"In The beginning God" blessed the natural world and creatures of the field and of the sea.
On the fifth day, "He blessed them and commanded them to multiply and fill the earth. "
The enablement for this task of multiplying and filling the earth, came from the blessing.
On the sixth day, He then extended the blessing to man, with the charge to subdue the world around him.
" And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
Before God sent them forth to subdue, and establish dominion... "He blessed them"
This was the first and ultimate parental blessing.
God the Father, blessed Adam the son, and sent him forth to conquer.
God called Abraham and blessed him:
“Now the Lord has said to Abram: Get out of your country, From your kindred And from your fathers house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great: And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you: And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” Gen. 12:1-3.
God not only wanted to bless him but to make him to be a blessing to others.
“And you shall be a blessing.”
I have watched men who never received this blessing struggle in blessing, or affirming another. The deficiency of their own character makes it impossible for them to bless anyone else.
The confidence needed to walk alone, and to follow the call of God, "looking for a city who's builder and maker was God", came from the blessing.
It is amazing how far a man can walk alone with the blessing of God, and his father.
Have you ever seen men who are constantly selling themselves seeking the affirmation of the crowd? Mark it down, he was never blessed by his father.
If you want your children to succeed, bless them.
Abraham does not bless Isaac...
"And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. 6 But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived"
Abraham placed Isaac in a position of supremacy, but never blesses him.
Materialistic goods and political advantages can never take the place of the blessing.
“After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son, Isaac. And Isaac dwelt ay Beer Lahai Roi” Gen. 25:11. Beer Lahai Roi means, “the well of the Living One who beholds me.”
That God stepped in and blessed Isaac shows the importance of the imparted blessing. this was a right of passage God was not willing to let go undone.
Isaac Blesses His Sons
Isaac took Rebekah as his wife, but she was barren. Whereupon, Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife. And the Lord granted his petition, and Rebekah conceived and became pregnant with twins. As the two sons struggled in her womb, Rebekah sought the Lord as to the reason for her discomfort, and God replied,
“Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger” Gen. 25:23.
When Isaac realized that he was near death, he knew it was time to bestow the father’s blessing upon his sons. It was the custom to bestow a favored blessing upon the first born. Esau was the first born. But to bestow the favored blessing upon Esau would have been contrary to God’s revealed purpose. Obviously, Rebekah had not forgotten the words spoken to her by the Lord before the twins were born. For God had said, “The older will serve the younger.” Therefore, Rebekah devised a plan whereby Isaac would be deceived and Jacob would receive the blessing of the first born.
Blind Isaac, mistaking Jacob for Esau, laid hands on Jacob and spoke a prophetic blessing:
Therefore may God give you
Of the dew of heaven,
Of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
Be master over your brethren.
And let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you.
And blessed be those who bless you!
Gen. 27:28, 29.
The father’s blessing is extremely important. It is part of the process of opening up Heaven’s window to Divine blessing in ones life. When Isaac discovered that he had been deceived, not having blessed the first-born as he had thought, he “trembled exceedingly”.
When Esau realized his brother had robbed him of the coveted blessing, he was furious and “cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry”. He begged his father for a blessing for himself. Esau’s desperate plea for his father’s blessing reveals just how important the father’s blessing is.
His entire future welfare rested on this blessing. So, he said to his father, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?… Have you only one blessing, my father.” Whereupon Isaac spoke the following blessings on Esau:
"Behold, your dwelling shall be on the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck."
Esau, who was never seemly concerned with spiritual thing understood the import of receiving some form of blessing..."Have you not reserved a blessing for me?… Have you only one blessing, my father.”...a partial blessing would more acceptable than no blessing at all.
Genesis 27:41
"And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob."
Not having receiving the blessing animated Essau to hatred and murderous thoughts.
The fathers blessing could not be revoked. Isaac said, "I have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed."
Time, lies, political winds, could not undo what had been done on that day. God recorded it, and it was so.
Even after the deception Jacob longed for and received the blessing of his father before he set forth to find a wife.
1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. 3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; 4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. 5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. 6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; 7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;
I find it interesting Esau did the exact opposite in acquiring a wife.
8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; 9 Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
This is one of the reason God said " Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated."
This intentional disregard for the counsel of his father and mother.
Jacob Blesses His Twelve Sons
“And Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days’” Gen. 49:1. Thereupon, Jacob pronounced a prophetic blessing over each of his twelve sons, confirming what we have noted already that the father’s blessing is a personal, spoken prophecy foretelling future dealings of God in an individual’s life. This blessing is not a generic, one-size fits-all, but a personal prophecy as the Bible plainly states: “And he (Jacob) blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing” Gen. 49:28.
Looking back at the blessings, the writer spiritualized the event and said.
"By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning on the staff." Heb. 11:20-21
God recorded it not only as a right of passage but as a form of worship, and trust in God.
God also viewed it as an act of faith. Worthy of inclusion in the book of faith heroes.
The bible consistent of 66 books. Every story, every word is there for our admonition and understanding. God in his wisdom, not only wanted us to know about these blessings, but went out of the way to stress the importance of them.
These blessings word for word are there for a reason, they are an example and as a challenge.
Jacob Blesses His Grandsons
Not only should a father bless his children, but he should also bless his grandchildren. Upon request, Jacob blessed his grandchildren, Ephraim and Manasseh and he said to Jospeh, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them” Gen. 48:9.
I recently took part in my daughters wedding. This was one of the hardest things I have ever been asked to do. I shook like I had some kind of nervous dis-order, but I delivered a parental blessing upon the union. What ever personal discomfort I may have felt, dimmed in light of this great obligation, and privilege.
Not everything that I have ever said about Natasha and Daniel has heaven recorded.
But on May 21, 2011 heaven record the parental blessing of Dan's dad, Kenneth Copeland, and Natasha's dad, upon their union...
" and it shall be blessed"
Parental blessings are not always easy, sometimes you are speaking by faith, most times you are speaking through great personal emotion, but it is our privilege and duty to bless our children as we send them into the world.
"I will not let you go unless you bless me" the blessing is always worth the struggle to obtain, it is always worth the wait, and it is always worth the extra effort.
" I will not let you go unless you bless me"
Is from the account of Jacob wrestling till the break of day,...
He had already been blessed twice by his father... Now he needed the blessing of God.
As our father, God is ready and able to bless his children.
Lm
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment