Dr Dean Alley, PhD: Alright, Chaplain Dean Alley here. I had a moment. You made it. It's Friday. Yay! You made it all the way to Friday. It's been a long week, I know. So yesterday we left off at 47. This week, we're today I'd like to pick up chapters 48, which is short, and then 49 together today. So the goal is to maybe knock those two out and then chapter fifty and we finish up there. But I I hope you're doing well. It's warm here for the most part and then I think the temperature drops out tomorrow at some point. So it's gonna be cold or and in some in in some aspects that's a good thing, right? So let's talk about a couple things. And there we go. All right, let me share my screen. Always good to do a visual. Do a visual, you get an understanding of what we're looking at here. So 48, the blessing. So this is where we find the blessings, and this is where we're gonna see Joseph blessing Ephraim and Man and Manasseh. And there's gonna be something in there that's interesting of how that he he picks it. It's almost like the Esau and Jacob situation, right? So You know, where it says Esau's born, Jacob I love, something like that. But it's important though to note that we're coming to the end, which last couple few ver chapters we wanna continue to be workmen workethmen in the scriptures, continue to finish strong in this chapter. I am looking forward to going into Exodus and looking at that down the road. So just a couple things here. Let's I'm gonna read forty eight outright and then I'm going to go through some of these slides with you and then maybe talk about some high points and we can kind of go off of we can go off of that too. So if you have your Bibles, go to Genesis 48. If you do not have your Bible, that's okay too. Just sit and listen along. So and I'm gonna use I used the King James no New King yesterday, I'll use the new King James today. so hopefully it makes more sense for some of the folks out there because a lot of times the old English sometimes is hard for people to understand it. Because they're not used to it. Poetry or Shakespeare. I I actually think it's pretty cool. You know, from a Shakespeareish Standpoint where we see that know the old English is used as in in this Bible. So the King James does a really good job of that, I think. but anyway, so this is where Jacob's gonna bless Joseph's son. You heard me say something last time about the importance of the two names, right? So we know one will be Ephraim, one is Manasseh, Manasseh. Word of God says in verse one, now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, indeed, your father is sick. So now he finds out his dad is not doing well. He's sick. And he took with him two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And I know he was looking for them to be blessed by this major patriarch that is one of the big three. And And Jacob was told, Look at your son Joseph is coming to you. And Israel strengthened himself and sat up on bed. So as soon as one of his servants told Jacob, Hey, your son's coming, here comes Joseph, he sits up and he's anticipating the meeting. And said to me, this is right here. It says, Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz. Anyways, I don't have that maybe the map will show it here in a minute. But it says, Showed me in Luz the land of Canaan and blessed me. And he said to me, Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you. And I will make you a multitude of people and give this land to your descendants after you as the everlasting possession. So here is where again the patriarch Jacob, who inherits the promised land, is at a point now where He's telling the story. The land was provided and given to him as God pulled Abraham out, and we went through that whole cycle. We you know did Moses isn't even around yet. We haven't even gotten the Exodus. But so when we look at this, the important reason I say that because there's there's other nationality countries around it, Palestine comes to mind. They claim it's theirs. But God clearly gave it to Abraham and promised it to Abraham way back in the in the in the early start. So that's documented and because a lot of them will say, well it's it's our land. Well actually technically it's not. It's the land that God gave Israel or Jacob, if you will. So So for an everlasting possession. That's what it says. And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt, before I came to you in Egypt, are mine, as Reuben and Simon. They shall be mine. Your offspring whom you begat after them shall be yours. They will be called by the name of their brothers and In the inheritance, but you always got that button there, you gotta pause. As for me, when I came to Hadan, Raquel or Rachel this died beside me in the land of Canaan on my way when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there on the way to Ephrath that is called. Bethlehem. So she's buried in Bethlehem. And then, and then it says, verse 8 says, Then Israel saw Joseph's son and said, Who are these? And Joseph said to his father, These are my sons whom God had given me in this place. And he said, Please bring them to me. I will bless them. So as he did years before that, where we see The Jacob Esau with Isaac, that whole blessing of the firstborn and all that, we'll talk more about that. But we're right we're right here she you know. We're the Bible God's showing us another example, so he wants to bless these two sons, and he asked them to bring close. And Joseph to his father, these are my sons, again, that were the that were born here and give to me. And then verse ten says, Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age. So he's he's up there. And so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought ne them. them near him and he kissed them and embraced them. So he's having you know, he's just wearing out, things wear out. Especially at his age. And Israel said to Joseph, I have not thought to see your face, but in fact God has also shown me your offspring. So he was it was a it was awesome that God allowed him to see Joseph again. But it's a double honor to be able to meet the offsprings as well. And meet your you know, grandkids or your family and extended family is always it is always a great thing. I know as a grandfather, I love my kids, but I really love my grandkids. It's just something different about this the seat. Maybe it's just I don't have the responsibility. but for the most part, I think when you have grandkids, it's a blessing beyond it to be able to see them and God allowing you to see your grandchildren, that is because God allows us to. And it's just not you can't take it for granted. And lot of people will do that. They'll take, Well I you know, I'm only this, I'll live to this folks, I don't know about you, but I see lots of people every single day transition in a safe way. Putting that in a safe way, but transition and