Israel – Page 15 – Praying Pint

40.w. “I AM WHO I AM.”

Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

There are many names given to God in Genesis: God Most High, Almighty God, Everlasting God, The Lord will Provide, and the God Who Sees. When God answers Moses question, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”, it might seem strange to refer to one’s self with the phrase, “I AM WHO I AM” I AM sent you. God has no equal. If we say God is Love we cannot say Love is God for He is greater than love.

God told Moses His name was I AM because God simply is; there was never a time when He did not exist, or a time when He will cease to exist. God told Moses His name was I AM because God simply is; there was never a time when He did not exist, or a time when He will cease to exist. I AM: This is a divine title that Jesus took upon Himself often, clearly identifying Himself with the voice from the burning bush.

i. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM [He], you will die in your sins. (John 8:24)

ii. Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM [He], and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.” (John 8:28)

iii. Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58)

iv. Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I AM. (John 13:19)

v. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I AM [He].” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, “I am [He],” they drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18:4-6) (Guzik)

It is also connected with the idea that God is eternal and unchanging. “Strictly speaking, there is no past or future tense in the Divine Vocabulary. When God appears to employ them, it is by way of accommodation to our limited horizons.” (Meyer)

“I AM” is everything and so much more than we can imagine. We can fill in the blank “I AM “, and still understate who God is; “The Bread of Life, Living Water, Love, Grace, Mercy, Everlasting, Ever-present, All-knowing, All-Powerful, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Redeemer, Good Shepherd, Light in the darkness, All-Mighty, Heavenly Father, Author, and Finisher, etc…….”

With reverence and awe, we should live out our lives in such a way that brings honor and glory to “I AM”.

40.p. “He will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them.”

Exodus 2:23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Nehemiah 9:9   “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea,

Psalms 18:6    In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalms 81:7  In distress you called, and I delivered you;

Psalms 107:19-20   Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

Isaiah 19:20   It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them.

God did not turn His attention to Israel because they were such good people, but because of the covenant He made with them. (Guzik)

Probably the murdering of their infants did not continue; that part of their affliction only attended the birth of Moses, to signalize that. And now they were content with their increase, finding that Egypt was enriched by their labour; so they might have them for their slaves, they cared not how many they were. On this therefore they were intent, to keep them all at work, and make the best hand they could of their labour. When one Pharaoh died, another rose up in his place, that was as cruel to Israel as his predecessors. And they cried — Now at last they began to think of God under their troubles, and to return to him from the idols they had served, Ezekiel 20:8. Hitherto they had fretted at the instruments of their trouble, but God was not in all their thoughts. But before God unbound them, he put it into their hearts to cry unto him. It is a sign God is coming to us with deliverance when he inclines us to cry to him for it. (Benson)

How much do we suffer without taking it to Jesus? How long do we wait before we see Him as our hope? Jesus is ever-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful and is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can even imagine. His power and knowledge have no end. Why is it that we try to resolve our trials and troubles in our own reliance and limited knowledge and understanding? How much peace and rest have we forfeited because we choose not to cry out to Him? I fear way too many times. Let us draw near and never choose to leave the presence of our savior for even a single minute of every moment. Purpose in your heart to stay close and honor and glorify Him in all thoughts, words, and deeds.

40.j. “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied”

Exodus 1:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

This was God’s purpose for Israel’s time in Egypt. Egypt served as a mother’s womb for Israel, a place where they rapidly grew from a large clan to a mighty nation. The nation could not grow this way in Canaan, because it was practically impossible to avoid intermarriage with the pagan and wicked inhabitants of Canaan. Egypt was so racially biased and had such an entrenched system of racial separation that Israel could grow there over several centuries without being assimilated. This growth in the face of affliction has consistently been the story of God’s people, throughout all ages – the more they are afflicted, the more they grow. As the ancient Christian writer Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Because God’s purpose was to bless Israel and fulfill His role for them in His eternal plan, no amount of affliction could defeat His purpose. The Egyptians tried their best through cruel slavery; but it did not work. The principle of Isaiah 54:17 proved true: No weapon formed against you shall prosper. The wickedness of the Egyptians could hurt the children of Israel but could never defeat God’s plan for them. Pharaoh thought it best to not kill them; but he did want them to be slaves. In the midst of their cruel and harsh service, life must have seemed hopeless to the children of Israel, and the idea that God was working out His plan must have seemed very far away – yet it was true nonetheless. (Guzik)

