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In Genesis chapter 49, we find ourselves here in this section of the Bible at the end of Jacob’s life, we. We looked at this two weeks ago where Joseph knew his father’s life was coming to an end. So he brought his sons with him to spend some time with their grandfather, and he blesses his grandchildren. And now here in this story, we’re seeing Jacob do the same for his his entire family. He brings all of his sons together and he talks about their their future. Jacob’s thinking long term here for for what God has for them. And this is a beautiful place in which Jacob finds himself. Because if you remember how this story has gone, um, Joseph was a young man who was who was attacked by his own brothers, sold into slavery. His family just ripped apart. God had brought some restoring and healing. And through that, now they’re thinking beyond their thinking what God has for them in the future. And the father has gathered his his sons together, and he is sharing with him based on what he’s learned about his sons, the character and how they’ve now grown up. They’ve they’ve become adult men with their own families. He’s talking about their their future and what that looks like. And so we’re going to look at this passage together, and we’re going to glean from from this discussion five important lessons for your family. And when we talk in terms of family, I realize the word family can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people.
And so when we come to this, when you come to this passage, it doesn’t matter how old or young you are in terms of family, it doesn’t matter how big or small your family is, it doesn’t matter how perfect or messy you might think your family is right now. Um, there’s something in this passage that I think is important for, for all of us to to glean from as we learn from Grandpa Jacob imparting wisdom, his last message to his children, and he’s using the end of his life to take what he has left to impart to them, really, the wisdom that he has learned in the Lord as he thinks about their futures and their lives. And these first couple of points in your notes, these are really more antidotal in our understanding of this family as we began to communicate these lessons that he’s teaching them. But it says to us in Genesis 49 verse one, Then Jacob called his sons and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the days to come. Assemble and listen, all sons of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father. So he’s saying, this is it. And I want to get all of you together. These are my final moments, and I want to impart to you these lessons.
And these first couple of lessons are really observations we’ve seen from this, this family as we’ve read these, these chapters in the Bible. And we can say, particularly from Genesis 37, dealing with with the tension with Joseph and on. But number one is this all families are messy and God has not given up on you. All families are messy and God has not given up on you. Um, you know, sometimes we we, we read Scripture and we, we think, oh, this is, you know, stories of godly people and, well, that’s not us. And so this is for them. And we’re just trying to grab the little nuggets that might drop. But but it’s important to, to recognize as you read about this, this particular family that began with Abraham, that just because they were a godly family doesn’t mean they weren’t messy. In fact, if you’ve seen a theme throughout the book of Genesis, it’s that man. Everyone is messy. And here’s the reason we know that is because we’re people, and people get peopley. And so we are not perfect people. In fact, you might be thinking about your own family and you come to church this morning. You see, it’s a topic on family and you’re like, oh, great, we blew up before we got in the car this morning, right? Um, families are messy and God does not give up on you. And you see that in the life of Abraham, God called him.
Abraham took this incredible step of faith to follow God, but even his life was messy. I mean, you think in terms of a lady named Hagar and the conflict that was brought into Abraham’s family and his marriage with Sarah because of Hagar, and then it moves on further and further from there. It continues on in that, like with Isaac, he picked favorites and Jacob did the same thing. And it messed the family up. And and they’re more problems than that. They were messy. But even in the mess, you see God’s faithful hand, that God was still there. And the same is true for us this morning, that all families are messy and God has has not given up on you. In fact, what you discover in in life in general as a believer is that God uses relationships primarily as a refiner to your own relationship with him. I mean, I think marriage is one of the greatest sanctifies in understanding your own walk with Jesus. Because as people, when we’re kind of isolated, we can buy into the idea that, you know, I’m a pretty great person. You know, I’m really loving. I’m really patient. I’m. I’m really kind. I’m, you know, a peaceful, you know, all the fruits of the spirit. That’s me. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness until you get with someone else. In, in our tendency sometimes is to say, well, it’s their problem or it’s their fault, or they caused me to do that.