very young, very young. Doesn't make sense to me sometimes. Almost like there's something out there. But God is in control and He makes those decisions. But I think there's still you have to be a good steward of your body. So if you are, you know, eating soda and drink and eating Twinkies twenty-four-seven, you don't exercise, you're not eating right, you're not doing things, and you're getting in poor health, you're not taking care of the temple that God gave you. And then there's certain circumstances that will happen. Now, what does that mean? That means, well, you know, if let's say you pass away because of your morbid obese, because of your bad habits and whatever that is, you can't sustain in that body, but you will be soul and body. But the soul will go to heaven if it's if he knows or she knows God. but at the same time, the body's still gonna go through a difficult time here on earth because Of the situation that we put our bodies through. So we're to be stewards of that. What is that? What's a steward? It's kind of taking care of something that you're you're proud of. and I wouldn't say pride, but very pleased. Like, for instance, I remember my first car I bought was a nineteen seventy-four Plymouth Valiant four-door gold, and it had a slant six and I bet I washed it every single day, wiped it down every single day. I bought that myself, cash from my grandmother. I paid I think five hundred bucks. I was only fifteen, you know, and I had the money to pay for that. You know, that was one when you you'll say when you carry your own water, you tend to take care of it. So when you go buy something like I did with this car, you tend to take care of it. And I babied it. Again, I mean you just have that pride and stuff where but you take care of it. So when I'm talking about the body and the vessels, we are to take care of the temple that God gave us. God gave us this body. I thank him every I thanked him this morning for giving me this old body, even though I had a had a tough start today. I was really wobbly, but Gina was there to help. So, anyways, so then Israel stretched out his right hand, he laid it on Ephraim's head. Who was the younger and his left hand on Manasseh's head and guiding his hands, knowing that for Manasseh was the firstborn. So he knew who the firstborn was. But note what he does. Let's read on. And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, giving giving Thanksgiving, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, blessed the lads, let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into the multitude in the midst of the earth. Now when Joseph saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim, it displeased him. Bible says it displeased him. So he took hold of his father's hands to remove it. From the head of Manassas. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, father, for this one is my firstborn, or the firstborn. And your right hand is on his head. So, yeah, not so my father, for this one, he's pointing out now is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head. So he's trying to correct his dad. But the father refused. Jacob said, or I'm prefacing Jacob, but and said, I know my son, I know. He also shall be a sh be a people, and he also will be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than his descendants, shall be a multitude of nations. And then it says, So he blessed them that day by you a By you Israel will bless, saying, My God make you and you as Ephraim and Manasseh. And thus he said Ephraim before Manasseh, the younger, before the older. Then Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your forefathers or your fathers. Moreover, I have given To you one portion above your brothers, that's that double portion, than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with the sword and my bow. So very important to pay attention to those verses about Manasseh and Ephraim, because they will have their own tribes. And we're gonna find like Dan and some of the others, they're gonna stray. So Just a couple highlights here I wanted to go over. So the covenant, Jacob demonstrates great faith of God's promises. The focus now is the the events that took place place at the bedside of Jacob. So apparently for some months and perhaps years, Jacob had been bedridden. So the we're assuming, by the way, or pre so presupposing. we're assuming that he was bed he was bedridden for quite some time. But You got a picture of this great believer lying there, the hours and days he spent in prayer and thought with God, thinking about and praying over the great promises of God. He was praying over the Savior and very special promise seed, who was yet to come. Who is that seed? We're talking about Jesus. And then his family and the witness to the world, their witness to the true God in heaven. So we get that sense of where Jacob is. Now when I think about looking at verse seven, when we talk about but as for me, when I came to Padam, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on on the way when there was but a little distance to Ephra Ephra, which is we know is Bethlehem. So Jacob shared his great love with his wife. Jacob's mind was not wandering about when he mentioned Rachel. Rachel was the mother of Joseph. Jacob wanted his son to know how much he had loved her. So he's telling this story. He in he he he puts this into this chapter so his son, Joseph, understands how important she was to him. Your mom was to him. And I think it's a great testament that we catch and we pick that up. So think about this from a marriage standpoint that bases itself upon love, right? Of the God of God. So you put your marriage based on the love of God and his promises will know true love. You will know it. If you're built your relationship on God's love and your spouse is in the same camp that fears God. And when I say the word fear, I'm not talking about scaredy cat, you know, I'm not talking about I'm talking about A reverence and understanding the sovereignty of this of God who is in charge of all things. And the seed that'll come in the future, which we'll read later on, will be Jesus Christ and He'll come out of Nazareth. But many know the story, but hopefully we can dissect it a little bit. So the true love is experienced by those who base their marriage on God and their promises. Folks, I do marriage counseling. I can tell you this: if you are not On the same page with your spouse. If you're not focused on God, see this kind of that triangle, God's right here. You and your spouse are are climbing and growing together, getting closer and closer to God. If you're not built on that, you're going to have some definite challenges in the future because there's a lot of throwaway marriages today. I don't even know what the word means when they say I fell out of love. that y love is a feeling in my book. Some people say it's more than