No, we're not referring to New Testament Joseph. Actually, we're talking about the Old Testament Joseph, son of Jacob. Now, while y'all may be familiar with the story of his coat of many colors and the brothers who betrayed him by selling him into slavery, you may have missed the story of how he was a master prepper, helping to save Egypt during the seven year famine.
For those of you who may be wanting to follow along in your study Bibles, we are covering the Book Of Genesis, Chapter 41, from the first verse, all the way down to verse 57.
When we talk about Food Security and stocking up on canned goods and learning how to preserve our produce from our gardens as well as our meats, we owe a debt of gratitude to one of the first super-preppers who showed us all the way to do it, and do it right.
Now, ol' Joseph had found himself in a mighty big pickle, as we might say here in the south. See, the Pharaoh of Egypt had been having disturbing dreams, about fat cows and thin cows, full ears of corn and empty ears of corn, and he was flabbergasted about what it meant. Nobody could rightly interpret the dream for the Pharaoh, that is until Joseph came along.
Joseph was a wise and righteous man, even though his brothers had done him wrong and left him for dead in a pit. But the Lord surely does work in mysterious ways, and here was Joseph, standing before the Pharaoh and interpreting his dream about cows. But that was just the beginning.
Joseph went on to explain to Pharaoh that the dream was a warning of an awful famine that was to come, seven years of it in fact, where there wouldn't be enough food for the people. He told Pharaoh that he ought to appoint somebody to go throughout the land and gather up all the food he could and store it in grand storehouses, so that when the famine came, the people would have something to eat.
Well, Pharaoh was impressed with Joseph's wisdom and he appointed him as the head of the whole operation. Joseph went and surveyed the land and set up a system for collecting food from all the fields and storehouses, and had it stored away for when the famine came.
And sure enough, Joseph was right. The famine hit and it hit hard. But because of Joseph's wisdom and foresight, there was enough food to go around. In fact, Egypt had so much food that other nations came to them for help. And all because of Joseph's management and leadership.
Now, y'all might be wondering how Joseph managed to pull all this off. See, Joseph was a clever man. He didn't just store away enough food for everybody to survive, he also set up a system for selling the food back to the people. Ain't that a stroke of genius? See, if the people had to just take the food for free, they might not have appreciated it as much. But by selling it back to them, Joseph made sure that everybody had enough to eat and that they valued the food.
Joseph even took it one step further and set aside some of the food for the poor and the needy, so that they could be taken care of as well. What a kind and thoughtful man, that Joseph.
And what's more, because of Joseph's success in managing the food crisis, he had climbed up through the ranks and became an important man in Egypt, serving Pharaoh himself. Ain't that something? See, when you use your God-given talents and your wits to help others, good things have a way of coming back to you.
So there you have it, folks. Joseph saved Egypt from a mighty big crisis, all because of his wisdom and his leadership. He showed us that with a little bit of foresight and a whole lot of prepping, we can overcome even the toughest of challenges.
Stay prayerful, y'all. And get to work on that garden.
Great read and an amazing story.