"In Genesis 47, Joseph, second in command to Egypt's Pharaoh, warned of a coming famine, and prepared stock-piles of grain to aid the people through the crisis. When the famine hit the land, the people came to Joseph to buy food stock. A simple transaction was made; the citizens used the national currency to purchase grain.
"In verses 14 and 15 we find an unusual development. After the grain was purchased, Joseph intentionally holds the money back, keeping it from being re-circulated into the local economy. The result is predictably catastrophic for the people: Economic crisis.
"According to the King James Version, "the money failed" (vs.15), and in the New International Version it says that the "money is used up." Egypt experienced intentional, government-sponsored deflation in the midst of a natural calamity. The money collapsed.
"Needing to eat, what did the citizens do? They brought Joseph their livestock in exchange for grain (vs.16-17). As an agrarian society, livestock represented the industrial basis of the people. Hence, placing this power in the hands of the government, the people's commercial activity was effectively abolished.
"In relating this series of events to others, some have asked me; "Why didn't the people just eat the animals instead of trading them for grain?"
"Refrigeration didn't exist. And while the people could have dried some of the meat for long-term use, grain would have been the most valuable and stable food source during a drought. Now the people had neither money nor livestock; and a year later they were out of food.
"Returning to Joseph, who obviously was in charge of the storehouses, the people begged their leader to take their land and themselves in trade for food (vs.18-19). Property was therefore consolidated under the state, and the citizens literally became slaves in their own country (vs.20-21). In the King James Version the language goes even further: Joseph depopulates the rural areas and moves the people into the cities.
"This is a masterful population control strategy. Once the wealth of the nation had been consolidated under the Pharaoh's banner via Joseph's actions - monetary wealth, the industrial base, land and productivity, and the people as economic assets - then Joseph instituted a new farming and taxation system (vs.20-24). How did the people respond? They gladly relinquished control of their wealth, property, and themselves (gave up their freedom) for the promise of state-dictated security.
"Keep in mind; all of this started through a debasing of the currency system. The manipulation of money is, arguably, the most potent method - outside of war - used to rearrange the fabric of society.
Doomed.
"In verses 14 and 15 we find an unusual development. After the grain was purchased, Joseph intentionally holds the money back, keeping it from being re-circulated into the local economy. The result is predictably catastrophic for the people: Economic crisis.
"According to the King James Version, "the money failed" (vs.15), and in the New International Version it says that the "money is used up." Egypt experienced intentional, government-sponsored deflation in the midst of a natural calamity. The money collapsed.
"Needing to eat, what did the citizens do? They brought Joseph their livestock in exchange for grain (vs.16-17). As an agrarian society, livestock represented the industrial basis of the people. Hence, placing this power in the hands of the government, the people's commercial activity was effectively abolished.
"In relating this series of events to others, some have asked me; "Why didn't the people just eat the animals instead of trading them for grain?"
"Refrigeration didn't exist. And while the people could have dried some of the meat for long-term use, grain would have been the most valuable and stable food source during a drought. Now the people had neither money nor livestock; and a year later they were out of food.
"Returning to Joseph, who obviously was in charge of the storehouses, the people begged their leader to take their land and themselves in trade for food (vs.18-19). Property was therefore consolidated under the state, and the citizens literally became slaves in their own country (vs.20-21). In the King James Version the language goes even further: Joseph depopulates the rural areas and moves the people into the cities.
"This is a masterful population control strategy. Once the wealth of the nation had been consolidated under the Pharaoh's banner via Joseph's actions - monetary wealth, the industrial base, land and productivity, and the people as economic assets - then Joseph instituted a new farming and taxation system (vs.20-24). How did the people respond? They gladly relinquished control of their wealth, property, and themselves (gave up their freedom) for the promise of state-dictated security.
"Keep in mind; all of this started through a debasing of the currency system. The manipulation of money is, arguably, the most potent method - outside of war - used to rearrange the fabric of society.
Doomed.
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