Interesting comment about Joseph ruling in Egypt

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,776
113
#41
Why not? Are the righteous not slaves of God?
Taking Scripture out of context does not help your position. What was the mandate of Christ? To preach deliverance to the captives and to set at liberty them that are bruised.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
#42
Did GOD tell Joseph to make all the egyptian people slaves?
God prophesied to Abram about it...

Genesis 15
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
 
Sep 15, 2019
9,991
5,546
113
#43
He could have turned around and made more righteous arrangements. When people are desperate for food they will suggest anything. But one does not take advantage of their desperation, and that is what Joseph did.
But I think things were different those days. People were much more savage, and anyone could be a possession. By owning the people, a good king could better care for them, and also prevent them going astray (as we saw often in the Israelites, although they were free).
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,849
1,645
113
#44
Taking Scripture out of context does not help your position. What was the mandate of Christ? To preach deliverance to the captives and to set at liberty them that are bruised.
Liberty from the rule of darkness. Mature things are difficult to understand by the young.
 

Aaron56

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2021
2,849
1,645
113
#45
They were made slaves of Pharaoh, big difference.
Pharaoh gave the rule of his estate over to Joseph. By extension they were slaves to Joseph. A slave to a righteous and benevolent ruler is cared for like a son.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,487
13,791
113
#47
But I think things were different those days. People were much more savage, and anyone could be a possession. By owning the people, a good king could better care for them, and also prevent them going astray (as we saw often in the Israelites, although they were free).
The problem is that there simply are no good human kings, so the inevitable outcome of such a situation is tyranny.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,487
13,791
113
#48
Shouldn't it be 1/7 of 490 years divided by 52 for weeks per year? :unsure:

That would be 1.346153846153846 years of Sabbath rest :cool:
The 'sabbath' referred to in this passage is the sabbath year (rest for the land), not the sabbath day, so it should be 1/7 of 490. :)
 

Edify

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2021
1,559
656
113
#50
Did GOD tell Joseph to make all the egyptian people slaves?
He could have turned around and made more righteous arrangements. When people are desperate for food they will suggest anything. But one does not take advantage of their desperation, and that is what Joseph did.
I believe we forgot the scripture:
James 5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
Those that judge God's servants harshly will receive like judgments against themselves.
Imagine God having Moses to write these things if they weren't ok with Him.
God always knows what He's doing & needs no little ant on Earth to question what He does.
God is in Heaven & we are on the earth; we should let our words be seasoned with grace & let them be few.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,776
113
#51
More righteous arrangements? The alternative being what? Socialism?
It's interesting to see that Christians are trying to defend the unrighteousness of Joseph. Well Joseph did not have to rob the Egyptians of their land and hand it to Pharaoh. He could have set up a system that enabled the starving Egyptians to gradually pay back their food debt by retaining their lands and sharing their crops (when weather conditions improved) until the debt was paid.
 

JohnB

Well-known member
Jul 31, 2022
2,078
456
83
Calif
#52
I believe we forgot the scripture:
James 5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
Those that judge God's servants harshly will receive like judgments against themselves.
Imagine God having Moses to write these things if they weren't ok with Him.
God always knows what He's doing & needs no little ant on Earth to question what He does.
God is in Heaven & we are on the earth; we should let our words be seasoned with grace & let them be few.
We are not judging Joseph, we are commenting on what he did and maybe why. By the way, we are to judge between right and wrong, good and evil.
 

JohnB

Well-known member
Jul 31, 2022
2,078
456
83
Calif
#53
More righteous arrangements? The alternative being what? Socialism?
Socialism, like GOD telling the nation of Israel to take care of the poor and those in need. What do you think the tithe was used for?
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,211
29,509
113
#54
Socialism, like GOD telling the nation of Israel to take care of the poor and those in need. What do you think the tithe was used for?
The tithe was for the priests.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,211
29,509
113
#55
It's interesting to see that Christians are trying to defend the unrighteousness of Joseph. Well Joseph did not have to rob the Egyptians of their land and hand it to Pharaoh. He could have set up a system that enabled the starving Egyptians to gradually pay back their food debt by retaining their lands and sharing their crops (when weather conditions improved) until the debt was paid.
It is interesting to see Christians trying to condemn Joseph's actions.