40.i. “But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly”

Exodus 1:1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

From the call of Abraham, when God first told him he would make him a great nation, to the deliverance of his seed out of Egypt, were four hundred and thirty years; during the first two hundred and fifteen of which they were increased to seventy, but in the latter half, those seventy multiplied to six hundred thousand fighting men.(Benson)

During more than 200 years, while Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived at liberty, the Hebrews increased slowly; only about seventy persons went down into Egypt. There, in about the same number of years, though under cruel bondage, they became a large nation. This wonderful increase was according to the promise long before made unto the fathers. Though the performance of God’s promises is sometimes slow, it is always sure.(Henry)

The first verses of Exodus reach back some 430 years. The story of the Exodus begins where the story Genesis ends: a large family with a crucial place in God’s plan of the ages and their migration to Egypt. Joseph was the remarkable great-grandson of Abraham who saved Egypt – and the world – from terrible famine because he listened to God’s voice speaking through Pharaoh’s dream. Because of his wisdom and administration, he was lifted to high and honored office in Egypt. Yet eventually, Joseph died and the status his family enjoyed died with him. (Guzik)

The promise given to Abraham concerning a great nation coming from his family was God’s plan and promise. We look at the time from promise to Abraham until Joseph and there are 70 up till then. In three plus generations the family grew to 70 and were put in a place of protection and blessings in Egypt. These blessing continued for many years until the heart of the Egyptian Pharaoh at that time became hard against them. This time laps (~430 years) brings us to the Exodus. God’s chosen are now going to start their journey to the promised land that was proclaimed to Abraham.

Never let circumstances and time give you reason to doubt the promises of God. He is God and all of His plans and purposes will come to be in His perfect timing.

40.d. “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it”

Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 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, in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Exodus 28:21     There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.

1 Kings 18:31   Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,”

Revelation 7:4     And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Job 5:26     You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, like a sheaf gathered up in its season.

Job 14:10   But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he?

Ecclesiastes 12:7     and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Isaiah 57:1-2    The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;  he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.

Hebrews 11:13-16    These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Each son and each tribe that would come from them had their own calling and destiny. Yet the remarkable promise remained – that they each would survive and grow into significant tribes, without one perishing during the centuries to come in Egypt. (Guzik)

Jacob blessed every one according to the blessings God in after-times intended to bestow upon them. He spoke about his burial-place, from a principle of faith in the promise of God (Henry)

all these are the twelve tribes of Israel—or ancestors. Jacob’s prophetic words obviously refer not so much to the sons as to the tribes of Israel. (Jamieson-fausset-brown)

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel,…. The twelve sons of Jacob before mentioned were heads of twelve tribes, who were afterwards seated, and had their part in the land of Canaan; there were indeed thirteen tribes, two springing from Joseph; but then the tribe of Levi had no part in the land of Canaan, which was divided into twelve parts; this shows that the above predictions respect not the persons of the patriarchs, but their tribes and everyone according to his blessing he blessed them; according to the blessing which was appointed to them of God, and was in later times bestowed on them, Jacob under a spirit of prophecy was directed to bless them with, or to foretell what blessings should come upon them, and which accordingly did. (Gill)

He gathered up his feet into the bed, not only as one patiently submitting to the stroke, but as one cheerfully composing himself to rest, now that he was weary. He freely gave up his spirit into the hand of God, the Father of spirits. If God’s people be our people, death will gather us to them. Under the care of the Shepherd of Israel, we shall lack nothing for body or soul. We shall remain unmoved until our work is finished; then, breathing out our souls into His hands for whose salvation we have waited, we shall depart in peace, and leave a blessing for our children after us. (Henry)

“Jacob did not yield up the ghost until he had delivered the last sentence of admonition and benediction to his twelve sons. He was immortal till his work was done. So long as God had another sentence to speak by him, death could not paralyze his tongue.” (Spurgeon)

This ends the life of the last of the great patriarchs, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet the work and plan of God did not end. It continued through men and generations to come. (Guzik)

40.c. “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf”

Genesis 49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.”

Deuteronomy 33:12    Of Benjamin he said, “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.”

Judges 3:15-29     Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.

Jeremiah 5:6   Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.

