If you go to Florence, take the time to go down the back street to the Uffizi and see the eighteen foot tall Michelangelo statue of David. It once stood in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in the main square of the city of Florence, but alas the stature had to be removed because of the weathering that was pitting it. One of the greatest problems we face with cultural antiquities is the weathering that erodes and destroys them over the centuries. The results of modern living, we recognize that we are destroying these beautiful works of irreplaceable art, but we cannot stop the “progress”. As we near the end of the “Map Book”, we need to recognize that time unfolds the fruits of our lives – we need to confront that behaviors have consequences, and some of them can be quite harsh.
Key Principle: We are not cut off from blessing because God does not love us, it is that He has told us the effects to keep us away from the causes – but we stubbornly refuse to listen.
With a voice of tenderness found only in a broken father’s heart, I can hear Jacob’s warnings, not as a puritan angrily shouting at sinners, but as a father that connected in his own life the cause and the effect of life. Let me see if I can set up the scene with a little story:
Hugh Hefner was asked a question once about what his parents were like and this was his response. He told of how he’d been raised in a puritan home of religious tradition. His parents believed in God, but not a God of grace, love and compassion. Theirs had been a rigid religion. They never told Hefner or his brother that they loved them and his mother never kissed him because she wanted to avoid germs. So, Hefner set out to find love wherever he could. Hefner went on to indicate that his dad was remote and not very engaging. While he worked hard and provided a good home, there was not much interaction or touch with Hugh. Hefner recalled how his parents had given him a blanket when he was a child—his “security blanket.” He painted a vivid picture of a little boy going to bed at night hugging his blanket, the only thing he had to hug, the only thing that returned any warmth. The blanket was bordered with bunny rabbits; and it became his “bunny blanket.” Hefner went on to recount, as a boy, he always wanted a puppy, but his parents. . . said that dogs spread germs so there couldn’t be one in their house. It was only after they discovered a tumor in his ear, one that could be detrimental to his hearing, that his parents broke down and bought Hefner a dog. No one could have predicted, however, that the dog would unexpectedly die after just five days. Hugh Hefner recalled how he wrapped the dying dog in his bunny blanket as a means to comfort the puppy. But when the puppy died, his mother buried the dog and burned the blanket. Both sources of his deepest comfort were suddenly gone. He said matter-of-factly, “I guess I’m still just that little boy trying to find love.” Bob Reccord and Randy Singer, Made to Count (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2004), p. 130ff.
People fall down in life, often because they don’t connect the cause with the effect.
They don’t understand how hardness toward God will play out in their lives. They set up their own sinful patterns, and when they begin to yield bondage and death, they blame God for their circumstances. It can happen to people, and it can happen to whole nations.
We can kick God out of our public square, mock Him in public education by replacing the Creator with primordial ooze, and communicate on our airwaves a whole series of wrong equals right, tolerate all but truth values – and as we watch our nation slip into chaos and lose the edge of blessing materially it once had, we fight an ever hardened populace that does not even identify the basic values that made us what we have been.
As with a nation, so with a child. One compromise, one false belief at a time, we harden away from God. One deterrent for someone listening today may be to know this truth – “Effects have causes”. What we sow, we reap. If you hate what you are reaping, change what you are sowing. Life will not change right away, but it will change. You will change.
The Bible says these things both with the loud voice of the bearded prophets of long ago, and in the tender and shaky voice of an old, dying man – Jacob.
I want to look into a well known but not often preached portion of Genesis – the blessings of Jacob’s sons. To set up the passage we need to recognize the events that led up to it and look at the snapshots in the picture album of Jacob to help the event make sense. We left off at the climax of the book, where Jacob was reunited, long last, to Joseph. The children of Jacob were gathered into Israel, and were forced into reunification by God’s hand in the famine in Canaan.
Snapshot #1: Empty storeroom shelves (47:13-26)
Did you ever do “canning” to put up food for later? I want you to look into Jake’s storeroom and see empty shelves. That is what Genesis 47 says:
47:13 “Now there was no food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.” 16 Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 When that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent, and the cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our lands. 19 “Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” 20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of Egypt’s border to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh; now, here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. 24 “At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.” 25 So they said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” 26 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.”
