Tag: blessing
-
The Rejected One Crowned with Blessing – Genesis 49:23-26
Genesis 49:23-26 “The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode instrength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God ofJacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, whoshall help…
-
Set Before – Genesis 48:20
Genesis 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. Jacob was not just blessing two boys. He was speaking something over them that would carry on into the life of the nation. This was not…
-
The Best Is Still Ahead – Genesis 48:18-19
Genesis 48:18-19 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother…
-
The Crossed Hands of Grace – Genesis 48:14-17
Genesis 48:14-17 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me…
-
The Lord Does Not Need Our Arrangement – Genesis 48:12-13
Genesis 48:12-13And Joseph brought them out from between his knees…… and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. The boys were clinging to…
-
More Than He Ever Imagined – Genesis 48:9-11
Genesis 48:9-11And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto…
-
Grace in the Blur – Genesis 48:7-8
Genesis 48:7-8And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who…
-
The Blessing Comes Back – Genesis 48:3-6
Genesis 48:3-6And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an…
-
The Greater Blessing the Lesser – Genesis 47:7
Genesis 47:7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. What a scene this is. Joseph brings Jacob into the presence of Pharaoh, the ruler of the greatest empire on earth. Pharaoh had power. Pharaoh had wealth. Pharaoh had position. Pharaoh sat on a throne men would…
-
Blessed Because He Was There – Genesis 39:5-6
Genesis 39:5-6 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake;And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.And he left…
-
Prosperous in a Slave House – Genesis 39:2-4
Genesis 39:2-4 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.And Joseph found grace in his sight, and…
-
Blessed Without Another Name – Genesis 32:29
Genesis 32:29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. Jacob still wants one more thing. “Tell me thy name.” It is as if he is saying, “I have told You mine. Now…
-
Broken to Be Blessed – Genesis 32:24-26
Genesis 32:24-26And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let…
-
God Blessed It Anyway – Genesis 30:39-43
Genesis 30:39-43And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s…
-
What Was Jacob Doing? – Genesis 30:37-38
Genesis 30:37, 38And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks…
-
The Wages That Did Not Make Sense – Genesis 30:31-32
Genesis 30:31-32And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all…
-
When Reinforcements Arrive – Genesis 30:9-13
Genesis 30:9-13 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son. And Leah said, Happy am…
-
The Blessing We Still Need – Genesis 27:38
Genesis 27:38And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. Esau had treated the birthright like it was nothing. Though it carried a double portion, he sold it off for a bowl of beans as…
-
Standing With Them – Genesis 27:34-37
Genesis 27:34-37And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry… and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob?…
-
He Shall Be Blessed – Genesis 27:30-33
Genesis 27:30-33And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said…
-
The Direction of a Blessing – Genesis 27:28-29
Genesis 27:28-29Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed…
-
The Words of a Blessing – Genesis 27:27
Genesis 27:27And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed: Secondly, the blessing includes a spoken message of valuable evaluation. Isaac smells the scent of Esau’s…
-
The Touch of a Blessing – Genesis 27:24-26
Genesis 27:24-26And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee… And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he…
-
The Blessing They Could Not Deny – Genesis 26:23-33
Genesis 26:23-33And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. And he builded an altar there, and…
-
Meek Enough to Keep Moving – Genesis 26:21
Genesis 26:21And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah. Again Isaac finds water. Again there is resistance. Again the blessing is followed by a battle. So he names the well Sitnah, a word that carries the idea of hatred. That is very revealing, because it…
-
Still Going Forward – Genesis 26:13-14
Genesis 26:13-14And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. I love the way this is written because it gives hope to every one of us who knows what…
-
Back Where He Belonged – Genesis 26:12
Genesis 26:12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. There is something beautiful here. Isaac had been humbled in Gerar. His fear was exposed. His lie came into the light. He admitted it plainly. No excuses. No polishing. No shifting blame. He just told…
-
Stay in the Land – Genesis 26:1-5
Genesis 26:1-5And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn…
-
A Blessing for the Journey – Genesis 24:59-60
Genesis 24:59-60 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. This is such a tender…
-
Overflow from the Bride – Genesis 24:50-53
Genesis 24:50-53 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the Lord hath spoken.And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words,…
-
A Life Interpreted by God – Genesis 24:1
Genesis 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. There are some truths the Lord chooses to teach not merely by command, but by portrayal. He gives us a life, a scene, a relationship, a moment, and says in effect, “Look carefully. This is…
-
Blessed Through Another’s Obedience – Genesis 22:15-18
Genesis 22:15-18 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy…
-
Blessed to Be a Blessing – Genesis 12:2-3
Genesis 12:2-3 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. What a contrast…
-
Under the Covering of Shem – Genesis 9:27-29
Genesis 9:27-29 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died. Noah now speaks over Japheth, and it is…
-
The Lord of Shem – Genesis 9:26
Genesis 9:26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Notice how Noah says it. He does not say, “Blessed be Shem.” He says, “Blessed be the LORD God of Shem.” That is the real issue. The blessing is not rooted in the man himself, but in…
-
Blessed to Begin Again – Genesis 9:1-2
Genesis 9:1-2 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon…
-
After Their Kind – Genesis 1:20-25
Genesis 1:20-25 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl…
-
Under the Spout – Jude 5
Jude 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. Jude is beginning to press a truth he does not want us to miss. He says, in essence, “I know you…
-
The Blessing and the Birthright – Hebrews 12:17
Hebrews 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Esau’s story does not end with the bowl of beans. At first he treated his birthright like it meant nothing. He tossed it…
-
Bless Them for What God Can Yet Make of Them – Hebrews 11:20–21
Hebrews 11:20, 21 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. It is striking that as these men neared the end of their lives, they were still speaking forward.…
-
The Full Orb of Blessing — 1 Timothy 2:15
1 Timothy 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. That verse has puzzled people for centuries. “Saved in childbearing.” It cannot mean that childbirth guarantees eternal salvation. Nor does it mean a promise that no godly woman will ever suffer loss in that…