Money, Power, and Respect: Pharaoh's Ominous Benevolence in Genesis 45

There’s power in picking up the check.  Despite the Hallmark-film warmth to the emotional reunion of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 45, there’s something just a little bit off about Pharaoh joining in.  He’s the only non-family member with a say in the chapter, and, ominously, he’s the one picking up the tab for all that transpires.  While his conduct is unassailably kind, it’s hard to witness his generosity toward the ancient chosen family without being reminded of a modern truism:  If you’re not paying for the product, than you are the product.  Genesis 45 is the emotional climax of the remarkable story of Joseph, but it also foreshadows the nation-defining problems that will arise in Exodus 1.  

The reunion between Joseph and his brothers is brought on by crisis.  There has been famine in the land for two years, and Joseph and his brothers are in vastly different circumstances.  The upwardly-mobile Joseph has come a long way since being sold to Ishmaelite slave-traders by his jealous brothers.  He is in charge of all Egypt, yet again demonstrating his abilities as an administrator after being put in charge of Potiphar’s household and later the Egyptian prison.  Genesis 41:46 sums up this rise to power by saying Joseph “entered the service of Pharoah, king of Egypt.”  The ensuing descriptions of Joseph’s influence in Egypt make it clear that Joseph is no longer a slave, but it also must be remembered that his position of power still comes under the title, “Servant to Pharaoh”.  

Meanwhile, Joseph’s brothers and father are in crisis in Canaan.  Their accumulated wealth is invested almost entirely in livestock - an asset that famine has rendered a liability.  It appears that even their own survival may have been in question, since Jacob sends off his sons in 42:2 saying “Go down [to Egypt] and buy some grain for us so that we may live and not die.”  

This brings about the tearful reunion of Joseph and his brothers.  The evil actions of Joseph’s brothers have been used by God to raise up Joseph so that he could rescue them.  Because of Joseph, the chosen family will endure beyond the crushing famine that threatens their lives and the accrued wealth-blessings of 4 generations.   

While it is dwarfed by the opulence of Egypt, Joseph seems mindful of his family’s wealth and readers should be as well.  Their growing numbers of sheep and goats are, after all, a God-given blessing and the seeds of what they hope will one day be the treasury of a great nation.  Throughout Genesis, the story depicts not just the growth of the chosen family, but of that family’s wealth as generation after generation adds to their herds and stores.  Significantly, Abram marks the beginning of this journey toward wealth by refusing gifts offered to him by the King of Sodom, saying, “I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, “I made Abram rich.”  (14:23)

This same motivation seems to be in Joseph’s mind when he includes accommodation for “you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have” in his plans for his brothers.  “Otherwise”, he says, “you will become destitute.”  Joseph, the great administrator, envisions his family’s wealth portfolio continuing to grow and remain distinct under his leadership in Egypt.  

This is in contrast to the generous plans of Pharaoh just sentences later:  “Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.”  This promise, from a Pharaoh who genuinely seems to want the best for Joseph’s family is the single dark cloud over an otherwise celebratory chapter.  It signals that there is the potential for trouble in this rescue.  It’s a godfather offer - too good to be refused, but burdened with the strings of subservience.  Will the chosen family, up to this point beholden only to God, be bound to Pharaoh - the pagan king who is literally worshiped by his people?  

Our concerns only build in the final chapters of Genesis as the subtle reminders that Egypt is not the promised land build.  Jacob and his sons do join Joseph in Egypt and they do bring their flocks and herds.  This turns out to be an early signal of a cultural divide as we learn that “all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”  (46:34)  Meanwhile, nearly all of Egypt is bought into slavery later in the same chapter as the famine continues and the people rely more and more on Pharaoh and his storehouses.  While the chosen family escapes this fate, we’re shown that Israel's new landlords have a troubling tendency toward human trafficking.

The family of Israel does well in Egypt - we are told they “acquired great property and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.”  Their stay in Egypt extends beyond the famine - a sign that perhaps they’ve gotten comfortable with their new benefactor.  12 years after the end of the famine, Jacob dies still living in Egypt.  His final request, though, demonstrates that Jacob yearns to be removed from the security and predictability of Egypt and returned to the independence of God’s promised land.  “Do not bury me in Egypt” he requests, “but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”  

Jacob’s wishes stand in contrast to the wishes of his enslaved descendants in Exodus.  Where Jacob yeans to leave the comfort and predictability of his life in Egypt and return to the land of God’s promise, the grumbling Israelites tell Moses they would prefer the predictability of Egyptian enslavement to the rigors of their nomadic journey toward the promised land(see Exodus 16:3).  For the myopic family of Israel in Egypt, whether free or slaves, the tangibility of the feeble comforts of human lordship compete with the unseen promises of almighty God.  

Genesis ends with the most direct and ominous statement that while Egypt has been good to the chosen family, it is not where they are meant to be.  At his death, Joseph’s final request echoes that of his father:  “God will surely come to your aid and take you out of this land to the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob… then you must carry my bones from this place.”  Whatever goodness and protection Joseph and Pharaoh provided Israel and his sons is coming to a close, but the subjectivity of all those who live in Egypt to the Egyptian king must continue.  The Israelites refuge is about to become their prison and they will need the aid of God to escape.  

It’s difficult to draw a straight line from this story to a 21st century moral:  Our calling is not to an earthly theocracy in the land of Canaan.  That said, Western 21st century Christians are surrounded by the trappings of tangible comfort, predictability, and security in ways that would make even Pharaoh blush.  Are we willing to live as God’s workmanship, pursuing his work and it’s intangible rewards even if it means being uncomfortable?  Can we honestly tell ourselves that we have no higher allegiance than to Christ and his Kingdom or are we beholden to earthly powers?  As heirs with Christ, Christians have promises from God to rival even Jacob’s, but we are inheritor’s not just of the Kingdom, but of Christ’s earthly work as well.  May we pursue God’s work with abandon, living with our bags packed so we can follow God into places of tangible refuge and into the unknown with the same spirit of obedience.  

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.  And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings, in order that we may share in his glory.”  - Romans 8:14-17