Genesis 46-47:27
Israel/Jacob and his whole clan of people, which apparently was about 66 NOT counting spouses, headed on over to Egypt to live and of course be near the long lost brother/son Joseph.
Can't you imagine the emotion as Joseph embraced his father after so many years?
Wouldn't you have loved to witness that?
No matter how old we get, no matter how much we "grow up", we still need Mom and Dad.
Even after all the brothers put Joshua through, he was still watching out for them. He advised his family on how to speak to the king and his men so that they would get to live in Goshen, away from the Egyptians. It feels kind of weird typing that since we have a Goshen down the road...
Anyway, I am a bit nosy. I cannot help but wonder when Joseph chose 5 brothers to meet the king, which ones did he choose???
The next section of the text I read filled me with dread a bit.
I was reminded of that pesky little date I dislike. April 15.
All of this time, I thought the devil must have been responsible for taxes. Oh, no, it was Joseph.
You see, the famine persisted and the people were hungry. But they had no money left since they had bought food in previous years. So the next year they gave the king their animals in exchange for food. And then the next, they gave their land, then worked on the land that was just theirs a day or two before, and had to give the king 1/5 of whatever they grew.
And that is the first tax system.
Or at least the first in the Bible.
I do think the 1/5 sounds light compared to what we do. :)
Tomorrow's reading:
Genesis 47:28-48:22
Reba
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