Especially those like you who ballyhoo against socialism left right and centre.

The Egyptians were grateful to Joseph for saving their lives. You however want to condemn him, who prefigures Christ.

“You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”
 

JohnB

Well-known member
Jul 31, 2022
2,078
456
83
Calif
#56
I believe we forgot the scripture:
James 5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
Those that judge God's servants harshly will receive like judgments against themselves.
Imagine God having Moses to write these things if they weren't ok with Him.
God always knows what He's doing & needs no little ant on Earth to question what He does.
God is in Heaven & we are on the earth; we should let our words be seasoned with grace & let them be few.
If you're going to use those verses, who are you to judge two single people having sex outside of marriage? Or to judge anyone on anything?
 

JohnB

Well-known member
Jul 31, 2022
2,078
456
83
Calif
#57
The tithe was for the priests.
The third tithe was for the poor (Deut 14:28-29). The Church has an obligation to assist the poor (Deut 15:11; John 12:8; Acts 20:35; Gal 2:10; 1 Tim 5:3). This obligation stems from the Old Testament. Twice (Deut 14:28; 26:12-13), the Lord gives instruction regarding a tithe that is to be saved and distributed every third year. This third tithe was to be set aside locally and stored within each city or town (Deut 14:28; 26:12) for the use of the Levites and the poor of the community - the stranger, fatherless, and widow.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
36,704
6,733
113
#58
I. CONSIDER THE POLICY OF THIS EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER. Many things we admire in Joseph, but we must not be blind to the fact that he thought more of binding the people to the throne than of benefiting the people themselves. He was the first statesman of that day. His policy determined in great measure what should be the standard of internal prosperity, and what position the country should hold in the eyes of other nations. He sought to make Pharaoh's rule absolute. He gave no benefit without payment, no supplies without sacrifice. He took all the money first (Genesis 47:14), then the cattle (ibid. ver. 16), then the lands and their persons (ibid. ver. 23). He thus reduced the people of Egypt to the position of slaves. He made all the land crown lands. Thus the monarch was pleased, and the priests, being exempt, were flattered. It is possible that in this Joseph laid the foundation of that system of mismanagement, which has made the most flourishing spot in the world the basest of kingdoms. He seems also to have striven to give some sort of preeminence to his brethren, and to advance them. Exempt from the burdens pressing on others, they gained power, and would have become eventually the dominant race in Egypt, but that another Pharaoh arose who knew not Joseph, i.e. who, although he knew of his having lived and served the nation, yet recognized not his policy. The state to which Joseph reduced the Egyptians was that to which afterwards his own descendants were reduced. Thus our plans are overthrown. Time tries success, and by removing dimness from our vision enables us to test it better.
Joseph As Prime Minister
Genesis 41:40
Sermon by F. Hastings
Joseph revealed a universal truth. People will pay any price for food. When Jesus was on the Earth in His ministry the disciples said "to whom shall we go You have the words of eternal life". This is why they wanted to make Jesus the ruler because He fed them. This is the most important job of a ruler.

So it shouldn't be any great surprise that Satan and the kingdom of darkness would understand this. They use food to control people. The Mark of the Beast will be what allows you to buy and sell food.

For example, here in the US we have had unexplained attacks on 120 food processing plants in the last 18 months. In addition cutting off fertilizer to much of the world will reduce output by 20%. Famine is the key driver to inflation and depression. This is why the four horsemen of the apocalypse include famine, this is how you conquer.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
36,704
6,733
113
#59
If you're going to use those verses, who are you to judge two single people having sex outside of marriage? Or to judge anyone on anything?
We don't judge people, we judge sin. The NT tells us that fornication is sin. Jesus will judge people. Right now we are witnesses that Jesus has paid the price to save you from sin, and one of the sins you need to be saved from is fornication.