Good morning. Turn to Genesis chapter 49. We're going to pick up on the names of the sons of Jacob and
the blessings or the prophecy that he gave to each one of them. And what I'd like to do is give
a spiritual application of these names and prophecies to us, the
spiritual sons and daughters of Jacob. Before I do that, let's go to
the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we've gathered here in thy presence
this morning Thankful that we can do so. Thankful for the desire
that you've given us to be here. We pray that you would meet with
us, enable me to rightly divide the word of truth. Lord, enable
us to give you the glory that's due under your name. Teach us, be our instructor this
morning. And for those whose hearts are
heavy, we pray for them who are sick. Those who are sick and
afflicted, we pray for them. We lift them up before you, Father. We know that all things are of
God. And we know, Lord, that thy grace
is sufficient. Therefore, we look to thee. In
Christ's name we pray, and amen. Now, last week we looked at Joseph,
but now I want to go back and look in verse 13. We will start at verse 13 with
Zebulun. But one of the things that I
want to say before I get into their names that jumped out at
me as I was reading through this is the purpose and the providence
of God in the lives of his people. Jacob gives this prophecy of
his sons. And then later on, as years go
by, these things come to pass. For example, Zebulun, it says
here, shall dwell at the haven of the sea. 200 years later, when they divided the lots out,
the land, the lots, to the sons of Jacob, children of Israel,
Zebulun was given the one by the sea, the Mediterranean. Here
200 years before this, before that happened, Jacob says, Zebulun,
you're gonna dwell at the haven of the sea. God's purpose is in every one of his children's
lives. You were not born to the family
you were born to, live where you live, grow up where you grew
up at. That was not just accidental,
incidental. God put you there. He put you
with the family that you were born to, the place, the part
of the country, the part of this world that you were born into,
God put you there. And He put you there on purpose. Let me read something here to
you. This thought came to me this morning as I was reading
over this. Listen to this in Deuteronomy
32 verse 8. When the Most High divided to
the nations their inheritance, People didn't just scatter over
the earth. God divided to the nations their
inheritance. When He separated the sons of
Adam, when He separated them, He set the bounds of the people
according... Listen to this. God set the bounds
of the people. The Chinamen, Chinese, they have
their land and Africa has their land. All these different nations
have their lands. He set the bounds of the people
according to the number of the children of Israel. Everything that God has done,
is doing, will do, has to do with his people on this earth. to the dividing of nations, people,
families, it has to do with his people, the children of Israel. That's you who believe. You are
the true Israelite. That's what Paul said. He said,
we are the true circumcision who worship God in spirit and
have no confidence in the flesh. We are the true Israel of God
who believe God. But that thought came to me as
I was going over my notes this morning, and I just thought,
Evident it is that God has managed and manipulated and purposed
and appointed and directed every one of our lives. Right down
to where we're born, when we're born, where we'll live, where
we will grow up. Aren't you glad of that? I am. I'm so glad that my life is directed
by God. Some people complain, they say,
well, I don't want to be a puppet. I want to be His. I'm telling
you the truth. I don't know anyone wiser to
direct my life than God Almighty. That gives me real comfort that
God directs it. God, who is infinite in wisdom,
directs it. That's so comforting. All right. Zebulun. Zebulun here, he's,
let me get back here. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven
of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships, and his border
shall be unto Zidon." Zebulun is a place for ships
to come to and find safety in times of storm. And, you know,
whenever there's a storm at sea, the ships look for a haven. They
look for a safe place to go to till the storm passes by." And
when I read that, I thought of this, the Lord Jesus Christ is
our Zebulun. First, He's our Zebulun. He's
our safe haven. He's the place we go to in times
of storm. He's the place of rest. The Lord
Jesus Christ is our place of rest. We rest in Him. We find
all that we need in Him. We find all the safety. we need
in Him for time and eternity. We find it in Him. But then I
also thought after that, that Zebulun can represent here the
church. We gather here to eat the bread
of life. We gather here to find rest in
the gospel that's preached. You know, when the gospel is
preached, every time it's preached, you find rest in it, don't you?
