Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 41:56-57

56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

Joseph saves countless lives and makes a healthy profit for the Pharaoh at the same time! It really speaks to the incredible bounty of the first seven years that the excess was enough to keep the locals alive and still have more to sell.

Also, once again foreknowledge is essential for him to be able to handle the situation with clarity and decisiveness. God had not only forewarned of the famine, but He had also specified exactly how long it would endure for. By knowing that he needed to divide the resources across seven years Joseph would know exactly how much of their stock he could afford to sell off each year. If it weren’t for that ability to plan ahead, one might have been tempted in the fourth or fifth year to say “this famine might never end! I better hoard everything remaining for myself and let the rest of the world starve.” Then war might have occurred, and unnecessary deaths would have abounded everywhere.

As Joseph conducted his business and sold the grain to many foreign hands, I wonder whether the thought ever occurred to him that his own father was caught within this famine and might very well send for some corn. Did he have any inkling that he might soon see his brothers yet again?

Posted on by Abe Austin

Free Will vs God’s Control- Genesis 22:1-2, 10-12

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

COMMENTARY

And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son
Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him
Evidently, Abraham was not going to sacrifice his son, no matter whether he chose to follow God’s direction or not. God was going to intervene, and thus funnel Abraham’s life back to the other branch regardless.
But would we say that Abraham did not have any agency in this matter? Did he not still make a decision, and in so doing permanently change something within himself? Though the outcome was the same either way, the exercise still mattered, if only on an internal level.
It is true that foreknowledge would destroy free will, but only if it were held in the same being that was making the choices. If that foreknowledge belongs to a separate being, such as God, than the other may still choose freely.
Consider the example of a game show. Does the fact that the game’s creators already know which prize is behind which door negate the player’s choice between them? Certainly not.