Joseph sent word to his father Jacob to come to live in Egypt. He told him not to bother about his belongings, that the best of Egypt would be his. Yet Jacob took all his possessions with him. He held on to what he had. This speaks volumes about trust. Is it that Jacob didn’t quite trust that he would be provided for?

Quite reminiscent of the Jewish people. God sent His Son, Jesus, the new covenant, and they held on to the old.

Same thing happened to some of the early Gentile Christians. They still held on to the pagan customs and traditions of their familiar gods, even though they were believers in Jesus.

Many times Christians hold on to secular customs and traditions, many of them contrary to God's Word.

Often we think of Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob, during this time of famine as being a young boy or a young man. The truth is he was old enough to have ten sons.

As the famine becomes more and more severe, the Egyptians no longer have the money to buy grain. They begin to sell their livestock and eventually they sell their land and themselves into servitude. This sets the stage for the Israelites to acquire property and become dominant in the land of Egypt. At this point the Egyptians are becoming servants to the Israelites. The Israelites held on to the dominance of the Egyptians as long as any of Jacob's sons were alive.

Gradually this situation was reversed. The Israelites later allowed themselves to become slaves to the Egyptians.

So, how about us believers in Jesus, do we allow ourselves to become slaves to the world or do we become slaves of THE WORD!