But reality is, you’re still responsible for you. And yeah, they may have done something that tempted you or provoked you, but they don’t dictate how you choose to respond. And you start to learn where you’re really surrendered to, to the Spirit of God in your life. Because when you’re really surrendered to the Spirit of God, the fruit of God should be made known in your life, no matter the circumstance. You’re in this, in this world. And so it helps us learn. You know, we might think to ourselves, today I was really loving, but not as patient as I hoped to be. And so we might think the answer is to try harder to be patient. But the truth is, when you read about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, it’s fruit singular, not fruits plural, meaning when the Spirit of God is working in your life, it’s all of those fruits all of the time. And when we don’t exhibit those things in our life, then it’s a demonstration that we may not be as surrendered to the Lord as much as we think we are. And so relationships become this refiner of of seeing what’s even happening in my own heart for me to recognize one, am I really surrender to God, but also to teach me about God’s patience? Right. Like, you know, sometimes in a relationship you see how broken people can be.
Sometimes you think, man, this is hard, but it’s a reminder to you that think about how many times God has been patient and gracious in your own life, and how good that makes the Lord as you experience difficulty in relationships around you. So all families are messy and this family is certainly not excluded. But God can refine you through relationship. So so don’t give up point number two then. Related to that, I have a God given calling in my family. I have a God given calling in my family. And it’s true in relationship in general. Christ calls you on mission in this world. But your first responsibility starts with your family. And you see Jacob stepping into that in this story. He’s taking the initiative. It’s not just recognizing, well, I’m responsible, you know, but it’s also saying, And God wants me to do something about it, to take initiative, not let things happen to you, but you happen to it. And you you step into what God desires for you to do in your family. Now, here in this story, we’re reading just this narrative of how Jacob is doing that. But if I gave you an imperative verse in the Bible, one of the probably more famous verses in regards to to family is in Ephesians chapter six, Ephesians six verse one. It says to you, really, no matter where you find yourself in family, we all have a calling, whether you’re the parent or you’re the kid.
Everyone in here this morning at least falls under the category of you’re someone’s child, right? And you may be without a parent, but there’s responsibility and family in Ephesians four or excuse me, Ephesians six speaks to that. It says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land. And then it says to fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. So you see these two different categories, one for child and one for parent here and for the child. It’s it’s learning what it means to be under authority. Right. And it comes this commandment comes with a blessing. And I think with this blessing, there’s just some practical wisdom that that God has given your parents to look out for your well-being and not just to help you survive. When you listen to them, it’s good to listen to your parents that can help you survive, but also to help you thrive. Understand God made you for a purpose, and you’re learning from them. What it means to be under authority as parents should be under authority, which is the Lord. Right. As parents, when you’re thinking about your children, you’re under your authority.
You’re also modeling for them. Or at least you should be modeling for them what it means to live under authority, because you’re ultimately under God’s authority. And so under his authority, you have you have the opportunity to demonstrate to your kids what it looks like to live under authority. And the purpose of that for your kids is so that when they become adults, they’ve learned what it means to, to honor and and to respect and and and to really submit. In Proverbs chapter 222, verse six, it says, train up a child in the way that it should go, and when it is older, it will not depart from it. Meaning you’re giving your these basic components to the life of your children. That’s going to help them for the rest of their lives. And so for you as a parent, it’s important to to not only be there, take that initiative, but to model it under God’s authority as they are under your authority. It’s Its meaning this as a parent, don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t say do what I say, not as I do, but demonstrate for them the kind of people that they should be becoming. And then for parents it says this. Fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in discipline and instruction. So it gives you one thing not to do as parents, and it gives you two things that you should do. And so I think the question for us is what does this look like.
