BRAGADAYJAH 153

When we look closely at this famine in Egypt, it gives us cause to wonder, what was the physical cause of it? We know that prior to the famine there were seven years of plenty. The main crop was corn and it bore in abundance. This means that there was plenty of rain and sunshine and the weather and the elements were right for corn production. While the corn thrived, the animals would have thrived also; and so cattle would have also increased abundantly. If the weather was the main contributing factor to the years of plenty, what part then did the weather play in the famine? Normally what precedes a famine in an agricultural environment is invariably a long and sustained period of drought. So was drought or lack of rain the cause of the seven years of famine? It would seem not. So then one must conclude that the famine was due to some other cause. Of course taking all the evidence into consideration, Joseph’s false imprisonment; Pharaoh’s dream which only Joseph could interpret; his release from prison and his rise to power in Egypt were all truly within the operative will of God; so that the years of plenty followed by the years of lack were all part of God’s purposes for Joseph and his people. But this still leaves us with the question, “How or by what means did God work His purpose out in sending the famine. Did He, for example caused a great drought so that corn could not grow? Or did He use some other method, perhaps a great plague? It would seem, however, that there was not a drought in Egypt during the years of the famine; for we see that when the money ran out, and the people turned to Joseph and beseeched him to feed them less they die, he told them to bring their cattle, their flocks and their asses in exchange for which, he was able to provide them with bread for a whole year. We also should remember that Israel and his household had brought to Egypt their cattle and their herds and their flocks; we know from Pharaoh’s conversation with Israel that he himself had cattle; the people also had cattle and other livestock which they were able to sell to Joseph. So the conclusion is, if cattle and other animals were in a condition that they could be sold, they had not died or were dying from drought; so that the inference is that the famine was caused by some other act of God not caused by drought. More