‹ Back

Genesis 45:19-20 "Command them also, 'Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Give no thought to your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.'"

 

These are Pharaoh's instructions to Joseph's brothers. He is commanding them to take wagons from Egypt and go back for their families in order to return to Egypt, where the best of the land will be theirs. Pharaoh is offering Joseph's family his protection and provisions during a time of famine, but we all know how the situation will change. Eventually, the Jews will become slaves in Egypt, the promises of this Pharaoh and his love for Joseph long forgotten. Then God will be giving His people similar instructions, to leave everything and follow Moses out of Egypt.

 

As a life lesson, this story warns us of looking for provision from earthly powers and comfort in the riches of the world. Joseph's brothers initially came to Egypt seeking food during a famine, so is understandable why they would accept this invitation from Pharaoh (and notice it is not really an invitation, it's a command). But there is danger here. Despite this Pharaoh's good intentions, he is not meant to be king over the Jews, and Egypt is not meant to be their home. Joseph's family was led to seek solace in a foreign land; in the wealth and plenty of a country that worshiped false gods, and this ultimately led to tremendous suffering.

 

In our lives we often are led, or even lured, to seek the "best of the land" to meet our needs, or experience comfort. Those things can be good, God certainly wants us to be cared for, and He wants to bless us with the good things He has created. But being led to a foreign land (that is, away from His protection and care, to a land that does not know Him) can lead us to look for comfort and complacency outside of God, and eventually to slavery to the very things we were seeking. Pharaoh welcomed Joseph's family with open arms in what seems to be a true spirit of generosity, but there is no denying that Egypt eventually became a terrible trap for the Jews.

 

We also often look to earthly powers to provide the things we need, but those cannot be a replacement for God. Sometimes our leaders are looking out for our good, or professing to, but power is always corruptible. Earthly powers do not always have our best interests at heart, certainly not in the way God does. The devil is very active in the halls of power. He loves to corrupt the powerful, and he loves to use the promise of the care of earthly princes to trap God's children in slavery and misery.

 

So when the Pharaohs of this world offer to send their wagons to retrieve us, and urge us to leave everything behind and come to them, we should be wary.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Update July 11, 2025: The first reading at Mass this morning included Genesis 46:1-7, in which God tells Israel “do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” While listening, I thought about this blog post, and how God sent Israel into Egypt knowing they would become slaves there. God’s plan is so much bigger than we can imagine, and often includes things that do not seem right to our limited understanding. It was right for Israel to go to Egypt, since God told him to, but the people he led there would indeed fall victim to its dangers. There was a lesson here that God wanted them and us to learn. It also opened the way, 400 years later, for God to save His people, and lead them once again to the Promised Land in a way that foreshadowed His Son’s redemption of all of us from the slavery of sin.