THE ORIGIN OF THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL Jacob, who was called Israel, spoke a word over each of his sons from his death bed. He bestowed a double portion to Joseph, giving his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, equal standing to his own sons. And so, when the twelve tribes of Israel move out
WE ARE PILGRIMS HERE When Pharaoh asked Jacob his age, he responded that the years of his “pilgrimage” was 130 years. A pilgrimage is a journey taken by a pilgrim, who is steadfastly and intentionally traveling towards a sacred destination. That’s how Jacob saw his life. He considered his life a brief and difficult journey
WHEN JUDAH STEPPED FORWARD When Judah, the fourth son of Jacob’s twelve, stepped forward to act as his brother’s representative, the future of his tribe began to unfold. For this is an early indication of Judah’s rise to leadership. Reuben, the eldest, lost his birthright through sexual misconduct with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah (Gen. 35:22),
THE TREASURE FOUND IN BOTH THE OLD AND THE NEW After Jesus had finished using many parables describing the kingdom of heaven, he asked his disciples whether they understood. They replied that they had understood. Jesus then called them “scribes” who had been instructed in the kingdom. In Jewish life, a scribe was one who
HAVE YOU BECOME LIKE LEAVEN? Jesus often spoke in parables when describing the kingdom of heaven. In this parable, He compared it to leaven. Leaven is an ingredient added to dough to make it rise. It only takes a small amount to permeate and change the whole loaf. As the apostle Paul noted, “A little
FOUR HEART CONDITIONS In Jesus’ parable of the sower, He described four heart conditions that determined their receptivity to the gospel. Jesus explained the meaning of the parable to His disciples. He explained that the “seed” is the gospel, the “sower” is the one who preaches the gospel, and the four types of “soil” are
JOSEPH IS A CHRISTOLOGICAL TYPE Jacob’s sons were jealous of their brother, Joseph. He was the favored son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, who had died giving birth to Benjamin, the youngest. Joseph had made things worse with his brothers by giving their father a bad report of their shepherding. He also had shared his
THE GENTLE KING WHO WON A BETTER VICTORY The Spirit inspired Matthew to quote the Messianic prophecy from Isaiah 42:3 as being fulfilled in Jesus. For the type of justice and victory that Christ would bring was not as worldly kings would. For Christ’s kingdom did not come with violence and destruction. King Jesus was
IS YOUR FAITH, YOUR FAITH? As he entered the Promised Land, Jacob built an altar to God near Shechem, just as his grandfather Abraham had once done (Gen. 12:7). However, Jacob no longer referred to the Lord as the God of Abraham and Isaac. Here for the first time, Jacob referred to the Lord as
DO YOU REMEMBER HOW YOU BEGAN WITH GOD? As Jacob returned to the land of Canaan with his wives, children, servants and flocks, he remembered how he had left there with only the clothes on his back and the staff in his hand. His prayer reflected that it wasn’t only the outward blessings that were