These Are Blessings?
TODAY'S READING: Gen. 49, 50; Ps. 8; Luke 20
SCRIPTURE: Gen. 49:1-28 (emphasis added)
1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion’s cub, O Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
and the obedience of the nations is his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.
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.
19 “Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders,
but he will attack them at their heels.
20 “Asher’s food will be rich;
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21 “Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.
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.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.”
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.
OBSERVATIONS: Jacob is about to die and summons all his sons before him to receive his final parental "blessing". I put "blessing" in quotes because a couple of them seem to be more of a parental curse than a blessing. And yet at the end of Jacob's pronouncements the Word says that each son received the blessing appropriate to him. I would especially not have been happy to be Reuben, Levi, or Simeon, who received the harshest words from their dying father. Jacob's words seem so foreign to our cultural mindset today. We are raised in a culture that tells us we should never favor one child over another, that we should be tolerant of our children's choices, especially when they are adults, and that it is wrong to "judge" others in any way. Our culture also does not stress honoring parents (or for that matter, any authority) the way it used to. It is actually seen as a noble intellectual exercise to question authority. So the negative words of Jacob to some of his children assaults our sense of love, justice, and family values.
APPLICATION: Wherever my values that I have grown up with are challenged by what I read in the Word, I need to first evaluate carefully to see if I am understanding the Word correctly and then if there is discrepancy between the two, it is my values that need to be brought into conformity with the Bible, not the other way around. This passage speaks to me of several values that are different from those of our current society:
1) Honoring parents is a theme in many scriptures. It is actually one of the 10 commandments. It is obviously very important to God that children do this, even as adults.
2) Judging your children's behavior when it does not conform to the values in the Word of God is a good thing. It means you are putting God first in your life above your kids. It also does not mean you don't love your children. In fact, in God's economy, judgment of wrong behavior and choices can be an act of love. The hope is that it motivates your kids to question what they are doing and to repent where necessary.
3) Equality of treatment is not a high value with God. Justice is much more important and those two are not the same thing.
4) God abhors actions taken in rash anger (Simeon and Levi)
It is interesting to me that none of the sons who received the harsh words from their father objected to what was said. They seemed to accept it as their due. This causes me to ask myself certain questions in light of this passage of scripture. Am I living my life in such a way as to receive the blessing of my heavenly Father or would his words to me be more of a curse? Is there anything in my life I need to repent of so that I can be sure I am living in a way that honors him instead of bringing him sorrow or shame?
PRAYER: Father, you are the most important person in my life. More than the approval of my husband, children, or other family and friends, I want to hear that I have pleased you with my life when I am face to face with you. Help me to discern where I need to change and give me the power to do so by your Spirit. I know you promise me that that power is available to me and I thank you for it. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
1 Comments:
Awesome post, Cynthia!!
Dianna
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