Joseph – Page 3 – Praying Pint

38.w. “Should not a people inquire of their God?”

Genesis 40:8 They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

Job 33:15-16   In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings,

Isaiah 8:19    And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?

Daniel 2:11   The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

Daniel 2:28     but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:

Amos 3:7     “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

On their replying that they had dreamed, and there was no one to interpret the dream, Joseph reminded them first of all that “interpretations are God’s,” come from God, are His gift; at the same time he bade them tell him their dreams, from a consciousness, no doubt, that he was endowed with this divine gift.

Joseph’s request implies that the consciousness of his Divine calling to be a prophet had begun to dawn upon him, and that he was now speaking from an inward conviction, doubtless produced within his mind by Elohim, that he could unfold the true significance of the dreams.

The unbelieving Egyptians were prone to seek counsel in difficulties, from diviners of different descriptions, whose foolish and sinful ceremonies applied worldly effort to that only God can provide. Those who have shut their hearts and minds to things of God will justly be left in darkness seeking worldly answers. They follow the delusions of their heart and mind rather than putting their confidence in God.

It is not only in the interpretation of dreams whereby people seek worldly answers. They seek them in every aspect of their lives. They give no thought to God or have any confidence in God’s power, might, and unlimitedness. No, they only give thought to worldly advice. Sadly enough Christians neglect God’s power as well. This should never be. We should be ever-growing in our understanding and reliance on God – not what the world has to offer.

38.u. “When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled.”

Genesis 40:1 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody. And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

In verse 39:1 the captain of the guard was Potiphar. The same person who put Joseph in prison. It is no surprise that Joseph was put in charge of all the prisoners. We should note that Joseph was a man of compassion and service. It did not matter that he was in prison or the position he held. He was a servant leader that cared for those who were under his watch. We can think of many examples of people in our past and present that give a clear vision of leadership without a care in the world for those under their watch or supervision. They think of themselves only. Being a servant leader is not natural in origin. Our natural self relies on self, only thinks of self, and sees others as a means to glorify self. How is God honored at all with this mindset? He is not. How many days do we pass by people who are hurting? How many times do we miss opportunities to be used by God to show compassion, mercy, love, and grace because we are only thinking about ourselves instead of how we might be used by God today for His honor and glory? How many times has the Holy Spirit’s leading been thwarted because our ears are care closed and our eyes blinded by self-interests, self-concerns, and self-worth?

It is easy to see how Joseph was able to be a servant leader while being in charge of Potiphar’s affairs but to maintain this while in prison is another level of commitment and service to God. We all have the opportunity to choose to be a servant to those around us. It is our choice. Make a difference today in the life of someone you know and in the life of someone you don’t. For sure it will not happen if you do not make a choice to do it. Ask God to open your eye and ears to the hurting souls around you. Ask Him to lead you in ways that honor and glorify Him.

38.t. “And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.”

Genesis 39:19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.

Potiphar knew what kind of woman his wife was and he knew what kind of man Joseph was. His anger probably came because he knew that her accusation against Joseph was not true.

“Death was the only penalty Joseph could reasonably expect. His reprieve presumably owed much to the respect he had won; and Potiphar’s mingled wrath and restraint may reflect a faint misgiving about the full accuracy of the charge.” (Kidner)

“He never said a word, that I can learn, about Potiphar’s wife. It seemed necessary to his own defense, but he would not accuse the woman; he let judgment go by default, and left her to her own conscience and her husband’s cooler consideration. This showed great power; it is hard for a man to compress his lips, saying nothing when his character is at stake. So eloquent was Joseph in his silence that there is not a word of complaint throughout the whole record of his life. He felt it a cruel thing, to be under such a slander, and to suffer for his innocence. A young man so pure, so chaste, must have felt it to be sharper than a whip of scorpions to be accused as he was; yet as he sat down in the gloom of his cell, the Lord was with him. The Lord was with Joseph none the less when he was cast into the prison. He knew God was with him in prison, and therefore he did not sit down sullenly in his sorrow, but he bestirred himself to make the best of his afflicted condition.” (Spurgeon)

Joseph went:

· From privilege in his father’s house.

· To the pit his brothers threw him into.

· To being property in the slave market.

· To the privilege of managing Potiphar’s house.

· To the principled stand against temptation.

· To the perjury of false accusation.

· To the prison of Pharaoh.

