Don't Miss Your Blessing

After reading Genesis this year, I thought about the continued blessing that God gave to His chosen people.

I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And 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 will be blessed (Genesis 12:2–3).

This blessing was handed off from Abraham to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob (over Esau the older), and from Jacob to Judah. The whole family of Israel experienced the blessing, but specific individuals were blessed with the position of leadership ushering in the ultimate blessing--Jesus. 

Judah was fourth in the line of birth order from Jacob. His older brothers, Rueben, Simeon and Levi, missed out on the continued blessing because of sin. Whereas a general blessing from Jacob was given to all his sons (49:28), these three were skipped over for the special "leadership blessing." Reuben, the oldest, was passed over because of his sexual sin with Jacob's wife (49:4, 35:22). Simeon and Levi were skipped over for the revenge-killing of the Hivites, disregarding their father's wishes (49:5, 34:30-31). Sin had its consequences.

It would seem that mainstream culture today eschews consequences for any wrongdoing that robs an individual of opportunities. Think about it, it used to be that even the suggestion of a political candidate having an extra-marital affair was enough to disqualify them from public service (ie. Gary Hart/Donna Rice). And yet today an extra-marital affair does not stop one from climbing the ladder of success in politics. 

In God's grace, the blessing of continued relationship is not taken away because of sin. However, sin does matter and it can have lasting consequences on those who commit it. Even though Jacob only blesses one of his sons to lead, He does bless ALL of his sons. 

"Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet" (49:9–10).

"He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him" (49:28).

It's important that we own our sin and not complain about the consequences we experience. We still have the opportunity for blessing after we sin. But, it is true, our sin may disqualify us from certain opportunities. Levi missed out on the "leadership blessing", but in my humble opinion, he received a better blessing than that of his brothers when they entered the promised land. Rather than inheriting the land, Levi inherited God Himself (Deuteronomy 10:9). 

Bottom Line: Be willing to accept the consequences of your sin so that you don't miss the relational blessings God has for you.