It is plain Jacob was guided in what he said by a spirit of prophecy, and not by natural affection, else he would have spoken with more tenderness of his beloved son Benjamin, concerning whom he only foretels that his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong and daring; and that they should enrich themselves with the spoil of their enemies; that they should be active in the world, and a tribe as much feared by their neighbours as any other. (Benson)

Benjamin is described as a wolf who is engaged morning and evening, that is, all day long, in hunting after prey. He was warlike by character and conduct Judges 20-21, and among his descendants are Ehud, Saul, and Jonathan. (Barnes)

we have an early instance of the valour and success of this tribe in a war waged with all the other tribes, and in two pitched battles, in one with 26,000 men it beat 400,000, Judges 20:15, and if this tribe is compared to a wolf for rapaciousness, this may be illustrated by the remainder of those, after the loss of a third battle, catching and carrying away the daughters of Shiloh, and making them their wives, Judges 21:23. Some apply this to particular persons of this tribe, as to Saul the first king of Israel, who was of Benjamin; and who as soon as he took the kingdom of Israel, in the morning, in the beginning of that state, fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines, and the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 14:47 and to Mordecai and Esther, who were of the same tribe, who after the captivity, and in the evening of that state, divided the spoil of Haman, Esther 8:1 this is observed by Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Ben Gersom. Some of the Christian fathers have applied the prophecy to the Apostle Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin; who in the morning of his youth was a fierce and ravenous persecutor, and made havoc of the church of God: and in the evening, or latter part of his life, spent his days in dividing the spoil of Satan among the Gentiles, taking the prey out of his hands, turning men from the power of Satan unto God, and distributed food to the souls of men. In a spiritual sense he was a warlike man, a good soldier of Christ, and accouted as such, had a warfare to accomplish, and enemies to fight with; and did fight the good fight of faith, conquered, and was more than a conqueror through Christ. (Gill)

“Benjamin – which tears in pieces; in the morning he devours prey, and in the evening he divides spoil.” Morning and evening together suggest the idea of incessant and victorious capture of booty (Del.). The warlike character which the patriarch here attributes to Benjamin, was manifested by that tribe, not only in the war which he waged with all the tribes on account of their wickedness in Gibeah (Judges 20) (Keil and Delitzsch)

39.w. “I wait for Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

Genesis 49:16 “Dan 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 backward. I wait for your salvation, O LORD.

Judges 18:22-31    When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan.  And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?”  And he said, “You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”  And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.”  Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.  But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.  And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it.  And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first.  And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.  So they set up Micah’s carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

Psalms 14:7  Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalms 40:1   I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

Psalms 62:1  For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

Psalms 119:41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;

Psalms 119:166   I hope for your salvation, O LORD

Psalms 130:5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

Isaiah 8:17    I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

Isaiah 25:9     It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Lamentations 3:25   The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Micah 7:7    But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Galatians 5:5    For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

1 Thessalonians 1:10     and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. There is an elegant paronomasia, or an allusion to the name of Dan in those words, which signifies to judge, and the sense of them is, there should be heads, rulers, and judges of it. (GILL)

“Dan will procure his people justice as one of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan become a serpent by the way, a horned adder in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that its rider falls back.” Although only the son of a maid-servant, Dan would not be behind the other tribes of Israel, but act according to his name (ידין דּן), and as much as any other of the tribes procure justice to his people (i.e., to the people of Israel; not to his own tribe, as Diestel supposes). There is no allusion in these words to the office of judge which was held by Samson; they merely describe the character of the tribe, although this character came out in the expedition of a portion of the Danites to Laish in the north of Canaan, a description of which is given in Judges 18, as well as in the “romantic chivalry of the brave, gigantic Samson, when the cunning of the serpent he overthrew the mightiest foes” (KEIL & DELITZSCH)

Jacob, almost spent, and ready to faint, relieves himself with those words, I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord! The salvation he waited for was Christ, the promised Seed; now that he was going to be gathered to his people, he breathes after Him to whom the gathering of the people shall be. He declared plainly that he sought heaven, the better country, Heb 11:13,14. Now he is going to enjoy the salvation, he comforts himself that he had waited for the salvation. Christ, as our way to heaven, is to be waited on; and heaven, as our rest in Christ, is to be waited for. It is the comfort of a dying saint thus to have waited for the salvation of the Lord; for then he shall have what he has been waiting for. (HENRY)

39.r. “The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.”

Genesis 49:5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. 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.

