Verse of the Day 6/7

Through the Bible - Jeremiah 6-8, Matthew 21:23-46

 

Good morning,

For today's verse we'll once again go to the book of Genesis where Jacob is passing on blessings to his sons before he dies.  When he comes to Joseph, he looks back not only at his own life and how God had blessed him, but also to his son Joseph, whom he thought had perished as a young man, but had been preserved and blessed by God.  Joseph had been blessed, but it was not without its trials.

 

Gen 49:24 But his bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who will bless you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.   NKJV

Joseph had not been overcome by his trials.  Why?  Because the Mighty God of Jacob, his father had been with him.  Jacob refers to Him as the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel, and God Almighty.

 

J. M. Boice writes, "each son had his own characteristics of course, and the characteristic given to Joseph's tribe was fruitfulness.  This had been his outstanding feature.  Although he had been unjustly and maliciously attacked, Joseph had stood his ground and had prospered.  He was the most fruitful of his brethren.  So also, for a time, were his descendants..... All this because Joseph depended on God."

 

Jacob's God, Joseph's God, and our God, the same God, the Mighty One of Jacob, is a personal God.  He is reminding his son that God has been mighty to him and has kept him in every circumstance at the same time encouraging his son to look forward and have confidence that Almighty God would be with him, his father's God would help him in the future.  May we have the same confidence.

 

Think of the terms used, Almighty God, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.  If you recall Jacob was given the name Israel, as a reminder that God would prevail, God would overcome and be his Rock.

 

How great is our God.

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

Gen 49:22-27

 

22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have bitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
24 But his bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who will bless you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.   NKJV