THE BLESSINGS

    This is a portion of scripture that has been scrutinised by millions of people over the years. There is so much significance for three major religions in the world. God sends Abram who later becomes Abraham into another country. On the way there He shows him land that He says He will give to his descendants. 

Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.  Genesis 12:6-7 

This is the land where the Canaanites dwelt. That means that the Jews were promised this land by God Himself. But before He shows Abram this He tells him that all the families of the earth will be blessed through him;

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you

And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 

I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:2-4

Later on Isaac in turn blessed his two sons Jacob and Esau. From Abraham's lineage the nations of the earth will be blessed. I want to look at Esau's blessing.

Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

“Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,

And of the dew of heaven from above.

By your sword you shall live,

And you shall serve your brother;

And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,

That you shall break his yoke from your neck. Genesis 27:39-40

There are many who believe that Esau was given the wrong blessing. He was given the blessing of the first born. The first born is the one that has to handle the family affairs. He is in charge of keeping the family. I know about this, I am the first born to my father. There is a lot of responsibility that naturally falls on the first born. His blessing is then reflective of this. Jacob got the blessing that was intended for him;

And the Lord said to her:

“Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

One people shall be stronger than the other,

And the older shall serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23-24

From the start God said that the older will serve the younger. Keep in mind that God is all seeing and all knowing. The blessing that was meant for Esau was given to Esau. Even though Jacob could not accept this and Isaac was an innocent party to it.  

Often in my life, actually all of my life, I felt like I had to fight for everything that I have. Every step of the way was a fight down. Nothing in my life came easy. I did not even have family praying for me when I was born. The point of course is that I felt like Jacob.

As I am the first born I felt a huge responsibility to take care of my siblings. As the solitaire or the only Christian in my family there was a spiritual responsibility too. I felt like I was serving my family. I would not give that up but at some point the weight gets to be heavy. I was at the age of 45 years when I was able to let go and travel overseas for more than four weeks.  

I had a realisation that I could let go and trust God. I felt that I needed to start focusing more on myself. As the blessing goes, if you want to throw off the yoke then you can. This is re-inforced in Luke 4:18;

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

By answering your calling in Christ you are freed. If you want to take the yoke of your life ask God to anoint you to fulfil His purpose for you. Do not let anyone else determine your purpose. Let us learn from Jesus Himself;

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38

Jesus was anointed with power to do works for God. To bring salvation and deliverance and healing to others. In fulfilling your purpose you are helping others to break the yokes upon them in Jesus name. All the families of the earth can be blessed just as God told Abraham.

I pray the blessings of God overflow in your life today. I pray that you ask God to take the yoke of from you and you are able to fulfil your purpose in Jesus name.

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you may say this prayer;

Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be, in Jesus name I pray. Thank you.