For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Gen. 49
I was scratching my head over Jacob’s blessing of Joseph. Specifically, the line at the end of verse 24 that states, “From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel”. (Gen. 49:24d). I fully understand the words, of course, but the association of Christ with the tribe of Joseph confused me. A quick search offered the simple solution that the word, “is” does not really belong in that sentence. This makes the second half of this verse, and possibly the first half of the following verse, a list of names for God. He is the Mighty One of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel, the God of your father, and the Almighty, the One who will help, bless, and sustain Joseph. And indeed, this is the way several other translations handle this verse.
No big epiphany there. But I love what Alexander MacLaren, the writer of the document I found offering this simple solution, had to say concerning this list of names for God. He wrote, ”This exuberant heaping together of names of God is the mark of the flash of rapturous confidence which lit up the dying man’s thoughts when they turned to God. When he begins to think of Him he cannot stay his tongue. So many aspects of His character, so many remembrances of His deeds, come crowding into his mind; so familiar and so dear are they that he must linger over the words and strive by this triple repetition to express the manifold preciousness of Him whom no name, nor crowd of names, can rightly praise.” To which I say, “Amen!”
Luke 2
Having just read Jacob’s blessings for his twelve sons, the detail of Anna’s ancestry in this passage jumped out at me. Luke noted that Anna was of the tribe of Asher. Luke did not bother to note Simeon’s ancestry, so why this detail? So I looked back at Jacob’s blessing. It is short and, quite literally, sweet. Jacob said, “As for Asher, his food shall be rich, and he will yield royal dainties.” (Gen. 49:20). Anna was one of two in the Temple who recognized the 8 year old Messiah for who He was. And after seeing the child, she, “continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Lk. 2:38b). Sure sounds like royal dainties to me!
I did a brief search on this as well and found another amazing write-up, this one from Emmaus Road Ministries. Besides the connection I noted, this article also pointed out several other fascinating truths hidden away in this little story. The general gist is that the names of these two admirers of the young Christ child reveal that God was establishing His new covenant of grace through Jesus over the old covenant of the law.
We find this truth hidden in the meanings of the two names. Simeon’s name is derived from the root word, “Shema”, which means, “hear”, and is the foundational statement of Jewish law. Anna’s name, on the other hand, means, “God’s grace”. When paired with her father’s name, included in Luke’s introduction of her, it means, “Grace from the face of God”. The fact that Anna showed up just as Simeon declared that he could now depart in peace shows the law stepping out so that grace could step in. God’s word is so truly amazing!
Job 15
I don’t know what world Eliphaz was living in. I sure don’t see the world he described! Of course, if you look on the world through your own presumptions, you will likely see what you want to see. Eliphaz could easily support his statements by assuming that those he saw suffering brought their struggles on themselves by their wickedness. His beliefs conformed what he saw, which in turn confirmed what he believed. This is a logical fallacy known as, “confirmation bias”.
I thought a little deeper on Eliphaz’s perspective of the world, however, and saw a little something more. If the world was truly that black-and-white, with a very consistent cause-and-effect of deed and consequence, it would be a much different place. Consistency is a highly effective trainer, even for humans. Thus, if every wicked deed rendered a negative result, we would be far more likely to turn from our wicked ways. Of course, this wouldn’t be done out of a desire for righteousness but, rather, out of a desire for positive results.
But the world isn’t like that. We need to remember that the world is currently under the authority of the great deceiver. Thus, things are rarely as they seem. So what we see when we look without Eliphaz’s presumption is that wickedness often reaps reward while righteousness reaps struggle. Both perspectives are lies, brought about by a misplaced focus and the restraints of time. To see the truth, we need to focus on the righteous, eternal God of truth. And we need to trust that His truth is true even when we can’t make sense of it.