Then Jacob called together all twelve of his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.”
“Come and listen, you sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel, your father.”
the child of my vigorous youth.
You are first in rank and first in power.
But you are as unruly as a flood,
and you will be first no longer.”
their weapons are tools of violence.
For in their anger they murdered men.
A curse on their anger, for it is fierce;
A curse on their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob;
I will disperse them throughout Israel.”
You will grasp your enemies by the neck.
All your relatives will bow before you.
The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the coming of the One to whom it belongs,
the One who all nations will honor.”
“Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey,
Like one of the wild donkeys on the ridge.
Archers attacked him savagely;
they shot at him and harassed him.
But his heart remained faithful,
and his arms were strengthened
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.”
“May the God of your father help you;
may the Almighty bless you,
with the blessings of the heavens above,
and blessings of the deeps below,
and blessings of wives and children.”
surpass the blessings of my ancestors,
reaching to the heights of the eternal hills.
May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph,
who is a prince among his brothers.”
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😲 Wow❗️Who knew that Jacob was a prophet? I certainly didn’t. I had the same surprise when God told King Abimelech in his dream that Abraham was a prophet!
I am amazed when I look at prophecies like this in the Old Testament, especially those about the Messiah, then read later in the history how those things come true, especially about Jesus in the gospels.
God invites us who believe and have committed our lives in service to Him to be active participants in His plan of salvation.
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Job’s Final Word to His Friends
(THEME)
As surely as God lives,
He has denied me justice,
The Almighty has made my life bitter
without cause.
I vow by the living God,
who has taken away my rights;
By the Almighty who has embittered my soul—
That as long as I live,
while I have breath from God;
My lips will speak no evil,
My tongue will tell no lies.
I will never concede that you all are right;
I will defend my integrity until I die.
I maintain my innocence without wavering.
My conscience will be clear
for as long as I live.
(THEME 2)
May my enemies be punished like the wicked,
my adversary like those who do evil.
For what hope has the godless
when God cuts them off,
when God ends their life?
Will God listen to their cry
when trouble comes upon them?
Can they take delight in the Almighty?
Can they ever call upon God?
Let me teach you about the power of God;
I will not hold anything back
about the ways of the Almighty.
– This is what the wicked will receive from God;
– This is their inheritance from the Almighty:
but their children will die in war
or starve to death.
and not even their families will mourn them.
and store away mounds of clothing.
But others will wear their clothes
And divide the money between them.
fragile as a spider’s web,
As flimsy as a shelter of branches.
Then storms come and destroy them,
Rising waters wash them away.
but wake up to find all their wealth is gone.
Everyone they know jeers at them;
They are mocked by those they thought friends.
– They are blown away by the storms of the night.
Winds beat them down without mercy;
– They struggle, but cannot flee their power.
– They are swept away and then…
…they are gone.
This is their end.
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😲 Whew! That is harsh.
It’s almost like Job is contrasting what happened to him with what God will do to the wicked–that is they are destroyed, but he is still alive. That seems a very important point. This is toward the end of the Book of Job from the human perspective. In the story afterward, God does answer Job’s demand for a confrontation and has some unexpected answers for Job and for his friends, but doesn’t necessarily answer Job’s questions about the why of what happened to him.
The main points in Job following these six passages about the Almighty are:
Job 42:1-6
Then Job replied to the Lord:
“I know that you can do anything,
and no one can stop You.
You asked,
‘Who is this that questions My wisdom
with such ignorance?’
It is I—and I was talking about things
I knew nothing about,
Things far too miraculous for me.
I had only heard about You before,
but now I have seen You with my own eyes.
I take back everything I said,
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
_________________
Celebration over Babylon’s Fall
SETTING THE SCENE: excerpts from Revelation 18, The Judgment of that Great City, ‘Babylon.’
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great!”
for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.”
“Alas, alas, how terrible for you,
O Babylon, the Great City!
In a single moment
God’s judgment has come upon you.”
“Alas, alas. How terrible for that Great City!
She was clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens,
decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!
In a single moment all the wealth of the city is gone!”
“Rejoice over her fate, O heaven
and people of God–apostles and prophets!
For at last God has judged her for your sakes.
For the blood of the prophets
and of God’s holy people
flowed in her streets,
Even the blood of people slaughtered
from all over the world.”
_________________
Their goal is to deceive as many people in the World as possible, especially believers in God and Jesus Christ, and to lead them away from faith in God and into a life of sin that will make them liable to the judgment of God. Those faithful to God that they cannot corrupt, they persecute and murder.
__________________
Hallelujah! Praise to You, O Lord!
Salvation and glory and power,
belong to You, my God.
Your judgments are true and just.
You punish those who corrupt the World with immorality.
You avenge the murder of Your servants.
around Your throne in heaven,
I fall down and worship You, O God,
Who rules from Your heavenly throne,
Hallelujah! Amen.
I give praise to You, my God,
For I am Your bond-servant.
I revere You, O Lord;
For in the small and in the great,
You alone are God.
I join the great multitude in heaven
and on Earth in saying,
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
For You, O Lord my God, the Almighty, reign!
Thank You that I’m invited
to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Thank You for the truth of Your words
that You have given us;
Thank You for Your prophets and Your Son.
For You alone are worthy.
I thank You for your prophecies
That tell us what is to come.
I thank you for Your gospels,
That give witness of Your Son–
My Lord and my Savior,
My Brother and my Bridegroom,
My Hope in Glory,
My Everlasting God.
Alleluia to what was done by the Savior!
Alleluia to what is to come,
Forever and ever…AMEN!
__________________
If you’re familiar with the “Hallelujah” Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, it is from Revelation 19. Although the language is archaic English from the Authorized English Version of the Bible at that time in history, what we call the King James Version now, the song is still very inspiring and captures the magnificence of the heavenly worship depicted in Revelation.
NOTE that what is translated in our modern English Bibles as “The Lord God Almighty,” is translated in the Chorus as “The Lord God Omnipotent;” another awe-inspiring way to describe El Shaddai, God Almighty!
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