The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) DATE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024 – TOPIC: SHOWERS OF BLESSINGS
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THE DAILY FOUNTAIN
DAILY DEVOTIONAL OF THE
CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)
DATE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
TOPIC: SHOWERS OF BLESSINGS
49:1. And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
49:2. “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
49:3. “Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
49:4. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled [it — He] went up to my couch.
49:5. “Simeon and Levi [are] brothers; Instruments of cruelty [are in] their dwelling place.
49:6. Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
49:7. 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.
49:8. “Judah, you [are he] whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand [shall be] on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
49:9. Judah [is] a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
49:10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him [shall be] the obedience of the people.
49:11. Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
49:12. His eyes [are] darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.
49:13. “Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He [shall become] a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon.
49:14. “Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between two burdens;
49:15. He saw that rest [was] good, And that the land [was] pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear [a burden,] And became a band of slaves.
49:16. “Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel.
49:17. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse’s heels So that its rider shall fall backward.
49:18. I have waited for your salvation, O LORD!
49:19. “Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last.
49:20. “Bread from Asher [shall be] rich, And he shall yield royal dainties.
49:21. “Naphtali [is] a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.
49:22. “Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
49:23. The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot [at him] and hated him.
49:24. But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty [God] of Jacob (From there [is] the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
49:25. By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you [With] blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
49:26. The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
49:27. “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil.”
49:28. All these [are] the twelve tribes of Israel, and this [is] what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
49:29. Then he charged 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,
49:30. “in the cave that [is] in the field of Machpelah, which [is] before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place.
49:31. “There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.
49:32. “The field and the cave that [is] there [was]purchased by the sons of heth
THE MESSAGE:
Jacob’s blessings upon his sons were fulfilled centuries later, some even pointing to the “last days.” Many of them are similar to those by Moses in Deuteronomy 33: 1-29. The proclamation on Reuben in verses 3 to 4 was because of the incest he committed, but this was reversed by Moses (Genesis 35: 22: Deuteronomy 33: 6). Simeon and Levi were “scattered in Israel” (verses 5-7). That of Levi became a blessing upon receiving the priesthood (Deuteronomy 33:8-11; Numbers 25:1-13). Simeon was not named in Moses prayer, but the tribe was later scattered” within Judah, and thus enjoyed the associated blessings (Joshua 19:2-9) Judah was blessed with an enduring kingship, which was fulfilled in David, and ultimately in Christ (verse 10: 1 Chronicles 17:10-14: Luke 1:31-33).
May we learn to bless our children and wards and intercede for them! When they stray like the prodigal child, may we forgive and bless them, and not curse (1 Peter 3:9). In verses 28 to 33, we see specific instructions from Jacob concerning his burial. Jacob did not allow his life of ease in Egypt to overshadow his vision of Canaan (Genesis 48: 3-4). We should not allow transient pleasures of life to overshadow the blessedness of eternal life.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, please enable me always to bless
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