Joseph—blessings
Has anyone ever said or written something to you—about you—that blessed you deeply; you remembered it long-term; and it truly impacted your life? If so, you’ve tasted the power of The Blessing—a truth or prophesy spoken over you (or written to you).
If you’ve tasted The Blessing at one time or another, take a moment and think about one or more of these spoken or written blessings. Who spoke or wrote it? When? Where? What was going on in your life at the time? Did that person see something in you that you didn’t see in yourself? How did their words impact you?
When I turned 60, our son Logan wrote me a letter for my birthday. He ended the letter with this sentence: “I am proud of you and I’m proud to be your son.” My parents never said or wrote things like that to me. What a gift to receive those heartfelt sentiments, especially from my dear son. Logan’s words gave me The Blessing.
Today on Choosing Peace, you’ll read about Rebekah’s plan, Jacob’s hands and The Lion of Judah.
True to form
In this section, True to Form, we’ll explore how three examples or groups are true to their form or nature in stories of blessings:
(1) Joseph and Jacob
(2) God
(3) Rebekah (and people like her)
Final visit
Knowing that his father’s life was almost over, Joseph took his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to visit Grandpa Jacob.
Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?” And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, so that I can bless them.” Now the eyes of Israel were failing because of his age, so that he couldn’t see. Then he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
Genesis 48:8-10, New Heart English Bible
Joseph and Jacob: declaring blessings
As we’ve seen time and time again, Joseph gave God the glory. (“They are my sons, whom God has given me…” ~ v. 9b above.) Joseph knew his sons were a gift or blessing from the Lord—and he declared that vital truth. Also true to form, Jacob wanted to bless them. I love that.
Jacob knew the importance of a blessing
spoken by a patriarch to his descendant.
Why were blessings such a big deal to Jacob? What role did blessings play in Jacob’s life?
God: outside the box
At the insistence of his mother Rebekah, Jacob tricked his father Isaac into giving him The Big Family Blessing instead of it going to his older twin brother Esau, the “rightful” recipient—according to rules and customs. In man’s eyes, Esau was the rightful recipient of his father’s blessing. However, he was not God’s chosen one of Isaac and Rebekah’s twin sons. God revealed this truth to Rebekah before the boys were born.
Isaac prayed for his wife, because she was barren. And God was moved by his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her. She said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” She went to inquire of God. And he said to her, “Two nations are in your womb. Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger.”
Genesis 25:21-23, New Heart English Bible
For more on this prophesy, read Bible Hub’s short, excellent article. You’ll read another Outside The Box prophesy later in today’s post.
God will not be constrained by our sensibilities. He chooses the ones he chooses, regardless of birth order, appearance or skills. He chooses. And he always chooses rightly.
Rebekah: control freak
Did Rebekah knowingly and humbly orchestrate the stealing of The Big Family Blessing in order to fulfil the prophesy the Lord spoke directly to her? Was she helping God out? All evidence in the biblical text trumpets a resounding No. Rebekah was not God’s Little Helper. She was a Class-A Control Freak—guilty, along with her husband, of the sin of parental favoritism. (See part 3 for details.)
Control freaks
Peaceful Readers, I know this goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Control freaks like Rebekah are serious trouble. Do you know any? If so, name them out loud.
Tactics
Remember, control freaks view people as property—a means to an end. And these are some of their control tactics. The gossip. The prolific lying—including generous re-writes of history. The drama. The chaos. The last-minute summons. The posse. The constant game-playing and troublemaking. The manipulation. The gaslighting. The attacks. The conveniently-omitted facts or necessary information. The divisiveness. The monumental self-absorption. The collecting (of people). The inappropriate demands. The scheming. The control. The evil. Read the Crafting Chaos section in this post for more.
Roles
The roles in the dangerous games they play are (1) control freak, (2) accomplice (AKA part of the posse), (3) casual observer, (4) target (AKA victim), and (5) scenery or non-entity. I’ve been an accomplice, a casual observer, a target and a non-entity in these destructive games. In the end, every role is bad. No one escapes The Game unscathed. To explore the danger of accomplices, read this post. Also, explore the Targeted vs. Chosen section in this post from the epic story of Esther.
