The Sons of Rachel, Joseph

2/15/2008 11:09 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                  Focus:  The Sons of Rachel, Joseph

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Genesis 49:22-26

            Message of the verses:  “22 ¶  "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a spring; Its branches run over a wall.  23  "The archers bitterly attacked him, And shot at him and harassed him; 24  But his bow remained firm, And his arms were agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), 25  From the God of your father who helps you, And by the Almighty who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26  "The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.”

            These are one of those times when I am especially glade that I have Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary, for this has been a difficult passage for me to understand and I am very thankful for his insights. 

            Jacob had already blessed the sons of Joseph first and now he blesses Joseph and goes beyond Joseph to his two sons as well.  He called Joseph a fruitful plant or tree with leaves and branches that run over a wall.  This word fruitful points to Joseph’s son Ephraim, for he would become a major tribe in the nation of Israel, and would become the largest tribe with many very famous and fruitful coming from this tribe. 

            Jacob uses the word archers to describe some of the very difficult things that happened to Joseph, not only from his brothers, but also from those in Egypt when he first arrived there.  Sometimes shooting arrows as described in the Bible means telling lies and speaking hateful things about a person.

            Jacob also used three more special names of the Lord in this section about Joseph:  the Might (One) of Jacob, the Shepherd, and the Stone (Rock).  These are very important names of God and as I think of the Shepherd I cannot help but think of the Lord Jesus Christ in the tenth chapter of John.

            Jacob ends this section on Joseph by speaking of the blessings that God had given to his family, including the blessings of Abraham, and Isaac, and the blessings that God had given to a very hard working Jacob who had twelve sons and this would form the foundation of the nation of Israel.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are two things that I take out of this section on Joseph’s blessing given by his father Jacob, and they are the hard work that Jacob did all of his life, and also the difficult situations that Joseph went through before God elevated him to the second in command in Egypt.  I too have always been a hard worker and now after doing all of that hard work to prepare for my retirement from Ford some very difficult things have happened to me, things that I believe have come through the hand of God for a test to cause me to learn contentment and be more and more conformed like the Lord Jesus Christ. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust in the Lord to teach me contentment and to see me through the tests and trials that are happening in my life at this time. 

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 1:9-11

9. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,
10. so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;
11. having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.