"Past...Present...Future..."

December 3, 2016

“Past…Present…Future…”

Blessings folk!

By faith, Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph.

Jacob/Israel summoned the strength he had…just to sit up…he was at the point of eternal glory.

Genesis 48
1 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.”
So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.”
Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.


Jacob/Israel then recounted the Lord’s appearance to Him and the subsequent covenant promise of blessing.

3 And Jacob said to Joseph,
“God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you,
and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’


Blessing.
Fruitful multiplication…a company of people.
Land given to offspring as an everlasting possession.
Everlasting.

Jacob/Israel now declares that Joseph’s two sons born in Egypt, Ephraim and Manasseh, would be as Jacob/Israel’s own sons…of equal inheritance. Joseph’s other children would be his.

5 And 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.
6 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours.
They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.


Jacob/Israel still missed Rachel…

7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath,
and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”


A time of reflecting on the past…
On rejoicing in what the Lord had done/said…
On resting in the Lord in the time of sorrow…
On preparing to meet the Lord face-to-face…

A time of looking forward…though not there in the flesh…
Of preparing an inheritance…
Or laying the foundation of a legacy in the Lord…

Jacob/Israel was at the point.
So are we.
None are guaranteed another breath.

In all we do…
Rejoice in what the Lord has done…
Trust in what He is doing…
Rest in what He will do.