“²³Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. ²⁴And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

– Genesis 47:23-24 (NKJV)

“Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for  Pharaoh. (You have become A Holy People set apart unto The Most High God and Your Territories are sanctified unto Him.) Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. (Now go, make disciples of all nations [Matt 28:18-20], be fruitful and multiply [Gen 1:28; Gen 9:7], bring increase unto The Master with that which He has entrusted unto you [Matt 25:14-39], and steward it well.)  And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. (Let the significance of the fact that what is spoken here will come to pass beyond a shadow of a doubt not be lost on us Beloved Reader, for Joseph is here speaking as one speaking only what he hears The Father speak, doing only what he sees The Father do [John 12:49], abiding in Him & making His Will known with the indisputable authority of A Righteous One perfectly living in precisely such a dependence upon The Father. This is evidenced in affirming phrases such as “you shall ” and “it shall ” and the declaration of success in its favourable consequence spoken of as a matter of factual certainty: “in the harvest ” – what an encouragement in assurance of the providential care of Our God for His Children; His resolute commitment in co-labouring with them to see His will done upon the earth! Even the sanctified heart condition of those who will inevitably “freely give as they have freely received” is prophesied of here in the phrase “you shall give ” indicating that the Law of tithing will be written upon their hearts and that they will respond to this commandment seen throughout the Scriptures – and here quite unceremoniously handed down to them by Joseph – proving [Romans 12:2] their Holy Love for-, and deep gratitude unto-, Him.) Four-fifths shall be your own (revealing the Father’s commitment to providing for his children in all their needs, including the means whereby to secure perpetual increase indefinitely), as seed for the field and for your food (with which to develop and be sustained; let us note here how both the yielded bodies and yielded territories are blessed for increase:), for those of your households and as food for your little ones (and finally we recognise confirmation here of yet another theme pervasive throughout God’s Story: in the here and the now, as Joshua proclaimed “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” [Joshua 24:15], but also in the ages to come: in the blessing of generations; of the descendants of Those Who Love Him and are called according to His purpose).”