Applying the Principle of Storing Up Grain in Times of Plenty
Joseph's counsel to Pharaoh in Genesis 41 provides the clearest biblical model for storing surplus during abundance. When interpreting Pharaoh's dream of seven fat cows devoured by seven lean ones, Joseph advised: "Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it" [3]. Josephus explains that God reveals future scarcity "not to grieve them, but that, when they know it beforehand, they may by prudence make the actual experience of what is foretold the more tolerable" [6]. The principle operates on foresight—recognizing that cycles of plenty and want are part of created order, and that stewardship requires preparation during favorable seasons.
The Agricultural Context
Ancient Israel's economy depended on seasonal rhythms. Harvest began at Passover with the offering of first-fruits and concluded at Pentecost, spanning seven weeks [5]. The land's fertility was tied to covenant faithfulness: "I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain" [10]. These rains—one at seedtime in autumn, another before harvest in spring—determined whether "your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time" [11]. Such abundance meant continuous agricultural labor, with no gap between harvesting grain and gathering grapes, then immediately returning to sowing [2]. Egypt's wheat was particularly renowned, producing "seven-eared quality" grain [4], and during Joseph's administration "the earth brought forth by handfuls," with either single stalks yielding armfuls of ears or individual grains multiplying extraordinarily [9].
Wisdom Literature and Practical Application
Proverbs commends the ant's instinct: "Provideth her meat in the summer... and gathereth her food in the harvest," working "night and day while the season lasts" to accumulate stores before winter when "nothing is to be gotten" [7]. This natural example translates to human stewardship—recognizing opportune moments and acting with diligence. The Psalms envision prosperity as "garners full, furnishing every kind of produce" [1], a picture of stored abundance rather than immediate consumption. Joseph's system centralized grain "under the hand of Pharaoh" as his property, managed by appointed officers who "reserve it in the several cities throughout the land, against the years of famine" [8]. The principle extends beyond individual households to communal and governmental responsibility for future provision.
Sources
- Psalms “Psalms 144:13 (NASB) — Let our garners be full, furnishing every kind of produce, And our flocks bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;”
- Leviticus “Leviticus 26:5 (NASB) — 'Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land.”
- Genesis “Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. -- Genesis 41:35”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Wheat — the well-known valuable cereal, cultivated from the earliest times, is first mentioned in ((Genesis 30:14) in the account of Jacob's sojourn with Laban in Mesopotamia. Egypt in ancient times was celebrated for the growth of its wheat; the best quality was all bearded; and the same varieties existed in ancient as in modern times, among which may be mentioned the seven-eared quality described in Pharaoh's dream. (Genesis 41:22) Babylonia was also noted for the excellence of its wheat and other cereals. Syria and Palestine produced wheat of fine quality and in la”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Harvest — The season for gathering grain or fruit. On the 16th day of Abib (or April) a handful of ripe ears of corn was offered as a first-fruit before the Lord, and immediately after this the harvest commenced (Lev. 23:9-14; 2 Sam. 21:9, 10; Ruth 2:23). It began with the feast of Passover and ended with Pentecost, thus lasting for seven weeks (Ex. 23:16). The harvest was a season of joy (Ps. 126:1-6; Isa. 9:3). This word is used figuratively Matt. 9:37; 13:30; Luke 10:2; John 4:35. (See [260]AGRICULTURE.)”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 5, section 5: plenty of these years will be spent in the same number of years of scarcity, and that scarcity of necessary provisions will be very difficult to be corrected; as a sign whereof, the ill-favored kine, when they had devoured the better sort, could not be satisfied. But still God foreshows what is to come upon men, not to grieve them, but that, when they know it beforehand, they may by prudence make the actual experience of what is foretold the more tolerable. If thou, therefore, carefully dispose of the plentiful crops which will c”
- Proverbs (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Proverbs 6:7: Provideth her meat in the summer,.... Against the winter, of which it is mindful, when it never comes out of its place, having in the summer time got a sufficiency laid up in cells for its use: she toils in the heat of summer to get in her provision for the winter, being sensible that nothing is to be gotten then; she works at it night and day while the season lasts; so diligent is it in laying up its stores at the proper opportunity (l); and gathereth her food in the harvest; the time when corn is ripe, and is shed on the earth; this it gathereth, and lays up in i”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 41:32: And let them, gather all the food of those good years that come,.... That is, let the under officers collect together the fifth part of all fruits of the land during the seven years of plenty: and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh; as his property, and only to be disposed of by his orders; for as it was to be purchased with his money, it was right that it should be in his hands, or in the hands of his officers appointed by him, as the Targum of Jonathan: and let them keep food in the cities; reserve it in the several cities throughout the land, against the y”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 41:44: And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. Such as the gatherers take up in their hands when reaped, in order to bind up in sheaves: now such was the fruitfulness of the land during the seven years of plenty, that either one stalk produced as many ears as a man could hold in his hand; or one grain produced an handful, as Ben Melech observes; though Onkelos paraphrases the words,"the inhabitants of the earth in the seven years of plenty gathered even into their treasuries:''and this they did by the order and direction of Joseph as he passed”
- Deuteronomy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Deuteronomy 11:11: That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season,.... Such a quantity of it as the land required, a sufficiency of it to make it fruitful, and that in proper time: the first rain and the latter rain; the former rain in Marchesvan, the latter rain in Nisan, as the Targum of Jonathan; the first fell about our October, which was at or quickly after seedtime, to water the seed that it might take root, and grow and spring up; and the latter fell about March, a little before harvest, to ripen the corn, and swell and plump the ears of it, and make them yi”
- Leviticus (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Leviticus 26:4: And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time,.... Signifying that there should be such plentiful harvests of barley and wheat, the first of which began in March, as would employ them in threshing them out unto the time of vintage, which may be supposed to, be in the month of July; for on the twenty ninth of Sivan, which was about the middle of June, was the time of the first ripe grapes, as appears; see Gill on Num 13:20; and that they should have such quantities of grapes on their vines, as would employ them in ”