Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20090322.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Genesis: Explaining The Foundations Of History
Part VII: Explaining God's Plan To Bless Men Regardless Of Apostasy
HH. Heeding God's Appraisals Of Jacob's Sons For Future Blessings
(Genesis 48:1-49:27)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    All of us have memories both of happiness as well as sadness, both of triumphs as well as defeats, both of things for which we are grateful, and things we wish we could forget.

    In view of this mix of good and bad of the past, have you ever wondered what God might suggest so that we could adjust to insure His richest blessings for our future?

    As an example, consider the people who were involved in the big vehicle accident that occurred at the foot of Avon Mountain in July of 2005. Last Monday, David Wilcox, owner of the dump truck that sped down the hill out of control and created the havoc, pleaded guilty to a host of charges in Superior Court in Hartford. The Tuesday Republican-American, p. 1A, 7A noted that an official examination of the 88 pieces of broken clutch and brake parts that were strewn along the path that the runaway truck took revealed replacement parts had been improperly installed, mismatched or adjusted, and that six of the truck's tires were legally unfit for road use! Mr. Wilcox had chosen to save money by not keeping his truck in proper working condition, a financial decision that turned out to be a very costly, destructive one!

    On the other hand, surviving victims and victim families are today trying to cope with the emotional, physical and financial fallout of the accident. Juan Tomasi who suffered serious injuries was at first willing to forgive Mr. Wilcox until he "saw him on television, angry and avoiding comment." Thus, his daughter feels Mr. Wilcox "should have gotten life" versus the six-year prison term he will likely be handed. (Ibid.)

    So, in view of all this, what God would say to all of the people affected by that 2005 tragedy on how they should respond now to the accident so as to enjoy His richest blessings in their future?

    For that matter, we might wonder what God might say to US with our awkward mixture of bad and good in our OWN pasts!



    So we ask, "In view of the way my life has turned out so far, with its awkward mix of good and bad, what would God suggest I do to gain His richest blessings in my future?!"

    Need: "I want God's richest blessings on what years I have left in this life, so, in view of where I am now, what would He suggest?!"

  1. In Jacob's latter years, he confessed that his life had been brief and hard, implying he had lived short of God's best for him, Gen. 47:9.
  2. Yet, Hebrews 11:21 shows Jacob's BEST ACT came AFTER this CONFESSION in his BLESSING Joseph's sons, Gen. 47:28-48:14!
  3. If we view Jacob's God-inspired blessings of ALL his sons, we have insight on gaining God's best future blessings, Genesis 48:1-49:27:
    1. God had Jacob replace his own eldest sons with Joseph's eldest sons in honor due to their records of either honoring or dishonoring him:
      1. Reuben and Simeon had dishonored Jacob by Reuben's immorality and Simeon's massacre of innocent pagans, Gen. 35:22; 34:24-30.
      2. Yet, Joseph had honored his father (Gen. 37:2; 45:13), so Jacob replace his eldest sons with Joseph's eldest sons in honor and in memory of Joseph's mother, Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife, 48:1-7.
    2. [This shift came with Jacob's blessing Ephraim over Manasseh in line with God's past sovereign precedents with the patriarchs of blessing the younger over the older (Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben), Gen. 48:8-22; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 97.]
    3. God had Jacob avoid giving Reuben the elder son blessing, for he'd tried to rule the family by an immoral act, 49:1-4; 35:22; Ibid., p. 85.
    4. God had Jacob direct the sons of Levi and Simeon to be scattered in Israel for slaying innocent pagans in a rage, Gen. 49:5-7; 34:24-30.
    5. God had Jacob give Judah leadership blessing for using his influence to repent, to lead others to repent and to protect the vulnerable:
      1. Though Judah failed to keep his oath to give his youngest son in marriage to Tamar, he later acknowledged this sin, Gen. 38:1-30.
      2. Though he had led his brothers to sell Joseph, Judah later led them to repent and to shield the vulnerable, Gen. 37:26-27; 44:18-34.
      3. For victory over sin and considerate leadership, Judah was blessed to produce Israel's kings, especially Messiah and His rule, 49:8-12.
    6. God had Jacob bless Zebulun with "seaborne trade (though it did not border the Mediterranean, Josh. 19:10-11)," Ibid., p. 99; Gen. 49:13. This modest blessing came to a modestly upright son, so one judge Elon (Jud. 12:11-12) rose from Zebulun, and the tribe played a role in defeating both Sisera and the Midianites, Jud. 4:10; 5:14, 18 and 6:35.
    7. God had Jacob bless Issachar with a mixed blessing, for he had been strong, but LAZY, Ibid; Gen. 49:14. Barak of Issachar failed to take proper leadership in war, so a woman instead of Barak was honored to be able to slay the invading commander, Judges 4:1-9, 21-22.
    8. God had Jacob give Dan a partial blessing, for though he led, he used treachery in his influence like a serpent (Gen. 49:17): Samson was from Dan (Jud. 13:1-25, but Dan slew peaceful folk to take land God did not give them, and they were the first to go apostate, Jud. 18; Ibid.
    9. [God had Jacob interject a message of hope in God's salvation at this point, a fitting call given Dan's future apostasy, cf. Genesis 49:18.]
    10. God had Jacob claim Gad would be invaded but later overcome them, reflecting Gad's mixed spiritual record, Gen. 49:19. In Moses' era, Gad's settling east of the Jordan led to its liability to attack, Num. 32.
    11. God had Jacob predict Asher's tribe would enjoy material abundance, a prediction fulfilled in the tribe's being assigned the seacoast north of Mount Carmel in honor of Asher's partial uprightness; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Genesis 29:20. Anna, in Luke 2:36-38 is the only key godly figure in Scripture to arise from the tribe of Asher!
    12. Naphtali would be swift and eloquent in speech, Gen. 49:21. Judges 4:6,15 and 5:1-31 record the fulfillment of this prophecy in Naphtali's victory over Sisera's fast chariots and in Deborah's victory song.
    13. God had Jacob predict Joseph's sons would enjoy the eldest son's special blessings, for Joseph had overcome his brothers' hateful mistreatment to excel and do good , Genesis 49:22-26. The tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim produced influential rulers like Gideon and Jephthah, and the Northern Kingdom kings starting with Jeroboam I.
    14. God had Jacob say Benjamin would conquer but be cruel! This was a startling critique of Jacob's loved youngest son (Gen. 42:38), but men in his tribe committed a cruel abuse that led to war, and that to more abuses (Jud. 19-21), and tragic king Saul came from this tribe.
Application: For God's best future blessings, (1) may we trust in Christ as Savior to become a child of God, John 1:11-12. (2) Then, in the Holy Spirit's power (Gal. 5:16-23), may we apply the lessons of Jacob's blessings to (a) repent of past sins and protect the vulnerable as did Judah, to (b) overcome mistreatment like Joseph and to (c) avoid the sins of Jacob's other sons!

