1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
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Michael Simpson wrote a book some time back, an amazing, mind-altering book, called Permission Evangelism. I’ve had the good fortune to meet him and talk with him a few times, when he’s visited my homechurch, and I continue to be amazed at how God has revealed himself to Michael, and at how Michael has been able to share that experience into other people’s lives- into their experiences.
Last time Michael was in town, he preached an awesome message of God the Father’s love and affection for us. He gave a testimony about his journey towards discovering and accepting that love. He had this crazy idea that God loves us through other people. That our experience of some one person’s love for us is actually the experience of being loved by God, Himself.
He used a great image to help illustrate the concept: He said God looks into this mirror- He is love, and His reflection, the image of his love, is in this mirror. Imagine that God has shattered this mirror now- it’s in billions of little bits, each little shard showing a small size view of the whole- the image of God’s love. And He puts that little shard in each person- each act of love you experience from somebody is a shard- a piece of God’s love for you.
Or at least that’s what I remember him saying. Whether he said it exactly that way or not- the image is embedded in me now.
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When Israel/Jacob gathers his boys around his bed, he delivers this massive, epic blessing(slash)curse. But what he’s doing is speaking into his son’s lives his experience of God. He’s handing over the shards to each boy. Every little “prediction” is somehow a reflection of Jacob’s experience of life with God. God has shown him at some point in his own life some aspect of himself in creation, and Jacob’s sharing that. In other words, we see in his blessings the experience of Jacob with God- we see who God has been to Jacob.
In Reuben, God gives evidence of strength. God gives. That stands to be said. And Reuben lives with excellence in character and power. But we also see how rebellion is rewarded, when the strength and excellence are removed. Jacob is showing that God is inclined towards blessing first- offering good things first. When we take those gifts for granted, when we abuse the gifts, then they are subject to review, or retraction. But God starts with the blessing.
Simeon and Levi are case studies in wisdom and self-control. Or the lack of it. God has shown Jacob that reaction, anger and violence are not strength. God does not value strength as the world understands strength. God does not value the short-sightedness of quick reactions. With Judah, again, Jacob repeats the forceful insistence of God’s blessing! Judah has kept favor in his life, and the blessings of God are about to open up on him and his family. Jacob has experienced this same kind of overwhelming flood. The intensity of God’s affection and the abundance of his pantry is unrivaled, and it is poured out on us. There is also in this blessing the subtle reminder of the very first promise of God- to send a deliverer, a conquerer, a king who will not disappoint.
In Zebulon, Jacob tells of God’s harbor. He speaks of how God has been a safe place to dwell. A place to hide. A place to regroup and rehabilitate.
Issachar gains insight from Jacob’s experience of life with God. It has been difficult. There have been moments of great effort, of confusion, of not being in control. But though it has been difficult, it has always been a good place, and worth the work.
Dan. For Dan, Jacob has a reminder- God’s justice doesn’t always come from the front. Sometimes you don’t see it coming. But it’s there. And if you are riding on something other than the righteousness of God, sometimes the Justice that comes can cause the rider to fall.
In Gad, Jacob has experienced a sort of redemption. Jacob tells Gad that sometimes it seems like a loss, sometimes it seems like a storm that will sweep you away. But as it is written, joy comes in the morning. There will be times in your life, in your experience when the onslaught seems to overwhelm, but you will revive your strength, you will arise again. You will not be beaten.
Jacob has experienced richness and pleasure in God. It’s interesting to me that Asher’s blessing isn’t so much to experience that richness, but rather, he will serve it to others. A blessing in it’s own right. Is it not gratifying to be a source of immense pleasure for somebody else? That is the blessing Asher receives, and it speaks to Jacob’s experience of pleasing God, and being a source of pleasure!
Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fauns. What an image! Jacob is drawing on the experience he has had of being at peace with his creator within His creation. Beautiful and resplendent! Serene and prolific. There is freedom, and LIFE. And it grows. It expands. It continues.
And Joseph- the blessings for Joseph are almost too overwhelming. He is a climbing vine, a source of envy for others, strong despite attack from outside, calm, not intimidated. He is in the arms of the Mighty One, He is within the crook of the Greatest Shepherd, and his foot rests upon the Rock of God. He is the recipient of all the blessings of God, “Blessing of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and the womb.” I’m pretty sure that’s about everything.
One cannot give a blessing that he has not himself experienced. How could he describe it? How could be have the strength and wherewithal to offer it, had he no grasp of it himself?
These blessings show Jacob’s experience with God. Jacob’s experience with God gives us insight into God’s character.
And God’s character has not diminished or changed since Jacob’s lifetime. All the blessings above are still available, still a part of God’s cornucopia. He paints in your life with the exact same palette of colors. The same selection of brushes. And the Artists desires to paint the same sorts of paintings. In our lives. What are the shards in your experience? How have you been loved? How many shards of that first image of love have you looked into?
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