that, but you know, there has to be some type of deep reveal of that person that God has put in front of you. And if you are built on this Bible and you're built on Christ and you put God first, both of you in your life, so then you guys come in second and the kids and so forth, you're gonna have a lot more success. And Those those marriages last a long time if they're properly putting God first in their lives. And the person who has known true love will remember his or her loved one when they're dying. I know that people will talk about their spouses, you know, a man with his wife, a wife with his her man. Excuse me, they will reflect. So so anyways, it's it's it's it's it's important. If you don't put God first, you're on you're on a path of destruction. You say, Well Chaplain Dean, I know people been that are not they're not Christians and they're still together. Yeah, but it it it's not Fully blessed by God. See where I'm going with that? I mean, if you are now if you have a believer and non believer, and it says not to to marry a non believer, and you can't think you're gonna convert I heard that story with a lady said that she was a Mormon her her whole life and her husband was just a Christian or whatever. She tr she said, Well I'll marry, I'll bring him over, he'll be some some kind of you know, I guess they have a structure of Credence or level or whatever, however, they do it. But long, long story long, there was she wasn't able to do it. And she actually fell out of that religion and started to serve God. I think religion ruins Christianity, folks. That's my opinion. I really do. I think people that lock into their doctoral positions that sometimes may not align with the Bible. And you know, when that happens you're creating a legalistic or a man like law and it just doesn't have in my opinion the legs or the strength to stand up because y I mean I mean it just is just in the in that in that case I mean I think I think that people sometimes get locked down on, you know, Well, you can't do that because this is the way we always done it type thing. well we do it this way because that's the way we always done it. Folks, I've been in leadership a long time. Matter of fact, wrote a book and I can tell you that You have to, I'm not changing not don't change the message. Hear me. Don't change the message. But you can lead from different aspects from where you are as maybe a pastor or a deacon or maybe assistant pastor, maybe a leadership committee, or whatever it is. Then you would look at the whole the whole council of what you guys are doing. Hopefully you're looking at things and saying this aligns with the Bible, this is biblical. And we're going to continue to go down. Hopefully, that is where most testimonies are today. All right, so affection in the family. So Jacob expressed affection and blessed the children and grandchildren. And what what happened then was a warm, touching scene. Jacob showed affection for his grandchildren, Joseph's two sons. And Jacob was almost blind and needed to make sure that the two dim figures standing in front of Joseph. were his sons because couldn't see very well. I mean that's a that's a good long life right there if you're if you're having problems seeing, but I I mean I forget how he's it was well over a hundred. Anyways, so good example of the blessing in seeing his grandchildren. He he tried to move his children different positions and to receive the blessing, but he placed the firstborn Ephraim there, so Jacob's right hand would be upon him and to give a greater blessing. But the right hand always symbolizes the greater blessing. But Jacob crossed his hands for the blessing. So he knew what he was doing and he knew who it was because he put his hands here and cross he crosses them over. And basically and you can see right here I give you a little example right here. Here. So here is Joseph. Here is Ephraim and Yeah, so. You can see Jacob, Jacob was near near his death, and Joseph's two sons. His sons were born in Asanath Egyptian wife. And Asaneth, the Egyptian wife. Jacob, Israel learned of the Abrahamic covenant. Remember who we said Asanath was? Asenath was Potiphar's daughter stepdaughter. Jacob, who is Israel, learned about the of the Abrahamic covenant from who? His father was passed down, Isaac. It was continually passed down. And that's what they do with generations and generations. I don't know if you have a family Bible. I I recommend that you get a family Bible and you sit down and you fill it out. And you write down everybody, the parents, the children, the children's grandchildren, and write them all out. Get a good Bible that has that ability. And that is a great place. To pass that along with your next generation. So it doesn't die with you, if you will. They have a pretty good understanding. So Kahayi Amim equals holy conve convocation of a fellow countryman. And we will receive Canaan as the promised land. Well we'll see that. As we go through you know, we go through the Bible and we go through these chapters. we're gonna learn a lot of things from God. God's gonna show it to us. And the the promised land, that's where we all wanna be, right? So let's see if I could pull up No. Okay, yeah, so we're gonna pick up where he Jacob called the sons. Okay. So Luz is Bethel and that's what we were saying earlier. In forty eight. The blessings of Jacob's son. So all right, so I'm just gonna roll into forty nine and and and bring together. The word of God says in chapter 49, verse 1, and Jacob called his sons and said, Gather together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. That's the first time we see the the the vernacular of last days right here. So even in Genesis it's referencing the last days. Gather together and hear your sons of Jacob and listen to Israel your father. Reuben, this is where you get you get these breakouts here. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and beginning of my strength, the excellence of dignity and excellent power. Unstable as water. And I'll never forget that, because it's a great way to look at it. He usually ever take a glass of water, just turn like this. What does the water do? It just keeps moving, it never settles. It just constantly moves. And he r and he gives his firstborn that That's that analogy of what he calls him unstable as water. I I I get a kick out of that. you shall not excel. He makes it very clear. you will not excel, Reuben. Then he goes on to say Because you went up to your father's bed and you defiled it, he went up to my couch. So you remember way back when he slept with I think it was Billa, it was Jacob's wife or concubine that was given to her. He slept with her. So that's it that he defiled the moralities of the family. I mean you don't lie with your your parents. Anyways, Simon and Levi are brother instruments and a cruelly cruelty are in their dwelling. Let not my soul enter their council, let not my honor be unified to their assembly, for in their anger they slew men. So here we are. We we see Simon and Levi. And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger for It is fierce and their wrath for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them through Israel. Did you catch that? Nothing nothing happening. So Simon and Levi. They'll be scattered. Verse Judah, you are he whom your brother shall praise. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies, your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is the lion whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion. As the lion who rose him or who shall rose him rouse him, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver between his feet until Shiloh comes and see. So when you hear Shiloh, that's a sign of the Christ coming. Alright, so and he to him shall be obedience of the people, binding his donkey to the vine and the donkey co colt to the choice vine vine. He washed his garments in the wine, his clothes in the blood of grapes, his eyes were darker than wine. His teeth were whiter than milk. Zebulon shall dwell by the haven of the sea, he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall adjoin Sidon. Iskar, a strong is a strong donkey lying down between two burdens. He saw the rest was good, and that the land was pleasant, he bowed he should shoulder and bear the burden, and became a band of slaves. Find out where he's at. Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, the that bites the horse's heels, so that the rider shall fall backwards. I have waited for your salvation, O Lord. Gad, a troop, shall trample upon you, and ye and he shall triumph at last. The bread from Ashar shall to the rich or be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. Napfolly is a deer let loose. He will he will use he uses beautiful words. Joseph is a fruitful bough and fruitful bough by the well. His branches run over the wall and the over the wall. The arches have Bitterly grieved him, shot at him, and hated him, but his bow remained in his 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. Remember the cornerstone, the stone. Verse 25. By the God of your father who will help you, and by The Almighty who will bless you with blessings from heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies between or beneath, blessings of the breast and of the womb, the blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors upon up to the upmost, sorry, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall Be on his head of Joseph, and the crown of the head of him who is separate from his brothers. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning, he will he shall devour the prey. At night he shall divide the spoil. All these things are the twelve tribes of Israel, and these this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them. He blessed each one of them according to his own blessing. Then he charged them and said to them, I am to be gathered up to my people or be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers. Remember the promise he made. Didn't want to be buried in Egypt. Wanted to be b buried with his people. Then he charged them and said basically said to them, I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave. That in the field of Ephron the Hittite. In the cave that is in the field of Melchal, Hela, which is before Mamre in the land of Cana, Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. He didn't want to have anybody try to take over his burial place. That's why he paid for it. And that's why each and every one of them, I think it was Abraham first, made sure he paid them. So there would be no doubt that his his family didn't pay for this and make this happen. In the cave that is in the field of Bel Mechbellah, which is before Mamre. So we're getting a location again. And then Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite. as a possession for the burial place. So we know Abraham going back re recanting what Abraham did. And then he says they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife and there I buried Leah, the failed of the cave is their purchased from the sons of Heth. And was Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up on the bed and breathed his last last and gathered to his people. So right up till he he died, he he dies. so let's let's hit 49 and talk some highlights here. we go through this first. All right, so Bethel, Bethlehem, Jacob ad adopts the son, Jacob. Did not make these boys Israelites. Ephraim and Manasseh became sons equally to his other twelve sons. There were at that moment fourteen tribes of Israel. And we we asked, Why do you love Israel? Well, Christianity has ignored this principle largely. We must be great grafted into the spiritual heritage of Israel. Folks, so important. This is a good point. We are grafted into Israel, the promised seed of Abraham, we're grafted into them, and that's why we love Israel and God, because that's what He set us up to do. So this is done through Yeshua or through Jesus, who on the cross, the family of God is Israel, which makes the church the church. Is the is being grafted into the covenants. of Israel. All the reformers out there that say that the church has replaced Israel, I believe that's a misnomer. I don't think that's the case. I do not think that. I think that Israel still will be judged and still are God's people or God's chosen people. So it's not a physical grafting, but it's spiritual, and that's important to understand, Gentile and Israel. So the older and newest covenants given to Israel, Jeremiah thirty one thirty one says, Behold, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. In the house of Judah. There is no Gentile covenant. No one can partake in these covenants unless they are part of Israel. The Gentiles must be declared part of Israel to have a legal access to the covenants to include the new covenant which is in Jesus or Yeshua. This is a big controversy in some of the reformers. Has the church replaced Israel? Well, let's see what thirty Jeremiah thirty one, thirty-five says. Thus saith saith the Lord. So when you see thus saith the Lord, it means Lord speaking. Okay? And Anyways, Yeah, so it means the Lord's who gives the sun for light by day and fixed order of the moon and the stars by for light at night, who stares up the seas so that its waves roar? The Lord of hosts is his name. Verse thirty-six Jeremiah thirty one thirty six if the Lord fixed order Departs from me, declares the Lord, then the offspring of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. Verse thirty seven. Thus saith the Lord, this is important, if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of earth searches out below, then I will also cast off the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord. So