Genesis – First, God
We all have “senior moments” when we forget details or nuggets of wisdom that may solve our current issues if only we remembered what it was at the right time. The cupbearer in our story went back to life as it was and forgot a very important request of Joseph. Mm, we all do it.
The real truth is this kind of forgetfulness is not reserved for seniors above 60 years of age. In our busy world, our work can take over every part of our being. Sometimes we work to merely finish the day’s tasks. We look in awe for the “Fridays” of life when we can stop the routines. This causes us to slip into survival mode as opposed to thriving and dreaming of doing life in ways that rise above mediocrity. Life can evolve into a slippery slope of routine that leads nowhere. We imprison ourselves with this form of thinking.
We slip into routines that make our days look like all the other days. We wonder why we can’t get ahead of the “game” of life. We look forward to better days when today might be the best day of our lives. We wish away a lot of days in our lives waiting and dreaming for days of vacation, a family event or anything that will be better than mere survival of this day.
Wait! Oh, I remember…This is not what God wants from us and for us! He has a plan, a will, a purpose for us that will knock our socks off when we listen expectantly for His will to be done in our lives. In the meantime, in the wait, we trust, we work hard to please Him, and we humbly allow Him to work on us as He develops His character in us. We live life with wonder of how great God is and what He will do next to reveal Himself to us. Each day is new with God the Creator of all days. We look forward with anticipation and expectancy, full of hope, knowing He is in control. Joseph is living day to day, making the most of his days, knowing God is with Him. God is blessing Joseph right where he has him. Everyone who connects with Joseph knows something is different about him. They can trusts him. They come to him for wisdom. They come to him because he knows God and it shows in his life.
HOLY PAUSE
Do our lives show that we know God intimately?
Does our behavior and work habits show that we love God and love to please Him in our work?
Do we follow God with expectation that He will lead us to what is best for us?
Are we confident, no matter what is happening around us, that it is God who is at work in our lives?
Genesis 41, The Message
1-4 Two years passed and Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile River. Seven cows came up out of the Nile, all shimmering with health, and grazed on the marsh grass. Then seven other cows, all skin and bones, came up out of the river after them and stood by them on the bank of the Nile. The skinny cows ate the seven healthy cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.5-7 He went back to sleep and dreamed a second time: Seven ears of grain, full-bodied and lush, grew out of a single stalk. Then seven more ears grew up, but these were thin and dried out by the east wind. The thin ears swallowed up the full, healthy ears. Then Pharaoh woke up—another dream.
8 When morning came, he was upset. He sent for all the magicians and sages of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but they couldn’t interpret them to him.
9-13 The head cupbearer then spoke up and said to Pharaoh, “I just now remembered something—I’m sorry, I should have told you this long ago. Once when Pharaoh got angry with his servants, he locked me and the head baker in the house of the captain of the guard. We both had dreams on the same night, each dream with its own meaning. It so happened that there was a young Hebrew slave there with us; he belonged to the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us, each dream separately. Things turned out just as he interpreted. I was returned to my position and the head baker was impaled.”
14 Pharaoh at once sent for Joseph. They brought him on the run from the jail cell. He cut his hair, put on clean clothes, and came to Pharaoh.15 “I dreamed a dream,” Pharaoh told Joseph. “Nobody can interpret it. But I’ve heard that just by hearing a dream you can interpret it.”
16 Joseph answered, “Not I, but God. God will set Pharaoh’s mind at ease.”
17-21 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile. Seven cows, shimmering with health, came up out of the river and grazed on the marsh grass. On their heels seven more cows, all skin and bones, came up. I’ve never seen uglier cows anywhere in Egypt. Then the seven skinny, ugly cows ate up the first seven healthy cows. But you couldn’t tell by looking—after eating them up they were just as skinny and ugly as before. Then I woke up.22-24 “In my second dream I saw seven ears of grain, full-bodied and lush, growing out of a single stalk, and right behind them, seven other ears, shriveled, thin, and dried out by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the full ears. I’ve told all this to the magicians but they can’t figure it out.”