You find rest one more time. You come in from the toils of
life, you come in from out there, and you come here, and the gospel
of grace is preached, the gospel of peace is preached, and you
find some rest once again. Once again, you find a little
rest. And the church here, in a sense, can be a Zebulun, We
find some rest here with the brethren. You know, I find real
peace here with the family of God. I find real peace with the
family of God. I don't find that out there in
the world. I don't find peace out there, but I do find it here.
And then we have Issachar. Issachar is a strong ass couching
down between two burdens. And he saw that rest was good
and the land that it was pleasant and bowed his shoulder to bear
and became a servant under tribute. Issachar, he says here, is strong. He's like a strong donkey. The meaning of this is he's lean. He's strong and he's lean. He's
able to bear up under the burden. He's able to bear up. He knows
what it is to bear a burden. Issachar knows what that is.
He knows something, the spiritual Issachar. He knows something
of the burden of sin. You know that, don't you? You
know what that is. You know something of the burden
of work salvation. You know what that is. Most of
you came out of it. I'd say most everyone here came out of a false religion.
You came out of Arminianism, you came out of a false religion.
Most of you didn't grow up from a child, some of you may have,
but most of you didn't grow up from a child under the gospel. And you know what it is. You
know what it is to be burdened of trying to please God, trying
to work your way to heaven. Just like that young man we looked
at last week. Good Master, tell me, what good
thing must I do? What good thing must I do to
inherit eternal life? You know something of the burden
of sin. You know something of the burden of work salvation. However, every spiritual Issachar
has found rest. He's found rest from his burden
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's found some rest. And he
saw that rest was good. Isn't rest good? Don't you like
it when you have a good night's rest? You lay down at night and
you really had a good night's rest. It's been probably, oh,
it's been a few weeks ago, because I usually wake up about as tired
as I went to bed. But a few weeks ago, I woke up and I mean, it
felt like, I felt like a new person. I said, I don't know
what happened. I don't know how I did it or
what happened, but man, I felt like a, I really rested. I really,
I just felt like a new person. That's what rest does for you.
It just reinvigorates you. He saw that rest was good and
the center whom the Lord saves, finds in Christ a good rest."
It's good. It's the best rest there is.
Come into me, all you labored, heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. I'll give you rest. And then
he saw that the land was pleasant. He was content with his lot.
He was content with what God had given him. The spiritual
Issachar is content with what the Lord has given him, where
the Lord has placed him. He finds real contentment in
the Lord Jesus Christ and His providence. I have learned this
about contentment. I have learned, it's taken me
a long time. You know, Paul said this, I have learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. That's something learned. That's
something that God by his grace and through trials and his providence
teaches us to be content with the things he's given us and
where he's put us. But this is what I've learned. When I have
found my real contentment in Jesus Christ, when I find Him
now, when I'm really content with Him, I'm content with everything
else. I'm content with everything else,
whatever's going on, wherever He's placed me, wherever I live,
I am content because I have found in Him all I need. What was it
that Mephibosheth said to King David when Ziba had lied on him? And then when King David came
back, to make this story short, David said, well, just divide
everything between you two, Mephibosheth and Ziba. And Mephibosheth said,
give it all to Ziba. He said, my king has come back.
My lord has come back. I have him. He said, Ziba, you
can have it all. Abraham said to Lot, he said,
Lot, we've got to divide here because the herdsmen were fighting.
He said, lift up your eyes and whatever you take, whatever you
want, and whatever's left, whatever's left, I'll take it. Abraham had
the seniority. Abraham could have said, Lot,
take your herdsmen and go over here and you all live over there.
But he didn't do it. He just said, Lot, you take whatever
you want. You take whatever you want. And
I'll just take what's left. That's grace. That's not only
grace, that's contentment. He found real contentment in
the Lord. And that's when you'll be content.
That's when I'll be content, when we find it in Him. He saw that the land was pleasant
and He became a servant and a tribute. You know, his name means hired.
It means hired. And I thought of this scripture.
You've been bought with a price. You're not your own. You're not
your own. You've been bought with a price.
