Email circulating purports to be a sermon given by a pastor at a predominantly black church in Virginia equating events in Egypt 4,000 years ago with the policies or intentions of Barack Obama.

THE DETAILS:

This email is a excellent opportunity to explore a suspect email and explain how it can be debunked even if you can't find the the email on Snopes.com or TruthorFiction.com. The email in its entirety is below if you wish to read it first.

Obvious Points: The email provides an introduction to the “sermon” that is four sentences long and sets the stage for the sermon. We are told that the sermon was given by “the Pastor of this predominantly black church in Virginia.” We are told this to “prove” two things: 1) Black churches are preaching against a black president, which attempts to provide cover for the author of the email against claims of “racism,” and 2) The supposed church is located in Virginia which is a) in the Bible Belt, b) close to Washington, and c) in the South. However, we are never given the name of the pastor nor the name of the church. In fact, the only person we are actually introduced to is “Brother Ray” who does the reading of the bible from Genesis 47:13-27 (more on the bible passage in a moment!)

One personal note here: I attend a United Methodist Church and though our pastor regularly preaches 3-point sermons, even he doesn't preach sermons as short as this one! Including the introduction, the total sermon is just over 800 words. At the average adult reading speed of 200wpm, you should be able to read the whole sermon in around 4 minutes. Add in some dramatic pauses and an “Amen” or two (assuming you go to a vocal church), and this sermon would last approximately 8 minutes from start to finish. In my entire life, I've never attended a church service white or black, Protestant or Catholic where once the pastor got butts in the seats, he would ever let them go in 8 minutes or less!

Back to the bible passage – The sermon is presented as quoted directly from the bible passage: Genesis 47:13-27. Unlike the email which didn't include the passage on purpose, here's the full text from the King James Version:  

 ¹³And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

 ¹⁴And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

 ¹⁵And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.

 ¹⁶And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.

 ¹⁷And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

 ¹⁸When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

 ¹⁹Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

 ²⁰And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.

 ²¹And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

 ²²Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

 ²³Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

 ²⁴And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.

 ²⁵And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.

 ²⁶And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.

 ²⁷And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. (Genesis 47:13-27, King James Version)

The email tells us that the people of Egypt were starving due to a famine, and so the people brought all their production from the fields and gave it to Pharaoh and he “nationalized the grain harvest” and then sold the grain back to the people until their money was gone. Then they gave over their livestock in barter for grain and then they gave over their land and their bodies into slavery for grain. The problem with this email is what it leaves out of the story. The people were starving, and they did give themselves up into slavery for food, but they didn't give themselves up to Pharaoh directly, they gave themselves up to…wait for it….Joseph! The passage is as much about Joseph's ability to succeed in bad times and to save lives as it is about the people giving themselves up into bondage or mortgage or slavery. Granted Joseph was working for Pharaoh, but it seems glaring to me that the email would ignore this critical portion of the story.

There is one other point that is an obvious thing that just wouldn't happen. There is a statement about Israel settling in Egypt and gaining in wealth and possessions. The problem with this is that Israel in this case refers to Jacob, Joseph's father, who had come to Egypt to avoid the famine in Caanan and Joseph was able to take care of him because of the favor Joseph had found with the Pharaoh. The Scripture wasn't referring to Israel the Country, it was referring to Israel the Man (Jacob)! This passage of Scripture is actually bookended with the full story of Jacob coming to Egypt, dying in Egypt and then Joseph taking Jacob back to Caanan to be buried and Joseph coming home to Egypt. In multiple places in these 4 or 5 chapters, the names Jacob and Israel are used interchangeably. No preacher would miss this fact in their sermon.

The email even goes further stating that Mr. Obama is a “Messiah” and quotes the Egyptian people telling “Pharaoh” that he had saved their lives, when in fact, after reading the Scripture, that statement was made to Joseph not Pharaoh. And the most difficult thing of all is how could this be ignored by any reader of the Bible passage? It is a blatant mis-quoting of Scripture and an it would seem that the effort is to change the story just so the writer can compare Obama directly with Pharaoh, one ruler to another. It is hard to imagine a Pastor of any experience level committing the sin of adding to or taking away from the Word of God in such a way.

