For the Genesis 49:19-21 PODCAST, Click Here!
"19 Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, but he shall triumph at last. 20 Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. 21 Naphtali is a deer let loose; he uses beautiful words." ~ Genesis 49:19-21
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 49 where we will witness Jacob blessing three more of his sons. God spoke the universe into existence and by the power of His word, it stood firm. From nothing came all things. In a mere six days God fashioned everything suitable for His highest creation, man – a temporal/spiritual being; one intended to fellowship with God in a unique way. Before God made man, He knew man would fall. The spiritual would be lost and man would be separated from Him. God slowly revealed Himself through His word and His creation which finds its culmination in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.19 of today's passage we read, "Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, but he shall triumph at last."
To the next three sons of Jacob today, he will bless the sons of his concubines. Dan was the first and now Jacob turns his attention to his seventh-born son, Gad who was the third son born to a concubine and the first born to Leah’s maidservant Zilpah. Elijah, the prophet, came from this tribe. Gad means "troop." This son was a reflection of Leah’s sad condition. Unlike her other children, Leah never invoked the name of the Lord when he was born. Instead, He was sadly left out in the naming of her son.
Jacob's blessing to Gad literally is translated, "troops shall troop on him, but he shall troop on their retreat." Jacob’s prophecy to Gad points us to the tribe that came after him. They would be warlike out of necessity. As a tribe, they settled to the east of the Jordan instead of in the land of Canaan. Because of this, they were exposed to sudden incursions of plunderers without the protection of the greater body of Israel around them. In their many conflicts and difficulties, they made war alongside the other tribes who settled to the east of the Jordan.
In v.20 of today's passage we read, "Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties."
Next, Jacob pronounced blessing upon his eighth-born son, Asher. He was the fourth son born to a concubine and the second born to Leah’s maidservant Zilpah. Asher means "happy." This prophecy was fulfilled literally in the land allotted to the tribe of Asher when it was granted. Positioned in the lowlands along the seacoast between Mt. Carmel and Tyre, Asher was an area fertile and abundant in both grain and oil. Because of the rich soil of the area, Asher’s bread was rich.
In John 6:41, He then spoke saying, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." And then repeating Himself and expanding on that, He said in John 6:51, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."
Here, the Lord Jesus refers to the personal relationship with Him that is granted to us once we have come to the end of ourselves. It is at this point that we recognized that we were sinners in need of God's help and that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God sent by God to go to the cross and to pay the penalty that separated us from God. As the bread He is the source of eternal life and once we have trusted in Him illustrated here by eating of Him, we are made born again.
In v.21 of today's passage we read, "Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words."
The final blessing upon the son of a maidservant falls to Jacob’s sixth-born son, Naphtali. He was the second son born to a concubine and the second born to Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah. The land of Naphtali ran all along the shores of Galilee and it was from there that the ministry of the Lord Jesus began. Naphtali means "my wrestling." The result of Jacob’s blessing upon him set him free. Instead of being bound, Jacob said that Naphtali was likened to a deer let loose. In Psalm 18:33 we read, "He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places." Naphtali was free to roam and feed upon any pastures he desired.
Naphtali provides a picture of the person who has come to the end of himself and has received from the Lord a personal relationship with God. Once we entered into a personal relationship with God, we began a journey of being taught from where our true identity comes. As we are being defined by God, we will find ourselves obeying Him according to what He says is true. It is God's desire that we are free to be who He made us to be, and not who others or life circumstances have told us we were meant to be. We should be defined by God from the inside out, not the outside in. Most importantly, we should be defined by how the Father sees us and what His Word says about us. We will know that we are being defined by God when we obey Him.
As believers in Christ, everything we need for a fulfilling life is found in the person of Jesus Christ. In order to understand our identity in Christ, we must understand how God sees us. He sees us through the perfection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we mustn't be compelled to do things to get others, even God, to like us because Christ has earned our perfect standing before God. Everything else, including what we and others think of us, does not matter. Our true identity is ultimately based on what God has done for us. Before God we are worthy because the Lord Jesus earned that status for us.