replacement theology is not an error, it's an intentional deceit. So somebody's trying to some of these religions believe that Israel has been replaced by the church. That is an intentional deceit. I think that is that would be considered almost heresy because we see in Jeremiah, thus saith the Lord. So and And it attempts to steal the heritage from Israel when they when somebody says that. So we know the Gentiles can be included if here you go. Not because we're good, right? We're we nothing will give us our salvation that we could do. God made provisions for the foreigners and Gentiles to join Israel. He's giving us the opportunity, folks, to join Israel. You hear what I say? You're part of Israel. Gentiles to be the first class citizens. You're supposed to act like it. Don't not acting like savages or or people that are unlearned or disrespectful in any way. Outside of joining the Israel from a spiritual perspective, there is no way to partake of their covenants. So this can only be done by the faith of Jesus Christ or Yeshua. So the believing Gentiles and Jews during the church age today. You have Joshua and Caleb on the tree and Abraham. So Abraham's the the main tree. Gentiles and Jews during the church age today, the unbelieving descendants of Jacob are pruned. Remember the know, in John fifteen. Anyways, so he prunes them. So let's look at this from the Jews to the Gentiles, back to the Jews. So from the Jews to the Gentile, Gent and then back to the Jews. The goal is that all Israel will be saved. Romans two twenty eight. Jew equals Israel to Paul. A true Jew must be spiritual Israelite and Israel has created twelve pro tribes from the Abrahamic covenant and then you could see Ephraim would join the Gentile world or yeah Gentile world Hopefully you can see that. So you got I'm gonna just walk around the the the thing here. So Ephraim joins the Gentile world, tribe of Judah is the Jews to produce the Messiah. You have Israel and then you have the Jews and you have Judah. Judah is the one that is considered the lineage of Jesus. And then it goes on to say, Gentiles who accepted Jesus and grafted into the covenant promises of Israel. So if you believe on Jesus, you believe on God, and you put your faith, hope, and trust, you are grafted in. Gentiles are sent to the evangelize the world. We are to evangelize. What does that mean? Tell somebody about your testimony, tell them about Jesus. The fullness of the Gentiles, that is the 1900 year focus of Gentiles evangelizing other Gentiles ends. And then we get the focus of Gentiles shifts to evangelizing Jews in the latter days. That's for the two witnesses. That is when the Gentile or the Israels will be will be judged. The Jews accept Jesus as grafted back into the covenants of promise. So they're on board. So the goal is that all Israel be saved, right? A true Jew must be spiritual, a spiritual Israelite. So yeah, so gospel taken to the Gentiles, and I missed these down here. most Jews, Israel's reject, most Jews or Israelites reject Jesus, and then Jew Israelites who reject Jesus are removed from the covenant promise. And that's exactly what I showed you when you saw the tree. All right, let's look at the it is our spiritual standing with God that matters, folks. Our spiritual standing is based on what? Based on the covenants made with Israel, including the new covenant of Yeshua or Jesus, Paul is taking Je to Jews and Gentile. Romans three. See if I can grab that real quick. Just so you can get a sense of what that is we're talking about. Romans three, one, two, three. So Here we go. Romans chapter three verse one What advantage then has the Jew or what prophet is there of circumcision? Much every way chiefly, because that unto them were committed to the oracles of God. For what is the sum what is if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? And then you see that's the God forbid point there. So It no spiritual distinction between those who trust Jehovah. So I had a gentleman we were debating about, he was talking about identity. He was all about his identity. And I kept saying it was all about the sovereign God and and and and it's all about Jew and Gentile believing on Jesus for the future. It's not a distinction. Here we go. So no spiritual distinction between those who trust. So if you believe in God, it doesn't matter. But is there a physical distinction? That there remains physical Jews of Israelites and the physical Gentiles. Well, you're still gonna have a Gentile and a Jew, but from a spiritual standpoint, the physical Jews have an advantage, they've been brought up in the word into the world. That's what he says. All who trust Yeshua Yeshua for salvation are made part of the true Israel. Spiritual Jews and spiritual Israelites. So you could be an Israelite. So what's a Jew? From the tribe of Judah. Israelites is everything else in Israel is an Israelite. So you can be an Israelite and be grafted in to God's God's family with Judah. So the kingdom of God. Is people not institutions? People who have given themselves over to God, faith in Jesus is the sole identity factor as to the member, but the legal reason for all this is contained in this in the covenants with Israel. Jews do not take on physical identity. We have the Gentiles do not take the physical and Jewish physical identity. So we say that again. Everybody that's running out to be a try to be an Israelite Jew or Messianic Jew or whatever. Jews do not take on the Gentile physical identity. And Gentiles do not take on Jewish physical identity. You can be a Gentile Christian and believe in in Jesus, Yeshua, and you can believe in the feast, you can believe in you know a Mosaic covenant, you believe whatever you want, you can do that from your seat as a Christian. People think they have to go become a messianic Jew to be grafted in with God. That's not the case. That's what I'm trying to explain. I hope that was clear enough. So So heaven is Torah principles and commands, the words, the law, divine ideals, the spiritual plane. Okay? The ideals put to the physical practice, the Torah, words, principles, laws, and commands, which we get Ten Commandments, the physical plane. So you got the spiritual, which are principles of the law of the Torah, and the physical. Ephesians 2 11, Gentiles by birth, outsiders to Israel, and God by means of Christ. Declared insiders. So if you are a believer in Christ, you are now grafted in to Israel from a spiritual standpoint. Romans 9 6, not every Israelite is part of the true Israel, spiritual Israel is what he's saying. Not every Gentile will become part of the kingdom of God, because it takes true and spiritual Israel. And Galatians 3 26 says faith in Yeshua or Jesus. Equals what the seed of Abraham. The heirs according to the promise means according to the covenant of Abraham. So Christ was part of God's plan, but not all of