Read: Deuteronomy 33:1-29; Luke 13:1-21; Psalm 78:65-72; Proverbs 12:25
Moses blessed the people but first he made sure that they knew that it was God who was their king who had brought them from Egypt to where they were now. The blessings he gave them complement the ones that Jacob gave his sons in Genesis 49. I noticed that Issachar was left out of Moses’ blessing and I have no idea why. In 1 Chronicles 12 we have the tribes listed and a description of their gifts. Of Issachar, it says in verse 32 that they were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do. In other words, they understood what time they were living in and what God was doing then. Every Christian is a member of a tribe and they bear the gifts of that tribe. It helps to understand what tribe you are in so that you will know what your mission is. If you don’t know, ask God; he will show you.
In Luke, men brought news to Jesus of the violent deaths some of the Galileans had died of. Jesus reminded them of the 18 men who had died when the tower at Shiloh had fallen. He kept bringing them back to their lives. These people died a horrible death, but instead of dwelling on their death, they needed to pay attention to their own lives. Death will be their fate one day so they needed to pay attention to where they would spend the after life.
Jesus gave them a parable showing them how God looked at these people’s death. These men where like a fig tree planted in the vineyard. When they didn’t bear fruit, God cultivated their hearts and gave them one more year to repent and bear fruit.
He demonstrated this in his next miracle. A woman came to him who had a spirit of weakness. Because she humbled herself, Jesus set her free and caused her to stand straight and be able to walk in freedom.
The president of the synagogue, who represents the fig tree who refused to bear fruit, stood up and was indignant that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath. He was really indignant that Jesus would heal a woman who he didn’t think had worth and that Jesus could do what he couldn’t. Jesus called him a hypocrite and told him why. Jesus explained that the man unloosed his donkey on the Sabbath and He was unloosing a woman who was a daughter of Abraham which was so much more important than his donkey. Jesus was right when he said that the religious leaders strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel.
Lord, help us to see beyond our natural reasoning to see the kingdom of heaven. Let us be motivated by love and compassion.
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