We can see the mercy in this, because if Potiphar had believed his wife, he certainly would have put Joseph to death. We can see the injustice in this, because Joseph suffered for someone else’s sin. As Christians, we remember someone who perfectly resisted all temptation, who as He stood for righteousness was stripped of His garments, and who was then punished for the sins of others. We can see God’s hand in all of this. All of this moves God’s story forward, putting Joseph in the place where he can save his family and the whole world from coming famine, and prepare a place for them to live with him. If God blessed Joseph in the pit, if He blessed Joseph the slave, we are not surprised to see that He blessed Joseph in prison. None of these terrible circumstances changed or defeated God’s plan for Joseph’s life. As happened before in the house of Potiphar, Joseph rose to the top, becoming the chief administrator of the prison. Through his experience in both places, God sharpened the administrative skills Joseph needed to one day save his family and to save the whole world. (Guzik)

I don’t know about you but when I am wrongly accused I want to state my case and prove it not true at the expense of the offender. The integrity of Joseph is beyond my understanding and yet an example to glean wisdom and understanding from. It is not by our might, wisdom, knowledge, power, or eloquent language skills that we are to reliant but by the power, might, purpose, and plans of God. Oh, that we would not rest in our own power for defense but rather be in total reliance on God alone.

38.s. “Joseph fled and got out of the house.”

Genesis 39:11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”

Potiphar’s wife knew Joseph avoided her, so she made a deliberate plan to trap him. Surely, it was she who arranged it that none of the men of the house was inside. Joseph resisted this tremendous moment of temptation when he ran outside. Joseph did what we are all supposed to do when faced with this kind of situation: he fled and ran. 2 Timothy 2:22 makes it clear: Flee also youthful lusts. If we are not actually running towards sin, we have a tendency to at least linger in its presence. But we are commanded to do the only safe thing: run away from these lusts of the flesh, and run as fast as we can. God provides a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13), but you have to take the way out. (Guzik)

How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?—This remonstrance, when all inferior arguments had failed, embodied the true principle of moral purity—a principle always sufficient where it exists, and alone sufficient. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)

It is no new thing for the best of men to be falsely accused of the worst of crimes, by those who themselves are the worst of criminals. It is well there is a day of discovery coming, in which all shall appear in their true characters. (Henry)

Setting our heart and mind against sin requires us to understand what sin is. How are we to know what is offensive to God when we spend little to no time in His Word and far less time meditating on it and even less time seeking God to speak to us through it? Neglect and complacency will distort and blind us to things of God, holiness, godliness, and that which truly honors and glorifies Jesus Christ.

38.r. “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

Genesis 39:6 Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

Beauty either in men or women, often proves a snare both to themselves and others. This forbids pride in it, and requires constant watchfulness against the temptation that attends it. We have great need to make a covenant with our eyes, lest the eyes infect the heart. When lust has got power, decency, and reputation, and conscience, are all sacrificed. Potiphar’s wife showed that her heart was fully set to do evil. Satan, when he found he could not overcome Joseph with the troubles and the frowns of the world, for in them he still held fast his principle, assaulted him with pleasures, which have ruined more than the former. But Joseph, by the grace of God, was enabled to resist and overcome this temptation; and his escape was as great an instance of the Divine power, as the deliverance of the three children out of the fiery furnace. This sin was one which might most easily beset him. The tempter was his mistress, one whose favour would help him forward; and it was at his utmost peril if he slighted her, and made her his enemy. The time and place favoured the temptation. To all this was added frequent, constant urging. The almighty grace of God enabled Joseph to overcome this assault of the enemy. He urges what he owed both to God and his master. We are bound in honour, as well as justice and gratitude, not in any thing to wrong those who place trust in us, how secretly soever it may be done. He would not offend his God. Three arguments Joseph urges upon himself. 1. He considers who he was that was tempted. One in covenant with God, who professed religion and relation to him. 2. What the sin was to which he was tempted. Others might look upon it as a small matter; but Joseph did not so think of it. Call sin by its own name, and never lessen it. Let sins of this nature always be looked upon as great wickedness, as exceedingly sinful. 3. Against whom he was tempted to sin, against God. Sin is against God, against his nature and his dominion, against his love and his design. Those that love God, for this reason hate sin. The grace of God enabled Joseph to overcome the temptation, by avoiding the temper. He would not stay to parley with the temptation, but fled from it, as escaping for his life. If we mean not to do iniquity, let us flee as a bird from the snare, and as a deer from the hunter. (Henry)

How many can say they meditate day and night on the Word of God so that they might not sin against Him?

38.q. “God made him prosper”

Genesis 39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.

