Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
Genesis 45:19-20
Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
In the Book of Genesis, Joseph, who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, eventually rose to become overseer of Pharaoh’s house and second in authority throughout Egypt only to Pharaoh. When famine caused his father Jacob (Israel) to send his sons to Egypt for food, Joseph eventually invited the entire family to come live in Egypt.
Pharaoh himself repeated the invitation and provided wagons and provisions to assist with the move. The two verses above are from Pharaoh’s proclamation. Verse 20, “regard not your stuff,” is my new favorite scripture.
Materialism
Materialism – A tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
Oxford Languages
Giving too much regard to your “stuff” is an extremely tempting false religion known as “Materialism.” Jesus warned His followers against it.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Matthew 6:19-21
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Luke 16:13
The material vs. the spiritual
Do members of the modern Church of Jesus Christ tend to put “material possessions and physical comfort” ahead of “spiritual values?” Of course we do. Everyone does. It is a natural human tendency.
The very trial of this life is to see if we can learn to value the spiritual side of life more than the physical side. For most of us it is a daily trial. It is difficult because material possessions and physical comfort actually are important. The great challenge in life is to find the proper balance between our physical lives and our spiritual lives.
Pharaoh’s promise to Israel
Why did Pharaoh tell Joseph’s family to leave their stuff behind when moving to Egypt? It was because he was going to freely give them everything they might possibly need — “the good of all the land of Egypt.”
Egypt would not be in its position of having plentiful stores to see them through seven years of famine if it were not for Joseph. Pharaoh was grateful to Joseph and more than willing to take care of Joseph’s family. He even gave the children of Israel the land of Goshen, which was “the best of the land” in Egypt. (Genesis 47:6).
God’s promise to us
How does the advice to “regard not your stuff” apply to us, as members of the restored church of Jesus Christ, today?
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Romans 8:16-17
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
God intends to make worthy members of the church “joint-heirs” with Christ. This means he wants us, His children, through the atonement of Christ, to become like Him and inherit all that He has.
Given the promise of that potential blessing, surely we can learn in this life to pay less “regard” to mere “stuff”? Besides, we know that no matter what material goods we may accumulate in this life, we cannot take them with us into the next life.
The only truly rational course of action in this world is to accumulate no more than we need, and spend the major part of our time and energy teaching and enjoying our families, helping others, growing spiritually, and building the Kingdom of God.
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Matthew 6:31-33
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Well said.
And here I always thought “stuff” was a modern slang.
This post brought this quote to my mind…
“The worst fear that I have about [members of this Church] is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches” (quoted in Preston Nibley, Brigham Young: The Man and His Work [1936], 128)