you can earn or purchase the bread your soul most needs; like the Egyptians in the famine, you have nothing that could buy it. But unlike them, you need not pay; the bread of life, which you could never afford, God gives freely in Christ. Come to the God who gives the true bread freely, rather than trying to earn or purchase what your soul needs; the bread of life is not for sale, but given freely to the hungry who come, at God's cost, not yours.

Lord, during the severe famine in Egypt, the people gave up everything for bread, first their money, then their livestock, and finally their land and themselves, all bartered for the bread they needed to survive; a picture of desperate need, and of bread that came only at great cost. Let that point me, by contrast, to a deeper truth about the bread I most need. I too have a deep need, a spiritual famine, for the bread of life, without which my soul dies; and I have nothing to give for it, no resources that could purchase it. But here is the wonder: the bread of life, which I could never afford, you give freely in Christ. The Egyptians gave everything for perishable bread; but the bread of life, which I could never buy, you offer freely, at your own cost, not mine. Keep me from imagining I can earn or purchase the bread my soul most needs; like the Egyptians in the famine, I have nothing that could buy it. But unlike them, I need not pay; the bread of life, which I could never afford, you give freely in Christ. Help me come to you, who give the true bread freely, Lord, rather than trying to earn or purchase what my soul needs; the bread of life is not for sale, but given freely to the hungry who come, at your cost, not mine. Thank you for the free bread of life.