JOSEPH #76 | JOSEPH IN EGYPT #58 | LAST WORDS OF JACOB #47
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3672
JOSEPH #76
JOSEPH IN EGYPT #58
LAST WORDS OF JACOB #47
13. BENJAMIN #10
BENJAMIN: CATALYST FOR RECONCILIATION #7
EPHRAIM, MANASSEH, AND BENJAMIN
God put these three tribes as ministry partners to guard the western flank of the Tabernacle of Moses where God's manifested His presence as a Glory Cloud.
Although Benjamin was the uncle of Ephraim and Manasseh, he was not chosen to be their group leader - but Ephraim was designated as the leader.
For God's ways are not our ways - He does not go by age, rank nor seniority.
Ephraim is the younger brother of Manasseh but now he has to lead his elder brother Manasseh and uncle Benjamin too.
But they were all related closely by blood ties as sons and grandsons of Jacob and Rachel.
The three tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin went immediately behind the Ark, And where the Ark rested, they guarded the western enclosure.
Thus the psalmist of Psalm 80:2 prayed:
"Shepherd of Israel, show your greatness to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Come and save Your people."
Whenever the Ark arose against the enemy, Moses used to exclaim, "Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before Thee." The psalmist of Psalm 80 repeats this exclamation of Moses and added: "Cause Thy Face to shine upon us," - which was the blessing of Aaron the High Priest.
Why were they the appointed guardians of the West by God?
In Genesis 28:14, God gave Jacob a promise: “You will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
The West is a land of the setting sun ( the place of darkness). West = evil and death. But the West also pointed toward restored unity with God — a return to the Garden of Eden as Adam and Eve were expelled to the East of Eden.
Thus the West represented by these three tribes became a prophetic point to a renewal of hope for the next generation.
Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in the Promised Land. And the inclusion of the half-Egyptian sons of Joseph into the 12 tribes of Israel pointed to the future inclusion of the Gentiles into the Commonwealth of Israel under the Lordship of Jesus the Messiah of the Jews and of the world at large.
What is our spiritual lesson today?
God's mysterious ways of working things out are beyond human understanding. There's where our faith comes in - we believe and trust in His wisdom and Word and then we will begin to understand His ways.
There are two amazing prophecies given by Isaiah and Malachi to reconcile this East- versus-West dichotomy.
1. “So they will fear the Name of the Lord from the West, and His Glory from the rising of the sun.” (Isaiah 59:19).
2. “But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall." ( Malachi 4:2 ).
If we combine these prophecies together, we will have a wonderful composite picture of what an Endtime ministry means.
Jesus from the tribe of Judah will start His earthly reign as God's glory just as the sun rises from the EAST - which glory will set on Benjamin and his ministry partners in the WEST . Thus they are to share the reflected glory of God ( which has arisen upon them ) to the ends of the world while there's still the Light of Christ before spiritual darkness envelops the world.
This is the Endtime Anointing which some commentators have called the anointing on the Benjamin Generation.
For me, I personally prefer to emphasize the word: "Righteousness" in Isaiah's prophecy.
The most beautiful example of East versus West being used together like this is found in Psalm 103:12: “As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
It was not by chance that King David who wrote this psalm used the words Mizrach ( East ) and Ma’arav ( West ) to denote "As far as the rising of the sun is from the setting of the sun."
That’s the furthest distance imaginable to anyone in ancient times. They never saw anyone travel as far as the sun did every single day.
We know today that if we walk to the north, we will eventually start walking south, and vice versa. North and south have meeting points, at the poles.
But if you walk to the West, you never start walking East. East and West never meet – that’s how far He has removed our transgressions from us!
Thus until true repentance begins in our hearts, how can we even walk our talk?
How can our feet shod with the gospel of peace be considered " ...beautiful as the feet of those who bring good news" when our feet are mired in unconfessed and unforgiven sin?
May the Benjamites of the next generation realise this before they rise up to the challenge of their calling.
Isaiah 52:7
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!"
