Jacob Describes His Lord...

“[Jacob blessing Joseph's sons]: ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let my name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.’” ~ Genesis 48:15-16, NKJV

Jacob bestowed the double portion of the firstborn on his son Joseph. By blessing Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and taking them as his own, Jacob caused Joseph to inherit twice as much as each of his brothers (since a portion of inheritance would come to both Ephraim and Manasseh). I love how Jacob first describes the God who will secure his grandsons' blessing before actually giving them the blessing. The Lord is the God of Abraham and Isaac, who did such great things for them; the Lord is the God who provided for Jacob and blessed him all his life; the Lord is the Angel of the LORD, Christ Himself, who redeemed Jacob from all evil. Jacob was a sinner who lived in a fallen world. Yet as his life came to a close he could look back and say, with certainty, that the Lord had paid the price to get him out of the evil that tried to claim him. Jesus did the same for us on the cross, when He paid - once and for all - the price required to buy us back after we sold ourselves into the slavery of sin and death. A believer need never fear evil. Yes, he may endure trials; he may encounter troubles, tribulation, bodily harm, and whatever else the world has to throw at us. But to him, none of those things will be evil. They may be unpleasant. They may be painful. They may bring sorrow. But thanks to the redemption of God, these things and every thing are being worked together for our good. (Romans 8:28) After all, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 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 Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am 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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39)

by Rebecca....