5TH JUNE, 2022
PASTOR OLUBI JOHNSON
UNDERSTANDING COMPASSION
OLUBI JOHNSON
Genesis 49:22-26 KJV
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Here we see the blessings Jacob pronounced upon Joseph.
These blessings have a present truth prophetic application to us today, because they are actually the blessings of the first-born. The Lord Jesus Christ was the first-born of the Church from spiritual death to spiritual life (Col. 1:18).
In Israel in the Old Testament, the first born always got a double portion of the inheritance: double of what the other children inherited (Deut. 21:17).
Now the blessing of the first born should have gone to Reuben; but he lost it because he had sex with his father’s concubine (Gen. 49:3-4).
So the blessing of the first born was given to Joseph.
Why Joseph?
Joseph is a fruitful bough. This symbolizes that Joseph had the fruit of the Spirit: which primarily is love (Gal. 5:22-23).
The life of Joseph exemplifies this in his patience and refusal to be bitter against God after being sold into slavery, and then put in jail for refusing to commit adultery with Potiphar’s wife. Later on, he did not take revenge on his brothers but rather forgave and blessed them (Gen. 37-50).
How did Joseph do all this in the Old Testament?
He stayed connected to God in his heart through speaking, thinking and acting on God’s Word that he had heard from his father, Jacob, from when he was a young child (Deut. 30:11-14).
As New Testament Christians in Jesus Christ, these blessings of Joseph are ours to inherit (Gal. 3:29).
Let us examine these blessings in detail:
God will bless and strengthen the hands of end-time Josephs to remain steady in the face of severe persecution and Satanic attack (Eph. 6:12-18).
God will bless them with the blessings of the heavens above; the blessings of the deep which lieth under (Isa. 45:3); blessings of the breast: the blessings of El-Shaddai the ‘Breasty One”: the all-sufficient One; blessings that are more than enough.
The blessings of the womb: the blessings of the man-child birthed from the womb of the virgin Church (Rev. 12:5): caught up to the throne of God as spiritual Kings and Princes that, like Joseph, will rule the nations (Psa. 105:17-22).
God will bless the end-time Josephs with blessings above, the blessings of our fathers: the glory of the latter house will be greater than the former; and unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: the blessings of the fulness of Christ (Hag. 2:9).
So, as we continue to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, love, and stay connected to the ‘Well’: the Source of life, we will inherit all these blessings of Joseph!
For more on today’s study visit:
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