“Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-Sheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father, Isaac.” Gen. 46:1. In v.2-4, Israel gets a vision in the night from God or a ‘D.M.I.’ for those who prefer, ‘DMI’s. God is going to make a great nation out of his 70 and he is going to die there. First, let’s go back to Gen. 43:14 for a moment, “May God Almighty give you mercy before the man.” El Shaddai, The All Sufficient One, The One Who Sustains, Satisfys, Enriches, and makes Fruitful! Also the One who chastens His people to make them more fruitful, John 15:2, Ruth 1:20; Heb. 12:10. This is Israel’s God, El Shaddai, The Almighty One, “May He give you mercy before the man.” (Not knowing that Joseph, his son is the man) Joseph is gone, Judah is in prison, and now he has to send Benjamin away. So, he prays a rich blessing on his sons! Do you think he prayed while they were down in Egypt, in Mizraim? Would you have been praying, would you have gotten off your knees?

Now he gets word that not only has Judah been released and Benjamin been returned but ‘JOSEPH’ is alive, Gen. 45:26, and “Israel is Revived!” What a time of rejoicing! So, Israel stops at Beer-Sheba, that’s where Abraham planted a tree in Gen. 21:33 and called on El Olam the Everlasting God. That’s where Abraham and Isaac left from and returned to when they went to Mt. Moriah to offer Isaac as an offering, and that’s where Isaac settled, dug a well and built an altar in Gen. 26. That is also where Jacob/Israel departed from when he ran from Esau in Gen. 28:10; 90 years have passed since he left Beer-Sheba where he stole Esau’s blessing and robbed his birthright. He is leaving a lot of memories as he leaves the ‘Promised Land’ at 130 years old to go to Egypt to grow a nation and die. However, before he leaves the ‘Holy Land’ he builds or rebuilds one more altar and sacrifices one more time to the God of his father Isaac. God gives him a promise in response to to his ‘Sacrifice, Worship and Prayer’ at the altar in Beer-Sheba in Gen. 46:3-4, ‘God tells him not to fear, He will bring him down into Egypt and back again, and make a great nation of him, and he will die there.’ v.4 “Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes.” You die with your eyes open, someone else closes them for you.

Israel is still a man of prayer, ‘A Prince with God,’ and God is still blessing him, God keeps His promises and His Word! This is the last altar and the last word from God in Genesis. It isn’t until 400 years later that God speaks through His servant Moses on the back side of the desert in a Burning bush in Exodus 3. The Jewish people could not build altars in Egypt, or offer animal sacrifices because that was an abomination to the Egyptians, Gen. 46:34; Ex. 8:26, the Egyptians worship the creation not the Creator. Oh, what a precious time that must have been, between God and Israel at that final altar, knowing that it would be over 400 years before it would be repeated again. But Jacob/Israel was still building altars, ‘To the God of The God of Israel – El Elohe-Israel.’ The banks of the Peniel River and the face of God were as real to him then as it was 65 years earlier. What a precious Patriarch or Saint of God Israel became, “Supplanter to Supplicator!” But it took time, many, many years and much heartache. “Oh God, what will it take to make us a prince or princess with You? Thank You for the example of this saint who began as a Supplanter and ended up as a Supplicator. We need a Beer-Sheba every day as we enter our Mizraim’s to work, live, serve and die.”

“Jacob/Israel blessed Pharaoh.” Gen. 47:7, and again in v.10 as he is leaving his presence, he invokes God’s favor upon him and his country, “Jacob/Israel blessed Pharaoh.” Jacob/Israel was very grateful for Joseph and the provision for his family. We can bless the unsaved, but they can’t bless us, from God that is. We have discussed blessings already and how important they really are and how much we and our families miss by neglecting them. In Gen. 47:31, Jacob/Israel makes Joseph swear to him that he will bury him in the Cave of Machpelah with Leah his first wife and Joseph agrees. Then Jacob/Israel bows himself on the head of the bed. King David does this same thing in I Kings 1:47 after Solomon was anointed King. David was old and advanced in years and cold I Kings 1:1, so he could not get out of bed. The same is true here with Jacob/Israel, he is 147 years old v.28-29 “the time drew near that Israel must die.” v.31, “And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.” I don’t believe he was worshiping Joseph, I believe he was doing obeisance to ‘El-Elohe-Israel’ to ‘The God of The god of Israel.’ Remember, the ‘Supplanter became the Supplicator’ even on his death bed, unto his last dying breath, he worshiped, praised, and prayed to the LORD.

What an example in the second half of his life, remember he was 45 when he left Isaac and was with Laban for 20 years before he met God at the Peniel  and 10 more years before he returned to Bethel to build an altar to El Bethel, that is 75 years. He is now 147 years old and they have been in Egypt for 17 years, but here on his death bed he gets Joseph to promise him that he would bury him in the Cave of Machpelah with Leah, Isaac and Rebekah and Abraham and Sarah. In Mamre (fatness) of Hebron (communion) and he worships and prays to his God. May we be faithful to God unto the very end like Israel. From the womb to the tomb, guided by the hand of the LORD. Prov. 16:9, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” Jer. 10:23; Ps. 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.” George Mueller said, “The stops too!” Not only the steps of the LORD but the stops too are ordered, established or ordained by the LORD. That was true in Jacob/Israel’s life and it is true in ours. Are we able to recognize God’s hand directing our lives, our steps, and our stops? Can we like Jacob in our later years, in our last days, bow our heads on our beds and worship Him? Can we do it now? Jacob became a man of prayer, a prince with God, a real prayer warrior, but it cost him dearly! Are you willing to pay the price, to count the cost, to weigh the odds, to walk that close to God? How are your hips? Any limps, lately? Are you ready for your Waterloo, your Peniel experience? Are you ready to meet God face to face, whether in life or in death? May we not only bow ourselves on our beds at 147 but may we bow ourselves in our closets and churches at 14, at 47, at 74! There are over 2,930 characters in the Bible and less than 100 of them made it to the ribbon and the vast majority fell out of the race after the age of 60.  How about you? Paul said, “I fought a good fight, I finished my course, I kept the faith!” How about you? One verse drives me on and I want it on my tombstone John 17:4, “I have finished the work which You gave me to do.” How about you? It’s easy to start a race, anybody can but it takes real guts, courage, moxie, spiritual grit, and intestinal fortitude to finish and to finish strong. Just look over your shoulder, where are they? The ones that started 10-20 years ago what happened to them? Why did they fall out? Is a mere profession all that is necessary? Raise your hand, fill out a card, walk an isle, say a prayer, get wet! What did Peter mean in II Pet. 1:10, “Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” Or Paul in II Cor 13:5, “Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves.” There is a new game on the market today called, ‘Born Again.’  Don’t play it, you can’t win!  “Jesus said, you must be born again!” It’s serious business, so take it seriously, and make sure my friend, make absolutely sure!      “…Between The Lines…”

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis”  ‘Jacob/Israel – ‘Supplanter to Supplicator’  5/4/12