Parashat Vayeshev: Of Danger and Deliverance

Gen 37:1-40:23

Jacob left Laban's house and meet a host of angels. Then a messenger was sent to Esau. We do not know whether this messenger is one of his chief servants, another angel, or perhaps both went. When Esau returned a threat in response, Jacob retreated in prayer and wrestled with another angel, and perhaps faced his greatest fear, first thinking that this man may have come from Esau's camp or may have been Esau himself. At some point, he realized it was not a man he wrestled with and refused to stop unless his opponent blessed him. This ministry of angelic intervention in Jacob's life seems to stop after meeting with Esau.

Our parashat picks up here with Jacob settling in the familiar place of Hebron with his twelve sons. The narrative of scriptures departs from Jacob and begins to focus on Joseph, the firstborn son of Rachel. Joseph was considered the favorite, preferred son, even ahead of Reuben. Jacob gave him a coat of many colors and placed him in charge of overseeing his brothers who were born from Zilpah and Bilhah. Jacob was also dispatched to check on his brothers and this caused a lot of family friction. To add to the conflict, Joseph began to have prophetic dreams about how God was going to use him, which his brothers and father fully understood. Joseph's brothers resented him, but Jacob considered the dreams.

One day Joseph was sent to check on his brothers and while wandering in a field trying to find them, he was told by a man that his brothers had moved on to Dothan. Jewish tradition holds that this man may have been an angel. Following the direction of the man, Joseph came to Dothan where his brothers captured him, sold him to the Ishmaelites, and watched as he was taken to Egypt. Dothan means "two wells". We see the plan of God being accomplished even in the middle of brokenness and human weaknesses. There is a place where the will of God doesn't seem to be possible. We will all camp there at some point. God does not steer us away from those places but uses them to accomplish his will. Joseph was in danger and his brothers wanted to kill him. God had a purpose and delivered him. With every danger Joseph faced, God sent favor and deliverance. Dothan was a prophetic symbol of this duality where danger and deliverance are both present and the will of God still moves forward.

Jacob favored Joseph. Potiphar favored him. The jailor favored him and Pharoah favored him. Though Jacob's favor seemed unfair, God used it to teach Joseph that he could be with him in conflict. That lesson sustained Joseph throughout his entire life. When God brings us to our Dothan, that place where his will is accomplished through conflict, problems, and even bad people, we need to be able to see past the crunch, to the creator.

God gives us wells to draw from. We get a choice of drawing from human means which are flawed and limited. This well may give us some sense of temporary control or even empowerment, but it is short-lived and often collapses in the end. We also have the opportunity to draw from God's well and look for the spiritual purpose that is being accomplished through bad circumstances. Dothan was a place of revelation. It was through conflict that the mysterious purpose of God was revealed and moved forward. Later in the time of Elijah, Dothan was the home of the famed prophet. When the Syrian army came to attack, the prophet prayed for God to open his servant's eyes so that he could see the heavenly host.

Many today are facing crazy circumstances and life situations that seem to have gone out of control. It may be a lost job, divorce, interpersonal conflict, or a life situation that has shipwrecked you. If you are in that place, don't think that God has given up on you. Your "pit" is not your end of our purpose. It was meant to bring you to your purpose. Joseph could not have faced the reality of the famine, had he not experienced the deliverance of the pit. It was through the pit that God's purpose was revealed. This well had a dual purpose and so does yours. Don't give up.

Rav Calev Apostolic Messianic International Parler, Rumble, Facebook