JOSEPH #74 | JOSEPH IN EGYPT #56 | LAST WORDS OF JACOB #45

Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3670

JOSEPH #74

JOSEPH IN EGYPT #56
LAST WORDS OF JACOB #45

13. BENJAMIN #8

BENJAMIN: CATALYST FOR RECONCILIATION #5

BENJAMIN'S STONE: JASPER#1

When we do a word study on Jasper - which is Benjamin's stone on the breastplate of the High Priest's ephod -  we will find two salient pointers:

1. It is the stone that is placed LAST in the breastplate of the High Priest.

Indeed Benjamin is the last born of Jacob's sons by Rachel.

2. But when we

turn to the 21st chapter of the Book of Revelation, where John describes the New Jerusalem, we find the following information –

21:11 The Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a Jasper stone, clear as crystal.

21:18 And the building of the wall was of Jasper.

21:19  And the foundation of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner precious stones.

The FIRST was Jasper, the second Sapphire, the third Chalcedony, the fourth Emerald, the fifth Sardonyx, the sixth Sardius, the seventh Chrysolite, the eighth Beryl, the ninth Topaz,  the tenth Chrysoprase, the eleventh Jacinth, and the twelfth Amethyst.

The order is specifically mentioned, just as it was for the breastplate.

Therefore we are being asked to concentrate on the order as a matter of importance. 

Our focus is once again on just two of these stones, and we note that whereas Jasper was LAST in the breastplate, it is now FIRST in the foundation. 

Does God have a message for us from the Tribe of Benjamin? Is there something we can learn from the Scripture that may help us at this present time?  

The tribe of Benjamin, the LAST born of Jacob by natural birth, is now transferred spiritually to the FIRST place in the New Jerusalem foundations. 

It is a principle frequently found in Scripture that God ordains a reversal of natural order by faith. Hence Abel was preferred to Cain, Shem (the youngest) to his brothers, Isaac to Ishmael, Jacob to Esau, the house of Joseph to the house of Reuben (as a consequence of default by Reuben in respect of his immorality), Ephraim to Manasseh, and David to his older brothers. 

Our Lord declared that this would always be so in the realm of election by faith. “There shall be many of the first that shall be last, and the last first.” ( Matthew 19:30 )

Indeed that which awaits God’s elect is written in the heavens, where the city is of Jasper, the walls are Jasper, and the first foundation stone Jasper. 

It belongs to all those who have “laid up their treasure in heaven, where moth and rust have no power to corrupt.”

This is my take on Benjamin's Endtime significance. Though we may feel small and insignificant in our own estimation, our works of faith for God's glory may be accounted great in God's eyes. Indeed like Benjamine, the LAST may be FIRST.

N.B. Tomorrow's lesson will continue to focus on the revelation of Benjamin's legacy of Jasper as his treasured stone to us. Stay tuned 😀