And I want to particularly highlight first the two things that it tells us to do before I talk about the thing we shouldn’t do. But but this this verse is saying to us, look, when it comes to being a parent, this means you’re called to take responsibility and initiative. God expects for you to do something that kids are a gift. And in that gift, there’s also a responsibility to carry out that God has a plan for for their life. And this is where the word discipline and instruction comes in. The idea of discipline and instruction complement each other. But but they’re also distinct from one another. So you think in terms of what it means for discipline. That is, if I asked you give me give me a list of your top ten favorite words. Chances are discipline is not on there. Right? But but here’s the here’s the reality of discipline. Discipline is is healthy for for for life, for the body and for the soul. And the root word of discipline is actually disciple. And as followers of Jesus, that’s exactly what he calls you to be. Is a disciple, a follower of of the Lord. So there’s there’s certain disciplines that you follow in order to model your life after what Christ called of Christ and what he calls you to in him. And so this idea of discipline, sometimes the reason that we we don’t always like it is when we think about discipline.
What we immediately go to is consequence. But but I want you to know, there is a distinct and important difference between the thought of discipline and punishment. Discipline is not punishment. Punishment is just about meting out something against you because of something you’ve done wrong. Right. It’s this idea of of bringing vengeance or wrath because, well, you did something you shouldn’t have done. It was inappropriate and therefore punishment. Discipline is a far greater word than that. Discipline is all about the idea of who someone is called to become. Discipline carries this thought in mind that for you as a parent, that God has created your child for a purpose and you have as a parent this responsibility and privilege to see your child succeed towards that purpose. And so discipline is this idea of helping your child with what they need, where they are in life to succeed for the purpose of which God has created them. Discipline is all about an end goal in mind, whereas punishment is just about that temporal executing the justice in that moment. The discipline has a far greater picture in mind that God has made your kid for a reason, and you are put in that position to help your child a live for that purpose of knowing God and living for his glory in this world. So discipline has this this end picture in mind.
And so for parents and understanding that this should also be a humbling word for us to say, man, if God has me in that role for my child, how important it is for me to really walk with the Lord in order to lead someone else along, because I’m not going to be able to lead someone where I myself have not been led. And so your your own relationship with the Lord becomes paramount in that. And so this, this idea of discipline then is also positioned in this next this word for instruction and the distinction between two of these. Uh, discipline has this idea is more of what it is I’m supposed to be doing, or instruction is more of what it is I need to know. Instruction is this idea of imparting wisdom teaching to your child? Discipline is this idea of helping them live it out practically. What does that look like in my life played out? And so there’s this distinction of how that happens. And in fact, I think between these two words, it becomes important to emphasize one more than the other in different circumstances and also in different ages for your children. What I mean is, sometimes parents can make the mistake when your kids are young to reverse the order of what’s most important for your child. What I mean is, sometimes when your kid is young, you can say a lot and do very little.
And when they’re young, it’s, it’s it’s intended to be the exact opposite, meaning kids when they’re little, they’re their attention span and their retention and their wisdom in life is not as as robust as hopefully when they get older. And so when they’re younger, you’re more hands on and discipline and not quite as much as instruction. But as they get older and they demonstrate the ability to be trusted, you start to let out that kite string. And so your objective in life becomes more about being a sage and less about the, the discipline. And you know, as you might know this, if you have adult kids, like nobody likes to be told what to do, right? So so even as a parent, you have to become wise in how you impart that wisdom. And sometimes you even have to wait for them to ask. Go through some some humbling situations or some complications before they might even look for advice from you. But but the role changes as they mature. You go more to instruction and less in discipline. But. But the important part is to understand that God has called you for both of those in the life of your child in order to help them become who God has called him to be. I have a God given calling in my family in terms of healthy discipline. You know, I think it’s important. My wife and I have had a few thoughts in mind that we’ve just kind of circulated on as parents.
