The Blessings - Genesis 48-49

©Copyright November 17, 2019 By Rev Bruce Goettsche

A number of years ago Gary Smalley and John Trent wrote a book titled "The Blessing." It has sold over 2 million copies and has been revised four different times! The book speaks to a deep need inside of each us. We want to be valued. And we want that value most of all from the people that matter most to us.

Undoubtedly, there are people in this congregation today who have spent their lives trying to earn some kind of blessing from their parents. Others long to receive a blessing from a spouse or an employer.

John Trent wrote,

This is especially important today, in a culture that offers many forms of counterfeit blessing to young people. Cult and gang leaders have mastered the elements of the Blessing that we will describe in the pages that follow. Providing a sense of family and offering (at least initially) the promise of personal attention, affection, and affirmation is an important drawing card for many of these groups. And our celebrity-saturated media falsely promises fulfillment and validation through money, fame, sex, and success.

Children who grow up without a sense of parental acceptance are especially susceptible to being drawn in by these counterfeit blessings. In fact, thousands are fooled every year, beckoned like hungry children to an imaginary dinner. But though the aroma of blessing may draw them to the table, after eating they are left hungrier than before.

If you are a parent, learning about the family blessing can help you provide your child (ren) with a protective tool. The best defense against imaginary acceptance is genuine acceptance. By providing genuine acceptance and affirmation at home, you can greatly reduce the likelihood that a child will seek those things in a gang hangout, a cult compound, or an immoral relationship. (p. 33 The Blessing)

The Hebrew word for bless has two dimensions to it. The first is the idea of bowing the knee. It is a picture of ascribing great value to someone. The second dimension is that of adding weight or value to someone. So, to bless someone means to view them as significant and want to add to the significance of their life.

With this brief introduction I hope you turn with me to Genesis 48 and 49 and read the blessings given out by Jacob with a new attentiveness.

The Blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh

The first scene in the blessing sequence is the blessing Jacob gave to Joseph and then to his two sons.

Before we look more closely notice first that Jacob blessed because He has been blessed. Jacob had been blessed by his Father Isaac, but that blessing was tainted because he was pretending to be his brother Esau. He technically received the blessing from his dad, but he spent his life remembering those words were not meant for him, but for his brother. This is why it was so important for Jacob to have received the blessing from God.

Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations. And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’ (48:3-4)

In much the same way, it is hard to give a blessing to others when you crave a blessing of your own. This is why it is so important to understand the message of the gospel. The story of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus all are designed to carry a blessing. It is as if God was looking you right in the eye and saying, "You matter to me!"

People around you are starving for the message that they matter to God. They want to believe they are a masterpiece of God, but they find it incredibly difficult to believe because they have craved a blessing from the significant people in their lives and have not received it! Many of these same people believe God does indeed love the world but they somehow, deep down, they believe that does not include them.

Jacob welcomed Joseph's sons as his own. The best way to draw close to a person is to appreciate and notice their children. The flip side of this is: if you want to end up on someone's enemies list, be negative toward their children.

Jacob blessed Joseph by saying he viewed Joseph's sons as his own. Realize how significant this was: Joseph most likely had married an Egyptian woman! To accept these children as his own was a big deal. The equivalent today would be for your parents to embrace your step-children, foster children, or adopted children as their own grandchildren. By doing so, they affirm your heart; they embrace you with their actions toward them.

Jacob did do something that concerned Joseph: he switched his hands and gave the greater blessing to the younger child. Did Jacob see something in Ephraim that he did not see in Manasseh? Was he looking back to Isaac's blessing over the older Ishmael and Jacob's own blessing over his older brother Esau? I guess we will never know.

However, we can see that you don't gain a blessing as a wage; it is not granted because of birth order, appearance, talent or anything else. It is a gift. God sees differently than the rest of the world. He often chooses the "underdog" because the underdog knows they need the Lord's help to survive. He can do more in and through an underdog. The blessing is at the discretion of the one who does this blessing.

This is an important reminder for those who do not seem to have natural ability or see anything remarkable about who you are; you may actually have been told the opposite over the years. You may have been called unworthy and felt tossed aside. But hear this: God does not look at you the same way everyone else does. He made you for a unique and special purpose. What you consider your greatest liability may actually be what He views as your greatest strength.

The Sons of Jacob

Jacob gathered all his sons together. In a sense Genesis 49 is almost like the reading of the will. Each son came forward and you can almost picture Jacob placing his hand on each head and pronounced his "blessing." These blessings are different from the blessings we might give to each other. They reveal the future. Jacob says some harsh things and some positive things.

He starts with the oldest child and works his way down to the youngest. Reuben is seen as a powerful man but also a reckless man. He is basically written out of the will because of his choice to have a sexual relationship with one of Jacob's wives.

Simeon and Levi are the next two sons. However, their treatment of the Shechemites in response to the rape of their sister Dinah, was cold-blooded murder. They too are rebuked and kept from receiving a blessing.

The focal point of the blessing is the fourth son, Judah.

8“Judah, your brothers will praise you.

You will grasp your enemies by the neck.

All your relatives will bow before you.

9Judah, my son, is a young lion

that has finished eating its prey.

Like a lion he crouches and lies down;

like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?

10The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,

until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,

the one whom all nations will honor.

Out of the line of Judah would come David and ultimately Christ. The scepter will not depart from Judah because Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the supreme or ruling King forever and ever.

Jacob declared many generations before it happened, the coming of Christ. How did he know? I don't know. What it does show us, once again, is God has a plan. Even in this first book of the Bible the spotlight is on Jesus. God's plan is much bigger than where we will go on vacation or which school will give us the best deal. Those things all figure into God's plan for our life but He sees the big picture. We only see to the next corner.

We won't look at each of the blessings but the point about blessings is made in verse 28: He blessed each of his children with an appropriate blessing. Giving someone a blessing that is all fluff is received as empty flattery rather than as a blessing designed to infuse the person with life. It must be an appropriate blessing.

People can tell when you are just trying to flatter them (often for some ulterior purpose). A genuine blessing is one where you feel the other person genuinely SEES the real you. They see both the strengths and weaknesses but choose to celebrate and encourage the strengths rather than beat you up for the weaknesses.

Passing on the Blessing

We live at a time when people feel increasingly isolated and alone. 1 Peter 3 tells us,

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

Eugene Peterson's the MESSAGE paraphrases it this way,

No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Elements of a blessing. In book The Blessing the authors point to several elements of a true blessing.

Appropriate Meaningful Touch. A study at UCLA found that men and women need eight to ten meaningful touches a day just to maintain emotional and physical health. They define meaningful touch as "a gentle touch, stroke, kiss, or hug given by significant people in our lives (husband, wife, parent, close friend and so on)." There are scores of studies on the value of touch to our emotional well-being and health. There has been so much paranoia and alarm over inappropriate touch, that we are now afraid to make any touch at all. I love to look around the church and see people hugging each other. I love to see parents cuddling with their child or a husband or wife stroking the back of their spouse. The touch itself (unless it crosses a line) is a form of blessing.

A spoken or written message. For a true blessing to be given we need to put the blessing into words. Therefore, it should be something thoughtfully given. This is why letters and notes are especially valuable because you can carefully choose your words. The added value is a person can re-read the note over and over. Rick and I both keep files that we call encouragement folders. They contain notes from people that bless us and encourage us in the work. The other notes get filed too . . . in a round cylinder that gets emptied regularly!

Attaching a High Value to the One Being Blessed. The idea here is to paint a realistic picture for the person being blessed. It is a picture they may not see of themselves. In a sense you are helping them to see what you see in them. You are helping them see the treasure God has placed in them.

This is accompanied by an Active, genuine commitment to follow-through. It is one thing to see a future for someone; it is another thing to work toward that future with them. It is one thing to say nice things, it is another to be consistent.