it. So here you go. The whole house of Israel, right here in yellow. Then you have the house of Ephraim Israel, the northern kingdom has ten tribes, and then the house of Judah has two tribes, Benjamin and Judah, below it. So that's how you go that's how we see it being mapped out. Hopefully that's that that helps. All right, so Mm. So we talked about this twelve tribes. given the blessings, Israel was created by God, given Jacob's name transplanted to Israel. The future, the futures of these individual tribes will be prophesied. Some prophecies have come to pass, and others are still yet to be fulfilled. So he's not done yet. There, these principles or prophecies of Jacob were not. about events but about over all characteristics of tribes would display. We would know you by your fruits. Prophecies are about the descendants, not the original twelve sons. That's that identity that people keep falling into. But if you are in Christ, your identity is now grafted into Israel in the promised seed. So the reading of the will basically Is the sons were anxious to receive their portions. Hard feelings would result because of the divisions were not equal. Blessing begins with Reuben as a natural firstborn. The Arkahithayam means the end days, which is the first time we see this in the Bible, may be speaking of the Exodus or the end times, or maybe both. But both spiritual and physical manuf manif manifestation. So Reuben, he's naturally the firstborn, and he must have been crushed as being passed over. He's unstable as water, first Corinthians five. He defiled his father's bed, slept with Billah and Jacob's concubine. Bad, bad call there, buddy. And then you've got the line of promise, which starts with two components here, to the firstborn. Number one, the firstborn gets the double portion and the right to rule. Jacob splits the blessing into two and gives one part to Judah and the other to Joseph by means of Ephraim. Okay. So the firstborn blessing we know is a double portion. We've talked about it before. It's a birthright. The firstborn blessings all are interchangeable. And in reality, the double portion was part of all all over all firstborn blessings. The writer of Chronicles didn't fully comprehend why Jacob split the firstborn blessing between two sons. A completely unique event. And then we see where Reuben His descendants produced no military families, no kings, no prophets, no judges. Reuben's tribe did not enter the promised land, stayed on the east side of the Jordan. Reuben suffered severe population decline because of again some decisions you make last a long lifetime. Silent Simon and Levi are also passed over, brothers of the violence. These are the two that led the raids on the helpless Shechem. And Jacob prophesies they would be divided and scattered. They they kill I mean they were mad because their their sister Dinah had been raped. And this not a good thing. You still don't go take justice in your own hands. Simon became the smallest tribe by numbers of twenty-six. Population shrunk by fifty percent between Mount Sinai and just forty years later. Simon's given the territory. surrounded by Judah, mostly arid desert land, probably the first tribe to completely absorb by the Israel tribe. Levi, Levi's fate was not destructive as Simon's. It gives given forty-eight cities within the twelve districts. It says I will di I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them through Israel. Levi was divided Away and made special special priestly scribe. Simon was scattered into other tribes, and Reuben's three brothers, first three brothers, were all passed over. Then we see the Judah, the line. Here Judah receives the firstborn. Actually, he only receives part of it. Judah receives the right to rule, but is not given the double portion of wealth. Judah means praise. King David. comes from the line of Judah and Jesus comes from the line of King David. So it tells you the little history there. So till Shiloh, that's another early early I would say a the vernacular about the future here but Shiloh appears in the early Hebrews and the Greek text of the Tanakh. Shiloh will become a city and a territory within the district Accompanied by Ephraim. Shiloh was one the first holy city in Israel. Many translations make Shiloh to into to whom obedience belongs. This is based on the assumption of the missing spelling, the Sheen instead of seen. Not so. Shiloh appears to be old Testament name for Messiah. The earliest rabbis agree that Shiloh is associated to the Messiah. And then the Jewish Messiah, many Jews think there will be two Messiahs, one from the line from the tribe of Judah and the other from the tribe of of Joseph. The problem is that because they say he hasn't come, how will they prove it? Is there Juni is the true Messiah with genealogy, or is it the house of records that was destroyed? in AD 70. So let's run through a couple more highlights here and we will finish up. So Jacob is called he calls his this 49, he calls his sons together to to basically re it's the prediction of the future reading of what you call maybe a will. a double summons means to listen. Reuben's the firstborn And he had the hope of Jacob, but he proved to be too weak. Then there's Simon and Levi, they were guilty of anger and cruelty. They behaved that is not approved nor excused. So taking justice in your own hands, where they did, they went in and killed people. Out of anger, you should never discipline out of pure anger. That's a lesson, parents. So we know that Levi became the priestly one, but Judah, his tribe was to be praised, and it had a lot of military leadership in it. And then we have like a lion is the symbol, a straw of strength. When you think of a lion, you think of the strength of a lion. And to rule over all. The greatest blessing is Shiloh coming would be through him, the Messiah. So that's where we see where the Messiah is going to be coming, the Savior. And people would be gathered to him and would bring the prosperity and the abundance to these people. Zebulon to be ideally located for sea and land trade. And then we see Iskar was physically strong. He he had a real weakness. Complacency and lethargic and would become a servant to others. And then Dan to have capable rulers to be deadly opponent against his enemies. And we see the cry for salvation, the for Messiah to Savior. be overcome. Asher is to have land so fertile it would yield food fit for a king. Nefali we learn will break out to break out of the bondage and speaks songs or speaking of songs. Joseph is to be fruitful and blessed and the number and strong and to be ha to be harassed and hated by his enemies. Standing firm, to be blessed, to be blessing above his brothers. Those are all part of this chapter whereas it's explained. Benjamin is to be a fierce opponent, to be victorious and enjoy the spoils of victory, so he would be successful. And