I’ll say these real quick if you don’t like them, you can brain dump them and don’t apply them. Okay. But but one is what you permit in private. They will perform in public. You know, your kids don’t leave the house and all of a sudden become better. So at least some sometimes, right? Like it might be true in certain situations, but and so if you see your kids doing something in public, it’s just a reminder of how you might work with them in private. Because what you permit in private, they they become in public. Um, if you have to count to ten, you have already lost, right? Your kids have trained you more than you have trained them. And so learning that that kids should do what they’re asked to do the first time with the right attitude. You know, it’s not just doing the thing that they’re asked to do, but you also want to have the right attitude that goes along with it. And you might see your kid do what’s asked, but with the poor attitude. And it’s just a reminder as a parent where they need to learn and grow, discipline and instruction, how we can be involved. And last is this discipline with with a consequence appropriate to their behavior and be engaged when correcting meaning. Sometimes you know you’ll see this with parents. And by the way, I’m not judging anybody to say I have no example of you personally.
And whatever happens to your kids today, you get grace. Okay? But I know sometimes you come to church in the morning and you might have had some complication getting here. So I’m not. I’m just we’re just tossing this out, okay? We know family is perfect all the time, but. But when it comes to to the idea of parenting, you know, sometimes parents discipline out of anger. And and you should never discipline out of anger. Anger is just about executing what you want. You discipline for the purpose of what God ultimately desires for your child. And so the discipline should should match as a consequence to where they are. And sometimes parents will tell a kid something multiple times, and the kid hasn’t obeyed because the kids learn not to obey when the parent says something at the first time. So the parent eventually just blows up and loses it. And this is where it becomes important to learn. As a parent. You’ve got to be engaged that when you say something, you need to make sure that what you say you’re going to follow up on it because you’re going to educate your kids, not to listen to you the first time you say it. And so when you say something, you need to be prepared to deliver or follow up on what you say. And and when a child doesn’t obey, to be there, to execute a discipline the right way.
Meaning if you’re in talking with a parent and your kid’s acting up, sometimes you’ll see parents just shout out something to your kid to correct them, maybe even discipline them so they can go back to having a conversation. But can I tell you in that conversation, whoever you’re talking to, that person is not going to be with you forever. That child, on the other hand, will write. And so. So what you in that moment need to say as a parent is, look, I really appreciate this conversation. I respect what you’re saying. It’s very important to me. But but I need to do something for just a minute. If you give me just a moment, I can come back and let me just continue this conversation. And you take your child not not for the purpose of embarrassing them, but you pull them to a place where you can really focus together. And if your kid’s young, I mean, you get down on one knee and you look at them in the face, and if their little look, you don’t need necessarily an explanation when you sit down and say, why? Why did you do that? I can tell you why your kids do the things they do. They’re sinful human beings just like you and me, right? That’s not a surprise. But when they’re younger, the most important question you can ask him is what did you do that they can identify for you the inappropriate behavior so that when you give the consequences fresh on their mind, this was wrong.
Therefore, this is the consequence because of what I’ve done and you engage with them right then at that moment that you’re they understand that you are there because you love them, right? You’re not doing it out of anger, but you’re doing it out of care. And kids, I think love in their lives, they will never say this, but healthy boundaries teach your children that the parent is there for their well-being. And so there’s a form of love that is communicated through that. Um, I have a God given calling to my family. I need to move on. So the question is, what does it mean to provoke your kids? And and I’m going to give it to you that the answer to that with point number three, you should not minister to each person the same way. You should not minister to each person the same way. And you see, Jacob does this with his family in verse 28. Now we’re skipping verse 3 to 27 for a minute, but I want you to see this. It says, all these are the 12 tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. So Jacob recognizes his kids are all in different places, and so he speaks into their life based on where they are in their life.
And the same thing is true with kids right now. Here’s reality. Um, truth does not change. That’s accurate. Truth does not change. Truth is absolute. But how you contextualize the truth can look different. It can look different based on the age of the child. It can look different based on the maturity level, but based on the circumstances that that that a kid is going through, it can look different based on the personality of a child. I’ve got a child that if I just say the word discipline, they melt and then I’ve got other children. That takes a little bit more discipline, right? And I won’t tell you who’s who. I got great kids, okay? But but you got to meet you meet your kids where they are. And this idea of provoking is a word that tells you, as a parent, you need to walk with that understanding, because you can come so heavy handed toward your children that it makes them frustrated and they feel in, unable to live up to the expectation that you’ve given to them. This idea of provoking is this idea of this reasonable, unreasonable expectation on your child and where they are. It’s frustrating them not to succeed, but actually fail. And so he’s saying, look, parents, your responsibility is to understand where your kid is to the best of your ability and understand how the Lord would want to minister to them where they are and order them for them to learn the discipline to succeed, to become who God has called them to be.