When you’re dealing with any flavor of control freak—sociopath, narcissist, etc.—remember our important mantra: “You play, you lose.”
An example
A Year in the Life, part 11 paints a vivid picture of one of the control freaks we know—Brandon’s mother, better known as Her Majesty, the Sadistic Control Freak or Her Majesty, for short. I’ll be digging into one of Her Majesty’s recent, dramatic escapades in the next post. Drama. Lies. Attacks. We encountered the usual stuff, including the projection—with the attacker claiming to be the victim and vice versa. Disturbingly typical.
The consequences
Control freaks sow chaos, confusion and fear. Learn about The Power of Chaos, The Attack Continuum, A Control Freak’s Favorite Formula and much more in this post. And—believe you me—there are consequences.
Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a person sows, that he will also reap.
Galatians 6:7, New Heart English Bible
I’ll say it again. Control freaks sow chaos, confusion and fear. What do they ultimately reap? Chaos, confusion and fear. In my experience, that is the most shocking reality for control freaks. The consequences. They consider themselves to be royalty or god-like—above the law, above the people, above God. Therefore, they get what they want.
Until they don’t. Until. They. Don’t.
A charge for you
Peaceful Reader, make sure you’re a courageous, wise, prayerful part of Until they don’t*. Do not play The Game of your friendly, neighborhood control freak.
Know your adversary and obey the Holy Spirit.
To learn and become stronger, consider reading the Sociopaths series and the Grieving series. Peruse the index for various topics, including Trauma and Loss, Violence, and Warfare—Psychological and Spiritual.
(*Control freaks get what they want. Until they don’t.)
Rebekah’s consequences: sowing and reaping
Did Rebekah, Jacob’s mother, experience consequences for being a Class-A Control Freak? Yes, indeed. In exchange for orchestrating the theft of The Big Family Blessing, Rebekah paid dearly by possibly not seeing her favorite son again. (Such contact, if it occurred, isn’t mentioned in the Bible.) Thinking she was in control of everything and everyone, Rebekah had a plan to bring Jacob back after Esau’s fury subsided, don’t you know. But her scheme didn’t work. Jacob found the love of his life and started a new life. He wouldn’t be returning to Dear Old Mom. The control freak lost her favorite son, who was also her well-trained accomplice—a double whammy in one fell swoop. I can imagine the hysteria when Rebekah realized that she had lost Jacob. No phones. No FaceTime. No contact. The shocking reality started to sink in. She wasn’t in control, after all.
Rebekah used scheming, lies and deception to get what she wanted—The Big Family Blessing bestowed on her favorite son. Like all control freaks, Rebekah sowed chaos, confusion and fear. Where? In her husband Isaac’s life and in her son Esau’s life. This passage shows the painful aftermath of the stolen blessing.
What did Rebekah ultimately reap? She reaped what she sowed: chaos, confusion and fear.
♦ Chaos? A given for all control freaks. These two verses give a little taste of one of Rebekah’s many problems.
♦ Confusion? How in the world could her Get-Jacob-Back Scheme not have worked? Why in the world would Jacob choose his wife over his devoted mother? Etcetera.
♦ Fear? Rebekah’s worst fear came true. She lost her favorite son, and had to eat and drink that reality every single day for the rest of her life. Gobble it up, sweetness; I mean Your Highness—Regal Rebekah. Gobble it up.
Sanctification
After stealing Esau’s blessing, Jacob ran for his life, found the love of his life, and embarked on a long, challenging journey filled with remarkable encounters with the Lord and sanctification—the fine-tuning of his character and the chiseling off of destructive habits.
From part 3:
Purpose and progress
In the last post, I explained why Jacob had to suffer the pain of manipulation and lies at the hands of his father-in-law Laban for 20 years. He needed the Lord’s discipline. He needed to acknowledge the evil he’d participated in. He needed to become a better person. I can relate to that. Unpacking the serious dysfunction on both sides of our family and all the pain involved has helped me to acknowledge my own remaining sin, address it, replace it with virtues, and move forward on The Sanctification Causeway. Praise the Lord.
