A firstborn bull—he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. Deuteronomy 33:17
Deuteronomy 33 Part 4 Verses 13-17
Today is Moses’ blessing to the tribe of Joseph. I have always found it interesting that of Israel’s sons Joseph was the one who was a type of Christ, who was ‘sacrificed’, became royalty, saved his family and Egypt, and allowed his family to grow into a nation. But Jesus didn’t come from Joseph, He came from Judah. But Joseph was special none the less. The blessing for his tribe is the longest of to Israel’s tribes and it is full.
Each of the blessings to a tribe denote a noted characteristic of the tribe, a characteristic of the Believer. For instance, Dan was weak in number but thrived, Judah’s prayers were their strength, Levi was priestly, and Benjamin deeply loved. The trait that comes through most evidently about Joseph is nobility, nobility so great that it was obvious before he ever became royalty. Joseph was favored, he was favored by his father and when he was sold into slavery he was favored in Potiphar’s house, and eventually in Pharaoh’s house. Verses 13-16 read,
And of Joseph he said,
“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven above,
and of the deep that crouches beneath,
14 with the choicest fruits of the sun
and the rich yield of the months,
15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains
and the abundance of the everlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.
May these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.”
You and I are blessed that way. The Lord favors us, not because we earned it, not because we do anything special, but simply because of who we are. Joseph was favored simply because he was Rachel’s son. His father doted on him, got him special gifts, and noticed everything he did. Although he was merely the twelfth child and eleventh son of a man, he was treated with favor as if he were royalty. He was treated as the chosen son of God’s chosen man.
Believer you are that favored too! God enjoys blessing us! He knows what we need and what we want. In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus describes it like this,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
You are favored, chosen, esteemed, supported, and approved of by God. You are privileged under Him because you are favored. The choicest gifts of Heaven are yours, the best fruit, finest produce, the abundance of the earth is all yours because you are favored by He who dwells in the bush, The LORD.
God not only supplies your every need and doesn’t let you go hungry, He has a feast for you. The fruit of the Spirit is yours. Wisdom is yours for the asking. Abundant life is yours. Jesus didn’t come so you could live like the world, He came so you could have life and have it abundantly. In John 10:9-10 Jesus said,
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
When the Lord called Moses, he did so spectacularly and intimately. He appeared in a bush as fire. He was compassionate. He told Moses who He is, and described the job He had chosen Moses for. He called Him to lead the people out of slavery and to the Promise Land (Exodus 3). Moses had been raised as a prince but was really the brother of the slaves. It took his understanding of being favored royalty to make him understand the necessity of leading God’s people to salvation from slavery.
You are a prince among the world. You stand out because of the nobility you received from God. He made you to be special, royal. He has put crowns on your head meant to be worn as praise, righteousness, perseverance, glory, and life (1 Corinthians 9:24-25, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, James 1:12, 2 Timothy 4:8, 1 Peter 5:1-4). One day we won’t need to wear those crowns anymore and we will gladly throw them at the feet of Jesus like the Elders in Heaven (Revelation 4:10-11). But today we still wear them. We walk as royalty among the people glorifying our King. It is not an empty title, a royalty without a kingdom. You have been given the Kingdom of Heaven. One day you will judge the nations with Jesus your King (1 Corinthians 6:2, Matthew 19:28).
Royalty comes with responsibility, power, and authority. Verse 17 reads,
“A firstborn bull—he has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he shall gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
The horn of the animal represented his power as his means of defense, his glory as his means of ornamentation. Horns are the shofars or the trumpets which call people to salvation. They are the representation of God’s mercy on the altar (Exodus 27:2, 1 Kings 1:50). As princes of this world we don’t parade our royalty like spoiled trust fund babies, we wield its power in battle against the prince of the world who comes to still, kill, and destroy. We gore the peoples, not to bring them to death but to bring them to Life. We fight with Jesus against Satan to free his slaves from the chains that hold them.
Believer, you are royalty! You are a child of the King of kings, The LORD God! The blessings for you are innumerable. You are not meant to live a life of scarcity but a life of abundance in provision, gifts, and power. You have been given crowns. You are the prince not the pauper.
