Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

Prologue

² For learning about wisdom and instruction,
    for understanding words of insight,
³ for gaining instruction in wise dealing,
    righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to teach shrewdness to the simple,
    knowledge and prudence to the young—
⁵ let the wise also hear and gain in learning,
    and the discerning acquire skill,
⁶ to understand a proverb and a figure,
    the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Warnings against Evil Companions

⁸ Hear, my child, your father’s instruction,
    and do not reject your mother’s teaching;
⁹ for they are a fair garland for your head,
    and pendants for your neck.
¹⁰ My child, if sinners entice you,
    do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
    let us wantonly ambush the innocent;
¹² like Sheol let us swallow them alive
    and whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
¹³ We shall find all kinds of costly things;
    we shall fill our houses with booty.
¹⁴ Throw in your lot among us;
    we will all have one purse”—
¹⁵ my child, do not walk in their way,
    keep your foot from their paths;
¹⁶ for their feet run to evil,
    and they hurry to shed blood.
¹⁷ For in vain is the net baited
    while the bird is looking on;
¹⁸ yet they lie in wait—to kill themselves!
    and set an ambush—for their own lives!
¹⁹ Such is the end^[a] of all who are greedy for gain;
    it takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

²⁰ Wisdom cries out in the street;
    in the squares she raises her voice.
²¹ At the busiest corner she cries out;
    at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
    and fools hate knowledge?
²³ Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
    I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,
    have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
²⁵ and because you have ignored all my counsel
    and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when panic strikes you,
²⁷ when panic strikes you like a storm,
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
    and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
³⁰ would have none of my counsel,
    and despised all my reproof,
³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
    and be sated with their own devices.
³² For waywardness kills the simple,
    and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³ but those who listen to me will be secure
    and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”

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"Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors."

I don't know why this verse is ringing out as I read this through.  It could be that I have been reading about and listening to stories of ridiculously wealthy men who are losing what they love most because they just wanted a little more.  Possessions, money, power.  We hunt all these things because we are convinced that they will make our lives better.  A little bit more will bring us security or happiness or respect or whatever else we are lacking.  But this verse states, and history is filled with enough examples to verify it, that the obsessive pursuit of those things does not end with a better life, but with a ruined life.

Psalm 1-3

Before we dive into Exodus, my reading plan suggests a change of pace: spending some time in the psalms and proverbs.  So let's take a look at the first 3 psalms:

Psalm 1

The Two Ways

¹ Happy are those
    who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
    or sit in the seat of scoffers;
² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
³ They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 2

God’s Promise to His Anointed

¹ Why do the nations conspire,
    and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us burst their bonds asunder,
    and cast their cords from us.”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord has them in derision.
⁵ Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶ “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

⁷ I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have begotten you.
⁸ Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron,
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear,
    with trembling ¹² kiss his feet,^[a]
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 3

Trust in God under Adversity

A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

¹ O Lord, how many are my foes!
    Many are rising against me;
² many are saying to me,
    “There is no help for you^[b] in God.”Selah

³ But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
    my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
⁴ I cry aloud to the Lord,
    and he answers me from his holy hill.Selah

⁵ I lie down and sleep;
    I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
⁶ I am not afraid of ten thousands of people
    who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷ Rise up, O Lord!
    Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
    may your blessing be on your people!Selah

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The Psalms and I have always had a...complicated relationship.  I prefer text that I can analyze and reason out.  I love chewing on the theological pieces in the epistles or wrestling with Jesus' parables to find what he was saying.  The history I find so fascinating that I wrote one novel and have more in mind.  The prophets have some parts that are amazing...and then there are the psalms.  There is some analysis that can be done, some applications that can be mined.  But mostly they are poetry and emotions and crying out and celebrating and unfiltered, raw human expression directed towards God.  And that is not where I spend most of my days.  I have filters on top of filters on top of filters.  David has a very clear paradigm: there are the righteous and the evil, his supporters and his enemies.  God is with him through everything and eager to hear about what is going on in David's heart.

It has been a long time since I walked around thinking about the harm that my enemies wanted to do to me.  It has been a long time since I looked at anyone and said "That person is righteous," or "That person is evil."  It has been a long time since I pleaded with God for someone to be smote (smited?smitten?smat?) down.

I call out to God for help all the time, but I usually am pretty convinced that the trouble is my fault and that I have no one else to blame. 

So what do I focus on?  Psalm one says  "their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night."

Contrast that with what I usually meditate on.  If meditate is too weird of a word for you, think about it as worry or obsess or concentrate on.  What do I spend my time turning over in my head?  Relationship problems?  Work?  Money?  Weight?  Family?  Entertainment?  How much of my life is consumed with the movie/video game/tv show that I am into at the moment?  How would my life improve if that head space was filled with the words of God instead?  Would I really be happy?