So the idea of provoking is this reminder of never discipline out of anger. And you might get angry, but. But your discipline is for the purpose of what God has called them to, helping them become who God has called them to be. In fact, I would say that the goal of parenting is not primarily about behavior modification, but rather heart transformation. God’s interest ultimately is in their heart, and sometimes as a parent, we we can quickly focus on what our kids are doing and forget that the most important thing is who they are becoming. Helping your child by ministering to their heart because you as a parent can come in so heavy handed, provoking them that sure your kids will obey because well, you’re a tyrant and no one wants to put up with that. But when your kids become 18, what’s going to end up happening is your kids are going to just completely cut you off altogether and never want to hear from you again. But you can have an important role in their life. Now, I say all that in realizing families are messy and kids don’t always respond healthy either. But. But God’s in your own relationship for for the. You have opportunity to continue to impart wisdom to your children.
Number four then my family is not an excuse for becoming who God has called me to be. My family is not an excuse for becoming who God has called me to be. Um, for those that of you that have had difficult families, I think this this section, verse three to verse 27 can be encouraging for all of us. You know, Jacob’s kids were all raised in the same family and they ended up vastly different, making all sorts of different life choices. But yet they were all raised in the same family. Some of them chose to live godly lives. Some of them chose not to live godly lives. And the one kid that had an excuse for what he might do with his life out of all of them was Joseph. And what’s amazing about Joseph is he turned out better than any of them. And so when you when you look at Joseph’s life, the fact that he had so much struggle, it should be an encouragement to us that, you know, if you’ve had a difficult life, we don’t want anyone to have a difficult life. And if you’ve had one, I’m. I’m sorry. And we we want life to be full of great things if it can. But but you can also be encouraged that that, you know, for the upbringing. It’s it’s your upbringing is not the primary determiner of who you become, but rather the decisions that you make dictate who you become.
And Jacob is an example of that. You know, if I asked you this morning how many of you had perfect families, you don’t have to raise your hand on this, but I can tell you the amount of hands that will be raised will will definitely be a smaller amount of people, right? That most of us have some sort of brokenness, maybe skeleton in our in our family. But that’s not the primary determiner of the person that you become. Your decisions are and what your life is surrendered to and how God shapes you in that. You may have had good examples of what not to do, and you may have had some examples of what you should do, but your family is not an excuse. In fact, what what you need, you don’t need an excuse. What you need is a plan, and that’s who the Lord is in your life. He is a he is. You may have had a terrible father, but God is a good father, and his purpose is are for you in order to bless you. In fact, we’ll see that in just a moment. But you see this layout with the family, and I’m going to go through this really quickly. Okay? This is like a synopsis. Super speed through this family. In verse three it starts to share with us the different family members as as the father brings them in.
And what you’re going to find out in the very beginning here, the first three kids he talks about makes you feel really good about your own family. Okay, this is like the next time you go to your family, you might think to yourself, you know, we’ve got some things going on, but we are not as bad as these guys, right? These guys are on a different level. So. So he starts off and and so he shares a word with his first three kids that are the most challenging kids. And sometimes the best thing that you can share with your kids is a difficult word out of love for them. And this is what happens. Verse three. Reuben, you’re my firstborn. Uh, my my might and the fruits of my strength and preeminent and dignity and preeminent and power unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence because you went up to your father’s bed, and then you defiled it. He went up to my my couch. He’s saying, look, you think you’re entitled and you’re owed. It’s like he’s the most American of this group here. He thinks he’s entitled. He just gets it because, well, his family has it, right? That’s that’s Ruben and his story. But he says, but but son, in verse four, your character stinks, right? And you can’t be trusted with this stuff because you’re all you could ultimately use it for more destruction. It’s like if you ever read the stories of lottery winners, you know, sometimes those stories, most of the time I feel like those stories do not go well.
