Deliverance

  DEVOTION

GENESIS

DELIVERANCE

Gen 49:13-18

13 "Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon. 14 "Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags.   15 When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor. 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. 18 "I look for your deliverance, O LORD.

NIV

These other sons are not of the same importance in the life of Israel, not that their territories are not true to those prophetic words spoken by Jacob, and from history, we know their general locations in the land. There are some more sons to receive their blessing. There are still Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin, but before we get to see what their blessings are and if there is any truth to glean for our lives, there is this statement of Jacob in the middle of giving all his sons their prophetic blessing. Jacob said, “I look for your deliverance, O LORD”. Was this an expression of depression because he was in Egypt, in the middle of adversaries rather than in his homeland, the land promised to his grandfather and father, and reconfirmed to him? Maybe this is a man of his late age, knowing his death is imminent and reaffirming his great faith in the LORD, his God. We see the life of Jacob and how it was not easy, yet the Lord kept blessing him as He had promised. Having twelve sons but then that horrible experience of thinking his Joseph was dead, and now he has seen him, and his two sons. We see Jacob assured and ready for God to take him home. This Hebrew word translated as deliverance carries the meaning of something saved. Is this not our Christianize term we use all the time, “I am saved”? Yet Jesus has told us many times, such as whoever believes will be saved, or who stands firm to the end will be saved. The Greek word used as saved means delivered. We cannot miss the truth here in the words of Jacob, he was assured he was saved and looking forward to his salvation. This is our story, as we look with anticipation of the moment of our last breath on this earth as we enter the presence of our Lord. Do we still have things to do? Of course, we are not ready to lie down yet, for God is still at work and has work for us to accomplish for his kingdom. However, that simply means we are standing firm, doing what He has called us to do and to be. But the idea here is not to get caught up in the things of this world, to get distracted by all the trapping and busy work of life, and forget about our awaiting deliverance, or at least putting it on the back burner of our heart, while we pay so much attention to our daily lives. We tend to save things that have value to us. We save our memories, photos, special things, our money, or whatever. We have value to Jesus, for He has saved us. Will we be like Jacob and only look for His deliverance when we are on our deathbed, or will we live always looking for our deliverance from this place? Let us always seek first, Jesus, and our deliverance.