so he can heal. I do remember
him and Perry. Evidently there was a blood flow
problem so they were unable to operate on him. So I guess the
next step will be probably radiation chemotherapy for him. So remember
him in your prayers. Those two things are very unpleasant.
One makes you sick and the other weakens you so bad you can't
hardly move after about Six weeks of that radiation, you wore out. This does something to you. So
remember these folks in your prayers. Seek the Lord's help
for them. Call their names out to the Lord every night before
you go to bed. Don't have to be anything elaborate. Just say,
Lord, remember Perry. Lord, remember Melvin. That's
all you got to do. Hymn number 118, When I Survey
the Wondrous Cross. When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died, My riches gained I count
but lost, O my pride! Forbid it, Lord, that I should
boast. the death of Christ my God. All the vain things that charm
me most, I sacrifice them his blood. See from his head, his
hands, his feet. Sorrow and love flow mingled
down. Did e'er such love and sorrow
meet? were the realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands
my soul Rock of ages, clap for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin a double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. ? Could my tears forever flow
? ? Could my zeal no longer know ? ? These four sins could not
atone ? ? Thou must save and thou alone ? ? In my hand no
price I bring ? ? Simply to thy cross I cling ? When mine eyes shall close in
death, when I rise to worlds unknown, and behold beyond thy
throne, rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. If you have your Bibles, turn
with me to Genesis chapter 49. I'm going to read verses 19 through
21. Jacob here describing the future
of his children. Gad, a troop shall overcome him,
but he shall overcome at last. Out of Asher his bread shall
be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. Neptali is a hind let
loose, he giveth goodly words. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank
you for Jesus Christ and for his mercy for ruined and wretched
sinners, helpless, undone, and without hope in this world, without
hope in themselves. We thank you for that grace and
that mercy undeserved, uncalled for, and unasked for that you
broadly shed abroad in the hearts of your own. We thank you, Father,
and we bless you for your goodness and kindness, tenderheartedness,
and loving kindness towards your children. We thank you that The death of
Christ was such a success and accomplishment that you remember
the sins of your people no more. That no charge can be laid to
them. No condemnation can ever come upon them. They've been
forgiven fully because the perfect death of Christ has met their
need completely. We owed you a death. and eternal
death but our savior died in our room and in our place and
you accepted that death as propitiation and satisfaction for your law
and your justices demands. Father we pray tonight for those
of our company who's sick. Pray for those who shut in for
Wayne and for Ethel and for Peggy Lambert. Pray also for Brother
Perry, as he's been handed this news, we ask, Lord, that you
be with him and comfort him. You be the one who gives him
strength, because nobody else really can. You know a desire
of our hearts is that there may be a miracle that you might heal
him. We know he's in your hands, and
we know the judge of all the earth shall do right. Pray for
Melvin as he goes into this operation tomorrow. Pray, Lord, you'd be
with those doctors and give them skill. Pray that all the infection
will be removed and you don't have any trouble from this anymore.
Pray, Father, for ourselves here tonight as we gather that you
might be pleased to give us worship. As we consider the things of
Christ, we pray your spirit will take the things of Christ and
reveal them unto us. That you'll uplift our Savior
in our midst, that we might reach out and touch but the hem of
his garment. with thankful hearts know that to touch him is to
have virtue come from him and to cleanse us from all our sins.
We thank you, Father. Help us now, we pray in Christ's
name. Amen. Now in this passage of scripture,
Jacob reveals the future of Gad and Asher and Naphtali and each
played a part in the declaration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ dealing with several aspects in the earthly life of our Lord.
I'll look at these in a different order than they are expressed
here in our text. We'll consider Asher last. The
first son mentioned is Gad and the inference is that he will
be a warring tribe. It says, Gad, a troop shall overcome
thee or overcome him and he shall overcome at last." It is inferred
here that he will lose in battle and in the end will be victorious
in battle and this is a synopsis of the history of this tribe
and the prophecy will be revealed and accomplished in the books
of Numbers, Joshua and Judges and Deuteronomy. Gad was a picture
of a professed believer who never is quite able to fully align
himself with the local church. That's what he's a picture of.
