Appropriately

DEVOTION

GENESIS

APPROPRIATELY

Gen 49:28-33

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him. 29 Then he gave them these instructions: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites." 33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

NIV

The last breathe of Jacob, the end of his life on this earth has come and all his sons are there having heard his words of blessing upon them, each blessing appropriate to each son. He does give his instructions as to where he is to be laid to rest. Our lesson is in the word appropriate. The original text uses the language that he blessed them as he blessed them, which in fact does carry the meaning each was appropriate for each son. As we just finished looking at each we certainly can testify this is a true statement. So how does that apply to our lives? Sometimes we might think that God blesses some people a whole lot more than he does us. We hear people say how God blessed them with this or that, perhaps a healing, or in some material way, and we think, why doesn’t he do that for me? We talk about the sovereignty of God, but do we still think he has to treat us all the same? God blesses each of us how he blesses each is us and it is appropriate for each of us. How he blesses us may be different than how he blesses someone else but we can be sure his blessing is appropriate for each of us. The key in knowing this is to being content with our lives as they are. God knows our heart and our hearts desire. He knows what we need before we need it. He knows his plans for our lives before they happen. Just as Jacob spoke his son’s future, God speaks ours. Does that smack of predestination? In some sense, but he did not predetermine we would accept his son as our Savior. But once we submitted to his authority in our lives, he began ordering our footsteps. Once we determined to love him, he then calls us to his purpose. He blesses us appropriately according to his plans for our lives. He gives us what we need in order to bring him glory and honor and praise. But his blessing is his blessing.  He determines the blessing according to each of his children. This then frees us from any jealously, envy, discontentment or pride in our lives, knowing we have been blessed appropriately. 

Same and Mighty

DEVOTION

GENESIS

SMALL AND MIGHTY

Gen 49:27

27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder."

NIV

After having such a full blessing on Joseph who has been shown to give us many pictures of Jesus, we come to the last son of Jacob, the youngest son. History of this tribe reveals their portion of land was indeed a border portion which would put them in a position of having to defend the border of the Promised Land from outside intruders, or invaders. Throughout the Old Testament we find records of this tribe engaging in war often. King Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. The Apostle Paul was also from the tribe of Benjamin. Although it was the smallest tribe in the nation of Israel, this tribe contributed a great deal to the nation. There was also another Old Testament man named Ehud from the tribe of Benjamin, for whom it was recorded to have been a  deliverer of Israel. What we can learn from this blessing on Benjamin is we do not have to be a great person, a large person of fame and fortune to have an effect on the world. We do not have to be a famous person to devour the prey and divide the plunder, although several very famous people did belong to this tribe of Benjamin. But also we can see the need to be a border tribe, to be the one who protects the rest of the nation from intruders. This could apply to our family and to our church. We can be the ones who guard, who go to war against the forces of evil that continue to attempt to attack and intrude in our nation, our family. There are  all sorts of bad theology, false teaching abounding, not just in the world as a whole, but within Christendom. Look at the war King Saul waged on intruders. Look at the war Paul waged on false teachings which invaded the early church. We must wage war on those who would infiltrate the hearts and minds of our family with their false brand of Christianity. That first requires that we must not get caught up in such deceptions. We must stand firm against the enemy. Although we may be small, we can be mighty warriors. 

Life in Christ

DEVOTION

GENESIS

LIFE IN CHRIST

Gen 49:22-26

22 "Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, Whose branches climb over a wall.  23 With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility. 24 But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 25 because of your father's God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb. 26 Your father's blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

NIV

No doubt, by the language of this blessing, it is clear Joseph was and still is Jacob’s favorite son. Our scholars have left nothing unturned to expose all the history of Joseph’s life described in this blessing, including the future of his descendants. This would not serve us to regurgitate that which they so eloquently elaborated upon. In past glimpses into the life of Joseph we have seen pictures of Jesus. This blessing seems to carry that same thread which perhaps our scholars either overlooked, ignored or completely disagree with. Joseph might have been seen as a fruitful vine, as he was the one who provided food for all of Egypt and Israel in the years of the famine. But the true fruitful vine is Jesus and we are the branches that climb over the wall.

John 15:5-8

5 "I am the vine ; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

NIV

When we are in Christ, when we remain in the true vine, we climb over the wall. Grape vines require support, the branches climb upwards being supported either on a trellis or a wall. The wall we climb over is from the city of sin into the city of light. We climb over the wall of doubt and find on the other side we can ask whatever we wish and it will be given to us so that it will bring glory to the Father. We will bear much fruit, that is the fruit of the Spirit, which surely shows we are his disciples.