Psalms 1:3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Isaiah 41:10    fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Acts 7:9-10   “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him  and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

2 Chronicles 26:5   He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.

Joseph’s ordeal was probably worse than any of us have gone through. Yet God did not abandon him, even in the smallest way. If God allowed Joseph to be a slave, then he would be a successful man, even as a slave. We often complain to God that He put us in a terrible or difficult place. Yet God’s will is that we trust Him to bless us and make us successful (as He measures success) wherever we are in life. Some people think they we can’t be blessed unless they are in authority, in charge of things. Jesus lived and taught a better way – a life as a servant. Even at this early point when it seemed Joseph had no control over circumstances – and indeed he had none – God overruled the evil or capricious choices of man to accomplish His eternal purpose. By his trust in God, diligent work, and blessing from God, Joseph showed Potiphar that God was real. Followers of Jesus should live out the same principle today; others should see the difference Jesus makes in our lives by the way we work. Think of the contrast between Joseph and his brothers. Joseph was a slave, but free. The brothers were free, but slaves to secrets, lies, shame, and guilt. It would have been easy for Joseph to do what we so often do: think little of his present position because it seemed so bad (he was a slave, after all). But Joseph believed God could bless him right where he was, so he didn’t wait for a better situation to be blessed by God. Many think if advancement is from God, it must come quickly. Sometimes this is the case, but not normally. Normally, God allows good things to develop slowly. (Guzik)

Scripture says that we grow in our understanding of God, line by line, precept by precept, here a little, there a little. Should we think we will grow in our prosperity, wisdom, understanding, love, or abilities any differently? Too often we assess our blessings from God by worldly measures.

Keep your heart and mind focused on honoring and glorifying Him in all you think, say, and do. Blessings that pass all worldly understanding will flood your heart and mind.

38.o. “This we have found”

Genesis 37:29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Reuben tore his clothes as an expression of utter horror and mourning, because his weak stand for righteousness accomplished nothing. Joseph might as well be dead, because his father who loved him so would never see him again. This showed the cruelty of the sons of Israel was not directed only towards the favored son, but also towards the father who favored him. This was both a heartless way to bring the news and an evil lie. (Guzik)

How should his sons comfort him, when they were obliged to cover their wickedness with the sin of lying and hypocrisy, and when even Reuben, although at first beside himself at the failure of his plan, had not courage enough to disclose his brothers’ crime? (Keil and Delitzsch)

When Satan has taught men to commit one sin, he teaches them to try to conceal it with another; to hide theft and murder, with lying and false oaths: but he that covers his sin shall not prosper long. Joseph’s brethren kept their own and one another’s counsel for some time; but their villany came to light at last, and it is here published to the world. To grieve their father, they sent him Joseph’s coat of colours; and he hastily thought, on seeing the bloody coat, that Joseph was rent in pieces. Let those that know the heart of a parent, suppose the agony of poor Jacob. His sons basely pretended to comfort him, but miserable, hypocritical comforters were they all. Had they really desired to comfort him, they might at once have done it, by telling the truth. The heart is strangely hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Jacob refused to be comforted. Great affection to any creature prepares for so much the greater affliction, when it is taken from us, or made bitter to us: undue love commonly ends in undue grief. It is the wisdom of parents not to bring up children delicately, they know not to what hardships they may be brought before they die. From the whole of this chapter we see with wonder the ways of Providence. The malignant brothers seem to have gotten their ends; the merchants, who care not what they deal in so that they gain, have also obtained theirs; and Potiphar, having got a fine young slave, has obtained his! But God’s designs are, by these means, in train for execution. This event shall end in Israel’s going down to Egypt; that ends in their deliverance by Moses; that in setting up the true religion in the world; and that in the spread of it among all nations by the gospel. Thus the wrath of man shall praise the Lord, and the remainder thereof will he restrain. (Henry)

38.n. “And they sold him”

Genesis 37:21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

Reuben could have simply rose up and said, “This is wrong! We can’t do this!” Reuben wanted to be merciful to Joseph, but he also wanted to please the other brothers who hated Joseph. The other brothers had their plan and Reuben had his plan. Reuben didn’t try to stop his brothers; he tried to out-smart them. Joseph was stripped of his coat of many colors, the sign of his fathers favor, cast into he pit, and the brothers sat down to eat after this harmless act against their brother. The brothers probably laughed as the Ishmaelites went their way to Egypt, feeling good that they didn’t kill Joseph and that they made a little money in the process. Best of all, they thought they had defeated the dream, the revelation from God. (Guzik)

We should note that this heartless act was not only against Joseph but also against Jacob. Where did these sons of Jacob get such deceptive and cruel ideas from? How much hate was in this family? How much anger and unrest festered each day in this family?

