Word of Encouragement (04/13/2023)
And of Joseph he said, "Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that crouches beneath, 14 with the choicest fruits of the sun and the rich yield of the months, 15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains and the abundance of the everlasting hills, 16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwells in the bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers. 17 A firstborn bull--he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh." (Deut. 33:13-17)
Interestingly, Moses chooses to bless Joseph rather than his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were “adopted” by Jacob to be two of Israel’s twelve patriarchs along with their ten uncles (except for Levi). His blessing on Joseph is extravagant! Maybe it’s because Joseph embodied two of his sons. Or maybe he is giving homage to the fact that Joseph went through much suffering as God’s chosen redeemer of the covenant family.
Notice how comprehensive Joseph’s blessings are. They include “the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that crouches beneath” (v. 13) and everything in between—of the sun and of the months (v. 14), of the ancient mountains and the everlasting hills (v. 15), of the earth and in the bush (v. 16). Of course, this may seem like a hyperbolic description of Joseph’s inheritance in the promised land. But as with many prophetic descriptions, this (earthly description) points to the eschatological (i.e., heavenly and eternal) blessings that are reserved for God’s people.
Should it surprise us? God is the Creator of all, who has all things at His disposal. “The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers” (Ps. 24:1-2). The LORD declares, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills” (Ps. 50:10). If He should desire to bless His people out of His infinite and generous love, would He hold anything back? So, Paul declares, “For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's” (1 Cor. 3:21-23).
Notice also how excellent Joseph’s blessings are—“the choicest gifts” (v. 13), “the choicest fruits” and “the rich yield” (v. 14), “the finest produce” (v. 15), and “the best gifts” (v. 16). These blessings are the best of the best. If God is perfect, all His ways are perfect, including the blessings He bestows on His people. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
As you think about what you have and how your life is going at the moment, you may have a hard time accepting that God’s blessings on you are the choicest and best and most perfect, including your spouse and children and parents. But “perfect” here has less to do with how we want things to be and what would make our lives easy and comfortable than what God’s purpose is for us. If God’s purpose for us is to repent from our sins, the severe discipline He applies to us may be the perfect blessing for us in that situation. We may find many things in our lives to be imperfect in so many ways, but they may be “perfect imperfections” to achieve God’s purpose for us.
But there will come a day when these “perfect imperfections” will be removed from our lives and replaced with “perfect perfections”—the choicest of the choicest, the best of the best, and the finest of the finest—which will bring us greatest joy and happiness. And we will receive them to their abundance (v. 15) and fullness (v. 16) forever more!