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

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.

With the final words about Benjamin, perhaps referring to the military exploits of this tribe (remember Saul was from Benjamin), we can surely see how different the brothers were. They differed in character/personality. They had different destinies. We are not all the same. As John Stott once wrote, we are not to imagine that we have been ‘mass produced in some celestial factory.’ A key to on-going harmony in the church is to understand and respect these differences, and to be grateful for them. We are not all ‘eyes’ or ‘hands’ or ‘feet’, but together we form one body. Everyone of us needs everyone else.

It has been argued (I think by Calvin) that the knowledge of God is the route to self-knowledge. The more we grow in His knowledge, the more likely it is that we will understand who we are, and what it is we are called to do in the world.

God knows us by name. He treats as individuals. He has the personal touch.

As a hymn says, ‘There’s a work for Jesus none but you can do.’