Sadly, too many have heard "they will amount to nothing." Others feel people around them would rather they just go away. It takes a special person to look for the gift in someone. The person who feels they have nothing to offer will slowly slip away from people and retreat into a shell. Sometimes these people dry up and die. It has been said that a husband or wife will often become the person their spouse really believes them to be.

You have a spouse, a child, a co-worker, an employee, a neighbor, or someone else who is desperate for a blessing. They need to know someone sees value in them. Look beyond what is on the surface. We need to act like a pirate who is in search of buried treasure. You know the treasure is out there . . . you have to diligently search for it! Each person is a buried treasure from God. Look for the treasure! When you find it, spotlight it and bring it to the surface.

The Church that Blesses. Of all the places in the world where blessings abound, the church should be at the forefront. We know every person is created in the Image of God. We understand God gives gifts as He determines and gives everyone a significant place where they can serve Him. We are commanded over and over to love one another, encourage one another and honor one another above ourselves.

Yet, if we are honest, the church has too often been a place of judgment and self-righteousness. We forget that we are a group of broken people who have been forgiven by the grace and mercy of the God who loves us more than we can comprehend. Instead of celebrating the work of God's grace that we see in each other, we too often are guilty of competing with and measuring each other.

This is not what the church was created to be! I believe God wants this to be a place where hugs abound, smiles are exchanged, potential is seen, the past is overcome with a vision of what could be, and where blessings are pronounced regularly and freely. I long to see us spotlighting strengths, envisioning potential, and joyfully coming alive in the knowledge that we are seen, appreciated, and loved.

If we become this kind of a congregation, hungry people will be drawn to this place because they will know that people are seen and blessed here rather than beaten up and treated as a means to an end. Please, catch the vision of what God wants the church to be.

When the Blessing is Withheld. There are many of you who crave a blessing that may never come. You may yearn to hear your spouse say they are proud to be seen with you or remark how fortunate they are to be married to such a great person but you have a spouse who will never say they are sorry and seems to relish keeping you in a position of destabilization. You may have parents that do not seem to be able to say anything positive and you yearn to just once, hear a sincere, "I love you" or "I'm really proud of you." You may have a boss who seems to only notice the mistakes and never the things you do well.

Let me give you some cautions. First, be careful that you don't chase a blessing from someone to the degree that you sell your soul or compromise your values. This is how people end up in gangs, cults, and mixed up in really bad things. Hold to your Biblical standards and look for other believers who are prone to bless rather than criticize. Draw confidence from the fact that God will bless you for your obedience.

Second, continue to bless others. There is a blessing in blessing others! Break the cycle rather than perpetuating it.

Third, spend much time in God's Word. Listen as He speaks blessing to you.

Your Greatest Blessing Comes from Christ.

There is the story of the concert pianist who was honored with a concert in Carnegie Hall in New York. When the concert was over the crowd jumped to its feet. What should have been the pianist's most triumphant and glorious day turned into a day of heartache. The reason? His piano teacher was in the audience and did not stand!

There are many people who are living defeated lives because the person whom they want to bless them refuses to do so. This is a person whose opinion matters more than all others: a parent, a spouse, an employer or someone else. It doesn't matter what others are saying, all those voices are drowned out by the deafening silence of these significant people.

Please hear what I say next! if this describes you, you need to change who you view as the most significant person in your life. Change that person to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because His opinion IS the one that matters most. In the last day we will stand before Him. His "Well-done" will matter more than any accolade you receive on earth.

The Lord tells you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. He says you are made in His image. You are part of a royal priesthood. He calls you his child, his heir, his beloved. He sees such value in you that He sent His Son to die for you and His Spirit to live IN you. You matter to God! When the Ruler over all there is declares you to be a person of great worth . . . what anyone else says or doesn't say, means little to NOTHING.

So, may God speak to your heart and whisper that He loves you. May you come to believe that He made you unique and special. May you be surrounded by people who have experienced and been transformed by His grace and now seek to extend His sincere blessing to others. In fact, may you be surrounded by such people right where you stand right now. Amen.