THE VERDICT:

Based upon the fact that the email is missing key information such as the name of the pastor or the name of the church where the sermon was preached and the fact that the Scripture is twisted even slightly to make the story fit today's situation makes this email very suspect. There is an argument that the ends justify the means, but twisting or changing Biblical scripture to fit a political message is not only bad for credibility, it is also dangerous. Therefore, in spite of the good intentions of this email, we have to assume that it is an Urban Legend and we suggest you delete it and do not forward it.

THE SAMPLE:

RECENT VIRGINIA CHURCH SERVICE -STIMULUS SERMON  Gen 47:13-27

Good morning, brothers and sisters; it's always a delight to see the pews crowded on Sunday morning, and so eager to get into God's Word.  Turn with me in your Bibles, if you will to the 47th chapter of Genesis, we'll begin our reading at verse 13, and go through verse 27.

Brother Ray, would you stand and read that great passage for us?

….(reading)….

Thank you for that fine reading, Brother Ray….  So we see that economic hard times fell upon Egypt , and the people turned to the government of Pharaoh to deal with this for them.  And Pharaoh nationalized the grain harvest, and placed the grain in great storehouses that he had built.  So the people brought their money to Pharaoh, like a great tax increase, and gave it all to him willingly in return for grain.  And this went on until their money ran out, and they were hungry again.

So when they went to Pharaoh after that, they brought their livestock -their cattle, their horses, their sheep, and their donkey – to barter for grain, and verse 17 says that only took them through the end of that year..

But the famine wasn't over, was it? 

So the next year, the people came before Pharaoh and admitted they had nothing left, except their land and their own lives.  “There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land.  Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land?  Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh.”  So they surrendered their homes, their land, and their real estate to Pharaoh's government, and then sold themselves into slavery to him, in return for grain.  What can we learn from this, brothers and sisters?

That turning to the government instead of to God to be our provider in hard times only leads to slavery?   Yes.  That the only reason government wants to be our provider is to also become our master?  Yes.

But look how that passage ends, brothers and sisters!   Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt , in the land of Goshen .  And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.”  God provided for His people, just as always has!  They didn't end up giving all their possessions to government, no, it says they gained possessions!

But I also tell you a great truth today, and an ominous one.  We see the same thing happening today – the government today wants to “share the wealth “once again, to take it from us and redistribute it back to us.  It wants to take control of healthcare, just as it has taken control of education, and ration it back to us, and when government rations it, then government decides who gets it, and how much, and what kind.  And if we go along with it, and do it willingly, then we will wind up no differently than the people of Egypt did four thousand years ago – as slaves to the government, and as slaves to our leaders.

What Mr. Obama's government is doing now is no different from what Pharaoh's government did then, and it will end the same.  And a lot of people like to call Mr. Obama a “Messiah,” don't they?  Is he a Messiah? A savior? Didn't the

Egyptians say, after Pharaoh made them his slaves, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be  servants to Pharaoh”?

Well, I tell you this – I know the Messiah; the Messiah is a friend of mine; and Mr. Obama is no Messiah!  No, brothers and sisters, if Mr. Obama is a character from the Bible, then he is Pharaoh.

Bow with me in prayer, if you will.

Lord, You alone are worthy to be served, and we rely on You, and You alone.  We confess that the government is not our deliverer, and never rightly will be.  We read in the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, when Samuel warned the people of what a ruler would do, where it says “And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”  And Lord, we acknowledge that day has come.  We cry out to you because of the ruler that we have chosen for ourselves as a nation.

 Lord, we pray for this nation.  We pray for revival, and we pray for deliverance from those who would be our masters.  Give us hearts to seek You and hands to serve You, and protect Your people from the atrocities of Pharaoh's government. 

In God We Trust…