Darrell Jordan THE BLESSING

Transcription

1 Darrell Jordan THE BLESSING The Blessing 1

2 CHAPTER 1 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing Joseph Joseph was his father s favorite with a promise from God to rule. He had great expectations of what God would do in his life. And he knew it. You know he knew it because he talked about it every chance he got. But shortly after receiving his dream at age 17, he became a slave. Disappointment! I m sure he thought God was going to make him a ruler that same year. But now he was a slave. How could he now rule as a slave in a foreign land? What s up with that, God? How could the sun, moon and stars bow down to him when he was now a slave? Or, how could he rule anyone as a prisoner in the deepest part of the dungeon? Had God forgotten his promise to Joseph? Have you ever wondered about God s plans for you? Have things seemed to have gotten off course? Has it ever seemed as if God has forgotten you? Certainly Joseph would have never dreamed that God would permit this in his life. 2 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

3 Yet, as bleak as his situation looked, Joseph was wearing The Blessing through it all. Every time he found himself in a situation like this he always rose above it. Why? Because the Lord was with him. 1 You see, you can t keep a good man down. You can t keep a good man of God down. You can t keep a good woman of God down. The Bible says that the righteous may fall seven times, but he will rise again. Sure enough God put him in charge of Potiphar s house - even as a slave. He was on top again at the top of his game. Even as a slave in Potiphar s house he was promoted to the highest position. The Bible says that Potiphar, a heathen, was blessed in his house and in his field, because of the anointing on Joseph. Here, a heathen, prospered because The Lord was with Joseph. And Potiphar could see it. But you know how it works. Just as soon as somebody sees you prospering they want to bring you down. So, when Joseph wouldn t give in to Potiphar s wife s sexual advances she had him thrown in the dungeon, the deepest place where they throw the vilest of criminals. Disappointment! Have you ever been disappointed? Joseph was denied success not once, not twice, but three times. But he rose through each circumstance. What was it about Joseph that caused him to succeed regardless of how many times he was thrown down? It was an anointing (or power) called The Blessing. That can be your hope. That despite your situation you, like Joseph, are wearing The Blessing; whether it looks like or feel like it; whether it is evident to anyone with the naked eye. You have The Blessing. It doesn t matter how many job offers you apply for and interview for and not receive. God will put you on top, because you, like Joseph, are wearing The Blessing. It is God s promise in the Word. Let me explain why I have such confidence regardless of your circumstance. One semester while studying for the ministry at Regent University I The Blessing 3

4 took a class in Greek and Hebrew. One of my assignments was to perform a word study on an Old Testament word. Finally, I thought, I d be able to study in-depth the passages relating to The Blessing which I treasured in my heart. And this is what I discovered. You see The Blessing is not just a tangible one-time thing like a car, a house or money. We say, What a blessing, every time we experience expected or unexpected material gain. But The Blessing is an intangible power that resides in and on every descendent of Abraham who receive it by faith. In order to understand The Blessing let s look at the root definition of the word bless as it is found in Abraham s call in Genesis 12:1-3. The Abrahamic Covenant Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:1-3 [NRSV] 2 4 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

5 The passage above is the introduction to the covenant God made with Abraham and his seed. The covenant included a promise to bless Abraham in exchange for his faith (his belief, trust and obedience). This blessing included promised offspring as numerous as the sands of the seashore and stars in the sky. 3 It also included land 4 that he and his seed would possess. God would make him into a great nation, and make his name great. In fact, he would be so blessed that all nations would call him blessed. God repeats this covenant several times in the Pentateuch. 5 Because Jews are the natural seed of Abraham they also receive this promise to bless. Hence, the Jews regard themselves as a blessed people. What s glorious about this covenant is that it did not stop with Abraham and his natural seed. This Abrahamic Covenant is just as important to Christians as Paul instructs us that the seed Genesis refers to is Christ Jesus 6 and that Gentile believers also receive Abraham s inheritance. 7 That s good news to me. That means I too am blessed. And so are you. me: I remember the first time Ephesians 1:3 jumped off the page for Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Ephesians 1:3 [NRSV] The Blessing 5