Psalms 26:9    Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men,

Psalms 64:2    Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers,

2 Corinthians 6:14    Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Proverbs 1:15-16   my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths,  for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

Proverbs 12:5    The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

Our soul is our honor; by its powers we are distinguished from, and raised above, the beasts that perish. We ought, from our hearts, to abhor all bloody and mischievous men. Cursed be their anger. (Henry)

Simeon and Levi are brothers,…. Not because they were so in a natural sense, being brethren both by father and mother’s side, for there were others so besides them; but because they were of like tempers, dispositions, and manners (f), bold, wrathful, cruel, revengeful, and deceitful, and joined together in their evil counsels and evil actions, and so are joined together in the evils predicted of them, instruments of cruelty. (Gill)

Being in agreement with someone and joining together in an act does not necessarily make that act right, good, or just. It may make us think it is, but that will never make it so. Being angered at an act of another person(s) will surely come to us at some point in our lives, whether it be an act against us, our family, our friends, our community, or our nation. For some reason, anger is a part of our nature, and rightly so. Having the ability to recognize right and wrong, good and bad, just and injustice, and have either indignation or pleasure from it seems to be within our nature. How we treat this recognition in light of our knowledge and application of God’s Word is the difference between that which brings honor and glory to Jesus Christ or not.

By faith, trust, and reliance on God and His promises we can choose to lay the burden of our hearts about wrongs, injustice, and other sinful actions of others at His feet. Why???

Beloved, never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God
Vengeance is mine; I will repay
Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.
For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
“O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.
Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
O shameless nation, before the decree takes effect —before the day passes away like chaff— before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.
the Lord will repay him according to his deeds
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
the Lord is an avenger in all these things

I think it is good that we can see wrongs and feel indignation and anger. This means we have the ability to know the difference. However, some people may be angered by good. The civil war is an example of two groups of people who saw the same thing, one calling it wrong and one calling it good. When we look at abortion there are those who call killing unborn babies good and those who call it bad. The same can be said about pornography, sex trafficking, LGBTQ, looting and burning businesses in an outcry of retaliation, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, etc…. Let us know that it is from the heart that seeks and desires to honor and glorify Jesus Christ that a person will discern what is right, true, just, and good. Praise God that we have been given the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us unto truth in all matters. Praise God that we have been given discernment. Praise God that we have been given His promises of handling all wrongs, injustices, and cruelty. Praise God who gives us promises that allow us to lay these at His feet and know, in His Holiness and in His time they will be justly handled. Praise God we can rest and have peace when all around us are in fear and anger. Praise God and rejoice for He is God and in Him, we have hope for today and assurance for tomorrow.

39.o. “Assemble and listen”

Genesis 49:1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.

Jacob summoned his sons together, that he might inform them of what should befall them in the latter days.” We cannot tell our children what shall befall them or their families in this world; but we can tell them, from the word of God, what shall befall them in the last day of all, according as they conduct themselves in this world. (Benson)

We are not to consider this address as the expression of private feelings of affection, resentment, or partiality; but as the language of the Holy Ghost, declaring the purpose of God respecting the character, circumstances, and situation of the tribes which descended from the sons of Jacob, and which may be traced in their histories. (Henry)

Jacob called his sons together for them together to receive their individual blessings and to hear the blessings of their brothers. Jacob, filled with the hope and promises of God to Abraham and Isaac, then to himself, and filled with the Holy Spirit, blessed each son and prophesied their legacy.

We leave Trusts and Wills for our children when we die, but wouldn’t it be Holy and awesome if we were filled with the Spirit of God all the days of our lives and we poured out the Word of God into their lives as an eternal lasting blessing for them rather than give much thought about our worldly possessions and the division of these assets upon our death.

39.n. “God will be with you”

Genesis 48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

One portion above your brothers: This referred to Joseph being father of two tribes, while each of his brothers only fathered one each.

Which I took from the hand of the Amorite: Apparently, while still in Canaan, Jacob battled for control of a portion of land from the Amorites, and he deeded the land to Joseph and his descendants. The descendants of Joseph would take this land some 400 years later.

God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers: This completed a wonderful work regarding Jacob’s recognition of God’s presence in his life.

· I am with you (Genesis 28:15): God gives the young believer every possible assurance of His presence and grace.

· I will be with you (Genesis 31:3): God expects the growing believer to trust He will be with him, even when he only has the promise of His presence.

· God… has been with me (Genesis 31:5): God gives a glorious testimony to the mature believer, able to say how God has been with him, even when he hasn’t felt His presence in the way he wished.

· God will be with you (Genesis 48:21): God gives the mature believer the opportunity to encourage others with the promise of God’s presence.

(Guzik)