"The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads..."
He knew of his grandfather Abraham's walk with God, and he had seen this same set of the heart in his father Isaac. He was not without the blessing of testimony. But Jacob was also a man who had come to understand the involvement of God in the affairs of his life through personal experience. He had faced some rough waters along the way. No one could deny that his years had been filled with the toll of emotional strains, whether of extreme distress on the one hand, or extreme relief on the other. This was especially true in the "loss" and then restoration of his favorite son Joseph. Still reeling under the tremendous emotion of this heart wrenching reunion with his son, after so many years of mourning, Jacob, in response to Pharaoh's question about his age, says, "The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant (lit., evil) have been the years of my life," (Genesis 47:9). But as Jacob approaches the end of his life, he doesn't view this "evil" that had engulfed his life for a time, as a waste in his life but actually as the great wonder of his life. It was here where he witnessed the presence and plan of God and he embraced it as from the hand of God, all of which have made him a deeply thoughtful and grateful man. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, writing of the "evil" of his own prison experience, but knowing its awakening power of truth and God in his life, says with deep understanding, "Bless you prison". So it is with Jacob. As he approaches the end of his life, taking opportunity to bless Joseph and his two sons, Jacob speaks these profound words: "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads..." (Genesis 48:15-16). What a testimony of insight and clear understanding of a God who knows the way that we take, and concluding with conviction that, no matter the hardships along the way, His ways are always redeeming, making sure that all things work together for good. May we be able to bless "the lads" with this same testimony. It's what our children need to hear, see, and know, more than anything else, as they make their way through their own lives. We dare not leave them full of bitterness which poisons the heart. We should bless them with the wonders of God's ways. What testimony are you leaving with your children?
He knew of his grandfather Abraham's walk with God, and he had seen this same set of the heart in his father Isaac. He was not without the blessing of testimony. But Jacob was also a man who had come to understand the involvement of God in the affairs of his life through personal experience. He had faced some rough waters along the way. No one could deny that his years had been filled with the toll of emotional strains, whether of extreme distress on the one hand, or extreme relief on the other. This was especially true in the "loss" and then restoration of his favorite son Joseph. Still reeling under the tremendous emotion of this heart wrenching reunion with his son, after so many years of mourning, Jacob, in response to Pharaoh's question about his age, says, "The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant (lit., evil) have been the years of my life," (Genesis 47:9). But as Jacob approaches the end of his life, he doesn't view this "evil" that had engulfed his life for a time, as a waste in his life but actually as the great wonder of his life. It was here where he witnessed the presence and plan of God and he embraced it as from the hand of God, all of which have made him a deeply thoughtful and grateful man. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, writing of the "evil" of his own prison experience, but knowing its awakening power of truth and God in his life, says with deep understanding, "Bless you prison". So it is with Jacob. As he approaches the end of his life, taking opportunity to bless Joseph and his two sons, Jacob speaks these profound words: "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads..." (Genesis 48:15-16). What a testimony of insight and clear understanding of a God who knows the way that we take, and concluding with conviction that, no matter the hardships along the way, His ways are always redeeming, making sure that all things work together for good. May we be able to bless "the lads" with this same testimony. It's what our children need to hear, see, and know, more than anything else, as they make their way through their own lives. We dare not leave them full of bitterness which poisons the heart. We should bless them with the wonders of God's ways. What testimony are you leaving with your children?
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