6 This scripture states that I am already blessed not waiting to get blessed but already blessed. Too many Christians are living today erroneously (yet all well intentioned) waiting to get blessed. Child of God you are blessed. The scripture states that God has (past tense) blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. Every blessing has already been provided to us in Christ. Since discovering this revelation I have changed my vocabulary. I am no longer waiting to get blessed. I am blessed. And that's not an arrogant statement. When you say you are blessed you are simply stating what your Heavenly Father has declared about you. So, come on. Say it with me, I am blessed. Say it again, I am blessed! Now doesn t that give you a better image of yourself? As long as you are waiting to get blessed, you will not live as if you are blessed. So, if Christ died that you might be blessed, why would you want to live any other way? Why live beneath your privilege when He sacrificed so much to get it for you? Christ died to engraft The Blessing to you. But the only way you will experience it is if you will receive it. Christ became poor that through His poverty, you might become rich (2 Cor 8:9)! So stop saying, I am waiting for my blessing. You are blessed! Quit saying, I need to be blessed or I want to be blessed. You are blessed! And the more you transform your mind from this world s superficial customs and manner of speaking the sooner you will experience total life prosperity, God s supernatural system of provision. You and I need to operate in the kingdom of God system - God s supernatural system called The Blessing! To fully experience your blessing a good understanding of the covenant term bless is required. So, here we go. 6 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

7 Barak, the Hebrew Word for Bless The word bless, highlighted four times in Abraham s call, is the Hebrew word, barak. It occurs 330 times in the Bible. 8 Barak first occurs in Genesis 1:22: God blessed [barak] them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." Genesis 1:22 [NRSV] Did you catch that? Before God ever commissioned the man and the woman He preceded it with the action of blessing them. He wanted them to succeed; not just try to succeed. If they could only start out with a blessing then they would surely succeed. In essence, God barak'ed the man and the woman, literally pronouncing a blessing over them for success, preceding any action on their part. God also wants you to succeed. And He didn t leave you alone. He started you off with The Blessing to assure you of your success. To do anything else would show respect of persons. And God does not. He s always looking out for your good. So, He started you off with The Blessing, also. You are not just on earth to make a living or to pass the days. You have been destined by the Almighty Creator with purpose. And God, as in the case of Adam and Eve, preceded your life with a blessing, The Blessing 7

8 a pronouncement of success, before you ever arrived. How can you fail when you have been destined to succeed? My brother or sister, live your life today as if you could not fail. For the believer who's walking in The Blessing, failure is not an option. It is not in your DNA. You may have obstacles to overcome. But that's not the same thing as failure. Failure is a result of the original sin, and the passage of that sin from generation to generation. But you've been redeemed. Failure may be the world's modus operandi; but not for the believer. So, live your life today as if you were destined to succeed. God has already purposed it for you. We find barak for the second time in Genesis 1:28: God blessed [barak] them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. Genesis 1:28 [NRSV] Again, we see God preceding Adam and Eve s charge with a blessing. I'm so excited about The Blessing that God has given us, because before we ever set out to accomplish His will, He speaks creative words 8 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

9 of life over us that guarantee success. Of course, we can botch it up. But literally God has not only planned a hope and a future (Jer 29:11) for us, He's also pronounced Words of life over us. Like a thermostat, He sets us up to attain an expected end. Let's take for example, an obstacle course. Would you prefer to stumble your way through the course, being beset by every unexpected obstruction along the way, or have the creator of the course coach you and give you words of advice on how to complete the course in record time? Would you rather learn about married life through trial and error or have your father sit you down and give you words of wisdom pertaining to successful married life? Did you face your first day of school on your own, or did your mom convince you that you would do just fine? As a loving Father, Abba, encouraged the man and woman, by telling them that they could succeed at their mission prior to giving it to them. I mean, man, what an awesome responsibility... to be stewards of the entire world! Son of God, you have that same blessing from God. He wants you to succeed at life. So, he pronounced a Blessing over you. Take your Blessing today and conquer your world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith (1 John 5:4). The Blessing 9

10 The Literal Meaning of Barak Literally, barak is a verb which means, to bend the knees, to kneel down. 9 A good verse describing this literal use is, O come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel [barak] before the Lord, our Maker! Psalm 95:6 [NRSV] Perhaps you ve heard of the term, barak, as one of the seven Hebrew words for praise. In this context it means, to kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration. Or perhaps you ve heard of barak, through Byron Cage s popular song: 10 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

11 Shabach Shabach, Hallelujah Barak, Praise the Lord (Repeat 4x) Yadah, Extend your hands Todah, Lift up your hands Tehillah, means to sing Kara means to dance, dance, dance (Repeat song) Barak is actually the proper way to bless the Lord. We see this illustrated in scripture in 1 Chronicles 29:20, Then David said to the whole assembly, Bless [barak] the Lord your God. And all the assembly blessed [barak] the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the Lord and the king. 1 Chronicles 29:20 [NRSV] So, to properly bless the Lord one must bow, bend the knees, even lay prostrate before the Lord, and pronounce that God is the The Blessing 11

