Wed.’s Devo - The Mercy of God

Read: Deuteronomy 33:1-29; Luke 13:1-21; Psalm 78:65-72; Proverbs 12:25 Moses had a blessing for all the tribes which he gave before he died. He described the Lord as the sun in his majesty whose divine light appeared at Sinai and scattered its beams on all the region directing Israel's march to Canaan. *** He blessed Reuben with long life since they were the largest tribe at the time. Reuben had lost his place as the first born and ended up almost dying out. The second part of verse 6 is believed to be the blessing for Simeon: “though they are few in number.” Simeon began with 59,300 in Numbers 1:23 which were just the fighting men and ended up with 22,200 total people in Numbers 26:14. They were given territory within the land of Judah to preserve them. *** Judah was the first to go out in battle so Moses prayed for strength to defend their cause. *** The Levites were commended for being zealous in obeying God’s word. They chose God even above their own families. *** Benjamin was blessed with the love of the Lord and his constant watch and care for them. *** Joseph which means “double fruit” was blessed with abundance and the best earth had to offer. He would conquer many nations. *** He prayed the same blessing that would fall on Joseph’s sons - Ephraim and Manasseh. *** Zebulun and Issachar were also give the same blessing, they would just be in different locations. Zebulun would travel and be nomadic and Issachar would stay put. *** Gad was blessed with enlarging their territory. They had chosen the best land east of the Jordan and served as a buffer to the other tribes from outside intruders. They were commended for keeping their promise to help the other tribes get their land. *** Dan is describing as leaping like a lion from Bashan. They had received their land in the south but it was too small so they “leapt” to the north and took some territory there also. Bashan means “shame” so it could be that they left from shame to the heights. Sadly, Dan which means to “judge” ended up being judged by God for all their idol worship. *** Naphtali was blessed with favor and growth. *** Asher was blessed with honor from the other tribes. He would be safe and secure. *** Moses reminded them that the Lord was their refuge; he held them in his arms. They would be safe and prosperous and blessed in the Lord. He would protect them with sword and they would defeat their enemies. *** In Luke, Jesus put everyone into one of two baskets: saved or not saved. It is not death that we should fear, but eternal death. Everyone eventually dies. *** Jesus told the story of a tree that year after year didn’t produce figs. The owner of the garden finally told his gardener to cut it down because it was taking up space. But the gardener plead with the master to let him have one more year with the tree. He would give it special attention and then, if it didn’t produce fruit, he would take it out. Jesus was trying to tell them that these people who died these deaths had been given that extra attention before they died. God doesn’t just take a person out of this life without first giving them every opportunity to repent. *** One Sabbath as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue he saw a woman bent over by an evil spirit. He healed her and she could stand upright for the first time in 18 years! The leader of the synagogue told Jesus he had 6 days to heal people, he shouldn’t have done it on the Sabbath. (Such stupidity!) Jesus told him that he even unleashed his ox and led it to water on the Sabbath, isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath. He was relating her to his ox. She had been under a load of Satan and now she got a drink from the living water of healing. Jesus shamed this man with his answer. *** Jesus then gave two examples of the Kingdom of God. It starts small and then grows and grows. The Kingdom started with him and it would grow and grow after his death and resurrection. *** Lord, thank you for your great mercy and kindness. Thank you for defeating our enemies and putting them under our feet. May we boldly proclaim your goodness.