Sermons: Blessings By Faith

“Blessings By Faith” Genesis 48-49 November 26, 2023 Pastor Tony Felich Sermon Application [file]   ----more---- Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.  [29] Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, [30] in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. [31] There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— [32] the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” [33] When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.        As the curtain begins to fall on the account of Israel’s early days, the blessings of Jacob demonstrate his faith working through spoken blessings to his sons.       Several notable points emerge from these chapters:       •       Faith in God’s promises undergird Jacob’s blessings to his sons.       •       The sorrow of bereavement lasts a lifetime.       •       The choices of divine grace are mysterious.       •       Elements included in Jacob’s blessings of his sons:                •   Appeals to God’s favor               •   Personal messages                •   Confessions of sin                •   Discipline as a form of blessing                •   Forecasts of the future                •   Messianic prophecy       •       Funeral planning as a profession of faith in God.