Genesis 50

Genesis 50

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

50 Then Joseph threw himself on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. ² Joseph commanded the physicians in his service to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel;³ they spent forty days in doing this, for that is the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

⁴ When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph addressed the household of Pharaoh, “If now I have found favor with you, please speak to Pharaoh as follows: ⁵ My father made me swear an oath; he said, ‘I am about to die. In the tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.’ Now therefore let me go up, so that I may bury my father; then I will return.” ⁶ Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”
⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ Both chariots and charioteers went up with him. It was a very great company. ¹⁰ When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they held there a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed a time of mourning for his father seven days. ¹¹ When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning on the part of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim;^[a] it is beyond the Jordan. ¹² Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed them. ¹³ They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which Abraham bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. ¹⁴ After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

Joseph Forgives His Brothers

¹⁵ Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they approached^[b]Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, ¹⁷ ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers also wept,^[c] fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. ²¹ So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

Joseph’s Last Days and Death

²² So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s household; and Joseph lived one hundred ten years.²³ Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees.
²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶ And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

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And so we reach the end of Genesis...the beginning of God's story with His people.  Over the past 50 chapters we have witnessed the beginning of the world, the creation of man, the introduction of rebellion, the depravity of man, the great "Reset Button" of a flood, the scattering of mankind and introduction of new languages, the rise of One Man whom God would confide in, that One Man's child of rebellion and his child of promise, the One Man's grandson who would swindle his way into prosperity, run away and become a nation, and his favorite son who endured betrayal and injustice in order to save his father and the world.

What are we able to learn about God from this?  I go back to the dual creation stories: power and intimacy.  This book is full of divine power: shaping worlds, commanding the elements, defying the laws of nature and physics in order for His will to be done.  The book is also full of divine intimacy: crafting humanity out of the earth, developing relationship with individuals, saving animals instead of simply creating new ones, choosing to grow a family instead of rule a nation.

Power and Intimacy.  We will see these again.

Genesis 49

Genesis 49

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49 Then Jacob called his sons, and said: “Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come.

² Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob;
    listen to Israel your father.

³ Reuben, you are my firstborn,
    my might and the first fruits of my vigor,
    excelling in rank and excelling in power.
⁴ Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel
    because you went up onto your father’s bed;
    then you defiled it—you^[a] went up onto my couch!

⁵ Simeon and Levi are brothers;
    weapons of violence are their swords.
⁶ May I never come into their council;
    may I not be joined to their company—
for in their anger they killed men,
    and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.
⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
    and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob,
    and scatter them in Israel.

⁸ Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
    your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
⁹ Judah is a lion’s whelp;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion,
    like a lioness—who dares rouse him up?
¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;^[b]
    and the obedience of the peoples is his.
¹¹ Binding his foal to the vine
    and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine
    and his robe in the blood of grapes;
¹² his eyes are darker than wine,
    and his teeth whiter than milk.

¹³ Zebulun shall settle at the shore of the sea;
    he shall be a haven for ships,
    and his border shall be at Sidon.

¹⁴ Issachar is a strong donkey,
    lying down between the sheepfolds;
¹⁵ he saw that a resting place was good,
    and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to the burden,
    and became a slave at forced labor.

¹⁶ Dan shall judge his people
    as one of the tribes of Israel.
¹⁷ Dan shall be a snake by the roadside,
    a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
    so that its rider falls backward.

¹⁸ I wait for your salvation, O Lord.

¹⁹ Gad shall be raided by raiders,
    but he shall raid at their heels.

²⁰ Asher’s^[c] food shall be rich,
    and he shall provide royal delicacies.

²¹ Naphtali is a doe let loose
    that bears lovely fawns.^[d]

²² Joseph is a fruitful bough,
    a fruitful bough by a spring;
    his branches run over the wall.^[e]
23 The archers fiercely attacked him;
    they shot at him and pressed him hard.
²⁴ Yet his bow remained taut,
    and his arms^[f] were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
    by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
²⁵ by the God of your father, who will help you,
    by the Almighty^[g] who will bless you
    with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
    blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
²⁶ The blessings of your father
    are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains,
    the bounties^[h] of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

²⁷ Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
    in the morning devouring the prey,
    and at evening dividing the spoil.”

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, blessing each one of them with a suitable blessing.