In recent months, instead of reading one consecutive chapter of the Bible each morning, I’ve hovered at 1 Corinthians 13—The Love Chapter—reading it many times, especially the “Love is patient and kind…” part. I wanted to learn it better so I could tell Brandon when he was getting something wrong. It turns out that the Lord wanted me to be more loving to him. Boy, I did not see that coming. Hovering at “what love is,” coupled with a recent ladies’ luncheon at St. Matt’s about wives submitting to their husbands and not always getting their way, have chiseled off another layer of “I’m right; you’re wrong” from my heart. The Holy Spirit’s work in me has been good for me and for Brandon.
Sometimes sanctification comes as a surprise.
I imagine Jacob found that to be true too.
Chosen and blessed
Even though Jacob stole his brother’s blessing, God chose Jacob to be Israel—the father of 12 sons who became the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jacob was chosen because his heart belonged to the Lord. His twin brother Esau was rejected. (See Esau’s Fate in part 13.)
Notice the interesting twist in how Jacob (AKA Israel) blessed Joseph’s two sons. Joseph seated his oldest, Manasseh, on Israel’s right, so the highest blessing would go to the oldest. “This is the way it’s done.” But Jacob crossed his arms intentionally, and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the youngest.
Then he blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys. And may my name be carried on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. And may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
Genesis 48:15-16, New Heart English Bible
Even though Israel asked God to “bless the boys,” the Bible tells us that this was a blessing on Joseph, their father. I don’t really understand that, and that’s okay. I love how Israel (1) described the faithfulness of his father and grandfather, (2) acknowledged God as his lifelong shepherd, (3) gave credit for protection and sanctification to “the Angel”—the Holy Spirit, (4) requested the carrying on of the names Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and (5) echoed God’s promise—that Joseph’s sons would grow into a large nation. What a beautiful blessing.
Your turn
I’d like to zero-in on numbers 2, 3 and 4 in the paragraph above. Will you say a prayer of gratitude to God for being your lifelong shepherd—even before you knew him? Will you thank the Holy Spirit for his protection and the sanctifying work he’s been doing in your heart—naming specific ways he’s changed you? Will you ask God to give your life kingdom impact?
Peaceful Readers, let’s pray with humble, grateful hearts. The card pictured here was sent to me by one of our St. Matt’s angels. I’ll call her Sara. The front of the card says: “My heart is grateful.”
Getting it right
Joseph took his father’s right hand to move it to the head of Manasseh, the oldest, and told Israel that he was doing it wrong. We’ve all done that kind of thing, haven’t we?
But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Genesis 48:19-20, New Heart English Bible
The clan of Ephraim was larger than that of Manasseh. We see Joseph’s preeminence and Ephraim’s position ahead of Manasseh in Moses’ final blessing spoken over the tribes of Israel. After the Exodus, when the land was being divided among the 12 tribes, where did their leader, Joshua, choose to live? In a city “in the hill country of Ephraim” ~ Joshua 19:50, NHEB. Ephraim also receives special mention in a prophesy in Jeremiah.
Truth, prophesy and a gift
In addition to blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob spoke truth and prophesy over Joseph.
Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and God will bring you back from this land to the land of your fathers.”
Genesis 48:21, New Heart English Bible
God would continue to be with Joseph, and Joseph would be buried with his ancestors in Canaan. Israel also gifted his favorite son, Joseph, with special land in Canaan.
“Moreover, I give to you one portion more than your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
Genesis 48:22, New Heart English Bible
Farewell blessings
Next, Israel gathered his 12 sons together so he could pronounce a blessing over each one of them. These blessings were also prophesies. Three of his sons received the rebuke they deserved, yet the Bible tells us that these blessings were all suitable. Israel spoke rightly. He knew each son’s character and the Holy Spirit gave him the right words to prophesy. Let’s focus on five of these 12 blessings.
The first three
Israel’s three oldest sons engaged in extremely violent behavior as young men. Sadly, these incidents became life-defining moments.