Our hearts and minds can be home for good or bad, godly or ungodly, hate or love, family bonds or family division. When our eyes get out of focus of our purpose in life to honor and glorify Jesus Christ we are left to follow after our own sinful desires or those of others and become a tool for Satan’s work. How many families would still be together if lust, greed, pride, and anger were discerned and cast out of the hearts and minds of those being ruled and influenced by them? Once a heart and mind are given into to these thoughts, Satan can lead you around like a little child. We are given free will to choose to do right or wrong. How many times do we choose to do wrong because by worldly standards it is right? How many times when we discern an ungodly thought in our mind do we recognize it and say I will not do that because it does not honor and glorify Jesus Christ? How often do we leave a kind word unsaid, a helpful hand undone, or other ways to honor and glorify Jesus Christ because of our denials or rejections of God’s leading? I can tell you this, when a person is neglectful and complacent in the study of God’s Word and meditating on things of God, they will be worthless at living in such a way that honors and glorifies Jesus Christ for there is no ability for discernment.

38.m. “Here comes this dreamer”

Genesis 37:12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”

You have to wonder if Jacob sent Joseph to find his brothers because of where they had indicated they were tending the flock, in Shechem. Remember this is the place where the sons of Jacob killed the men and plundered their homes. Maybe Jacob feared retaliation from them, or maybe he thought his sons would be influenced by them into some worldly idolatry. Whatever the reason he sent Joseph to bring report back to him on how things were going. Why was Joseph not out tending the flock with his brothers? Was he so favored by Jacob that he was not treated the same and to the same work? Was it because Jacob worried about what his brothers would do to him if Joseph had more dreams and spoke of them? Whatever the reason Joseph was more than willing to go find them and see how they were doing. His brothers and flock were not at Shechem, they were at Dothan.

His brothers see Joseph coming and it is very evident they did not like Joseph at all. They conspired to kill him. Their sin was in their heart before they acted it out. The heart holds on to many things and far too often it holds onto sin like it is a precious gold nugget. They called him the dreamer, and by this, we know they harbored ill in their hearts about the dream he spoke to them about. They gave no thought to the fact that this dream could be a revelation from God. If they did they were going to do their best to thwart God’s plans.

If we are to take anything from this account in scripture, let it be to be mindful of what is in our hearts and minds, take inventory of what is there that is not pleasing to God, and cast it out, repenting of having let it reside there.

38.k. ““Are you indeed to reign over us?”

Genesis 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

The Bible tells us that God may speak through dreams, but it doesn’t give us a guidebook for dream interpretation. Most of all, know the Bible to know the voice of God. We should expect that God speaks to us in the Bible, and if He were to speak in a dream, it would be unexpected. Though Joseph was wrong to tell these dreams, they certainly did come true. One may receive a wonderful message from God that He does not intend them to publish to others. Joseph showed a lack of wisdom here, perhaps rooted in pride. At this point, even Jacob was a bit offended. He couldn’t understand how Joseph could be exalted higher than his own father and mother. (Guzik)

Observe, Joseph dreamed of his preferment, but he did not dream of his imprisonment. Thus many young people, when setting out in the world, think of nothing but prosperity and pleasure, and never dream of trouble. His brethren rightly interpreted the dream, though they abhorred the interpretation of it. While they committed crimes in order to defeat it, they were themselves the instruments of accomplishing it. (Henry)

The meaning of this dream was offensive enough, and his telling of it rendered it even more disagreeable. The second dream only aggravated the hatred of his brothers; but his father, while rebuking him for his speeches, yet marked the saying. The rebuke seems to imply that the dream, or the telling of it, appears to his father to indicate the lurking of a self-sufficient or ambitious spirit within the breast of the youthful Joseph. (Barnes)

Joseph’s brothers easily enough interpreted the dreams. Imagine their ill-will towards him. They know he is favored by Jacob their father and now his spoken dreams enforce ill-will more. Envy and jealousy will cloud the minds of those given into them. They will consume the heart and mind to the point of anger and hatred. The world is full of people in both high and low positions seeking that which God has not determined for their lives. Envy and jealousy leave no room for God’s will, purpose, and plans. Happy is the heart and mind that finds its peace and rest in the comfort of know God and being know by God. Their hearts and minds are content in every circumstance because they wait with reliant and expectant hope in God alone.