Jacob blesses and prophesies over his sons. Much of this passage is based on snippets of
information we have about the men from the book of Genesis, their revealed
characters tells us who they will be even though they have grown and
matured. Two of the sons are singled out
for great blessing, Judah and Joseph.
The blessing on Joseph seems to be somewhat wishful thinking on the part
of Jacob who loved him best and blessed him most. Judah will be the ruler over his brothers and
in David and then ultimately in Jesus we see that this prophecy has come to
fruition. Ultimately it is one of the
sons of Judah to whom every knee, including even the sons of Joseph, will
bow.
Both these two healings, the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician
woman and the deaf man in the region of the Decapolis, would have been Jesus
extending the kingdom, extending grace, to Gentiles. The first involves some dialogue that it
strikingly playful but also potentially hurtful. The Gentiles were considered no better than
dogs to the Jews and so the language Jesus uses is certainly calculated but the
woman is persistent as was Jairus, the synagogue ruler, because her concern was
for her daughter. All that mattered was
that this healer make her daughter whole and she was willing to lay her dignity
at His feet if that were required to move Him to act on her behalf. The healing of the deaf man with a speech
impediment shows the power of Jesus and Mark tells us that the people there
were “astonished beyond measure” at His abilities. They could not contain themselves from
telling about Him. He commanded the deaf
and dumb to speak and he spoke, He commanded these to keep silent and yet they
spoke. Surely Jesus has done so much for
us that we can also witness to all and sundry.
In Acts 15 the Jerusalem council had to decide what parts of
the law were binding on Paul’s Gentile converts and one of those things was
food polluted by or dedicated to idols.
Paul here gives an apologetic for why that would be. He acknowledges that an idol is nothing at
all in the way of being a god, it is rather a demon who receives worship as
there is only one God and we know that He is jealous and we are not to make
idols. As we participate in the body and
blood of Jesus it would certainly be wrong to add to that those things which
have been offered to idols as well.
Paul’s ultimate argument is to love your neighbor in all things. They were to simply give thanks for all
things whatever its source unless they were told specifically this food was
sacrificed to idols and then they were to abstain as this would be to
participate in the worship of an idol.
In all this, Paul says he is an imitator of Christ who ate and drank
with all people, much to the chagrin of his fellow Jews. In all things Jesus is to be our example.
Let the heavens praise
your wonders, O LORD,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
O LORD God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O LORD,
with your faithfulness all around you?
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
O LORD God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O LORD,
with your faithfulness all around you?
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