"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. 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. 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. And Joseph said, give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. 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. 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: 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. 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. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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."
(Genesis 47:13-26).

How are your leadership skills? (Joseph gave leadership during the famine)
Joseph had great leadership skills and was a good witness for God. Joseph was a type of Christ because he was a savior to those who were perishing. Today, a good leader can also be a good witness for Christ and try to help those who want it.

What does it mean "when money failed in the land of Egypt"? The verb word for "failed" in Hebrew is Tamam meaning "to be consumed or exhausted". It simply means that folks ran out of money. Sometimes, when money is in short supply, folks use the barter system. What is that? They trade by exchanging goods. In the case of the Egyptians, they bartered livestock for grain and then land for grain. If the barter is not of equal value, one might have to throw in a little "boot". What is that? Something to equalize the trade such as an item of another kind. My father used to "horse trade" a lot, and, in my younger years, I used to do quite a bit of bartering with my friends and acquaintances. If you run out of money today, get on your knees and pray in your needs. God is a BIG God, has unlimited resources, and He has many different ways that He can answer your prayers. One time my wife and I were out of money so we went to the Lord in prayer. Soon, I received money in an envelope in the mail from a company that I had not worked for in several years. They said they had made some mistake back then and owed me that money so they sent it to me. When it came, it was just enough to meet our needs. Praise His name!

The bible stated that Joseph "removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof". Why did Joseph relocate the folks of Egypt from the country to the cities? During the Great Depression of the 1930's in the U.S.A. folks would stand in line in the cities to get bread. My grandmother Rice told me about them in Texas. These were called "bread lines". It was easier for the government to distribute bread to large numbers of folks that way. It was probably that way in Egypt under Joseph.

The bible stated "...in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own". I believe that was an early version of sharecropping. What was that? A laborer would plant crops on another person's land and give the owner of the land one fifth or twenty percent of the total crop at harvest time for the rent of that land.

The bible stated "...here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land". After the drought was over with, the Egyptians had to have seed to start over again and plant their new crops. How did the ancient Egyptians sow the land in those days? First, the dry fields were ploughed- the plough being pulled by teams of oxen. Secondly, the seed was thrown by hand onto the soil. Thirdly, herds of pigs were driven over the fields to trample in the seed. And, fourthly, the fields were watered so the new seeds could germinate into new life. Likewise, the gospel seeds that you and I plant in others may one day germinate into new spiritual life. Some Christian folks are planters (they plant the gospel seeds in others to get them saved), some are waterers (they continually share the gospel message with others to keep them saved), and some are harvesters (they work to gather in others for salvation as a spiritual crop). Which one are you?

The Egyptians were happy with the leadership of Joseph. Why? Because Joseph was a servant. He was Christ-like. When any government is the servant of the people, it functions as it should, but when any government is oppressive and tyrannical, the people may revolt and overthrow it. Someone did a comparison of nearly every country that has ever existed on this earth and found that the average age for any nation is about two hundred years before it crumbles into dust. How about the nation you live in? Is that government a servant of the people as Egypt was under Joseph? How are your leadership skills? The bible states: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice- but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn"
(Proverbs 29:2).