25-27 Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s two dreams both mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh what he is going to do. The seven healthy cows are seven years and the seven healthy ears of grain are seven years—they’re the same dream. The seven sick and ugly cows that followed them up are seven years and the seven scrawny ears of grain dried out by the east wind are the same—seven years of famine.28-32 “The meaning is what I said earlier: God is letting Pharaoh in on what he is going to do. Seven years of plenty are on their way throughout Egypt. But on their heels will come seven years of famine, leaving no trace of the Egyptian plenty. As the country is emptied by famine, there won’t be even a scrap left of the previous plenty—the famine will be total. The fact that Pharaoh dreamed the same dream twice emphasizes God’s determination to do this and do it soon.
33-36 “So, Pharaoh needs to look for a wise and experienced man and put him in charge of the country. Then Pharaoh needs to appoint managers throughout the country of Egypt to organize it during the years of plenty. Their job will be to collect all the food produced in the good years ahead and stockpile the grain under Pharaoh’s authority, storing it in the towns for food. This grain will be held back to be used later during the seven years of famine that are coming on Egypt. This way the country won’t be devastated by the famine.”37 This seemed like a good idea to Pharaoh and his officials.
38 Then Pharaoh said to his officials, “Isn’t this the man we need? Are we going to find anyone else who has God’s spirit in him like this?”
39-40 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “You’re the man for us. God has given you the inside story—no one is as qualified as you in experience and wisdom. From now on, you’re in charge of my affairs; all my people will report to you. Only as king will I be over you.”
41-43 So Pharaoh commissioned Joseph: “I’m putting you in charge of the entire country of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his finger and slipped it on Joseph’s hand. He outfitted him in robes of the best linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He put the second-in-command chariot at his disposal, and as he rode people shouted “Bravo!”
Joseph was in charge of the entire country of Egypt.44 Pharaoh told Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but no one in Egypt will make a single move without your stamp of approval.”
45 Then Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah (God Speaks and He Lives). He also gave him an Egyptian wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On (Heliopolis).
And Joseph took up his duties over the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he went to work for Pharaoh the king of Egypt. As soon as Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he began his work in Egypt.
47-49 During the next seven years of plenty the land produced bumper crops. Joseph gathered up the food of the seven good years in Egypt and stored the food in cities. In each city he stockpiled surplus from the surrounding fields. Joseph collected so much grain—it was like the sand of the ocean!—that he finally quit keeping track.50-52 Joseph had two sons born to him before the years of famine came. Asenath, daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, was their mother. Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh (Forget), saying, “God made me forget all my hardships and my parental home.” He named his second son Ephraim (Double Prosperity), saying, “God has prospered me in the land of my sorrow.”
53-54 Then Egypt’s seven good years came to an end and the seven years of famine arrived, just as Joseph had said. All countries experienced famine; Egypt was the only country that had bread.
55 When the famine spread throughout Egypt, the people called out in distress to Pharaoh, calling for bread. He told the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you.”
56-57 As the famine got worse all over the country, Joseph opened the store-houses and sold emergency supplies to the Egyptians. The famine was very bad. Soon the whole world was coming to buy supplies from Joseph. The famine was bad all over.
WHAT WE LEARN and need to remember to forget!
There are some things we need to forget and God reveals that to us through Joseph’s life. Joseph named his first born son, “Manasseh (Forget), saying, God made me forget all my hardships and my parental home.” This gift of “forgetfulness” of all his stepbrothers did to him earlier in his life was given to Him by God. This intimacy Joseph has with God can be ours, too.When we have been treated unjustly or abused significantly by others, God give us the power to forgive as modeled by Christ on the cross. He has also commanded, not suggested, that we forgive others no matter what they have done to us in order to be forgiven of our own sins. (“We all sin and fall short of the glory of God”…Romans 3:23)
God’s gift of “forgetfulness” means we have no thoughts of revenge and no going back to the scene of the crime to dwell on it or replay it in our minds. It means no holding grudges against each other. This gift comes as a result of our complete forgiveness of others. This gift has a by product called peace…the peace only Christ can give, the peace of Christ who lives in a forgiven and forgiving heart.
We will see this act of forgiveness and “forgetfulness” played out when Joseph’s brothers come for food in the famine years.
The story of God in Joseph is not over. There is more to learn!
Our story of what God is doing in us is not over!
Dear Heavenly Father,
This story of You in Joseph always brings me back to the peace we all desire and reminds me once more to completely forgive others like you forgive me. Thank you for causing “forgetfulness” in my own life so I could move on with you in peace with no grudge holding and learning from my mistakes. Thank you for forgiving me and forgetting all my sin! I love you with all that is in me.
