The Road to Emmaus A daily devotional for the Forestdale Community Church November 7 11, 2016
This week in Stillness & Silence Our Scripture this week is about Jacob gathering his family around him, and pronouncing blessings on each of his sons before he dies. As you come to sit in stillness and silence before your heavenly Father this week, close your eyes and imagine sitting at His feet while He speaks words of blessing over you. Here are the words of blessing God gave to Moses for Aaron, the High Priest, to speak over God s people: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord turn his face toward you And give you peace. (Numbers 6:24) When you have received this blessing, and have quieted your soul, you are ready to begin.
Monday: Making the Connection Scripture: Genesis 49:1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. Jacob knew his time was short. He was about to die in a foreign land, Egypt, surrounded by his twelve sons. Jacob had received the Lord s promises of greatness throughout his long life, yet they had not been fulfilled. In the final blessing of his sons, he would become a prophet of those promises. Though he personally never became a king, God promised him, that a nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. Now he would faithfully focus that royal promise on one son in particular: Judah. By doing so Jacob s blessing brought his family hope that they, in time, would inherit a prosperous Promised Land and rule it through Judah s line. More than that, many other nations would ultimately be subject to a King of kings from that same line, Jesus, whom God would choose to rightly possess the staff & scepter of a rule extending further still. Jacob s blessing-prophecy helped them persevere through centuries of suffering and trials, a buttress to their faith. It continues to help us in the same way to this day, assuring us of God s sovereignty & the Lord s rule & reign over all aspects of our lives. Question: Have you found a faith to persevere through trouble by believing the promise of God to establish a King of kings to rule His people? Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, and reign in my life for all my days. Amen.
Tuesday: Prayer Scripture: Genesis 49: 8-10 Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. Jacob has gathered his 12 sons to bestow blessings on them. Judah and Joseph were given the longest blessings; the above verse is about Judah. You are a lion s cub is a symbol of sovereignty, strength, and courage. Judah s greatest descendant, Jesus Christ, is himself called the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5). until whom it belongs shall come, Jesus came for the scepter and ruler s staff and the obedience of the nations is His. When I think of Jesus, I see him as kind, giving, loving, and forgiving; our mediator to God. This verse however shows us other characteristics of Jesus, strong and courageous. As a Christian, we are always trying to be Christ like, but for me, being strong or courageous is sometimes hard to achieve. Knowing Jesus is inside us by His Spirit, helps me to realize we can draw from all of His characteristics. The Bible constantly shows us something we didn t see before, or something we didn t know at all. Reading the Bible and meditating on the scriptures brings us closer to Jesus, because it shows us new things about Him which help us to grow in our intimate relationship with Him. Question: Can you find more characteristics of Jesus throughout Scripture that can help you see something new about Him, which you haven t noticed before? Prayer: Lord, I pray that as we read Your Word, we find new and exciting characteristics of Yours, that help us to know you better as we grow in our relationship with You. Amen.
Wednesday Rest Scripture: Genesis 49:10-11 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and the obedience of the nations in his. Judah was Jacob s 4 th son by his first wife, Leah. Yet in his blessings of his sons, Jacob eliminates this first three sons as the rightful heirs of the blessing given to Abraham. Instead, Jacob foretold a future for the tribe of Judah that pictured him as the preeminent son. It was Judah who would rule over his brothers. It was Judah who would be the victorious warrior and claim the kingly scepter and the ruler s staff. Initially this prophecy would be fulfilled in King David, who 850 years later would be raised up as the King of Israel from the tribe of Judah. And it would be the descendants of David, who would rule as kings in Jerusalem for generations to come. But according to this prophecy of Jacob, those sons of David from the tribe of Judah were ruling in anticipation of the coming of One to whom true Kingship would belong. And his Kingship would not only command the allegiance of Israel, but the obedience of the nations would be his as well. It s an amazing prophecy. In Revelation 5:5, John is given a vision of Jesus in heaven, and is told that Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, who has triumphed. He is the One to whom the scepter and staff truly belong: The King of kings, and Lord of lords. Question: Can you rest today in the sovereignty of God over all of history, and rest in the rule of Jesus over your life and your story? Be Still Before The Lord Prayer: End today with The Lord s Prayer. Our Father, who art
Thursday Relationships Be Still Before The Lord Scripture: Genesis 49:11-12 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. These poetic images may seem odd to us. However, what Jacob is prophesying in these images is a time of great blessing and prosperity that will come during the reign of Him to whom the scepter belongs. Fruitful vines and abundant wine were a symbol of great prosperity. Jacob is proclaiming that under the Messiah s rule, even the choicest vines will be put to everyday use (as in tethering a donkey to a choice vine); and vintage wine will be as common as clothes-washing water. That s how much blessing there would be! However, what Jacob didn t know as he gave this blessing to Judah, was that his words would take on a far richer meaning when the true Ruler came. Jesus would ultimately wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes in a completely different way. He would demonstrate his greatest blessing for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, he would die for us. He would lay down his life, and give up his blood as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Amazingly, we are then called to wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb in order to be truly cleansed as white as snow. This poetic imagery from Jacob s blessing of Judah takes on a whole new meaning in Christ. Question: What blessings has the reign and rule of Jesus brought into your life and relationships? Be Still Before The Lord Prayer: Lord, may I enter into your gates with thanksgiving, and come into your courts with praise today. May I give thanks to you for all of your many blessings in my life, and sing your praise forever. Amen.
Friday: Work Scripture: Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him. Growing up I always envied my peers who had interesting and exotic family backgrounds. Both my father s and my mother s parents came from Newfoundland, Canada. I knew at an early age that there was nothing exotic about Newfoundland! I would long to be Italian, Greek, French, etc. When I got a little older I started asking my grandparents about their life back in Newfoundland, and I came to discover that one of my great grandparents had been a minister and my grandmother had been an organist in her church. I learned too that life hadn t been easy with all the cold weather and snow, and there was often a lot of complaining. Our family s background can bring positive and negative influences our way. The Bible says, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1) Because of what Jesus did we are now part of God s family. But we still need to take a good look at our lives, and our families of origin, and allow Jesus to help us nurture the positive influences, and weed out the negative influences that have been passed down to us. Question: What are some positive influences (skills, talents, characteristics) that have been passed down to you? What are some of the negative influences passed down to you? Prayer: Lord Jesus you understand what it is like to be part of an earthly family. Your earthly family heritage came from the line of Judah. Thank you for sharing in all we experience. Please help me today to take a closer look at what has been passed down to me from past generations, the positive and the negative. Please help me to remove the weeds. It s not easy. Amen
The writers this week are: Monday: Brad Edgerly Tuesday: Christine Bartholomew Wednesday: Paul McPheeters Thursday: Paul McPheeters Friday: Susan Matos