“Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 105:16 Mean?
The psalmist describes God's sovereignty over famine: "Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread." God didn't just allow the famine. He called it — summoned it by name, commanded its arrival, directed its approach. The famine responds to God's voice the way a servant responds to a master's summons.
The word "called" (qara — to summon, to invite, to cry out to) treats famine as an agent under God's command. The famine doesn't arrive randomly. It's dispatched. God calls and the famine comes. The devastating shortage of food is a divinely directed event, not a climate accident.
The "staff of bread" (matteh-lechem — the support/rod of bread) is the foundational food supply — bread as the staff you lean on for daily survival. Breaking the staff of bread means removing the basic support: the bread that holds everything up is snapped. The sustenance that keeps people alive is deliberately eliminated by the God who usually provides it.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does God 'calling' for a famine (summoning it intentionally) change your view of shortage?
- 2.What does the 'staff of bread' (basic sustenance as the support you lean on) being broken reveal about divine sovereignty over provision?
- 3.How does the Joseph context (famine drives the family toward pre-positioned provision) reframe the purpose of your famine?
- 4.What shortage in your life might be God directing your steps toward provision he's already prepared?
Devotional
God called for a famine. The way you call a dog. The way you summon a servant. God spoke and the famine came — because famine answers to God's voice the same way everything else does.
The 'calling' is the theological earthquake: famine isn't random. It's summoned. God doesn't just permit shortage. He commands it. The same voice that said 'let there be light' says 'let there be famine.' The creative voice and the destructive voice belong to the same speaker. The God who fills also empties. By the same authority. Using the same mechanism: speech.
The breaking of the staff of bread is the most visceral image: bread is the staff — the walking stick, the support, the thing you lean on to keep moving. Breaking the staff means the support collapses. You can't lean on what's broken. The daily bread that kept you upright is snapped by the God who usually provides it. The hand that feeds withdraws the food.
The context is the Joseph narrative: the famine God called is the famine that drives Jacob's family to Egypt, where Joseph is already positioned to save them (verses 17-22). The famine isn't purposeless cruelty. It's strategic positioning. God calls the famine to move the family to the place where the provision has been pre-positioned. The breaking of the staff drives the people toward the person who has bread.
This reframes every famine you've experienced: the shortage might be a summons. The lack that's breaking your staff might be directing your steps toward provision you can't see from where you're standing. God called the famine that brought Jacob to Joseph. The famine you're in might be God calling you toward something he's already prepared.
What famine in your life might be a divine summons rather than a random shortage?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land,.... On the land of Egypt; or rather on the land of Canaan, where Jacob…
Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land - It was not by chance; not by the mere operation of physical laws, but…
We are here taught, in praising God, to look a great way back, and to give him the glory of what he did for his church…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture