Justice

DEVOTION

GENESIS

JUSTICE

Gen 49:16-17

16 "Dan will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider tumbles backward.

NIV

What can we say about Dan that applies to us today? The greatest of all his descendants was a great man indeed. Samson was from the tribe of Dan. This is why Jacob says he will provide justice for his people. Although we usually think about Samson and Delilah and his loss of his power due to a haircut, Samson first avenged his people who were being ruled at the time by the Philistines. Samson tore a raging lion apart with his bare hands. He killed thousands of Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey. But what does all this have to do with us? What purpose are we told about the future of Dan and his descendant? All that Samson did, each time a great feat of strength, it is said the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power. This is the serpent that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider, the Philistines, tumble backward. There may be times in our life when we are somewhat under the control of evil powers, or let us use the term injustice. We might be mistreated because of our faith. The Philistines controlled or ruled over the Israelites. It seems this happened to the Israelites many times throughout the Old Testament. Whenever they seemed to forget about God, they were carried off into captivity or occupied and ruled by a foreign government. But God always provided a deliverer when they called out to him. Can we do that which Dan has been told? Are we anything like Samson? Not a chance. First Samson was set apart even before he was conceived. He was never to have any of the fruit of the vine, never cut his hair, for he was to be a Nazarite. His mother was not even to have any wine during her pregnancy for that would have transferred to him within her womb. What we can experience is the Spirit of the Lord coming upon us in power. We might not be able to tear a lion apart with our bare hands, but we can do many things because of the Spirit of the Lord. If we become oppressed, God will deliver us. This is the story of redemption again. We were once oppressed by the forces of darkness. We belonged or were under the control of the evil one, perhaps not knowingly, but by default. But God delivered us, he satisfied his own need for justice. He sent his Son to be an offering for us. Just as he always brought a deliverer to his people, Israel, as in the case of a descendant of Dan, Samson, he did the same for us. But we also can take comfort in knowing that he also has provided us with the Spirit.

John 14:12-14

12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

NIV

We need not be oppressed, nor do we need to be subject to the powers of darkness, for we have the Spirit of the Lord upon us in power. There is one other truth that is held in the blessing on Dan. He was a son of a handmaiden. He was not what was called a legal son from a legal wife. Yet Jacob gives him the same allotment, counted as the same as his sons from his legal wives. We gentiles are not the same as Israel in that sense. They have always been considered God's chosen people, his rightful sons. We have been engrafted in, we have been included, and we have been considered equal with Israel as his chosen people. In fact, because we have circumcised our heart, we are the true Israel, the true chosen people of God. He gives us all the blessings he gives to Israel. Again, because Dan in one of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we are also the same as Dan. Through Christ we can provide justice to our people, we can provide them Jesus.