12 author and the originator of one s success, wealth, health, and Godly heritage. Now some people will say, It don t take all that. And maybe that s why they aren t more blessed. The Bible says, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when we give it is given back unto us good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over would men give unto our bosoms. Maybe they ought to start barak ing the Lord more. Then, maybe He ll start blessing (barak ing) them more! You reap what you sow. If you sow to God sparingly, that s how you ll reap from God sparingly. But if you barak God liberally, then He ll bless (barak) you liberally. You said you want to be blessed! Maybe that s why we aren t more blessed as a people. We just won t take the time to properly barak the Lord. You see, I m not just writing this book so you can get rich to hoard it on yourself. But instead the Bible says that a good man leaves an inheritance unto his children s children. Secondly, we have to finance the great end-time harvest. And thirdly, pastors have to work secular jobs because God s people aren t fully supporting him. It only takes one Word from God to get you over. Yet, how can the man of God spend time in the Word and prayer as the scripture says he should when he has to work to put food on the table? God s people and God s churches must prosper in order to support the men and woman and work of God. We are actually seeing some residue of this principal, however. Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Jonathan Gruber recently published findings that prove that church goers make more money than non-church attenders. 10 He found that church goers have higher incomes, higher education levels, less welfare participation, more marriages and fewer divorces than the general population. And he can't figure out why! God s supernatural system of giving, not only of our tithes and offerings, but also of our worship, supersedes this world s natural 12 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

13 system of prosperity. You and I just need to learn how to work it properly as God intended. So, if we would just barak (bless) God properly, evidence reveals that He will bless (barak) us appropriately in return. The Meaning of Barak in Context Although, barak literally means, to bend the knees, to kneel down, it is not the definition in context we will study in this book. I wanted to share the above with you to set a foundation for what is to come. You see, material prosperity is not more important than our proper worship of God. So, before we go any further I wanted to give you a proper perspective. Although God wants you to prosper and succeed, He wants even more your fellowship and your worship. Enoch became God s own because he pleased God. And this is our ultimate purpose. So, now that we ve positioned ourselves with the right perspective let s continue on our journey to understand the meaning of barak in context. Normally, when we think of a blessing we think of the all of the good things God has bestowed upon us. At Thanksgiving we reflect upon all the blessings He s given us throughout the past year. We thank Him for food, shelter, clothing, being able to pay our bills, and for meeting all our needs. In general, we tend to define His blessings in terms of things we can see. If we have them, we say we are blessed. If we don t, we say we are not. The Blessing 13

14 We tend to define a blessing in the same way we define the wind. We base it on what we perceive of it. For instance, we've all heard the sound of wind chimes. And we've seen the tree leaves rustle. We've even heard the wind howl. But what we're hearing and seeing is not the wind at all. They are the effects we perceive of the wind. Do you see what I mean? They only represent the manifestation of the wind s presence and not its nature. The actual definition of wind is moving air the natural movement of air parallel to the ground. The natural movement of air is the thing that causes what we see, hear, feel, and even smell. It is the root to the fruit of what we experience. The Blessing is the same way. We define it based on its effects and results; things we can see, hear, feel, smell and taste. But the root causes these things. Now if you re like me you want to understand the root cause of things. By understanding The Blessing perhaps we can flow with it, cooperate with it, capitalize on it, and employ it to produce greater results. My people perish (the actual word is destroyed or face ruin ) for a lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6). We don't want to be like them. But God has revealed these things to us by his Spirit (1 Cor 2:10). So, let s get some understanding. Our base scripture we will use to help us understand The Blessing is Deuteronomy 8:18. It gives us some insight to the definition of The Blessing. 14 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

15 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:18 [KJV] God declares that he has provided for His people the power to get wealth (KJV; Amplified). The NIV calls it the ability to produce wealth. The NASB calls it the power to make wealth. The Message Bible calls it the strength to produce wealth. I call it an anointing a spiritual power to affect a change! All these represent a power that result in something that you can see. So, at this stage of our juncture let's develop a working definition for The Blessing. Let's call it, for the time being, an endowment (or anointing) of power, resulting in prosperity and success. Just as the wind is a moving force of air, resulting in the chimes we hear and the breeze we feel, The Blessing is an anointing of power that results in the houses, cars, clothes and money we obtain. And we haven't even begun to talk about the other areas of our lives that The Blessing affects; because money can t buy joy or good health. We'll find out later if The Blessing affects these and other areas of our lives. However, for the time being we have something we can work with. To understand the full meaning of barak, from the original Hebrew let s investigate from some of the best Hebrew lexicons available to us. One of the most respected sources is A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by William Holladay. 11 Holladay defines barak in the Abrahamic Covenant as, to bestow the power of success, prosperity, fertility. Deuteronomy 8:18 clearly bears out this concept. The Blessing 15

16 Another highly respected source, the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament by Botterweck and Ringgen 12 adds to this list long life. Barak is very often used as the result of divine favor. 13 Sometimes there is discussion in the Body of Christ about whether you want the favor of God or The Blessing of God. They both originate from the same source! The Blessing is the result of God s divine favor upon your life! Barak in its simplest definition means, to cause to prosper, 14 as is described in several scriptural references. 15 All of the sources I researched for this book agree that the subject of this verb in this context is almost always God. Barak is used in this context over 100 times in the Bible. In those few cases where it is used (in this context) with a subject other than God is in a negative sense, 16 as in Deuteronomy 29:18. So, the apparent intent is to recognize that God is the subject, originator and the source of this action of bestowing power for long life, success, prosperity, and fertility. Furthermore, the Northwest Semitics always understood that God is the true giver of blessing. 17 Any other mindset is poisonous and bitter growth (Deut. 29:18 NRSV). In the same context Arabic dictionaries include, to rain continuously and make happy as definitions of barak. Additional meanings of barak include: To bless oneself (Gen 12:13; 18:15; 28:14) 18 To invoke God, to praise, to celebrate, to adore, to bless God, which is done with bended knees (2 Ch 6:13; Ps 95:6; Dan 6:11) 19 Bless God declare God the origin of power for success, prosperity, and fertility (Gen 24:48) The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

17 To bless one man to another (Gen 27:27) 21 To wish someone power for success, prosperity, fertility (Gen 24:60) 22 To speak a blessing over (Ne 11:2) 23 So to summarize, the barak of Genesis 12:1-3 can be defined as, The action of God bestowing upon Abraham and his seed the power to prosper, succeed, experience long life and bear numerous descendants. The objective was to make Abraham happy. And everyone, Abraham being the most vocal of them, knew and declared that God is the source, originator, and the initiator of this wealth and fertility. And truly God barak ed Abraham and his seed. So What? So what does this have to do with me? I m glad you asked that question because the promise to bless Abraham s seed is also relevant to Christians. The Blessing 17

18 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Galatians 3:16 [KJV] Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, Being made a curse for us: For cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; Galatians 3:13-14 [KJV] And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham s offspring, heirs according to the promise Galatians 3:29 [NRSV] Christians also have God s promise to bless them as He blessed Abraham. That means that God promises to bestow power to prosper, succeed, experience long life and fertility upon believers who are Abraham s seed through Christ. Boy, am I glad I am a believer! 18 The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

19 Summary We find that God did bless Abraham as He had promised. For the Bible declares that he was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold (Gen 13:2 NRSV). He lived 175 years (Gen 25:7). And God gave him descendants too numerous to count. you! Was he blessed? You better believe he was blessed. But, so are The Blessing 19

20 1 Gen 39:3,21,23 2 New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by Division of Christian Education of the National Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 3 Gen 22:17 4 Gen 12:17; 13:17 5 Gen 15:5; 17:4; 17:10-11; Deut. 28: Gal 3:16 7 Gal 3:13-14,29; Rom 8:17; Eph 1:3-5 8 M.F. Unger and White (eds.), Nelson s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament Brown, Francis; The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Jonathan Gruber, Religious Market Structure, Religious Participation and Outcomes: Is Religion Good for You? Study was published in May 2005 for the National Bureau of Economic Research.) 11 Holladay, William Lee, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, based upon the lexical work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner. 12 Botterweck, G. Johannes and Ringgen, Helmer; Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. 2: Brown, Francis; The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic Brown, Francis; The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic Gen 12:2-3; 17:16; 22:17; 24:1; 30:27; 1:22; 9:1 16 Brown, Francis; The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic Botterweck, G. Johannes and Ringgen, Helmer; Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. 2: The Four Empowerments of The Blessing

21 18 Brown, Francis; The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic Brown, Francis; The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic Holladay, William Lee, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, based upon the lexical work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner. 21 Brown, Francis; The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic Holladay, William Lee, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, based upon the lexical work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner. 23 Holladay, William Lee, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, based upon the lexical work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner. The Blessing 21