You're not your own. You're the Lord's servant. You're
his servant. But what he's saying here is
that he's saying here to Issachar, Issachar, you're going to work
and you're going to pay taxes. You're going to help support
those who go out and fight war. Issachar, that tribe, they were
agriculturalists. They didn't go out to war. But
what they did do, they supported and paid taxes and took care
of those who did. Somebody's got to stay home and
pay the bills. You've got to go to work. And
this is not free. None of this is free. Salvation
is free. Salvation in Jesus Christ is
free. Nothing else is free. Everything
else you got to work for and pay for. And that's why he's
saying here, he said, he goes out to work and he willingly
supports God's man. He willingly supports the gospel.
He willingly supports the missionaries. God's Issachar does. He supports
God's preachers. And then we come to Dan in verse
16. Now his name means judge or judging. That is, he has discernment.
He's like the umpire. He makes the right call. That's
his name. He's gonna be a judge. He deals
with, and actually he dealt with the government in Israel. I think this is part of where
the Pharisees may have came out of, but anyway, his name means
judging. Now, first of all, Dan was the
first son from the concubine, Billa. I want us to understand
something here. God saves and uses all sorts
of sinners. In Christ, we're all one. It
doesn't matter if my mother was like the mother of Israel or
if she was a harlot. If God has saved me, he'll use
me. If he wants to put me in a pulpit,
he'll put me in a pulpit, no matter my ancestry. It wouldn't
matter. It doesn't matter. Dan may have
been born from a handmaid, but his judgment is just because
God has saved him. He's born of the same spirit
as the rest of the sons of God. Never judge a believer by their
background, their heritage, never. If a man or a woman is a child
of God, they're a child of God, born of the same Father you and
I were born of. If we're children of God. Don't write a man off because
of his birth or education. If he's God's man, listen to
him. He's got good discernment. God's
given him discernment. Dan's name is Judge. He has good
discernment. And then we come to Gad in verse
19. He says, "...a troop shall overcome
him, but he shall overcome at last." Gads, all of Gads, spiritual
Gads get knocked down. You'll get knocked down. I assure
you, every one of God's children get knocked down. They do. As the one prophet said, rejoice
not over me or my enemies. Though I fall, yet shall I rise
again. I will get back up. His children
always get back up. They get knocked down, but they
don't stay down. He says, here's the prophecy
of it. He will overcome in the end.
He will overcome in the end. Cast down, but not destroyed. We may be cast down, and we will
be. Knocked down, we will be. Destroyed, we won't be. Stay
down, we won't. God won't let it happen. In Christ,
the Apostle Paul said, we are more than conquerors. Look over in Romans 8 first,
I'll read that to you. We're in Romans 8. Look in verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted
as sheep for the slaughter. Now in all these things we are
more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Through these
things that look like they are destroying us, through these
things that knock us down, we are actually conquering. Jesus Christ hanging on a cross,
His visage, His appearance was marred more than any man. Who's
winning? Him or Satan? Him or men? Who's winning? He
is. He's more than a conqueror hanging there. He's the one who
determined when it was finished, isn't he? He's the one who cried,
it's finished. The Romans didn't cry that. The
Jews did not cry that. Jesus Christ is the one who cried,
it's finished. He told him when it was over
with. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us, for I'm persuaded, are you? Are you persuaded that
neither death nor life, let death come, let it come, is not gonna
separate me from God. I'm gonna go into His presence
when that happens. I'm persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Through all these things, we
are more than conquerors. He's gonna get knocked down.