Does not the picture of the archers firing their arrows bring us to think about the flaming arrows of the evil one? That we can take up our shield of faith to extinguish them. Our faith in the mighty one of Israel, because of the Shephard, the Rock of Israel, this is none other than Jesus. Back to the same words of Jesus, when we think about the blessing of God, because he is the Almighty who blesses us from heaven above and from the deep that lies below and from the breast and the womb. This is all about Jesus. He came from heaven, he descended into the grave, and he was blessed even in the womb of Mary. Elizabeth exclaimed: “Blessed is the fruit of your womb”. The blessings of God are so much greater than anything the ancient mountains or the age old hills could provide, which is a picture of the world. God’s blessings upon us overshadow anything the world could provide for us. In fact, in all reality the world represents:

Rev 12:8-9

 9 The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

NIV

All the blessings of God rest upon the head of Jesus, in him we find rest, we find peace, we find salvation and all the blessings of the Father. How great is life in Christ!

Set free

DEVOTION

GENESIS

SET FREE

Gen 49:21

21 "Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.  

NIV

Another very short blessing that seems at first to bear little we could sink our teeth into. Perhaps this version gives a slightly different twist then some of the others as well as the original Septuagint version. The original language uses a hind, which is a female deer, but then says she speaks goodly words. Although in the sense of this version, beautiful fawns could imply those goodly words. If we search out the fulfillment of these words Jacob spoke to Naphtali we do find his descendants had a good number of fighting men, many of who it is recorded they were fleet of foot. They could run like a deer, pursuing their enemy. But what about the beautiful fawns or good words? It could imply his land allotted to him produced beautiful produce as well as fighting men who were swift runners. But then how does all that apply to us, if it does? Have we not been set free from the bondage of sin? Are we not like a doe set free? What does a doe before being set free look like? It must be in a trap, or a cage, or some form of constraint. From some studies a captive doe responds as one under stress. Captivity of a wild doe causes them to be stressed. Could this be how we are when we are captive to sin? Could we have been living a very stressful life? When a deer is set free, it can run freely through the fields and taste the best of leaves of the trees and bushes, it can roam into the field in the early morning and feel the warm of the sun on it. We too have been set free, we are free to run like the gazelle, to leap through the fields freely, tasting the best of leaves, enjoying the feeling of warmth the Son on us. We also can bear beautiful fawns, speak goodly words. Those goodly words are the message of the Gospel. We can speak beautiful words into the hearts and minds of people who like the trapped doe, living under stress, under the dominion of darkness, not being able to see their way to freedom. Our goodly words can be a beacon of light, shining brightly into their dark domain, giving them a way out, showing them a path to freedom. This is why we are referred to as the light of the world. This may also add some truth to being the salt of the earth as well. Deer seem to always find the salt blocks put out for them. They find their way to the salt. Could this also apply that as the salt of the earth we should be attracting those trapped deer giving them that needed taste of salt? Interesting thought. But the point of this blessing is still within the setting free of the doe and it speaking goodly words. Let us live free and speak those goodly words. 

Abundance

DEVOTION

GENESIS

ABUNDANCE

Gen 49:20

20 "Asher's food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king.

NIV

Another short and sweet blessing upon this son Asher. What are we to make of this? First we have to know from his history, which of course at the point of this blessing was his future, his portion of land included very fertile land. The tribe of Asher produced so much grain for bread, they actually supplied others with grain. They supplied others with oil and wine from their olives and vineyards, milk and butter from their pastures. All this is recorded in future accounts within Deuteronomy and 1 Kings. But what about us? How do we fit into this blessing? Surely we know that God provides everything for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Asher is certainly proof of this, but are we? Why does it seem some believers are provided with the richness of Asher’s, while others seem to struggle through life? Could we say that not all receive the same blessing just as each of the sons of Jacob did not receive the same blessing? Yet all scripture is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Therefore we should learn something from this blessing that applies to our life. Could we be bold enough to say the reason some believers do not receive the richness of this blessing is because they actually put more trust in their ability to produce wealth for themselves then trust in God. This goes directly to the parable Jesus taught about the foolish rich farmer who stored up all his grain, even building bigger barns, so he could sit back, retire and live the good life. He died that night. The point was because he was not rich toward God. He trusted in himself, he did not trust in God, He had more then he needed, he could have shared with others, instead he hoarded his own stuff. The tribe of Asher surely did not just give their produce away, they certainly sold, or bartered for profit.  But the point appears to be their abundance of produce was from the hand of God. This is how we need to see our life. All we have is from the hand of God. Yes we work, we have worked all our life, sometimes extremely hard, laboriously so, many hours. Yet all that we ever did was from the hand of God. He has lead us to everything we have ever done to provide food for our table and a roof over our head. We speak this from personal experience. We have trusted God for all things, maybe even to a fault. Some would accuse us of being too extreme in our interpretation of the scriptures. Some believers have told us, God helps those who help themselves, yet there is no such scripture, nor any scripture that could render that idea. It is evident if we trust God, he will bless us, and he will provide us with food that is rich, that he could provide us with goods fit for a king. He is our King. Could we say the abundance he provides for us is fit for himself? Would that fit right along with that parable, being rich toward God? Could we say the more we give toward God, the more he provides for us? But if we store up for ourselves, we will not see any more provisions from him. Interesting thought. Again, the tribe of Asher certainly worked the ground, they toiled to produce their crops. It is not about sitting back and waiting for God to drop everything into our lap. But it is about trusting God not ourselves. This was a blessing upon Asher, and it happened. God is always faithful to his word, but we need to believe his word to see his faithfulness fulfilled in our life. We need to believe to see his abundance. 

