Key Verse: Deuteronomy 33:27a
The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms…
Our reading begins with praise to God and then blessings on all the tribes except one, Simeon. In Genesis 49:5-7, Simeon and Levi are both cursed by their father Jacob. All the other brothers are blessed. Moses and Aaron came from Levi, the tribe that became Israel’s priests. It remains a mystery why Levi was chosen for special service and Simeon was not. Perhaps Levi repented of the sins Jacob mentioned and Simeon did not. God always responds to a godly sorrow for sin, followed by a turning away from sin. Restoring our relationship with God is absolutely essential to experiencing the powerful promise found in our key verse. Moses, Jesus, Peter, James and John would later meet Him on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-8).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I search my heart, confess my sin, and trust You for the gift of genuine repentance. Levi became the recipient of Your blessings, and his brother Simeon did not. I’m desperate for your everlasting arms under me. I lean on Your arms today and every day. Thank You for Your promise of strong support. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
Over the years, I have visited the modern expression of The Promised Land, Israel. Bible prophecy indicates the establishment of a nation state in end times called “Israel.” The olive tree symbolizes the spiritual life of Israel, the fig tree symbolizes political Israel (Luke 21:29-31). As a gentile believer in the King of the Jews, I have been grafted into the olive tree. Jews, who believe in Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Lord (there are thousands in Israel) continue an expression of the original olive tree. Following the birth of the Church (Acts 2), thousands of Jews formed the first assemblies of believers in Jesus. Cornelius, was the first gentile grafted into the olive tree (Acts 10). Let us never forget that God loves all people equally; Arabs and Jews all need to receive Jesus in order to be saved. We all need to come to Him and trust His promise, as I did as a 16-year-old teen: “He that comes to me, I will in no way cast out” (John 6:37).
