Genesis 47:13-27
I would love to give the Pastor of this predominantly black church in
Virginia a big hug for this sermon! This guy is obviously a leader!
Perhaps we should each decide who our real leader is.....
It is amazing to see that very little has changed in 4,000 years.
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Good morning, brothers and sisters; it's always a delight to see
the pews crowded on Sunday morning, and so eager to get into
God's Word. Turn with me in your Bibles, if you will to the 47th
chapter of Genesis, we'll begin our reading at verse 13, and go
through verse 27.
Brother Ray, would you stand and read that great passage for us?
....(reading)...
Thank you for that fine reading, Brother Ray... So we see that
economic hard times fell upon Egypt , and the people turned to
the government of Pharaoh to deal with this for them. And Pharaoh
nationalized the grain harvest, and placed the grain in great
storehouses
that he had built. So the people brought their money to Pharaoh, like a
great tax increase, and gave it all to him willingly in return for
grain. And this went on until their money ran out, and they were hungry again.
So when they went to Pharaoh after that, they brought their
livestock -their cattle, their horses, their sheep, and their donkey -
to barter for grain, and verse 17 says that only took them through
the end of that year..
But the famine wasn't over, was it? So the next year, the people
came before Pharaoh and admitted they had nothing left, except
their land and their own lives. "There is nothing left in the sight
of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before
your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food,
and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh.." So they
surrendered their homes, their land, and their real estate to
Pharaoh's government, and then sold themselves into slavery
to him, in return for grain. What can we learn from this, brothers
and sisters?
That turning to the government instead of to God to be our provider
in hard times only leads to slavery? Yes.. That the only reason
government wants to be our provider is to also become our master?
Yes.
But look how that passage ends, brothers and sisters! Thus Israel
settled in the land of Egypt , in the land of Goshen .. And they gained
possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly." God
provided for His people, just as He always has! They didn't end up
giving all their possessions to government, no, it says they gained
possessions! But I also tell you a great truth today, and an ominous
one. We see the same thing happening today - the government today
wants to "share the wealth "once again, to take it from us and
redistribute it back to us. It wants to take control of healthcare,
just as it has taken control of education, and ration it back to us,
and when government rations it, then government decides who gets it,
and how much, and what kind. And if we go along with it, and do it
willingly, then we will wind up no differently than the people of
Egypt did four thousand years ago - as slaves to the government,
and as slaves to our leaders. What Mr. Obama's government is doing
now is no different from what Pharaoh's government did then, and it
will end the same. And a lot of people like to call Mr. Obama a
"Messiah," don't they? Is he a Messiah? A savior? Didn't the
Egyptians say, after Pharaoh made them his slaves, "You have saved
our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh"?
Well, I tell you this - I know the Messiah; the Messiah is a friend
of mine; and Mr. Obama is no Messiah! No, brothers and sisters,
if Mr. Obama is a character from the Bible, then he is Pharaoh.
Bow with me in prayer, if you will.
Lord, You alone are worthy to be served, and we rely on You, and You
alone.
We confess that the government is not our deliverer, and never
rightly will be.
We read in the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, when Samuel warned the
people of what a ruler would do, where it says "And in that day you will
cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but
the LORD will not answer you in that day." And Lord, we acknowledge
that day has come. We cry out to you because of the ruler that we have
chosen for ourselves as a nation. Lord, we pray for this nation. We pray
for revival, and we pray for deliverance from those who would be our
masters.
Give us hearts to seek You and hands to serve You, and protect Your people
from the atrocities of Pharaoh's government.
In God We Trust...
Genesis 47: 13-27
13 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.
14 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.
15 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.
16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
17 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.
18 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:
19 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.
20 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.
21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.
22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.
26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.
27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
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