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Daily Devotions

Genesis

Genesis 
Day 
Day 360

"Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!" Psalm 150:2

Text: Genesis 49:1-33

WITH SPECIAL JOY IN THE HEART

Israel must have been particularly glad when he was given this revelation from the Lord concerning his favourite son, Joseph. Every word breathed out was spoken with both love and joy.

“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
The archers have bitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
But his bow remained in 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).”
GENESIS 49:22-24

Part of the blessing of Joseph involved a short reflection of the past. Though Joseph was shot at and hated, he nevertheless triumphed because the Mighty God of Jacob made him strong!


A WONDERFUL FUTURE ENVISIONED

Jacob went on to describe the future that Joseph would enjoy. (In this section, it is possible to include Ephraim and Manasseh under the name “Joseph”).

“By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who will bless you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
The blessings of your father
Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who
was separate from his brothers.”
GENESIS 49:25-26

It would almost appear that Israel could not find sufficiently adequate words to describe the blessings that he wished for his beloved son Joseph. This special word from Israel called for the richest of blessings from both heaven and earth to be showered upon Joseph! What great love Israel bore toward his son Joseph, right from the start. To his dying breath Israel loved Joseph above all his sons! How happy he was to be able to pronounce an unparalleled word of blessing upon Joseph!

Israel invoked the name of the Lord as he declared this blessing to fall upon Joseph! The blessing of the Lord for Joseph was more than assured as these words poured out from Israel’s lips. Jacob felt that the blessing he had received from the Lord far exceeded that given to his “ancestors”. The epitome of the Lord’s blessing upon him lay in the fact that he had Joseph as his son!