He and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh opted to remain outside
the lands of the promised land and refused to occupy their place
in the promised land. They lived in a land occupied
by the Ammonites on the wilderness side of Jordan. They embraced the promise from
afar, but never availed themselves to the benefits of being in the
promised land. In order to assert that they
were of Israel, though they were outside of Canaan, they made
two great gestures. In order to assert that they
were of Israel, they first erected a great and giant altar on the
other side of the Jordan, so imposing that it could be seen
from the Promised Land. This was their way of saying
that though they refused what God had freely given, they were
still brothers of those on the Canaan side, and most visibly
so because of this altar they erected. We're still your brethren,
they said with this altar, though they would not take place and
live in the promised land. This is indicative of those who
profess faith but refuse to be part of a local church. I've
known many over the years. I believe they're brothers and
sisters in Christ. They love the gospel of Christ.
They know the gospel of Christ. It seems they have a life bent
on defending the gospel of Christ, even as these swore to defend
Israel. Yet they never darken the doors of the church. I don't
understand them. Don't understand it. I couldn't live without being
with the brothers and sisters in Christ. Talking to my sister
Ann the other day on the telephone and we were talking about that
very thing. She's out there in Texas, ain't got nobody to fellowship
with, can't find the church that believes the truth. She says, I miss being with the
people of God. And I said, I thank God I get
to see them twice a week. you'd spend some time with my
brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. They are those. For some reason this doesn't
seem to mean a great deal. They can tell you the gospel.
They can recite it. They can tell you what it is.
They seem to love it. But you never see their faces.
This is Gad. This is Gad. He wouldn't go into
the promised land. wouldn't take part in the fellowship
of the brethren there that crossed the Jordan and went into the
Promised Land. He built an altar, though, a big one, so everybody
could see that he was worshiping the same God. The second thing
that they asserted was that they would join Israel in every war,
in any war that Israel was in, and they would lead the charge.
They would be the first one in line. And they did. They did
that. They kept their promise. When
war came, they kept their charge and were summarily defeated.
That troop did indeed overcome them. The Ammonites did. But
in the end, though, they overcame because the war was of God. And
God had promised victory when He fought for Israel back in
Deuteronomy. If you turn over to 1 Chronicles
chapter 5, 1st Chronicles chapter 5 and
verse 18 says, The sons of Reuben and the Gadites, and half the
tribe of Nessa of valiant men, able to bear buckler and sword,
and to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were four and forty thousand
seven hundred and three score that went out to war. And they
made war with the Hagarites, and with Jator, and Nephish,
and Nobad, And they were helped against them. And the Hagarites
were delivered into their hand and all that were with them.
For they cried to God in the battle and he was entreated of
them because they put their trust in him. And they took away their
cattle and their camels, 50,000, and sheep of 2,000, 52,000, asses
of 2,000, and men of 100. For there fell down many slain
because the war was of God. The war was of God. And they
dwelt instead. until their captivity, so they
were indeed overcome by a troop in the beginning, but in the
end, because the war was of God, and they entreated God, because
it says, Reuben and Gad and Haftar and Manasseh believed in the
Lord. That's what it says right here
in this text. A wonder of wonders. This may also refer to the ultimate
deliverance when Samson destroyed the Philistines altogether, which
aligns with the gospel when the people of God were delivered
from sin and death and self and Satan when one man, even Jesus
Christ, did himself defeat the enemy in the war ordained of
God on Calvary's tree. Secondly, Naphtali is considered
in verse 21, it says of Naphtali, is a hind let loose. He giveth goodly words. He is
compared to a hind let loose. Now a hind is a young calf. It's
a young calf. I was just watching something
on Facebook the other day when they let out a little calf. He
must, I don't know how, he wasn't a yearling yet. He was kind of
young. They let him out and that early
one morning he come out in the dew and he was prancing around.
He was having the best time of his life, jumping up and down
and just rolling in the grass, just having the best time of
his life. And I thought, this is what he's talking about here.