Jacob’s Death and Burial

²⁹ Then he charged them, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors—in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.³¹ There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah— ³² the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” ³³ When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

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I don't know about you, but when I think of blessings I think of good things.  Promises and hopes being shared between people who love and respect each other.  These are not those kind of blessings.  They are likely accurate and perceptive, but not what I would wish to say to my children in my final words.  You have comparisons to snakes and donkeys, wolves and fawns.  Violence and anger and corruption and slavery fill Israel's words.  They will become tribes and collectively become a nation, but purity and integrity of heart is not central for most these men.  I wonder how much of that goes back to their parents.  These men grew up being used as bargaining chips by their mothers in the quest for their father's affections.  Jealousy was the defining characteristic of their family.  So much so that they sold their brother into slavery out of hatred.    Some of them moved on past that, but others are defined by aggression and violence.  Some are defined by deception and others by immorality.  This is God's chosen people?  This is the family through which salvation would come to the world?  Who would choose these men...this legacy?

And yet...that is what God did.  Through the brokenness.  Through the pain.  Through the deceit and malice.  Through all of it, He chose this group of brothers to be His tool to introduce justice and peace and hope and love to a world full of darkness.  Maybe He did it because they were so broken that anything good that came from them would have to be divine in origin.  Maybe He did it because, even as messed up as they were, they were his best choice in the world.  Maybe He did it because of His promise to His dear friend Abraham.  Whatever the reason, this is the story that we as believers share.  When we look around our world or our churches and we see broken people with shaky morals and dark motives...when we are frustrated by how good people can make such bad choices...when community is the last thing we want to take part in...we simply need recall that the salvation of the world came through this family.  

Because God is more than big enough.

Genesis 48

Genesis 48

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons

48 After this Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ² When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” he^[a] summoned his strength and sat up in bed. ³ And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty^[b] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.’ ⁵ Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are now mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours. They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. ⁷ For when I came from Paddan, Rachel, alas, died in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

⁸ When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.”¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also.” ¹² Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees,^[c] and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³ Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them near him. ¹⁴ But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.¹⁵ He blessed Joseph, and said,

“The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
¹⁶ the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys;
and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.”

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰ So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you^[d] Israel will invoke blessings, saying,
‘God make you^[e] like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors. ²² I now give to you one portion^[f]more than to your brothers, the portion^[g] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

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Ah, Jacob.  What a rebel you are, messing with tradition and birth order and the like.  Granted...he has some experience with this subject.  His dealings with Esau are ingrained in his legacy.  I don't know if it is a feeling that he has or a word from God or a delight in the symmetry of his life, but he pours out the blessing of the firstborn upon the younger son.  They will both be great, they are adopted into his family tree to each become a half-tribe.  But he places the younger ahead of the older.  This is not how the ancient world works.  The eldest is supposed to inherit the lion's share as they are the continuation of your line...they are your legacy.  The children who come next are still valued and loved, but they are not required for your family to survive.  Jacob's life is a fascinating mix of submission and ambition.  He steals Esau's blessings to make a name for himself but then also has God give him a new name.  It is a mix that leads him to be highly successful and prosperous...but not a man who possessed the high moral character that his grandfather was renowned for.

Genesis 47

Genesis 47

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

47 So Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen.” ² From among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. ³ Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our ancestors were.” ⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to reside as aliens in the land; for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, we ask you, let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.” ⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶ The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know that there are capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob, and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the years of your life?” ⁹ Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my earthly sojourn are one hundred thirty; few and hard have been the years of my life. They do not compare with the years of the life of my ancestors during their long sojourn.” ¹⁰ Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. ¹¹ Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and granted them a holding in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had instructed. ¹² And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

The Famine in Egypt

¹³ Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. ¹⁴ Joseph collected all the money to be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵ When the money from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan was spent, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” ¹⁶ And Joseph answered, “Give me your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph; and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. That year he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock. ¹⁸ When that year was ended, they came to him the following year, and said to him, “We can not hide from my lord that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹ Shall we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We with our land will become slaves to Pharaoh; just give us seed, so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”
²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them; and the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹ As for the people, he made slaves of them^[a] from one end of Egypt to the other. ²² Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh, here is seed for you; sow the land. ²⁴ And at the harvests you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” ²⁵ They said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh.” ²⁶ So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. The land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

The Last Days of Jacob

²⁷ Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸ Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.
²⁹ When the time of Israel’s death drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor with you, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal loyally and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ When I lie down with my ancestors, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” ³¹ And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself on the head of his bed.

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A couple of things strike me from this passage.  First, we have Jacob blessing Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh becomes an incredibly wealthy man...as Joseph takes all the money, land and livestock of starving people and finally agrees to purchase their lives as slaves.  That just seems so wrong...so injust.  Pharaoh did not forsee this catastrophe; God gave him a dream and Joseph the interpretation and the country the seven years of plenty in order to be able to save up enough food to survive.  This seems like exploiting the gifts of God in order to seize power for yourself...which does not sit right with me.