In Jesus Name, Amen
“They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven,
with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean”.
Hebrews 8:10, The Message
As believers we can sometimes feel we are working “underground” for God and with God. Sometimes we wonder why God put us where He has us. We are told we cannot speak of God in our schools or in the workplace, but that does not mean we cannot be who God wants us to be in this world. 
In the wait, underground, as we allow God to teach us and build His character traits in us, people notice. They know we are being blessed by a God who is with us, leading and guiding us. When thing happen to us, we react differently because of what God is doing in us and through us. So when life challenges them, they come to us. That is the best time in the world to TELL them about God and His Son sent to save the world.
4-7 After they had been in custody for a while, the king’s cupbearer and baker, while being held in the jail, both had a dream on the same night, each dream having its own meaning. When Joseph arrived in the morning, he noticed that they were feeling low. So he asked them, the two officials of Pharaoh who had been thrown into jail with him, “What’s wrong? Why the long faces?”
16-17 When the head baker saw how well Joseph’s interpretation turned out, he spoke up: “My dream went like this: I saw three wicker baskets on my head; the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head.”
20-22 And sure enough, on the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday and he threw a feast for all his servants. He set the head cupbearer and the head baker in places of honor in the presence of all the guests. Then he restored the head cupbearer to his cupbearing post; he handed Pharaoh his cup just as before. And then he impaled the head baker on a post, following Joseph’s interpretations exactly.
It is God who makes a difference in us. As we let God do in us what He does best, we surprise ourselves at the growth and maturity when life challenges us and we react differently today than we did years earlier in our lives. 
After Joseph had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh’s officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.
6-7 Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. As time went on, his master’s wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, “Sleep with me.”
16-18 She kept his coat right there until his master came home. She told him the same story. She said, “The Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, came after me and tried to use me for his plaything. When I yelled and screamed, he left his coat with me and ran outside.”
The Egypt in which Joseph found himself was primarily a land of small villages inhabited by peasants who worked the land and raised grain and vegetables. Thanks to their system of irrigation, the annual flooding of the Nile River supplied ample water for both the crops and the cattle. 
When Joseph was at home in Hebron, his brothers considered him to be a troublemaker, but in Egypt, he was a source of blessing because God was with him. God promised Abraham that his descendants would bring blessing to other nations (12:1-3), and Joseph fulfilled that promise in Egypt.
OVERCOMING TEMPTATION
SELF CONTROL
The prison would be a school where Joseph would learn to wait on the Lord until it was His time to vindicate him and fulfill his dreams. Joseph had time to think and pray and to ponder the meaning of the two dreams God had sent him. He would learn that God’s delays are not God’s denials.
HOLY PAUSE
The Bible is silent as to Tamar’s genealogy. All we know is that she was a Canaanite as her heathen name suggests, and that when widowed the second time, she returned to her father’s home, but who he was and where he lived we are not told. What we do know is that when she married into the family of Judah, heartache and tragedy were her lot.
1-5 About that time, Judah separated from his brothers and hooked up with a man in Adullam named Hirah. While there, Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua. He married her, they went to bed, she became pregnant and had a son named Er. She got pregnant again and had a son named Onan. She had still another son; she named this one Shelah. They were living at Kezib when she had him.
13-14 Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law has gone to Timnah to shear his sheep.” She took off her widow’s clothes, put on a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the road to Timnah. She realized by now that even though Shelah was grown up, she wasn’t going to be married to him.
25 As they brought her out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, “I’m pregnant by the man who owns these things. Identify them, please. Who’s the owner of the seal-and-cord and the staff?”
Learning that Tamar had been playing the harlot, he commanded, “Bring her forth and let her be burnt.” But when he learned that he was the cause of her guilt, Judah was compelled to vindicate Tamar and was forced to admit that she had been more righteous. Judah was motivated in his despicable conduct by sensual lust alone, but Tamar by nobler motives, namely, to become the mother of Judah’s tribal representative. 
Judah was a Jew; Tamar, a Gentile, and thus their parentage of Pharez (Matthew 1:3) can be looked upon as a foreshadowing of the fact that both Jews and Gentiles were to share in the blessings of the Gospel.