Just unbridled joy. This sits for the image of the
young calf full of life and vigor. We've all seen such images and
they seem to us to be joyous and full of vitality. The hind
is compared to a young heart also or a deer in the Word of
God and is used much in the Word of God to picture different aspects
of the gospel and the believer's response to it. This is probably
the intimation of the phrase, he giveth good words. Nephthali
does as it relates to the Word of God. Turn with a few with
me, if you will. Turn to Psalm 22, which is called
the Psalm of the Cross because the words of Psalm 22 are the
words that our Lord repeated when He was on the Cross. In Psalm 22 at the introduction
it says, To the chief musician upon Algeleth, or Igeleth, Shehar,
a psalm of David. psalm of David, ijelesh shahar
can be interpreted to mean the mourning hind or the mourning
calf and it can be interpreted that and suggest the suffering
substitute in the joy set before him for what he was doing. For
our scripture says in Hebrews chapter 12, looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy set before
him endured the cross disregarding or despising the shame and is
now set down on the right hand of the Father. Over in Psalm
42 in verse 1. It says, As a heart panteth after
the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. As a heart panteth after the
water brook. This speaks of the believer's longing for his Savior. The believer's longing to be
with his God. In the Song of Solomon, a few
books over, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, or Ecclesiastes,
Song of Solomon, just before Isaiah. In the Song of Solomon,
in Chapter 2, the Bride of Christ, the Church speaks glowingly of
her husband to be, or her husband In chapter 2 and verse 9 of Psalm
of Solomon, it says, My beloved is like a roe or a young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
wall, he looketh forth at the window, showing himself through
the lattice. Then in verse 17, it says this,
Until the day break, And the shadows flee away. Turn, my beloved,
and be thou like a roe and a young heart upon the mountains of Bethar. Then in chapter 8 and verse 14,
it says this, Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like a roe
or to a young heart upon the mountain of spices. That's the
language of love that she's speaking toward her beloved. And you know,
we know that the bride in Song of Solomon is a picture of the
bride of Christ. The song that is made is a great
part, her song, speaking of him and his greatness. Read chapter
five and you'll see what she thought of her savior. It's a
wonderful passage of scripture. These are indeed, aren't they?
These are goodly words. These are goodly words. Naphtali
is like a young hind and he has goodly words. Then in the category
of I saved the best for last, We'll look at Asher. Back at
Asher in verse 20, it says, Out of Asher his bread shall be fat,
and he shall yield royal dainties. Royal dainties. Asher was said
to be the food basket of Israel. Occupying the most fertile valley,
this tribe supplied kings and royalty with the finest cuisine
there ever was. And the area of Asher was sometimes
called the Fat Valley. The Fat Valley. And the three
key words in this verse are bread, royal, and dainties. Bread speaks for itself. We know
what bread is. It's the stay. The bread and
the stay is the staff of life. Royal is derivative from the
word king. And one of the definitions of
the deities is illumination. We immediately see that these
things speak of our Lord. He is the bread of life that
cometh down from heaven. He is the King of kings and the
Lord of lords. and he alone is the key of knowledge. The only way we understand the
scriptures is knowing Jesus Christ. We don't know him. If he don't
open the scriptures up to us, we'll never know it. The children
that were his disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter
24, they were with him and he held their eyes where they didn't
know who he was. And he was telling them about all the things that
he had done that he had to suffer because they were complaining
that he was no longer walking with them. present with him. They'd been walking with him
for I don't know how long. Maybe all three years that he'd
been here on earth, they'd been walking with him. Or all three
years of his ministry, they'd been walking with him. I don't
know how long it was. When he held their eyes, they
didn't know who he was. But when he sat down at their table and
sat at the head of the table and broke bread, it says their
hearts burned within them. And then he took them to the
scriptures. Let's look over there at Luke 24. Luke 24. And after he had supped with
them, took the bread and did eat, it says in verse 44, He
said to them, These are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
are written in the Law of Moses. What's the Law of Moses? It's
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. That's the Law
of Moses. The first five books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch.