After a few years, they’re bankrupt, and having more didn’t necessarily make things better. In fact, some people tend to think like that. Well, you know, things are like this because I don’t have enough. But if you give me more stuff, suddenly things will become better. It’s like, no, if you’re faithful in the little things, then that’s evidence that you’ll be faithful and good things. Just because you get more doesn’t make things magically make things better. In fact, it gives you more power to be more destructive. And this is what he’s saying to Ruben, this warning that your character has not grown as you’ve aged. And because of that, it puts you in a difficult place. And the way that he points it out is how, um, Ruben slept with his fathers wife. He’s saying, look at this problem. Right? And then for Simon and Levi, our brothers weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council. All my glory be joined, not be joined to their company. He’s saying, look, sons, everyone’s afraid of you. I’m afraid of you. In fact, he says in verse six, I’m so afraid of you I don’t even want to know. Don’t tell people your last name. Right. So he’s saying this story. It’s kind of like you ever have that friend where you go out in public and they just say things, you’re like, this is embarrassing.
And you’re like, you might be with someone and they say something that’s unkind. You’re like, oh my gosh, I hope I’m not guilty by association. I hope they don’t think that. I think that because this person thinks that and you’re just kind of like bowing your head in that. Well, this is Simon and Levi in this story saying, sons, look at this concern. And it goes on and says, for in their anger they killed men and their willfulness. They hamstrung oxen. I mean, these brothers, they literally they killed an entire town. Their sister was raped, and they wanted to bring justice. But rather than go just to the person who who violated their sister, they just killed everybody. And they’re like, you guys are terrible people. And not only that, he’s saying they torture animals for fun. That’s what serial killers do, right? Verse seven, cursed be their anger, for it is fierce and their wrath for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. He’s saying with people like that there there’s not a future. You can’t build on that. That’s just living for yourself. It’s destructive to everyone around you. And so you see this father, he’s speaking into his son’s life, where they’re at, to understand what this leads to. And like I said, first three people, this makes me feel really good about, you know, anyone else’s family.
This is this is rough. But then he goes on For Judah. Your brother shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion, a lion cub from the prey. My son, you have gone up. He stopped down. He crouched as a lion and a lioness. Who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah. Let me just say, Judah is a redemption story, and this is what our heart is for people to experience what Judah has experienced. Because when you read about Judah’s life, if you remember, Judah is the one who came up with the idea to sell his brother into slavery and he married an ungodly woman. He raised ungodly kids. His kids were so bad, God took them home early and and he ended up sleeping with a prostitute who he later found out was his deceased son’s daughter in law. He didn’t know it at the time, but his life was a wreck. But. But you read in Genesis 43, chapter 44, chapter 46, he went through a transformation because in his broken sinfulness he surrendered his life to the Lord. And you see, it demonstrated in how he took care for his own family that he becomes this redemption story to the point that God even promises to Judah in this passage that he’s going to become the lineage of Jesus.
King David comes from Judah and a revelation five that’s quoted here under verse ten. Revelation five five that you see this worship of Christ as the lion of the tribe of Judah in the book of Revelation. So here he is in his brokenness and all the the mess of his past. But he finds the grace of God and it transforms him moving into the future. Because that’s the beauty of of God not giving up on us, that we have that opportunity in him no matter where we’ve been. God’s desire is for your heart. God doesn’t want you to impress him with who you are. He wants to impress you with who he is, that your life would be surrendered to him. God can bring incredible transformation and and salvation to our souls. He goes on with just a list of his kids here for Zebulon, he says, shall dwell at the shore of the sea. He shall become a haven for ships. And and his border shall be at Sidon. I mean, he knows this particular sun loves the ocean. Maybe he loves fishing. Loves ships. Not all his kids are like that. But sometimes when you see your kids gifted in a certain way, they just need to be encouraged to do what they’re already doing. A great job, son. Just continuing on, I see see your heart for this. I see your passion for this.