So, it comes to this: there is nothing that you have done that God has not seen OR that will keep you from coming to him with a seeking sincere heart that longs for Him. When you turn around and set your face toward Him, He will RUN to meet you, forgive you and restore you to Himself. 
No one likes a tattletale. No one. We don’t like it in the work place, at home, on the playground, and especially in our family. It seems the younger kid in the family uses tattling to gain recognition and power withing the family dynamics. On the playground the tattler is usually the kid pushed away because he/she isn’t worthy of playing their game for some unknown reason. In the workplace the tattler is the one who is manipulating the boss for advancement by putting others down, jealous of the success coworkers are having. 
A boss, parent, teacher and others who show favoritism to a child/coworker/sibling/church attender develops this human into a hated snitch. Jealousy of the favored flourishes and grows rapidly like a cancer. A wise parent, boss, or teacher does not foster tattling in others. Instead they stay on top of the behaviors of others by being present and involved, not relying on the words of the tattler to give you updates or “situational reports”.
3-4 Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn’t even speak to him.
8 His brothers said, “So! You’re going to rule us? You’re going to boss us around?” And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.
18-20 They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him. The brothers were saying, “Here comes that dreamer. Let’s kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We’ll see what his dreams amount to.”
25-27 Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt. Judah said, “Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence? Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not kill him—he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
29-30 Later Reuben came back and went to the cistern—no Joseph! He ripped his clothes in despair. Beside himself, he went to his brothers. “The boy’s gone! What am I going to do!”
33 He recognized it at once. “My son’s coat—a wild animal has eaten him. Joseph torn limb from limb!”
This is a fascinating story involving a doting father, a pampered son, some jealous brothers, a conniving wife, and an international food crisis. It is the story that novels and plays are built upon. But it is so much more. When we go deeper, we will discover a story abounding with profound theological implications. The hand of God is evident in every scene, ruling and overruling the decisions people make, and in the end, God builds a hero, saves a family, and creates a nation that will bring blessing to the whole world. 
As Christian believers, there’s another level to the story, for Joseph is one of the richest illustrations of Jesus Christ found in the Old Testament. Joseph is like Jesus in that he was beloved by his father and obedient to his will; hated and rejected by his own brethren and sold as a slave; falsely accused and unjustly punished; finally elevated from the place of suffering to a powerful throne, thus saving his people from death. The major difference, of course, is that Joseph, human, was only reported to be dead, while Jesus Christ, Son of God, did give His life on the cross and was raised from the dead in order to save us.
HOLY PAUSE
Jacob’s brother Esau now has the limelight in our continuation of the family saga. Esau and Jacob have come together to bury their father, Isaac. Because Esau and Jacob are both blessed by God in family, livestock and wealth there is not room to grow, much less sustain life for all they have acquired. One of them has to leave the area so Esau does just that.
One stays as directed by God. The other brother gathers all he has and heads for the hills of Seir, a considerable distance away.
This is the family tree of Esau, who is also called Edom.
20-21 This is the family tree of Seir the Horite, who were native to that land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chieftains of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.
31-39 And these are the kings who ruled in Edom before there was a king in Israel: Bela son of Beor was the king of Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah. When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah became the next king. When Jobab died, he was followed by Hushan from the land of the Temanites. When Hushan died, he was followed by Hadad son of Bedad; he was the king who defeated the Midianites in Moab; the name of his city was Avith. When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah became the next king. When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth-on-the-River became king. When Shaul died, he was followed by Baal-Hanan son of Acbor. When Baal-Hanan son of Acbor died, Hadad became king; the name of his city was Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-Zahab.
There’s quite a contrast between the record of Jacob’s family in 35:23-26, listing four wives and twelve sons, and the long list of people who belonged to Esau, recorded in this chapter.
Twin brothers. One believes and follows God. One does not.
I’m going to take us back in time to the 1950’s and give you a glimpse of life in Oklahoma City with my family. I was a little girl with long dark hair who loved being outside playing ball, tag, red rover, and riding my bike with the kids, mostly boys, in the neighborhood. We loved building tents over the clothes line. In our make believe world the garage became a general store, a school house with a blackboard, (I was the teacher, imagine that!), or a jail for robbers. We took turns being the robbers and the sheriffs. Our bikes were horses with reins of ropes tied to the handle bars. Risky? Yea, but you don’t think about that when you are a kid. 