Today is Moses’ blessing to the tribe of Joseph. I have always found it interesting that of Israel’s sons Joseph was the one who was a type of Christ, who was ‘sacrificed’, became royalty, saved his family and Egypt, and allowed his family to grow into a nation. But Jesus didn’t come from Joseph, He came from Judah. But Joseph was special none the less. The blessing for his tribe is the longest of to Israel’s tribes and it is full.
Each of the blessings to a tribe denote a noted characteristic of the tribe, a characteristic of the Believer. For instance, Dan was weak in number but thrived, Judah’s prayers were their strength, Levi was priestly, and Benjamin deeply loved. The trait that comes through most evidently about Joseph is nobility, nobility so great that it was obvious before he ever became royalty. Joseph was favored, he was favored by his father and when he was sold into slavery he was favored in Potiphar’s house, and eventually in Pharaoh’s house. Verses 13-16 read,
And of Joseph he said,
“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven above,
and of the deep that crouches beneath,
14 with the choicest fruits of the sun
and the rich yield of the months,
15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains
and the abundance of the everlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.
May these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.”
You and I are blessed that way. The Lord favors us, not because we earned it, not because we do anything special, but simply because of who we are. Joseph was favored simply because he was Rachel’s son. His father doted on him, got him special gifts, and noticed everything he did. Although he was merely the twelfth child and eleventh son of a man, he was treated with favor as if he were royalty. He was treated as the chosen son of God’s chosen man.
Believer you are that favored too! God enjoys blessing us! He knows what we need and what we want. In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus describes it like this,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
You are favored, chosen, esteemed, supported, and approved of by God. You are privileged under Him because you are favored. The choicest gifts of Heaven are yours, the best fruit, finest produce, the abundance of the earth is all yours because you are favored by He who dwells in the bush, The LORD.
God not only supplies your every need and doesn’t let you go hungry, He has a feast for you. The fruit of the Spirit is yours. Wisdom is yours for the asking. Abundant life is yours. Jesus didn’t come so you could live like the world, He came so you could have life and have it abundantly. In John 10:9-10 Jesus said,
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
When the Lord called Moses, he did so spectacularly and intimately. He appeared in a bush as fire. He was compassionate. He told Moses who He is, and described the job He had chosen Moses for. He called Him to lead the people out of slavery and to the Promise Land (Exodus 3). Moses had been raised as a prince but was really the brother of the slaves. It took his understanding of being favored royalty to make him understand the necessity of leading God’s people to salvation from slavery.
You are a prince among the world. You stand out because of the nobility you received from God. He made you to be special, royal. He has put crowns on your head meant to be worn as praise, righteousness, perseverance, glory, and life (1 Corinthians 9:24-25, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, James 1:12, 2 Timothy 4:8, 1 Peter 5:1-4). One day we won’t need to wear those crowns anymore and we will gladly throw them at the feet of Jesus like the Elders in Heaven (Revelation 4:10-11). But today we still wear them. We walk as royalty among the people glorifying our King. It is not an empty title, a royalty without a kingdom. You have been given the Kingdom of Heaven. One day you will judge the nations with Jesus your King (1 Corinthians 6:2, Matthew 19:28).
Royalty comes with responsibility, power, and authority. Verse 17 reads,
“A firstborn bull—he has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he shall gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
The horn of the animal represented his power as his means of defense, his glory as his means of ornamentation. Horns are the shofars or the trumpets which call people to salvation. They are the representation of God’s mercy on the altar (Exodus 27:2, 1 Kings 1:50). As princes of this world we don’t parade our royalty like spoiled trust fund babies, we wield its power in battle against the prince of the world who comes to still, kill, and destroy. We gore the peoples, not to bring them to death but to bring them to Life. We fight with Jesus against Satan to free his slaves from the chains that hold them.
Believer, you are royalty! You are a child of the King of kings, The LORD God! The blessings for you are innumerable. You are not meant to live a life of scarcity but a life of abundance in provision, gifts, and power. You have been given crowns. You are the prince not the pauper.
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