It’s going to be great. Things just continue on this path. And that’s where he’s encouraging his son. And Ishikari says is a strong donkey. Crouching between the Sheepfolds, he saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasant. So he bowed in his shoulder to bear, and he became a servant in forced labor. He saying, it’s the car. I mean, God made you for something. He references him as a donkey here. So he’s he’s made for something he’s saying, but he’s like, but you’re lazy. Like, rather than do what donkeys do, you’re just hiding in the sheep, son. And I don’t even know how to encourage you because you won’t get off the couch. I don’t even know what you’re good at. I don’t even know what you’re gifted at. But you need to get off the couch and do something. It’s a strange thing in this passage. It’s like you’re depressed. No wonder you’re depressed. God made you to do things in this world to reflect his glory. Of course you’re depressed. You’re not doing something. You should be depressed, right? So get off your rear and do something. He’s saying this story. He’s saying if you don’t do that, then someone else is going to be master over you, forcing you to do something. Why don’t you take control of your own destiny and live for the purpose which God has created you? And as soon as we learn what that is.
But as you start doing things, we’ll encourage you further. Look at Issachar. Right. He found the sea. And then Dan, he says, shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path that bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backwards. And what it’s saying is, Dan is a man of justice. He looks out for for the widow and for the orphan and for the foreigner. He wants to take care of people in their need. And I don’t mean like, you know, an American social justice person today. I mean like a real justice person, like not one that just gets on Facebook and tells people you know what they think, but someone who gets his hands dirty and actually cares about people. Not a virtue signaler but but someone who really he’s doing things he doesn’t have to tell people. Look how great I am because I do things. He just does it because he has a compassionate heart for the brokenness of of people. And so he serves them. And his father is affirming that. And for God he says, but he shall raid. Uh, excuse me? He says, raiders shall raid God, but he shall raid at their heels. And his dad’s just acknowledging Gad, you’ve gone through some difficult time, but don’t be discouraged, because God’s also made you a warrior, and it could be the same for us.
Some of us this morning we could be discouraged. But let me just encourage you that that God, God is with you, that in adversity we face also becomes a beautiful moment to demonstrate our faithfulness to the Lord. That when we face hardship, to show above the hardship that we might go through, that Christ is what ultimately matters to us. And so he’s encouraging God in this. And for Asher, he says, food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies. So Asher continue on, son, and and and caring for people God’s with with your your farming abilities. God can do great things. Naphtali, he says, is the dough let loose that bears beautiful fawns. I love this one. This is my favorite. He’s like, son, you’re handsome. You married a beautiful gal. You’re going to make beautiful babies. It’s really something he’s saying in the story. Give me more grandbabies. And then verse 22, Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring. His branches run over the wall. You know when, when it comes to Joseph, I love the consistency of who he is in all things. He’s saying, son, you’re like a flourishing branch in the midst of a desert. And for for people that have ever lived in a desert. You know how how refreshing that can be, right? When it seems like everything else is, is dead.
That here, this, this moment, it has life. It’s incredible to be with people like that when when life just seems hard to be around that person that just drips the sweetness and the grace of God, it’s refreshing to the soul. I mean, you know what that’s like, you know, living in a desert, and then you go through winter and as you get towards the end of winter, you’re like, I’m really sick of winter. I can’t wait for spring. And you look out one day and that tree is budded, and then all of a sudden the flowers start popping on it and you’re like, man, I just need a high five. Someone over there. This is amazing. Like out of death comes life. And that’s what it’s saying. Joseph is that’s who he’s been. In fact, verse 23, the archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, harassed him severely, yet his bow remained unmoved. His arm his arms were made agile by the hands of the mighty One of Jacob. He’s saying, son, you’ve always remained consistent no matter what other people have thrown at you. Other people didn’t dictate who you were. The Lord did, and you were faithful to follow after him because you knew God was with you. You know this should be the goal for all of us, really. But but his father’s is just affirming this, this, this model for other people to understand and I love. In verse 25 he says, and by the God of your father, who will help you by the mighty hand, who will bless you up with blessings of heaven and blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, and blessings of the breast of the womb.
