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Genesis 49:28: A personal word

“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.”NIV

The father (Jacob) spoke to each son personally;                                                                     Each son heard from their father;                                                                                              Each one received ‘’the blessing appropriate to him’’.

 ‘Father God, in this new year, I pray that I will hear you speaking to me. I need that word which is relevant to my life. Help me to gratefully receive the blessings you have for me, and not be envious of those you give to others. Sometimes I am tempted to want someone else’s life and ministry; I can be jealous of the opportunities others have. Help me to be content to be me, carrying the anointing you have for my life. Thank you that there’s a word for me and a purpose for me. Please enable me to fulfil it.’

Once again, we note the diversity of these boys. They were so different in temperament. But God blended them together to form His nation

Genesis 49:27: A new year prayer.

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

Benjamin was Jacob’s youngest son. These words may refer to the militaristic prowess of this tribe. Saul, the first king of Israel, came from it, and in his best days, when he walked with God, he won great victories.

But reading me this also caused me to pray:

‘Lord, please will you create in your church a ‘’ravenous’’ hunger for God and the things of God. May there be such a spiritual desire among your people that it affects the world, and we see a great awakening of spiritual appetite there also.’

This is my new year prayer, that the church will long after God; cry after God, like never before. Hunger for God comes from God. May He graciously impart this to us.

Genesis 49:22-26: Fruitful

“‘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 supple,
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 skies above,
    blessings of the deep springs 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

A life of depth and breadth, such as we see in Joseph, often has its periods of suffering. (God made Joseph ‘’fruitful’’ in the land of his suffering in more ways than one – see 41:52). Jacob uses the image of archers shooting arrows at him. His life came under intensive fire. He suffered unjustly at the hands of his brothers; he suffered unfairly in the house of Potiphar, and in the land of Egypt, before things began to turn for the better. What keeps a person going through such times of adversity? It is God alone who provides the strength. This was Jacob’s experience (48:15,16), and it was also Joseph’s. Note the repeated: ‘’…because of…’’ (24, 25).

The idea of ‘’blessings’’ recurs throughout this section. Jacob counted himself such a blessed man and he longed that’s his boy might be blessed also. This is the desire of every godly parent for his/her child.

Genesis 49:22: Fruitful.

‘Joseph is a fruitful vine,
    a fruitful vine near a spring,
    whose branches climb over a wall.” NIV

Joseph models for us the intensive and extensive life – one of depth and breadth. He was deeply, and securely, rooted in a refreshing relationship with God (see Genesis 1), and he bore fruit prolifically, even over the ‘’wall’’ – in the foreign country of Egypt. Someone noted that he was the founder of a tribe, ‘Ephraim’ (‘fruitful’) which grew and grew and could not be hemmed in.  With roots in God, no ‘walls’ can stand in the way of your godly influence.

This is a complete change of image, but, if you have a mobile phone, you will take it as a given that it requires constant re-charging. If it isn’t regularly replenished, it won’t be able to ‘give out’. So it is in the spiritual life: we must draw up nourishment in order to bless others.

PRAYER: Lord, please may my roots go deep in you, and may my life grow out in widespread, fruitful influence. May no ‘walls’ prevent the work you want to do through me.

Genesis 49:21: Freedom

‘Naphtali is a doe set free
    that bears beautiful fawns.‘ NIV

There is something beautiful about these two lines. It’s interesting to me that the lovely land of Galilee lay in this territory.  The people of Naphtali would be a free-spirited and poetic people. Warren Wiersbe explains:

‘The image of “a hind [doe] let loose” suggests a free-spirited people, not bound to tradition. The tribe was located in the hill country. So this image was chosen wisely. Moses said they were “satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the Lord” (Deut. 33:23 nkjv). The last clause–“he gives beautiful words” (Gen. 49:21nkjv)–suggests that they were a poetic people who could express themselves well. Possessing the abilities to run like does and speak beautiful words, the people of Naphtali would make ideal messengers.’

Matthew Henry makes this excellent point:

‘Among God’s Israel there is to be found a great variety of dispositions, contrary to each other, yet all contributing to the beauty and strength of the body, Judah like a lion, Issachar like an ass, Dan like a serpent, Naphtali like a hind. Let not those of different tempers and gifts censure one another, nor envy one another, any more than those of different statures and complexions.’