And in the Prophets, that's all the rest of the Old Testament.
the prophets so he told them about the things in the law and
the prophets about himself and in the Psalms all the Psalms
some that we just read some that we just read then after he had
done that he opened their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures how do we understand the scriptures we understand
the scriptures if Christ opens our understanding but what we'll
find when he opens our understanding is that the scriptures are about
him. In the Psalms and in the prophets and in the Pentateuch
and all the Old Testament prophets gave witness of him. He's the
bread of life, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And he is
the illumination of the Word of God, the understanding. Now
from there back here in the bedroom of Jacob as he talks to his sons
we go many centuries down the road, many centuries down the
road, to the day our Lord was circumcised, the eighth day of
His life. Simeon hailed that day, the infant
of days, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he declared, I can die now,
for I have seen thy salvation. He was one who was waiting for
the consolation of Israel, and the Lord showed him Jesus Christ,
the infant Christ, And on that momentous day, there was there
present an old woman, an octogenarian, a widow, a prophetess. Her name was Anna, and she was
of the tribe of Asher. And she had some fat bread and
some royal dainties to yield. Look at Luke chapter 2. And Luke chapter 2 and verse
36, it says, And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter
of Penuel. Which means I've seen the face
of God. That's what Jacob said. After he went over and wrestled
with the angel all night long and was defeated by him and his
hip was put out of joint and his walk was changed forever,
before he went over he went across this brook and he says, this
is J-Bach, which means I'm poured out. I have nothing. I've lost
it all. I had to send my family out in two bands because I'm
afraid of Esau. I'm poured out, that's what he
said. But after that night he came across the same brook again
in the other direction and he said, I've seen the face of God. I've seen the face of God. She's from the tribe of Asher.
She was of great age and she had lived with a husband seven
years from her virginity. She was a widow of about four
score and four years, 84 years old, which departed not from
the temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and
day. and she coming in that instant, what instant? When Simeon held
the infant Christ and said, I have seen thy salvation, in that instant
she gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of Him, that
is Jesus Christ, to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. All that looked for Out of Asher. Out of Asher. His bread shall
be fad, and he shall yield royal dainties. She spake of him. What more can be said of one
who's seen and heard of the Lord's salvation? Are you looking for
redemption? Are you looking to be bought
back and removed from the slave market of sin? Are you looking
to have the fetters and shackles of bondage of the law, Satan,
and self stricken from your wrists and ankles? Anna says, don't
look anywhere else. Look no further. She spake of
him to all that look for redemption in Israel. Here is the king,
she said. Here is the bread of life. Here
is the illumination, the revelation, the understanding of the word
of God. As God said in Isaiah chapter 45, describing himself, said in verse twenty one of isaiah
forty five he says tell ye and bring them near yea tell them
take counsel together who hath declared this from ancient times
how can you know anything about god that he hasn't declared i
hear people say well i don't believe in hell i say where did
you even hear about it? hell? where did you even hear
about hell? how did you hear about hell? the only way you
hear about hell is if it isn't god's word From ancient times
He revealed these things. Who had told it from that time?
Have I not the Lord? Capital L-O-R-D, Jehovah God.
And there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. That means He's going to save
His people, but He's not going to do it without being just.
How can He be just and save a sinner? How in the world can that be?
A rotten Wretched, ruined sinner. How can God save somebody like
that? Only if he's absolutely just. How is he absolutely just? If what he has required of the
law is perfectly delivered to him, what is the requirement
of the law for sin? Death. Christ offered a perfect
death unto God and satisfied him. So it says in Romans 3,
He's just to justify the unbeliever, or just to justify the believer.
There is no God else beside me, a just God and Savior, there
is none beside me. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else.
Look unto me. Isn't that what she was saying?
You're looking for redemption in Israel? You're looking for
redemption in Jerusalem? Look no further. Look no further. Out of Asher, his bread shall
be fat, and he shall yield royal deities. She spake of him to
all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Father bless us
to our understanding. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.
All right.