I mean, he’s saying, that’s really God’s heart for us. God desires to bless you. And so he’s encouraging the son just to stay the course of the the man he has become because that’s the kind of life that God can bless. And when you think about in terms of being a child, honouring your parents, sometimes some parents don’t make that easy. Always. And the way that we might navigate that with certain familial relationships might look different because, well, sometimes it’s just not always easy. But learning what it means to to do that despite the adversity we face, that’s what God calls us to do. And the same is true for Joseph and the adversity he faced. He just he just no matter what was happening, faithful to the Lord. And the last there I should read is Benjamin. And Benjamin is one that says, a ravenous wolf in the morning, devouring the prey at the evening, dividing the spoil. Now he’s the baby of the family, and people might expect the baby is spoiled. But the father is saying, don’t underestimate the baby here. Because the baby wakes up in the morning. He’s like, he’s going to grab the world by the hands and he’s going to make things happen rather than wait.
He’s the kind of guy who’s like, you know, I could go to the grocery store or I could go to the woods, kill it, and eat it myself. Right? That’s what he does. He’s he makes things by his hand. He makes sure it gets done. That’s that’s Benjamin. But the father here has gathered his children, and he’s looking down the corridors of time. And he’s saying, look, here’s the kind of people you are. So here’s the future that I’m seeing because of that, for the purposes of continuing to encourage his children. And so, point number five, let me give you this last one. We are on five, right. Okay. Thank you. Interactive today where you start is not as important as where you finish. Where you start is not as important as where you finish. Um, look, we mess up, and sometimes we get to the place where we mess up, where we might raise our hands and think, well, what’s it worth? It’s. This is useless. Like, it’s not achieving the results that you want or expect. But can I tell you, the goal at the end of the day is not to necessarily run after results. Those are nice. The goal is just to honor the Lord where you are right now. That’s what God desires and let the results take care of themselves. And I love Jacob is not a perfect man.
Um, he’s lived a pretty broken life. But here he is in the final moments of his life, and he just wants to take those last moments and pour into his family what he’s able to do, where he’s at. You know, he could sit there discouraged over the things that didn’t go the way that he had hoped. But but he’s looking forward into the things that he anticipates. In fact, he says, then he commanded them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite. You know, we’ve we’ve talked about this cave before. This is the cave of the patriarchs. You can see this cave today if you Google the cave of the patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob are buried there along with their wives. And then verse 33, when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and gathered to his people. Um. Jacob, at the end of his life has demonstrating himself as a man of wisdom. And let me just tell you the difference between a man of wisdom and a foolish man. A foolish man lives for the temporal pleasures of the day. A wise man thinks in terms of legacy. And Jacob wants to use his life to pour into the next generation, to see them become who God has called them to be.
And his life for us becomes an example and and a place of reflection to think about our own. What is it God desires to do for me? What is it God desires to do in me? What is it God desires to do through me? Your your first responsibility in ministry starts with your family, but you can’t even really begin to minister to them. Well, without a heart that’s completely surrendered to the Lord God. If I’m going to lead them well, I need to be led well. God help my heart to follow after you that I may be the person that you have called me to be. And Lord, then see through that the opportunity to lead others down that same road. And Jacob, I think it took him a lot of lumps to learn that. But here is the end of his life. Grandpa Jacob using these last moments to not only teach his children, but to become an example for us. Because my hope and heart for us as a church is that our families to be able to be, to follow after the Lord. A society and a church is only as strong as the families that make it up. But and when our hearts are given over to the Lord, the blessing, it is not only you to your family, but your family, to your church and community.