Genesis 49:20: ‘Blessed’

‘Asher’s food will be rich;
    he will provide delicacies fit for a king.” NIV

‘’Asher’’ means ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’.  The land where Asher settled was good and fertile land. It had rich soil. They were able to produce an abundance of olive oil.

I was thinking, not every Christian lives in poverty, but those who are ‘’rich’’ have responsibilities to ‘’provide’’ for others. We should share our blessings, not hoard them.

Hudson Taylor was called to live and work in China. That entailed much sacrifice materially speaking, and in other ways. But I seem to remember that he had a wealthy supporter in the UK who undertook responsibility for the administration of the society. He gave to the work, and opened his large home to the Taylors when they returned home. Their callings were different, but complementary.

If God has made you an ‘’Asher’’, make it your aim to share your abundance; to ‘’provide’’ for others. The generous life is the ‘blessed’ (‘happy’) life. There is no joy in mean-ness.

PRAYER: Lord, as we remember the gracious gift of your Son, may our hearts become more like yours. Help us to be givers.

 Genesis 49: ‘Long expected Jesus’.

‘Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.’

On this day, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, it’s good to remember that the story of the Bible is one story from the beginning to end. It is the Jesus story. As the aged, dying Jacob blesses his sons, we know that these boys are the foundation of a nation. From them will come twelve tribes, and from out of one of those tribes (Judah), the Messiah will be born. As Jacob speaks, the coming of the Christ is centuries in the future; from our position in history, it was two thousand years ago. But how breathtakingly wonderful to see afresh today that it was all planned. Furthermore, in God’s good timing, Jesus will come again. No-one can stop Him.

‘’The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs^[d] shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.’’ (Verse 10).

He came once; He will come again.

‘Open your eyes on Saviour’s day; Don’t look back or turn away…’

PRAYER: On this Christmas Day, Lord please open the eyes of many people to see the ‘long expected Jesus.’

Genesis 49:19: Caught on the counter

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

This short depiction of ‘’Gad’’ makes me think of a football match where one team is piling the pressure on another, but then the team under the cosh breaks out of defence in a blistering display of pace and skill, and they score at the other end – all against the run of play.  Warren Wiersbe writes: ‘Because of the tribe’s location on the east side of the Jordan, enemy troops could easily invade their territory. Jacob assured the Gadites that no conquest would be final, but that they would eventually conquer their enemies. This verse literally reads, “Troop [Gad], a troop will troop upon him, but he will troop on their heels.” An old man on his deathbed, Jacob could still make a clever wordplay out of his son’s name. The Gadites were great warriors (Josh. 22:1-6). Moses compared them to a brave lion that could rend the arms and heads of its enemies (Deut. 33:20).’  ‘No conquest would be final.’

We too need to know that although we often feel besieged by temptation, and we regularly fall, no failure need be final. In Jesus, we are ‘on the victory side’, and the outcome is sure.

Some years ago, Manchester United came back from being one down against Bayern Munich to win the Champions League. Two goals at the death turned the game around. For a long time afterwards, I watched a large section of the second half that I’d video’d. Every time, it looked like United might lose. But I wasn’t worried. I knew the final score (unlike when I was watching the game live! That was tense).

For the Christian, no matter how things appear now, we know how it all turns out ultimately. Thank God that we do.

Genesis 49: 16-18: ‘Deliver us from evil.’

Jacob’s face was ‘shadowed by death but aglow with the light of prophecy. How intense their silent awe as they heard their names called one by one by the old man’s trembling voice, speaking with difficulty! The character of each was delineated with unerring insight, the outstanding incidents of their past history enumerated, and their future forecasted. The scene was an anticipation of the final judgment, where men shall hear their lives reviewed and the sentence passed.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.33. (See also verse 28).

In the case of Dan, we move from the sons of Leah, to the sons of Billah, Rachel’s servant girl. ‘’Dan’’ means ‘to judge’, and Israel’s most famous judge, Samson, was going to descend from Dan. But there would also be a serpent-like craftiness in at least some of the people of this tribe.

God knows each of us through and through; knows what we are and what we will be. How we need the prayers of others for our deliverance (18). May we be everything God wants us to be, and not what we could be if the serpent has his way with us.

I’m not wanting to say that Jacob was praying for Dan in verse 18. It may have been for himself. Possibly it was a prayer for strength to continue with his prophesying. But the thought just his me now, as I write, that we very much need the prayers of others for our deliverance, just as we also need to pray for them.

So may this be the story of our lives – that we pray for and are prayed for.