Fri.’s Devo - Issachar Through Benjamin

Read: 1 Chronicles 7:1-8:40; Acts 27:1-20; Psalm 7:1-17; Proverbs 18:22 Today we read the descendants of Issachar, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Asher and Benjamin. From Issachar’s four sons came 87,000 mighty warriors. From Naphtali came four sons and no other descendants were spoken of. In reading about Manasseh’s tribe many women were mentioned: wives, concubines, sisters, and daughters. In Ephraim, two of his sons were killed stealing livestock from the local farmers. Ephraim mourned the loss of his two sons so much that when his wife had another son he named him a name that means “tragedy.” Another fact worth mentioning was that his daughter built two towns. Asher produced men for the military that numbered 26,000. Much was said about Benjamin’s family line. He began with five sons and we read about divorce for the first time. Shaharaim divorced two wives. One of them had two sons. Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin. In Acts, Paul and his fellow prisoners were being taken to Rome by boat. Paul had seen in the spirit that if they kept going there would be shipwreck, loss of cargo and danger to their lives. But, the officer in charge of them listened to the ship’s captain instead of the word of God. He kept going and it got worse and worse. They faced storm after storm and everything Paul had seen manifested. It got so bad they lost hope. They should have listened to Paul. Lord, help us to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. May our descendants bring blessing to You and others.