then the conclusion: the twelve tribes were listed and blessed by Jacob. So it's almost done, folks. And So a person reaps what he sows in life. You've heard it before. If you got some parents or somebody's been around, you reap what you sow. And I always say some decisions you make will last a lifetime, folks. Think about that. We talked about, the prophecy. We see that in the beginning. That's where Jacob calls his twelve sons around him because Jacob is essentially gonna transition. Then we see Reuben, his sin, and the result of it. Simon, we saw the same thing, but look the thought about immorality. Let me just say this. the it reveals character. Now, it's a character flaw within a person, it shows a lack of discipline, control, and restaring. It is shown, it shows the willingness to hurt and cause pain to people, and the inability to lead. Everyone equally. If we sow immorality, we will surely reap the judgment of God. Simply put, folks, you know, there's things that come into your eyes and your ears and your environment, and you should turn away from those. By certainly so, especially if you see a beautiful woman, turn away from them. Now, you may have these thoughts and you need to pray God to take those kind of things, those bad thoughts. out of your your mind because that they're not wholesome and they bring to destruction and that takes discipline. And how many, how many guys out there want to have twenty wives? I don't know. But you gotta have discipline. Also, then Simon Levi, we talked about the cruel anger there. Then Judah, there was a blessing. He was blessed. there was a prophecy concerning Judah, the fourth son born to Jacob, and interesting. Thing now happened that the prophetic blessings produced or pronounced over Judah in the day and the time of his father's birthright included a double portion of inheritance and leadership of the family. But in the case of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is also included that God's promise of the very special promised seed, the savior of the world, would be the savior of the world. Reuben, Jacob's oldest son. Had forfeited that right and his birthright, and so Simon and Levi, consequently, Jacob, under God's prophetic utterance, passed the birthright not to one son, but to two sons, Judah and Joseph. Remember? So the sequence is pretty cle clear when it states it. First Chronicles five verses one through two. Now the Lord of Reuben, the firstborn, for he was the firstborn, but for so much he defiled his father's bed, his birthright, double portion of the estate, was given unto the sons of Joseph of the son of Israel. And the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright, for Judah prevailed above his brothers, and him Came the chief ruler, but the birthright was Joseph. So you get a little bit of understanding there of how God is dealing with these these sons. So it's important to note that the facts about Jesus Christ, the promised seed, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the New Testament identifies him as Jesus Christ. With the his prophecy, Jesus Christ is the Lion. Tribe of Judah. Where does Jesus' line come through? The tribe of Judah. So we get that, and then Jesus gives us peace, He gives us rest, He gives us abundance, He gives us a Christ is sovereign, He rules over all. I know I was having that conversation with somebody. I want you to think about this thought. Henry Morris, I got one of his Bibles back here. Henry Morris puts it in the prophecy concerning Judah as been fulfilled. He says it this way. Once the tribe of Judah under King David attained leadership over the nations, the scepter, that is, the portion of the leadership in the nation never departed Judah until Christ came. The kingdom was divided, and later the tribes were taken into captivity. But as for Israel itself was concerned, Judah was always a dominant tribe. Even during the captivities of Daniel of the nation of Judah was greatest among the Israelites and is in fact the third ruler of the kingdom of Babylon. So, you know, I think weren't they I don't know if it was Judah or Benjamin, but they were fierce fighters, and I think they were left handed. One one of the tribes were left handed. So after the captivity they returned primarily to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, along with many Levites, as they as the other tribes had been scattered by the Assyrians. Although many from the tribes did continue, of course, until actual the actual coming of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. Soon after, soon after Jerusalem was destroyed, and then we learn that in the Jews a name was derived from Judah, was dispersed into the nations. Since then, even the genealogies have been lost, so the tribe's distinction had been fused and blurred among the Jews as a whole. This did not happen, however. It is the sub scepter that did not pass from Judah. Until Shiloh came, just as Jacob had predicted. The fact incidentally confirms that Messiah did come and he must have come sometimes before AD seventy, since the Scepter passed from Judah about that time. So next up is Jeh Zebulon. Basically the prophecy concerning him was prepositions in the verse. should be translated towards okay so blessings towards and he would dwell towards the sea and towards the ships towards Sidon Then the other thought, excuse me, the other issue are the other thought behind that with Zebulon was the only tribe that had its territory spelled out by Jacob and Jacob in a prophetic message to suggest that Zebulon was to be blessed with special territories and areas of local and trade for wealth. God was also to bless the tribe of Zebulon, which was unique, to serve the other tribes and providing goods for them. through the ship ports, I'm sure. Ishkar was the remaining there was a prophecy concerning Ishtar. The tribe of Iskar was to be strong donkey, animal of great strength. Remember the donkey was a great value in ancient history. The donkey was a major animal used to transport goods on of that day and time. So the donkeys were Very prevalent in that culture. This is the idea that tribe of Ishkar Iskar had or was a strong and sturdy people, and the prophecy of course was proved to be true. The tribe rose up courageously, fought for Deborah and Barak with its tribes, refused to help. The tribe was grow was to grow and provide eighty seven thousand military men during the reign of the Israelites or Israel kings. And then one trait that be that that he had that would be considered a weakness was his lethargist or his complacency. He he had a tendency to just kinda lay back and not really be forthright, very timid, if you will. Com so think about this complacency, lethargy and comfort at being in ease are the enemy of our souls. You can't be That laid back that you can't make a decision. So you have to think about that. So over comfort or satisfied that would be more willing to be enslaved than to risk the comforts of life. Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort to share the gospel with God or with Jesus with other fellow people? So then there's Dan. Dan's prophecy, the tribe was produced with capable rulers, and Dan means the judge or minister. so when we think about Dan, a couple thoughts. God warned us against idolatry, against putting things of this world before him. Ida idols include gods of a false religion, the people whom we put before God, whom we idolize and give allegiance to. I've said it before. if you're a grandparent and you put your grandkids in front of God, that's a problem. They become an idol to you. If you put anything before God, your how your husband, your spouse, it's an idol. God wants to be the first seat of your life and be in it. So the possessions, property, positions, and pleasures that consume our lives and leaves no room for worship and service of the true God in heaven. Are you busy, folks? You see it all the time. I'm so busy, and you see it. Anyone can be busy in this world. There's so much going on. Think of Mary and Martha. One was at the feet of Jesus, the other one was running around working, doing stuff. And Jesus said I think it was Mary that was doing the greatest thing, or one of the two, but was doing the better thing essentially. So salvation, deliverance, and savior. There's a cry for salvation for for the Messiah Messiah Messiah, excuse me, Jacob was on the verge of death. He seemed to have reached exhaustion, and his energy and strength was almost gone. And the new surge of energy, enough strength to go through the prophetic blessings. So he was giving the blessings. and he cried out with the depths of of his heart for God's salvation, his full salvation, which included the hope in Messiah. Do you have a hope in the Messiah today, folks? Are you what you're believing in? Is it true or is it false? Think about this salvation is in the Savior, the promised seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, our deliverance in him and him alone. For the wages of sin. What's a wage? Something you earn is death. But what? The gift of God is eternal through Jesus Christ, eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's talk about Gad. There were prophecies concerning Gad, and that was in verse 19, where we talked about the tribe was surrounded by nomadic tribes, which were Midiites, Midianites. Amorites and Arabians roving marauders through the desert. But Gad was to be a tribe who would be successful in struggling against his enemy. The idea is that he would never give up, no matter the strength of his enemy, he would struggle and fight until the last until he overcame. Therefore, he would know that got the glory victory. He would have glory and victory. So the thought here is what appears to be good is not always good. there's things we want that God won't give us because He knows the outcome. It's not good for us. He knows what's right. The land looked good to the tribe of Gad, but it was working with enemies and it was constantly attacking people. So there's places on earth with their bright lights, pleasures, pro possessions, power, positions, fame, all these things I think of, I think of LA, I think of Las Vegas, I think of New York City, these these fast places and everything that just you go in there and they got these lights, it all attracts you into being more and more like the world. And we get warning there. So Asher, next up is Asher, is the prophecy concerning Asher. The tribe sat along the seacoast north of Carmo and reached its way to tra Tyree and Sidon. The territory. included some of the most fertile land anywhere. It crisscrossed the trade routes of the sea. The tribe was industrious, energetic, and making good use of what they had, so much of it had to be called upon to provide a yearly quota for the palace. So he was used that way. Thought here would be scripture warns us against the world worldness, folks, and against being too Attached to the luxuries and pleasures, bright lights, greed of this earth. True believers live in live separate lives, live that are different drastically from the world. I would say this, my wife does a really good job keeping me grounded. Which is good. I'm not a bad thing. So, anyways, that's that's that's a good thing. And maybe you have somebody in your life to keep you grounded too. So Nefali, meaning gospel, the prophecies concerning him, it's probably like a doe or deer. You let him loose, that is. He's known for swiftness in military combat. The most beautiful words on earth are the words of the gospel, the good news, the words of grace and truth. By the gospel we are forgiven of our sins. The gospel of Jesus and the eternal life given in the glorious privilege of living forever with our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then there's Joseph, he's blessings of God, which we talked about. The prophecy concerning Joseph. Remember that Jacob was splitting the family birth rights between Judah and Joseph. So they both had a part in it. Judah was assigned the leadership of Israel and the point of the line of the special promised seed. Joseph had been given a double portion of birthright that usually went to the firstborn son, that is, through Joseph and the inheritance. So that all had ramifications there. That essentially are those are the two mighty things there. So a thought here would be the blessings of God pours out upon his true followers are unlimited. To steer the thoughts just as they are listed as we went through these things. Then the last is Benjamin. And Benjamin, there was a prophecy concerning Benjamin, the tribe would be more like the ravenous wolf. A wolf is strong, sensitive, loyal, crafty, and ferocious animal that is always on alert and ready to fight whenever needed or whenever it arises. both good and bad features. And Jacob was predicting such a nature in the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was one of the smallest tribes. That it's him with the left handed. I think it's Benjamin's left-handed. but he was also more courageous and bold. So the tribe produced produced. great leaders as Ehud and the second judge of Israel, which was Saul, and the first king of the nation, Abner, the the first commander in chief of the Israel army, and Jonathan, his beloved friend David. So the thought here would be when we think about J Benjamin, is we should always be courageous and we should be bold in life for Christ. That's the thinking behind Benjamin and the tribe of Benjamin, but but our courage and boldness should always be used for what? For good, folks. Not evil. Alright, so we just knocked out two big old verses, went a little long, but that's fine. We have one more chapter we'll get to. Hope it's a blessing. Take care. God bless. Chaplain Dean Alley.