Joe set up a buy back system that was based on people working and producing. The slavery was not like the American system in the old south – it was a work program. It saved the people without welfare – by creating jobs and progress for them. I am not saying it was a perfect solution, but it saved their lives and they were happy with it in the context of the empty shelves and hungry children.
Snapshot #2: The Adoption Ceremony (47:27-48:22).
When we zoom in on the place of Jacob’s blessing in Genesis 49, we will need to understand that his blessing included some family changes that needed to be stipulated prior to the death bed blessing – namely the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh from Joseph (while allowing Joseph his other sons to remain in his name) and the double portion moving from Reuben to Joseph.
Note: God offered Reuben the opportunity to get a special portion of blessing, but he traded it away in bad behavior. He lacked the leadership integrity and hungered for approval of his peers too much to lead them. His later behaviors also showed a lack of respect for his father. We cannot lead well if we cannot follow respectfully.
Jacob clearly turned the dependence of his future to his son Joe, not his son Ruby.
47:27 Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous. 28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” 31 He said, “Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.
Sometime later, Jacob’s time for death was drawing close, and Joe brought his sons before Grandpa Jake for the adoption they were to receive, because they were not brought into the world with the normal ceremonies of adoption to the clan.
48:1 Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 2 When it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.
Jacob offered from his deathbed an adoption that allowed the sons of Joe to become equal inheritors of a land they had never seen in their young lives. He married them to the history of what God had done in the past of their family. He explained to the boys:
48:3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’ 5 “Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. … 10 Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
Jacob rehearsed before Joseph and his sons the most incredible moment of blessing in his life. He didn’t rehearse all the hardship and complaints, he offered them a story of God’s rich blessings. He spoke not a word of his aches and pains – only God’s greatest moment in his life!
48:11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.” … 15 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, 16 The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
Scott Kircher in “A Father’s Blessing” wrote: A lady moved into a small town back in the early 1900’s. She went to the local store but thought the service was awful. She knew a neighbor of the shop owner, and complained to her hoping that she would inform the owner of the bad service. Well the next time she went to the store, the owner was there with a smile on his face and wanted to know how he could help the lady. He went out of his way to assist her with whatever she needed. Later, when she talked to the lady she complained to, she asked her if she had told the owner of her complaints. The lady said, I hope you don’t mind but instead, I told him how great you thought his store was and of the excellent service you thought it provided…We will accomplish more with positive words of God’s faithfulness than with complaints and expressions of disappointment.
Jacob had also learned to follow God’s prompting in his life. He knew that God could lead even a stubborn old heart like his. He moved his hands and blessed the boys in a different order than their birth – completing a cycle that he lived in his own life all the way back in the days of HIS DAD ISAAC’S blessing. He switched their order, and it seemed, once again, wrong:
48:17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” 19 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 shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 “I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”
Snapshot #3: The Blessing Passed: (This is the longest poem in Genesis!)
There are other poetic blessings in the scrolls of Genesis. These likely were memorized poems that became anthems used by others in blessing their children. The practice of blessing was very ancient and reflected the last will and testament in some cases, and in others simple recitation of God’s goodness on the family.
- Gen. 9:25-27: Noah to Canaan (curse) and to Shem and Japheth (blessing)
- Gen.14:19-20: Melchisedek to Abraham
- Gen. 27:27-29: Jacob (impersonating Esau)
- Gen. 27:39-40: Isaac to the weeping and cheated Esau
- Gen. 48:15-16: (Pre-deathbed expression, not formal) Blessing of Joseph
- Gen. 48:20: Blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh’s adoption
It is worth noting that this is the SEVENTH blessing in the book! Enter the tent, and stand by the cot of a man breathing his last hours before death, after a long, tumultuous and fruitful life.
49:1 Then Jacob summoned his sons ..
Hang on every word, and the boy would have as they listened.. Remember, they did not hear a lion – they heard only a voice of tenderness found in a broken father’s heart, warning them, because he was old enough to have connected in his own life the cause and the effect of life. Because of time, I only want to look at the first three sons in this lesson, and I want to look further at this in our next study.
Listen to the weak voice uttered through quivering lips as Jacob breathed heavily and uttered the blessings to the first two boys:
49:3 “Reuben, [29:32; from Leah, look a son] you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. 4 “Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.