He will get knocked down. Gad, a troop shall overcome him,
but he shall overcome at last. But he'll get back up. All the
spiritual Gads will get back up. Now, verse 20, Asher. Out of
Asher, his bread shall be fat and he shall yield royal dainties. Asher's name means, his name
means happy, happy. You know, it's very unnatural
for a child of God, for one to say they are a child of God and
be an unhappy person. That's just not even natural,
is it? And I know that we have our own
personalities. I know that. I know there are
people whose personalities are pessimistic. I mean, they're
just, the glass is either half full or half empty. Depends on
if you're a pessimist or a, or the opposite. I can't even
think of it. But anyway, he's happy. We're optimists. But he's happy. He's genuinely
happy. Now that doesn't mean he goes
around laughing and smiling all the time, but he genuinely, he
or her is genuinely happy. You find real joy in the Lord. You really do have joy in the
Lord. It's not fake. It's real. It's real. Whatever
Asher does in the name of Christ shall prosper. Whatever he does
in the name of Christ shall prosper. In Christ, he finds his real
joy and his real happiness. And his bread, he says here,
his bread shall be full. Because he eats of the bread
of life. His bread is Christ. Then we come to Naphtali, verse
21. His name means wrestling. Wrestling. It signifies struggles. Can you
identify with Naphtali? Struggles. Every one of us had
struggles in his life. Yet he's like a hind let loose. See there in verse 21, Naphtali
is a hind let loose, he gives goodly words. His name means wrestling, he
meets with struggles, but he's like a hind let loose, he wins. He wins, they don't overcome
him, he overcomes. He overcomes. You know the scripture
says, whom the Son sets free, he's free indeed. That doesn't
mean he doesn't struggle. Doesn't mean he doesn't have
struggles and trials and difficult times, but he's free. He's free. And you notice he gives goodly
words, gospel words, words of truth. Words of truth. He encourages
with his words. Oh, that I can be that this morning.
I can encourage you with the word of God. Now, Joseph, we
looked at last week, so we won't cover that one, but we dealt
just with Joseph last week. But then we come to Benjamin,
verse 27. His name means son of the right
hand. You know that everyone here that
believes God is a son of God, is a son or daughter of God,
and you know that right now you are seated at God's right hand.
He said, well, no, you can't tell it, can't feel it. You sure
can't see it. No, but you are. You really are. Wrecking yourself. That's an accounting term. You
know, numbers don't lie. A number, two plus two equals
four. And you gotta really be messed
up to make it equal something else. But two plus two equals
four. And it's the way of saying with
that same accounting, account yourself the sons of God. That's
what Paul says, reckon yourself over in Romans, reckon yourself
to be dead to sin, because you don't feel like it. You feel
like you're dead to sin? No, you feel like sin's just
all over you. that it's lively. But Paul says, you reckon yourself,
account yourself dead to it because you really are. You died in Christ. You died in Christ. That's the
reason sin will not have dominion over you. You're not under the
law, you're under grace. And then Benjamin, he says here,
he's raven as a wolf. He's hungry. He's hungry. He's hungry. He has a powerful
appetite. Powerful appetite. And here's what came to my mind.
He hungers and thirsts after righteousness. All of God's Benjamins
hunger and thirst after righteousness. They hunger and thirst after
the bread of life. But it also means this. He is
strong in the Lord and he'll do great things. He's a warrior.
He's a warrior. Every child of God is a soldier. That's what Paul calls Timothy. You're a soldier in the Lord's
army. You're a warrior. Paul said this, we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers
There's a warfare. We are in a warfare. And we are not cowards in the
warfare. Paul said, in Christ I can do all things. I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me. This is the spiritual application
I've given you of these sons of Jacob. And it describes us. We are sinful
by nature. If you'll remember back in the
very beginning of this chapter, he said, Reuben,
you're my firstborn, you're my strength. But he said in verse
four, you're as unstable as water. Simon and Levi, you're instruments
of cruelty. Well, that describes us by nature. That describes us by nature.
We are sinful by nature, deceitful, cruel. However, in Christ, our
anger, our enmity has been turned into praise. Remember Judah?
His name means praise. We bear one another's burdens.
We love to serve the Lord. We are content with our lot.
We are happy even though we wrestle with sin and Satan. We bear fruit,
the fruit of the Spirit. Like he said, Joseph, you are
a fruitful bough. We have goodly words to give,
gospel words, and we have an appetite for the Word of God. These sons of Jacob that he prophesied
on, this is the spiritual application of it. You are the sons of Jacob. You
are in Christ. You're the sons of Jacob. You're
the sons of Israel. All right.