Genesis 49
Israel (Jacob) pronounces blessings over each of his sons before he dies. Some of these "blessings" sound a little like "bless your heart"!
I wonder if this will be what it is like for believers as God blesses us in eternity. All the brothers get a blessing — just as all believers spend eternity with God. But the Bible refers to a crown of righteousness, a crown of life, and a crown of glory. Will we stand before God and discover that because of an ungodly act like Reuben or a violent temper like Simeon and Levi we have forfeited a reward that might have been ours? That is not to be confused with judgment — as believers, our sins are forgiven because of the finished work of Christ and we are no longer under condemnation. But that doesn't negate all the consequences of sin.
This chapter illustrates that even where there is reconciliation, some consequences of sin may remain. What about Judah? He sinned and yet is blessed to be the father of kings, even of the King of Kings. Why didn't his sin cause him to forfeit his role? Clearly, God's ways are beyond our understanding in many cases, but perhaps his efforts to remedy his wrongs played a part. After all, he could have let Tamar be stoned and no one would have known that he was the father of her sons. He could have let his brother Benjamin be imprisoned for the "stolen" cup.
I've always wondered in reading about the life of Joseph why the kingly lineage didn't come through him. Of all the brothers, his life seemed the least marred by sin. He was the one given a double portion of the inheritance. What a beautiful reminder that no matter what we've done, we are not only able to have forgiveness through Jesus, but God is able to use even our worst failures for purposes we can't comprehend at the time. That's not a license to sin or an excuse to fail, but blessed reassurance that we can't mess things up beyond God's ability to fix them.
Israel (Jacob) pronounces blessings over each of his sons before he dies. Some of these "blessings" sound a little like "bless your heart"!
I wonder if this will be what it is like for believers as God blesses us in eternity. All the brothers get a blessing — just as all believers spend eternity with God. But the Bible refers to a crown of righteousness, a crown of life, and a crown of glory. Will we stand before God and discover that because of an ungodly act like Reuben or a violent temper like Simeon and Levi we have forfeited a reward that might have been ours? That is not to be confused with judgment — as believers, our sins are forgiven because of the finished work of Christ and we are no longer under condemnation. But that doesn't negate all the consequences of sin.
This chapter illustrates that even where there is reconciliation, some consequences of sin may remain. What about Judah? He sinned and yet is blessed to be the father of kings, even of the King of Kings. Why didn't his sin cause him to forfeit his role? Clearly, God's ways are beyond our understanding in many cases, but perhaps his efforts to remedy his wrongs played a part. After all, he could have let Tamar be stoned and no one would have known that he was the father of her sons. He could have let his brother Benjamin be imprisoned for the "stolen" cup.
I've always wondered in reading about the life of Joseph why the kingly lineage didn't come through him. Of all the brothers, his life seemed the least marred by sin. He was the one given a double portion of the inheritance. What a beautiful reminder that no matter what we've done, we are not only able to have forgiveness through Jesus, but God is able to use even our worst failures for purposes we can't comprehend at the time. That's not a license to sin or an excuse to fail, but blessed reassurance that we can't mess things up beyond God's ability to fix them.
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