A Son of Privilege faces the consequences:
What a tragic truth! Given the place of the first born with all of its natural blessings, Reuven was passed over for the double portion (Dt. 21:17) because of sex with Bilhah (Gen. 35:22). Reuben cared for his own pleasure and popularity more than his father’s feelings and faithfulness to his God (cp. Selling of Joseph story in 39:17ff). His big problems stemmed from a lack of development of sensitivity and respect for current leader, cannot be future leader.
Do you understand that if you lack respect it will play out in the generations that follow you? Look ahead in the story of Reuven’s children:
- They settled East of Jordan with Gad and half-Manasseh (Josh 1:12ff) and almost caused war when they set up a monument (Josh 22:10).
- Their tribe refused to fight with Debroah and Barak against Sisera of Hazor (Jud. 4:1-3, 5:15-16) in violation of oath to Moses.
The point is this: your lack of respect follows you in the lives of your children. It is for this very reason that I insist on “yes sir” and “no sir” in the halls of the church. It is the reason we do not denigrate those in authority even when we are at odds with some of their objectives. It is the reason we salute our flag and understand that we are not free spirits under God – we are connected in history to a people and are responsible to act within the laws as much as is possible.
Failure to respect authority in Reuven’s life can be seen in stages:
- First, he hungered to have the acceptance of his brothers more than he hungered to obey his father and protect his brother. He didn’t learn to bridle his need for affirmation. I see this in ministry, where men of God trade truth for popularity, calling for cash and a continued craving to have people express love for them. We must ground into our children that simple truth that God honoring fruit comes to those who obey God and learn to respect the structures over their lives. Failure to break the hunger of peer acceptance is DEADLY -it kills blessing! That is why we say: “Unless our civilization is redeemed spiritually, it cannot endure materially.”
- Second, he failed to learn to discipline his own body, and place appropriate limitations on his sexual desires. Today we say “he fell in love” with her, as a compromised generation of Christians takes on the verbage of a fallen world. He fell in nothing. He crossed a known line. If we accept that we are victims of how we feel, we license all kinds of evil. One says: “I feel attracted to this woman, so I slept with her.” Another says: “I feel attracted to one of the same sex, so I began the relationship.” Another says: “I was unbelievably angry with them, so I hit them with the board and they died!”
I am not being silly. I am trying to do what Jacob was doing – connect the dots. If people are not fundamentally called to live OPPOSITE of how their fallen world and their fallen body feels on many an occasion, than I am missing the point of much of Scripture. So you WANT to do it. What has God, your Creator said about it? That is what you should do. FEED your FEEL and you FEEL will KILL.
Turn your eyes to the second and third son through Leah, whose names are “God heard” – Simeon and “apportioned or joined” – Levi.
49:5 “Simeon [29:33; from Leah, hearing] and Levi [29:34; from Leah, joined] are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. 6 “Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen. 7 “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.
Like his older sibling, this son followed suit as an unbridled Son: The two “are brothers” is an expression like “two peas in a pod” – they shared traits. They deceived the sons of Shechem (Gen. 34:25) and were forced to scatter through Israel and Judah. Levi was deliberately scattered, Simeon was amalgamated into southern Judah (Num. 18:24; Josh. 19:1-9).
- Remember first, “hotheads” needed to be separated and not combined.
- Second, remember that failure to show mercy and to govern their extreme emotions cost them blessing.
We are not cut off from blessing because God does not love us, it is that He has told us the effects to keep us away from the causes – but we stubbornly refuse to listen.
With a voice of tenderness found only in a broken father’s heart, I can hear Jacob’s warnings, not as a puritan angrily shouting at sinners, but as a father that connected in his own life the cause and the effect of life.
Now this message should drive you to despair if you are trying to make it on your own. The truth is, that isn’t your call! God is ready to purchase your life – to redeem you – if you haven’t surrendered to Jesus already. He is willing to cash in your broken pieces – to redeem you – if you are willing to allow Him.
“Sometime ago, a traveling evangelist was riding along and singing to himself a song called, “I’ve Been Redeemed.” A fellow passenger heard him and began to sing along. When they finished singing the evangelist asked the stranger if he had been redeemed. The man said, “Yes, praise the Lord.” So the evangelist asked him when it was. “About nineteen hundred years ago,” the man replied. The evangelist was astonished and thought the man was a little crazy. He asked, “Nineteen hundred years ago?” The man replied, “Yes, sir; but I’m sorry to say it’s only been about a year that I’ve known about it.” — George Cavanagh
