Esau humbles himself after his father Isaac dies and takes all that he has and leaves Canaan, ‘The Promised Land’ for another country because he and Jacob/Israel are too great and have too much to dwell together. Why did he leave graciously, he vowed to kill his brother after his father died in Gen. 27:41? That prayer on the river bank is still working 25 years later. The God of the Peniel River is still as real as the day Jacob met Him. Jehovah is now the God of Jacob, The God of Israel, The Prince with God and Esau becomes Edom. The power of prayer linked with the promises of God are a force and a source of strength and help we know to little of, my friend. Gen. 32:12 says, “For He said,” and v.26 says, “I will not let You go unless You bless me.” In Gen. 28, thirty years earlier at Bethel God promised Jacob this land he was standing in and a multitude of descendants.  God gave him the same promise He gave to Abraham and Isaac, then in Gen. 31:3 God promises him His presence ‘IF’ Jacob will return to the ‘Promised Land.’ Jacob claimed those promises, he held God to His word, and he held onto the God of the Word, Gen. 32:26 until God blessed him again. Oh my friend, to claim the promises of God in prayer and not let go until God blesses us, is the greatest source of strength and help known to mankind. Pray back His promises, hold Him to His word, He is waiting for you to do it, so ‘Do It!’

In Gen. 37:1 it says, “Jacob dwelt in the land where his father (Isaac) was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.” And Joseph was 17 years old, just a teenager, loved more than his brothers, was a snitch, had a coat of many colors, was hated by his ten older brothers, had a dream of sheaves bowing to him, and was hated even more. All that in just five verses, so he is off to a stellar start as a Bible character. Then he had a second dream of the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing down to him and his father rebuked him, his brothers envied him but his father quietly observed the dream. Later Joseph goes on an errand for his father to check up on his brothers and they conspire to kill him but instead they strip him of his coat and throw him in a dry pit, thanks to Reuben. I bet Joseph spent that night in prayer, wouldn’t you? Maybe I should have entitled this, “Prayer in the Pits.” Judah then gets a brain storm when he sees the Ishmaelites approaching, “Let’s sell Joseph and be free of his blood.” So they sell him for 20 pieces of silver to be traded in Egypt and when Reuben returns he is furious. So they devise another plan, dip his coat of many colors in blood and tell Isaac a wild animal killed him.

Can you as a Christian see God’s hand in all this, His providence, His plan maybe in your life? This is a horrible chapter in Joseph’s life but God hasn’t finished writing the whole story yet. I believe at the age of 17 Joseph being the ‘apple of father’s eye’ worshiped and prayed to the God of his father, Jehovah Elohim. It was obvious God was with Joseph because of his dreams, his coat and his blessings from God, but was he able to see God in the pit, in Egypt, in prison? In the last chapter of Genesis Joseph speaking to his brothers said, “You meant it for evil but God meant it for good.” But did he see that in chapters two and three of his life story? Only if he was as close to God in the pit as he was in the field. God has a plan for each and everyone of us and we need to trust Him. In Gen. 37:34 Israel tears his clothes and puts sackcloth on his loins and mourns for Joseph many days because he thought he was dead. This is a form of prayer, mourning (abal) to bewail, lament, grieve, the emotion and attitude of sorrow. It is not stated that he prayed to God but I am sure he did, wouldn’t you? Biblical mourning for the dead involved emotion, usually expressed audibly and visibly. I am sure Jacob asked God 1,000 times, WHY? However, God never told him why and God knew he was still alive, ‘Silence!’ There are some things God just doesn’t choose to tell us. God had a plan, a purpose and He would bring good out of this evil. Twenty years would pass, the sackcloth would get pretty itchy but he would embrace Joseph once again. May we to learn to trust God more when we are in the pit of despair and not just on the pinnacle.

Joseph’s prayer life is never revealed although his sons names in Gen. 41:51-53 mention his families toil and his afflictions. He had a good teacher his father Jacob/Israel. His life was lived in the very presence of God, Gen. 40:8; 41:16, 25, 28, 32, 39; 45:5, 7, 8: 50:20, 24. Gen. 39:9 is a lesson to us all about sin and God’s presence, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Joseph would not do evil because it was to sin against God. He had a close, intimate relationship with the God of his fathers. God’s plan and purpose for his life is revealed in Gen. 50:20, “You meant it for evil but God meant it for good.” The LORD was continually with this servant. He was the first born of Jacob and Rachel, Gen. 30:22; He was loved more than his brothers by his father, Gen. 37:3; God revealed His will to him through dreams, the sheaves, the sun, moon and stars; He was hated by his brothers and sold to Midianite traders, then into Egypt, then thrown into prison and he wouldn’t see his family for 20 years, but all this time the LORD was with Joseph. Gen. 39:2, “And the LORD was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man…” Gen. 39:5, “The LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.” Gen. 39:21, “The LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”  Gen. 39:23, “The LORD was with him and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.” Everything he touched, prospered.

In Gen. 40:8 he gave God the glory for the interpretations of dreams. He knew what his dreams of earlier years meant but I’m sure he wondered why all this was happening to him. In Gen. 41:16, he gives glory to God in response to Pharaoh’s dreams, “God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” In v.25 he says, “God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.” Pharaoh recognizes Joseph as, “A man in whom is the Spirit of God.” Gen. 41:38. Joseph marries the daughter of the priest of On, Asenath and has two sons; Manasseh, “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.” v. 51. And Ephraim, “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” v. 52. Joseph is always careful to give God the glory even in naming his children. Deut. 4:24 says, “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God!” If I have learned one thing in walking with God since 1972, it is that God shares His glory with no one!

Joseph knew this was the ticket to spiritual blessings from God. He also had a reverential trust in and fear of God since childhood, instilled in him by his father. Gen. 42:18. In Gen. 42:6 we see the fulfillment of his first dream of the sheaves bowing down to him in Gen. 37:7. Why did he bind Simeon and imprison him, was it his idea to throw him in the pit and kill him 20 years ealier? In Gen. 43:29 he blesses Benjamin his brother, but in Gen. 45:4-9 he reveals to his brothers his true identity, “I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt…God did send me before you to preserve life.” The spiritual perception of the sovereignty and providence of God by Joseph is unbelievable! Joseph walked with God from childhood and always gave God the glory! He realized sin was against God. The LORD was always with Joseph and blessing him, and even the pagans observed the Spirit of God working in him. He feared and recognized God in all things. He even named his children after God’s faithfulness. Nothing evil is recorded about him. He closes his father’s eyes and his own bones are carried out of Egypt, Ex. 13:19. However, nothing is recorded about his prayer life, nothing! A man who walked this close to God and gave God all the glory and trusted Him completely had to be a man of prayer. The silence of his prayer life speaks louder than his life! Maybe we talk too much about our spiritual lives and walk too little. Maybe we should walk more and talk less! “Your walk talks and your talk talks but your walk talks louder than your talk talks!”  ‘The Silent Prayer”  “…Between The Lines…”

“Abba, Father, may we learn from Joseph to trust You and glorify You in everything. Let the silence of our chambers and closets speak volumes. May everyone know, Christian and pagan alike that we have been with Jesus. May they see His image in our lives and smell His aroma in our presence. In His name we pray. Amen!”

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis”  ‘Joseph the Dream Catcher’