Word of Encouragement (04/19/2022)
And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." (Gen. 48:15-16).
Jacob has been dramatically reunited with Joseph in Egypt, whom he believed was killed long ago by the wild beasts. He knows that his life is drawing to an end. He wants to bless Joseph and his children. And this is the benediction he pronounces on Joseph.
In this benediction, Jacob refers to God as “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked....” To walk is a metaphor for living—not in the sense of merely surviving from day to day but in the sense of living with a sense of direction and purpose. When we ask someone, “How is your spiritual walk these days?” we are not asking whether he is spiritually alive or not; we are asking whether he is living in a way he is called to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
This is a testament to the life of faithfulness, which Abraham and Isaac lived in their covenant relationship with God. They were certainly not without faults, but they did not give up on God’s promises to them. But it is also a testament to the honor and authority of God. When we walk before someone, it has the idea of being careful because we are being watched by someone important. We cannot be careless or thoughtless. How careful we must be when we walk before God, the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth!
To walk “before God” is to walk in his “face”/“presence”. It is to live with the awareness that God is real and we “live and move and have our being” in Him, that God’s watchful eyes are ever upon us. This expression speaks also of God’s presence as something very near and intimate: we walk before His “face”. This is a testament to God’s covenantal presence with His people.
Jacob also refers to God as “the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day....” This implies that Jacob saw himself as a sheep, who desperately needs a shepherd for his survival and wellbeing. This is not to say that he was a passive, helpless man. He was a man of action. He did not lack ideas or resourcefulness when it came to what he wanted to get, including deceiving and taking advantage of his family. But he knew where his actions and resourcefulness had often led him; he had gone astray and put himself in dangerous situations. But as he looks back, he can see how God has led him “through many dangers, toils, and snares” and brought him to where he is, full of years and surrounded by his many children and grandchildren. He is convinced that God has been a good Shepherd of “all my life long to this day”.
As he is coming to the end of his life, Jacob is full of confidence that God will be good to his children as He has been good to him. Nothing gives him more pleasure to bless his favorite son in the wonderful name of “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day”! May the Lord bless our parents and fathers in the faith to bless us with this kind of confidence! And may the Lord bless us with this confidence to bless our children and the upcoming generation of believers! For we have Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd of our souls, who was willing to lay down His life to save us from sin and Satan!