Saturday night meant getting prepared for church. While dad was preparing his Sunday School lesson, mom made us take our thoroughly cleansing Saturday night baths. Every hair on our heads were scrubbed until they squeaked. While my brother soaked, my hair was then put into curlers. I did not like this part. Being the perfectionist, mom made sure every hair on my head was tightly woven inside those torturous curling cylinders. I sat on the floor watching Gunsmoke while mom preformed this Saturday night ritual.
Jacob, in his delayed disobedience, is now told by God to “Go back to Bethel.” Why? Because that is where God revealed Himself to Jacob in his flight from Esau. “Return to worship Me”, God seems to be telling Jacob. Return to Me. Return to Who loves you most. Get rid of everything else that keeps you from Me. 
4-5 They turned over to Jacob all the alien gods they’d been holding on to, along with their lucky-charm earrings. Jacob buried them under the oak tree in Shechem. Then they set out. A paralyzing fear descended on all the surrounding villages so that they were unable to pursue the sons of Jacob.
11-12 God continued,
18 With her last breath, for she was now dying, she named him Ben-oni (Son-of-My-Pain), but his father named him Ben-jamin (Son-of-Good-Fortune).
The sons by Leah:
The good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to stay the way we are. No matter how many times we’ve failed the Lord, we can go home again if we truly repent and obey. It happened to Abraham (13:1-4), Isaac (26:17), David (2 Sam. 12), Jonah (Jonah 3:1-3), and Peter (John 21:15-19), and now it’s happening to Jacob.
It’s refreshing to see Jacob take command of the situation and boldly bear witness to what God said to him and what God did for him. These instructions applied not only to Jacob’s wives and children but also to the servants he had employed in Padan Aram. 
God had promised to bring Jacob safely back to Bethel (28:15), and He kept His promise, as He always does (Josh. 21:45; 23:14; 1 Kings 8:56). Jacob kept his part of the agreement by building an altar and leading his household in worshiping the Lord. 
Let us get up, clean up and go the the house of God! 
1-4 One day Dinah, the daughter Leah had given Jacob, went to visit some of the women in that country. Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite who was chieftain there, saw her and raped her. Then he felt a strong attraction to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, fell in love with her, and wooed her. Shechem went to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl for my wife.”
8-10 Hamor spoke with Jacob and his sons, “My son Shechem is head over heels in love with your daughter—give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us. Give your daughters to us and we’ll give our daughters to you. Live together with us as one family. Settle down among us and make yourselves at home. Prosper among us.”
11-12 Shechem then spoke for himself, addressing Dinah’s father and brothers: “Please, say yes. I’ll pay anything. Set the bridal price as high as you will—the sky’s the limit! Only give me this girl for my wife.”
13-17 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father with cunning. Their sister, after all, had been raped. They said, “This is impossible. We could never give our sister to a man who was uncircumcised. Why, we’d be disgraced. The only condition on which we can talk business is if all your men become circumcised like us. Then we will freely exchange daughters in marriage and make ourselves at home among you and become one big, happy family. But if this is not an acceptable condition, we will take our sister and leave.”
20-23 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the public square and spoke to the town council: “These men like us; they are our friends. Let them settle down here and make themselves at home; there’s plenty of room in the country for them. And, just think, we can even exchange our daughters in marriage. But these men will only accept our invitation to live with us and become one big family on one condition, that all our males become circumcised just as they themselves are. This is a very good deal for us—these people are very wealthy with great herds of livestock and we’re going to get our hands on it. So let’s do what they ask and have them settle down with us.”
25-29 Three days after the circumcision, while all the men were still very sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each with his sword in hand, walked into the city as if they owned the place and murdered every man there. They also killed Hamor and his son Shechem, rescued Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. When the rest of Jacob’s sons came on the scene of slaughter, they looted the entire city in retaliation for Dinah’s rape. Flocks, herds, donkeys, belongings—everything, whether in the city or the fields—they took. And then they took all the wives and children captive and ransacked their homes for anything valuable.