Lesson: God led Jacob to predict the future for each of his sons' seed in accord with their record of sin and righteousness to MOTIVATE them and future generations to ADJUST their OWN behaviors for BLESSING!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 God applied this message in a remarkable way last week:

On March 9, I sent a letter to the editor of the Waterbury paper, the Republican-American. I was concerned about actions by the co-chairs of the legislative Judiciary Committee for violating the rights of Catholic officials in trying to restructure their Church roles in bill S. B. 1098 that was introduced on March 6th! I also voiced dismay at the committee leaders' mistreatment of the sole survivor of the Cheshire home invasion to further their agenda! I wanted to defend wronged people by urging the Judiciary Committee leaders to change course!

After mailing the letter, I admit I had second thoughts about the endeavor, for I hadn't wanted to disrespect any government officials. Yet, in a return call, the paper's editor was very encouraging, and he suggested the letter be updated so he could use it (as S. B. 1098 had been tabled due to a public outcry just after I had sent my first draft)! He expressed dismay at the wrongs of the Judiciary Committee leaders, so I sent the editor a revised letter on March 12th!

On the morning of March 18th, I heard Brad Davis interview a lawyer on his radio show. This lawyer felt the Judiciary Committee leaders, who are lawyers, had so blatantly violated the Bill of Rights in their wording of S. B. 1098, they had violated their own lawyer code, and stood to be judicially disciplined! Yet, this lawyer said many lawyers feared the Judiciary Committee leaders due to their power over lawyers, so they were afraid to bring charges against them!

In hearing this, and in learning later that the letter had been printed in THAT DAY'S paper, I realized Judah's role in defending the vulnerable (Genesis 44:15-34) had been given to me by the Lord: He had arranged for the TIMING of the public outcry against the bill that led to its being tabled, and as this outcry came BEFORE the paper got my first draft so that my letter ran the DAY I heard of this lawyer's testimony, I realized God had arranged for me to FORM that letter to address a RECEPTIVE public for its GOOD, and HELP VULNERABLE, FEARFUL folk!

Of course, now I am GLAD I wrote that letter to help others!

Regarding future divine blessings, may we trust in Christ as Savior to become sons of God. Then, by the Holy Spirit's power, may we ADJUST as necessary to REPENT, to OVERCOME or to AVOID SIN as GOD LEADS for His RICH FUTURE blessing!