Last week we were reminded that all
of God's promises are yes and amen in Jesus who fulfilled it all
for us. All of His promises are therefore ours for the taking. We
can truly claim it for ourselves. We should search out the promises
that apply to our situation and then we should speak it out loud
and claim it for ourselves. God is gracious and kind and wants to
help us. He has given us everything that we need.
After seventeen years in Egypt and
at the age of one hundred and forty seven, it was time for Jacob to
die. It was truly a sad day for his sons and especially for Joseph
as he loved his father very much. In those days the father used to
bless his sons and prophecy over them on his death bed. And Jacob
was no different. With the help of God's Spirit he prophesied over
each of his sons. And he also took Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons
too, even though they were Joseph's sons. And they became part of
the tribes of Israel. In fact there are not twelve, but thirteen
tribes of Israel because of this. Now when the tribes of Israel are
mentioned in the Bible twelve is mentioned each time, with one
omitted. Sometimes Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned as one tribe
namely Joseph. Other times Levi is omitted as they became the
priests of God. And so it goes on. God had His reasons which one
was omitted every time and it certainly makes for an interesting
study.
Jacob first blessed the two sons of
Joseph and then he continued prophesying over his other sons. Some
received good blessings and others like Reuben who defiled his own
father's bed did not. Now wonderful studies have been done looking
at all of Jacob's prophesies and what came of it. It is very
interesting as most of them came true. For example he prophesied
that rulers would come from Judah and David and his line of kings
did and ultimately Jesus also came from the line of Judah. I
encourage you to go and read all these prophesies as well as what
happened to the different tribes. Years later Moses would also
prophesy over the different tribes of Israel and when you take the
two prophesies together for all the tribes it is truly interesting
and a topic for another day.
For now I just want to leave one
idea with you. I think it is wonderful that fathers bless their
sons. Jewish families do it on a weekly basis. Once a week they
have Sabbath, their day of rest and then they have a family meal
together. And after the meal the father will stand up and bless
each of his sons. And I believe that besides God blessing Israel
and declaring that the descendants of Abraham will be blessed, one
of the reasons why the Jews are so successful is because of this
weekly fatherly blessing.
We all know that our words carry
power. The Word tells us that and I am sure you have heard it from
different people. And it is so true. God created by speaking and we
are created in His image. Therefore what we speak also has creating
power. And when a father as head of the house speaks a blessing
over his sons it carries creating power too.
Now we do not have to be religious
about it and have Sabbath every week, but I truly think it would be
a great idea if the father of the house blesses his children on a
regular basis. I believe it will do the world of good if he
proclaimed God's promises in His Word over the children's lives. It
can make a huge difference in a child's life and I believe that we
should do it more often. If you do not have children then you can
speak blessings and the promises of God over those closest to you
too. Start doing it this week. May you be pleasantly surprised in
the weeks, months and years to come.
Father thank you that You have big
dreams for our children. Thank you that You love them and have good
plans for them. Help us to speak in line with those promises and
that Your will be done in their lives. Use us as Your vessels, we
want to speak Your Word into this world and make a difference with
the sword of Your Word in our hands. Amen