Mon.’s Devo - The Blessings of Jacob

Read: Genesis 48:1-49:33; Matthew 15:29:16:12; Psalm 20:1-9; Proverbs 4:20 God had told Jacob that he would see Joseph again and that Joseph would close his eyes when he died. Jacob was dying so Joseph came with his two sons so Jacob could bless them before he left the earth. Jacob not only blessed them but he adopted them as his own and they were now counted among the tribes of Israel. Any sons born after this to Joseph would be his own. Jacob recounted the history of Joseph’s mother, Rachel. She had died in Canaan and was buried in Bethlehem - the place Jesus would be born. It came time for Jacob to bless Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob brought them to Jacob and they were so young they came to his knees. Joseph strategically placed them where Jacob would place his right hand on Ephraim’s head since he was the oldest and his left hand on Manasseh’s head. Jacob crossed his hands placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head. When Joseph saw this he tried to stop Jacob but Jacob knew exactly what he was doing. Ephraim would be greater than his older brother so the blessing of the first born would be his. With his arms he was making the sign of the cross. Jesus would come and cause us to forget our past and make us fruitful. Jacob blessed Joseph first and then his two boys. He said that their names would be synonymous with the word “blessing”. He told Josepth that his posterity would return to Canaan and told him that he was giving him an extra portion of the land that he took from the Amorites. That was true because Manasseh had land on both sides of the Jordan River. Jacob called all his sons and gave them their blessing. Each of them was blessed and prophesied over. Their prophecies stood the test of time. Jacob gave specific instructions about where his bones should be buried. He wanted them buried with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Leah’s bones in Hebron. In Matthew, Jesus returned from the area of Tyre and Sidon back to the Sea of Galilee. The crowd was there waiting with their sick and demon-possessed. Jesus healed them and taught them. He didn’t want to send them away hungry so he had them sit down. He told the disciples what he wanted to do - feed the crowd. He asked them what they had. They had seven loaves and a few small fish. Jesus did what he had done before. He blessed the food then broke it and gave it to the disciples. The disciples distributed the food and the 4,000 men and their families ate. The disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. Then Jesus sent the people home and crossed over to the region of the Magadan. The Pharisees came to Jesus and demanded that he give them a sign to prove that he was the Messiah. Jesus had given them so many signs they had to be blind to not see them. So, he told them that the only sign he would give them was the sign of the prophet Jonah. Then he left. I’m sure they had no idea what he meant. They didn’t know that like Jonah he would be in the belly of the earth for three days then resurrect like Jonah did. Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee and Jesus began to teach them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees. They immediately though he was talking about physical bread and realized they had none. Jesus explained he was not speaking naturally but spiritually. The yeast of the Pharisees was their wrong teachings. The Pharisees had abandoned God’s laws for their own man-made laws. They made it impossible to be good enough to find God. Lord, help us to see with spiritual eyes and see beyond the natural. May we see as You see and walk in the supernatural with you.