Attack

DEVOTION

GENESIS

ATTACK

Gen 49:19

19 "Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.

NIV

Such a brief blessing upon this son, Gad. What we know about his history, his descendants is they were a tribe of valiant warriors. They joined forces with other tribes to defeat many enemies who would assault the lands of Israel. When we think about being valiant the words courage and determination fit as the proper definition. The tribe of Gad were men of courage and determination forcing their foes back, defeating them at every turn. What can we learn here? Certainly we could say that since we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior there has been a war waged upon us by the enemy of our soul. Satan attacks us as a band of raiders, hoping to take a portion of our land, our mind and heart. It takes courage and determination to resist his attacks. We need to be brave, courageous, to the point of being heroic in our war against him. Yes, we could say that because we are in Christ, Satan has no power over us, nor can he actually harm us, unless like with Job, God gives him permission. Then it was limited at that. But even though we are in Christ that does not mean Satan does not attempt to attack us. We need to be bold, fearless, daring in our continued efforts to fight back. This is the reason God has provided us with his armor.

Eph 6:10-18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

NIV

Having all this armor of God provides us with the weapons we need to take our stand against the attacks of Satan. We need to do so as valiant warriors, not just holding up against his attacks, but striking at his heels, pushing him back, driving him from our land. It requires being lion-hearted, brave, gallant, bold and fearless because we are I Christ and we have the Spirit along with all the weapons God has provided for us. We need not fear the devil, he cannot overcome the power of God who stands with us.

1 John 4:4

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

NIV

The tribe of Gad were fearless fighters, and we too most be fearless in the face of the attacks of Satan. We have God on our side, he is stronger than all the powers of darkness. But it is us who live here and are subject to the attacks, so we take our stand armed to the teeth with the power of God, his armor, his weapon, his sword, his word and we fight back, driving Satan from the land of our hearts and minds. We attack.

Deliverance

DEVOTION

GENESIS

DELIVERANCE

Gen 49:18

18 "I look for your deliverance, O LORD.

NIV

Although this was intended to be included as part of the blessing on Dan, by the translators, this phrase still stands alone in the manner of presentation. This phrase may have been spoken to Dan, but at the same time it may have been a pause in Jacob’s speaking to his sons, thinking about his last moments. It is certainly not intended as an introduction to the prophetic words he speaks to Gad, as each son’s name precedes is blessing. So if it was the last phrase for Dan, he may have brought justice to his people His descendant Samson may have avenged his people, killing many Philistines. But Dan was not the one whom through Jesus brought deliverance to Israel. So we have to believe this phrase was a singular paused moment of Jacob as he neared his stepping into eternity. Could we not learn a valuable lesson here? “I look forward to your deliverance, O LORD”. Truly, we have already been delivered from the clutches of the evil one. The moment we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, Satan lost control of our soul. Jesus delivered us from the city of sin and darkness and brought us into the city of light and love. There is no question we have been freed from the wages of sin, which is death. However, our final deliverance will come when we step into eternity. We live in the present upon this earth, bound in this body. We are subject to the conditions of our humanity, having the limitations of the flesh. We might experience some illness, broken bones, the aches and pains of various conditions. We experience the aging process and all that entails. Once we were young with boundless energy, strong and able to climb any mountain. But age brings a weaker condition with less energy, for some it brings many aches and pains. Not only is the body perishable as with aging and finally death, it is also corruptible. Although we have been delivered from the bondage to sin, we still are subject to the human condition. We desire not to sin, but we still do. What we want to do, we do not and what we do not want to do we still do. This is how the Apostle Paul realized life.

Rom 7:14-25

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do , but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

NIV

Therefore, as we live in this body, we cannot help but live in a corruptible, perishable state. But Glory to God, we look forward to our deliverance from this body. One day we will lay it aside and step into the eternity a changed being.

1 Cor 15:50-54

50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed . 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."  

NIV

This is our moment of deliverance from the experience of living in this body. Jacob knew his time experiencing the weakness of age, being only able to lay upon his bed, his death bed as it were, knew his deliverance was extremely near and he was looking forward to it. This is how we should be living, looking forward to the day we are delivered from this perishable body. Why would we fight so hard to stay here on this earth, to fight for life, when we are looking forward to our deliverance? Maybe we are not looking as forward to it as we should. Is that a lack of faith? Do we not really believe we will live forever? Absolutely not! We know we will step into the presence of our Lord the moment of our last breathe. So then why do we still struggle to stay here? Maybe it is not a struggle. Maybe we stay here because our days are numbered and he has a calling upon our lives. He has something yet for us to do for the benefit of his kingdom. But the point still remains we should be living with anticipation of the day of our deliverance. All our lives we look forward to other moments, the day of our graduation, the day of our wedding, the day of our child’s birth, the day of our promotion at work, the day our vacation starts,  the day of our retirement, the day of this and that. But what about the day of our deliverance? I look forward to your deliverance, O Lord!