Reuben, the oldest
From part 11:
Reuben, The Rapist certainly fits [this] description—impulsive, violent and hateful. The consequences for attacking Bilhah were life-long. Raping his father’s concubine broke all trust. It fractured Reuben’s relationship with his father, whatever it may have been before that. Reuben burned that bridge to the ground. What Reuben did was so egregious. It was a vicious attack on Bilhah and on Jacob/Israel (and their sons). Such an attack would not be forgotten. Jacob’s final words to Reuben confirm this.
What were Jacob’s final words to Reuben?
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, and the firstfruits of my virility, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Uncontrolled as the waters, you will not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, you went up and defiled my couch.”
Genesis 49:3-4, New Heart English Bible
Read part 11 for more about Reuben’s life-defining moment.
Simeon and Levi
The blessing or prophesy for Simeon and Levi is the only one that groups two sons together. Why? Because of the mass murder episode covered in part 3:
Prince Shechem [raped and kidnapped their sister] Dinah, pending their posh nuptials—I mean royal wedding. Little did the prince know that Dinah’s brothers would take him at his word: “Whatever you ask of me I will give.” Dinah’s brothers tricked The Powers That Be, telling them that all the males in the city had to be circumcised in order for them to become pals. [King] Hamor and [his son] Shechem brought the proposal to the men of the city, they agreed to it, and they were all circumcised.
It happened on the third day, when they were still in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came into the unsuspecting city and killed all the males.
Genesis 34:25, New Heart English Bible
Mass murder, plundering, enslaving
Simeon and Levi committed mass murder of every man, boy and male newborn in the city, and they took Dinah home. Then the other brothers stepped over the dead bodies, took all the hysterical women and female children, and plundered every house in the city, plus all the livestock and crops. No living person was left there.
From part 9:
The final word
The mass murder chapter was a life-defining moment for Simeon and Levi. Years later, right before their father Jacob died, he said:
“…Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. May I never enter their council. May my honor never be joined with their assembly. For in their anger they killed men, and for pleasure they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it has been fierce, and their fury, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”
Genesis 49:5-7, New Heart English Bible
Was Jacob too hard on Simeon and Levi? Nope. The Bible tells us that he gave each son the “blessing” that was suitable. He spoke rightly.
Violent incidents don’t have to be life-defining moments. In this post, I wrote about the salvation of a well-publicized serial killer who encourages young people to stay away from the occult.
The big two
Two of Jacob’s final blessings were substantially longer than the others. Were they the blessings on his beloved Rachel’s two sons? Jacob’s favorites? Joseph and Benjamin?
Surprisingly, the two longest blessings were given to Joseph and Judah. Let’s start with Joseph.
Joseph’s blessing
My eyes bugged out and I said “Wow” when I drank in Joseph’s blessing for the first time.
Joseph is a fruitful son, a fruitful son by a spring. His branches run over a wall. The archers will attack him with bitterness, and shoot at him, and harass him. Yet his bow will remain steady, and his arms will be made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, by the God of your father, who will help you, and El Shaddai, who will bless you with blessings of the sky above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, and the bounty of the everlasting hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
Genesis 49:22-26, New Heart English Bible
Jacob knew his sons. He knew the power of God in Joseph’s life. He also knew the adversaries who had harassed and attacked Joseph. Yet Joseph remained steadfast and victorious because of “the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel…” (v. 24 above).
Abundant blessings would flow to Joseph from El Shaddai, which means God Almighty. These overflowing blessings would be “on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of the prince among his brothers” (v. 26 above). Beautifully and rightly said.
Joseph was a prince among his brothers.
(The blessings on Joseph’s descendants were spoken earlier in chapter 48 when Jacob, Joseph and Joseph’s sons were together privately.)
Judah, the fourth-born son
When they were young men, Judah was similar to his brothers. He participated in the plundering of the city of Shechem after Simeon and Levi committed mass murder. Later, while some of his brothers were talking about killing Joseph, Judah suggested selling him to slave traders instead—and they did.
