-
Preserving Life in Time of FamineThe Watchtower—1987 | May 1
-
-
1. What wise action did Joseph take during the years of plenty, and with what result?
IMMEDIATELY after his appointment as food administrator, Joseph toured the land of Egypt. He had matters well organized by the time the years of plenty began. Now the land yielded its produce by the handfuls! Joseph kept collecting the foodstuffs from the field around each city, storing it up in the city. He kept “piling up grain in very great quantity, like the sand of the sea, until finally they gave up counting it, because it was without number.”—Genesis 41:46-49.
-
-
Preserving Life in Time of FamineThe Watchtower—1987 | May 1
-
-
4. How does the provision made by the “slave” class today correspond with what was organized in Joseph’s day?
4 The faithful remnant of this “discreet slave” class today go to any Scriptural lengths to see that Jehovah’s dedicated witnesses, as well as interested people out in the world, receive life-sustaining spiritual food. This trust is recognized as a sacred duty and is performed as a sacred service to Jehovah. Moreover, the “slave” has organized congregations and supplied these with Bible literature in such quantity that they have ample Kingdom “seed” for scattering publicly in their assigned fields. This corresponds to Joseph’s day, when he gathered the people into cities and provided them with grain not only for sustenance but also for sowing with a later harvest in view.—Genesis 47:21-25; Mark 4:14, 20; Matthew 28:19, 20.
5. (a) What special attention does the “slave” pay to household needs in time of crisis? (b) How does the “overflow” of spiritual provisions in 1986 compare with supplies back in Joseph’s time?
5 Even when the public preaching work is under ban and Jehovah’s Witnesses are persecuted, the ‘faithful slave’ views this providing of spiritual food as a sacred trust. (Acts 5:29, 41, 42; 14:19-22) When disaster strikes, such as by storms, floods, and earthquakes, the “slave” sees to it that both the physical and the spiritual needs of God’s household are supplied. Even those in concentration camps have been reached regularly with the printed word. National boundaries are not permitted to stop the flow of spiritual food to those needing it. Keeping up the supply requires courage, faith in Jehovah, and often considerable ingenuity. Worldwide during 1986 alone, the “slave” produced an overflow of 43,958,303 Bibles and hardcovered books, as well as 550,216,455 magazines—truly a “very great quantity, like the sand of the sea.”
-