When Money Fails

We read in Genesis 47 about the failure of money. “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)

We have to give the Jews a hand when it comes to being good at banking. The Rothschild family is probably the most noted Jewish bankers today or historically but Joseph knew how to corner markets, and was able to buy all the land of Egypt making servants for Pharaoh. They gladly exchanged their assets for bread. As you can see, this is a very old trick.

Like bartering, money has a long history. You might think that it is too early in history to start talking about money in the book of Genesis but precious metals have been around a long time making for convenient exchange. Looks to me like Joseph cornered the market for precious metals in Genesis 47. Perhaps the Hunt brother’s had been reading their bible when they tried to corner the silver market in the early 1970s. “In the last nine months of 1979, the brothers profited by an estimated $2 billion to $4 billion in silver speculation, with estimated silver holdings of 100 million ounces.” Or, like the Kennedy family they too knew how to profit from scarcity and adversity: “During the Great Depression Kennedy vastly increased his financial fortune by investing most of it in real estate. In 1929, Kennedy's fortune was estimated to be $4 million (equivalent to $54.1 million today). By 1935, his wealth had increased to $180 million (equivalent to $3.05 billion today.” Source: Wikepedia. As we continue on through this article it will become very obvious why they say “equivalent” or current dollars.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (Matthew 24:6)

Who isn’t troubled by war when it impacts our family members, friends, nation, personal finances, and all aspects of our lives? Why does war exist? We may find it difficult to “be not troubled” when we obtain a reasonable answer to this question. In fact, it may change our worldview because I will tell you of those not troubled by war. Some people consider war to be hell but others consider it to be wonderful and a great blessing. The golden goose that just never stops laying golden eggs.

For some people war is a question of morality. Some wars are “just and necessary” wars and other wars are somewhat questionable or mistakes in their view. When it comes to war there are no mistakes because the reason for war is based on only one thing. All other reasons (using that old trite phrase) are smoke and mirrors. Only the pawns of war talk about things like honor and patriotism. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

Some would determine in their own minds that there are various causes for war other than the love of money. They will give you the names of evil and misguided individuals that have instigated world wars as if these individuals are “all powerful.” Emotional issues are the convenient excuses for war. These people are the “face of war” but they are not “all powerful.” In my opinion, these people in the news are mere tools in the extraction and harvesting of money. A worker in the Vineyard if you will. Just like drug cartels and organized criminals would be the last to want legalized drugs. Drug cartels enjoy the fact that prisons turn out worker bees to work in their Vineyard too.

If we take the time to study the history of war we will see it develop as it has always developed. It is precisely controlled like a pharmaceutical formula or a recipe. While it may appear like a tornado in nature it does not happen by chance because air masses collide and the conditions are right. In war the direction of the wind is tightly controlled even though many of the players are unwitting participants. The formula is always the same because it takes serious money to start a war.

Did it just happen that I find myself in the woods one morning hunting deer? Did I wake up in the woods? Who paid for my expensive deer riffle, hunting gear or tree stand, transportation, etc.? I find it interesting that people actually discuss the financing of war as if it is a national budget issue. Why didn’t we set aside the money or levy taxes to pay for this war that every businessperson in the world (in every nation) is profiting from? No country historically has ever paid for war from direct taxes and never will. You would never be able to tax enough to pay for war(s). War is very expensive.

War is paid for from debt and debt is finally paid by inflation. This debt is not an issue in reality. Only the interest on the debt is ever paid in somewhat current dollars. In fact, paying the debt is not possible and not necessary for a long period of time. Since this  “love of money” turns out to be economic in nature we will find that changing from a war economy is difficult to say the least. If we actually paid war debt the economy would contract so why pay it? In banking terms we just roll the debt over. Besides, aren’t interest payments grand for some? Where’s the next meal (war) coming from? How would we contract an economy structured around war or the rumor of war?   

This love of money (economic formula) tells us that war will always exist. The reasons to go to war are always simple and always the same. Hitler did not just show up in the woods one morning fully dressed for war. A lot of people profited greatly by outfitting Hitler so he could be in the woods. These weren’t just German hunting outfits created in German factories or financed by German banks only. A world war is just too big for one nation. We understand that even in America.

I won’t go into all the ways to profit from war because I just finished a book with 600 pages on that subject. The ways to profit from war are almost beyond comprehension. But I will say this without covering the history of war. People that profit from war make money from both sides of the conflict and this is historically the case in every war. We live in a global economy and national boundaries mean absolutely nothing to some people because to them “poverty is a sin.” Enough said.

I find it unfortunate that a lot of people are so naïve when it comes to the affairs of this world. Christ was not at all naïve and could get to the heart of any issue. He lived in very evil times and he wasn’t the first or last to be crucified on a cross.

What was the heart of this issue? “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.” (Luke 18:20-23)

There is an interesting thing about the heart of a man. If we are deficient in any one area it is likely that we could be lacking in all areas. That’s why the commandments boil down to just one commandment called love.

If I will lie to you I may also steal from you. Like David of old if I will take your wife there is a good possibility that, under the right circumstances, I just might kill you too. This is why Christianity is a religion of the heart. If I can envy you and treat you rudely I might just take your life under the right circumstances. Some people would consider that as hyperbole but I would question that as exaggeration at all.

You might love your pets and treat them like family. Others may see your pets as a mere nuisance or annoyance. Some people could kill another human being just as easily as they could shoot a rabbit or your pet with a shotgun. You might think that they would lose sleep over an act like this but some surely wouldn’t.

Would we get concerned if our personality fit this definition? “Psychopath - a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.” After reading that definition I suspect some may want to know more like some people wondering if they have a disease by studying the symptoms.

What happens to society when a “lie” is so common people don’t even apologize anymore when you catch them lying? So what, it’s just a lie. I have good reasons for lying.

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44)