From part 11:
Needless to say, after selling Joseph into slavery, Judah’s life took many twists and turns. He left home, married a woman outside his faith, and they had three sons. After his first two sons became adults, God took them out due to their evil. Judah buried two adult sons. Then his wife died. He had sex with a temple prostitute who was actually his daughter-in-law [Tamar], who had disguised herself.
After many years away, Judah returned home after the incident with Tamar—Judah’s turning point. When he heard that she was pregnant from prostitution, he said: “Burn her to death.” When it was made clear that he was the father—someone who also participated in prostitution—he acknowledged the truth: “She is more righteous than I [am]” ~ Genesis 38:26b, NHEB.
The Lord used the many difficulties and losses in Judah’s life
to humble him and bring him to repentance.
…Because Judah was humble and contrite, he was ready to display godly leadership.
Explore the new Judah and his obvious heart change in part 11, which ends with these words: “Judah was truly a changed man. All glory to God.”
A trusted son
When it was time to send Benjamin down to Egypt to obey the orders of Pharaoh’s right-hand man (—Joseph, unbeknownst to them), Jacob trusted Judah to ensure Benjamin’s safety. As the family approached Egypt during their big move there, Jacob sent Judah ahead of them to meet with Joseph to coordinate everything. In addition to being the spokesman for all the brothers, Judah was Jacob’s trusted son.
Judah’s blessing—power, royalty, abundance
King David and Jesus Christ descended from Judah. The blessing Jacob spoke over Judah pours out powerful imagery of victory, royalty, abundance and prophesy about our Messiah. You will love it.
Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father’s sons will bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you rise up. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. And it is he whom the peoples will obey. Binding his foal to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine. He will wash his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
Genesis 49:8-12, New Heart English Bible
My attention is drawn to two parts of Judah’s blessing/prophesy.
The lion
First, the multiple references to the lion, which remind me of this verse:
One of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so that he can open the scroll and loose its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:5, New Heart English Bible
Jesus is The Lion of Judah—regal and powerful. Aslan, the strong, regal lion, personifies Jesus in C.S. Lewis’s masterpiece, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, recommended on this Resources page.
The king
Second, I’m drawn to this part: “The scepter will not depart from Judah…, until he comes to whom it belongs. And it is he whom the peoples will obey” ~ Genesis 49:10a, c-d. Who is “he”? Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Transformation
Judah’s life demonstrates, powerfully, how God can change a lost, sinful, misled person into a saved, godly, wise person. His life demonstrates how a heart of stone can be replaced by a heart of flesh.
Judah’s life shows us A Transformation Story.
Our past mistakes don’t have to define us. They don’t have to be life-defining moments. God’s power to save, rescue and reconcile is greater than our sin.
Hallelujah and amen.
A peaceful farewell
Immediately after Jacob declared blessings over his 12 sons, he told them he was going to die, and commanded them about where to bury him—in the cave where his grandparents Abraham and Sarah were buried, and where his parents Isaac and Rebekah were buried. Jacob said: “and there I buried Leah” ~ Genesis 49:31c, NHEB. Jacob would rest for eternity beside Judah’s mother, Leah.
When Jacob finished instructing his sons, he drew his legs up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Genesis 49:33, New Heart English Bible
Memorial Day Blessings
Today is Memorial Day. My pal Charlene and I were so pleased to see how our fallen soldiers were commemorated this weekend on the square in downtown Granbury in the great state of Texas.
We honor all who served in our military
and are no longer with us.
I honor my dad—a Navy pilot, a flight instructor, and commander at the Pentagon.
I hope the song for this post, recorded in March 2020 at the beginning of the quarantine, will bring you peace and remind you of the beauty awaiting God’s children, where so many of our fallen soldiers—and the patriarch Jacob—rejoice for eternity.
Those of us in Christ will join them one day.
Enjoy this 11-minute clip from Pastor Allen Jackson about being chosen and where our true citizenship is—in heaven. The majesty and beauty will be beyond our comprehension.
Coming next: The next post will feature one of the most powerful verses in Genesis—and, dare I say—in the entire Old Testament. Until next time, thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Truth from The Word: Ephesians 1:3-10
Song: “Face to Face” by Zach Williams
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