Tues.’s Devo - The Blessings of Moses

Read: Deuteronomy 33:1-29; Luke 13:1-21; Psalm 78:65-72; Proverbs 12:25 Moses proclaimed a blessing on the people of Israel before he died. He told them how much God loved them - that the ones who were holy were in his hands because they followed him and accepted his teaching. When the leaders assembles and gathered as one, the Lord became their king. *** Then Moses went through all the tribes and blessed them individually. We, as God’s children can take all of these blessing for ourselves because we are the people of God. *** To Reuben he said may they live and not die out. *** Even though Simeon is not mentioned by name, scholars believe that the next part of verse 6 is to them: “though they be few in number.” Reuben was not few in number and Simeon was and he would be next in order. *** To Judah, he pronounced unity and strength to defend their cause, and help against their enemies. *** To Levi, the Lord gave the authority to give the decision of the Lord to the people. They had proven to the Lord that they would defend his decision even if it meant going against their own family members. They taught the people God’s laws and presented the offering to the Lord. Moses blessed their ministry and prayed that God would accept their offerings and that God would defeat their enemies that they never rise up again. *** To Benjamin, Moses prayed that he would live in safety, free from harm. *** To Ephraim and Manasseh, God prayed that they would be blessed with the richness of the earth with rich harvests. They would be victorious over the enemy. *** Zebulun and Issachar would prosper everywhere they went. They would be given hidden treasures of the deep things God has hidden. *** Gad would prosper against their enemy and was given the best land because they carried out the Lord’s justice. *** Dan was described as a young lion who leaped out from Bashan. Dan was small and needed more land so they did take land to the north which might have been what is described as the “leap”. *** Naphtali was blessed with favor with his brothers, favor in his businesses and favor with God. God was his refuge and drove the enemy out before him. *** Moses ended by blessing all Israel with safety, grain and new wine and abundance. They would be a people like no other that the Lord saved, and protected with his shield and his triumphant sword. His last statement was: “Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will stomp on their backs!” All of Israel’s blessings are our blessings. *** In Luke, Jesus gave them two examples of judgment that fell on people but he told them that they were no less sinners than anyone who did not repent. Then he gave an example of the vineyard that showed the Lord’s great mercy. He is slow in bringing judgment and gives many chances for a person to repent before he brings judgment. *** Jesus saw a woman who was bent over with her infirmity. He loosed her and she stood up straight and glorified God. Jesus was rebuked by the ruler of the synagogue for healing her on the Sabbath. Jesus rebuked him calling him a hypocrite for not rejoicing that the woman was healed. He shamed the leaders of the synagogue exposing their hard hearts, but the people rejoiced with the woman. *** Then Jesus explained what the kingdom of God was like. It was like something that started really small and grew and no one could stop it. *** Lord, may we have soft hearts that want to see your kingdom come and want to see people set free and healed. May we walk in your authority and power. May the blessings of Israel be on us.