But his actions and words bore witness only to the fact that God’s people and the people of Canaan had different standards of conduct. To the Jews, sexual activity that violated the law of God brought defilement to the victim and judgment to the guilty party. In later years, the Mosaic law with its penalties sought to protect people by declaring sexual misconduct both a sin and a crime (Deut. 22:23-29). The silence of Jacob when he heard the tragic news (Gen. 34:5) showed neither indifference nor cowardice on his part. Since his sons were in the field with the sheep and cattle and he could do nothing without their help, he was wise to wait.
It was an evil thing to do, and when Jacob heard about it, he was both angry and frightened. But during his lifetime, since he had done his share of scheming and fooled his father, he couldn’t rebuke his sons without incriminating himself.
By their deception and ruthless destruction, they ruined Jacob’s testimony before the people of the land. What good was it for Jacob to build an altar and worship the true God before his pagan neighbors if his children were going to act like pagans? But it’s sad to see that Jacob’s greatest concern wasn’t the vindication of purity or even his witness in the land, but rather his own safety. Had Jacob and his family been in Bethel where they belonged, this tragedy might not have occurred.
HOLY PAUSE
God leads and we follow…until it gets hard. We obey by taking steps toward His will…until we remember our past sins and wonder if others remember to and hold those sins against us. We take our eyes from his gaze and look back at our past. We want to do what God wants us to do then human nature coupled with the evil one’s voice willing us to fail enters into the mix. We waffle between knowing and looking to God for direction and turning our eyes on fear.
10-11 Jacob said, “Please. If you can find it in your heart to welcome me, accept these gifts. When I saw your face, it was as the face of God smiling on me. Accept the gifts I have brought for you. God has been good to me and I have more than enough.” Jacob urged the gifts on him and Esau accepted.
When scheming replaces trusting…
Jacob was now a “prince with God,” but he wasn’t acting like it. After all, the elder (Esau) was supposed to serve the younger (Gen. 27:29), so why should the younger brother bow?
“God has been gracious to me,” he added (v. 11 niv), but he didn’t tell his brother the facts and give God the glory. He didn’t tell Esau that he had a new name, probably because he wasn’t living up to it at that time. He was made a prince, but he was acting like a pauper.
It’s obvious that Jacob wasn’t in a hurry to obey God and return to Bethel. We commend him for erecting an altar and giving public witness of his faith in the Lord, but sacrifice is no substitute for obedience (1 Sam. 15:22). 
HOLY PAUSE
Dear Heavenly Father,
As humans we talk big line about what we believe and how we will do this or that for the Lord, until we come face to face with realty of following through where God is truly leading. We plan the details of accomplishing what God is asking us to be and do. We work hard to prepare for and implement the plan so we can accomplish all the details leading up to the plan. In the middle of it all, we begin to rely too much on our own skills (given to us by God) and lose realty for a while.
When we come face to face with God, we know it. He still reveals Himself to us on those beautiful, unexpected moments of intimacy we God when we need Him most, when perplexed and at the end of ourselves. He comes when we cry out for wisdom and clarity and as we seek HIS will above all else. He comes to us while we are on our knees in desperate praying. He lifts our eyes and thoughts up to where He is. I’m trying to describe an experience with God that is, well, hard to describe for it is so personal.
9-12 And then Jacob prayed, “God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, God who told me, ‘Go back to your parents’ homeland and I’ll treat you well.’ I don’t deserve all the love and loyalty you’ve shown me. When I left here and crossed the Jordan I only had the clothes on my back, and now look at me—two camps! Save me, please, from the violence of my brother, my angry brother! I’m afraid he’ll come and attack us all, me, the mothers and the children. You yourself said, ‘I will treat you well; I’ll make your descendants like the sands of the sea, far too many to count.’”
24-25 But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint.
28 The man said, “But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.”
As you study Jacob’s actions during this crisis time in his life, you see illustrated the conflicts all of us occasionally experience between faith and fear, trusting God and scheming, asking God for help and then acting as though we don’t even know God. A crisis doesn’t make a man; it shows what a man is made of.
While we don’t want to imitate Jacob’s fear, unbelief, scheming, and his proneness to jump to conclusions, we would do well to pray the way he prayed. He claimed God’s promises, remembered God’s goodness, and rested completely on God’s character and covenant. No matter what circumstances we may face or what fears may grip our hearts, we can trust God to be faithful to His character and His Word. “I will trust and not be afraid.”
HOLY PAUSE
What are you wrestling with God about today? Tell Him. Go the mat. Be victorious with God.
