Blessings

Joshua 22:6-9

6 Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. 7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them, 8 saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide the plunder from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”
9 So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.

Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant won the NBA Finals MVP but many basketball observers criticized his decision to join the champion team. It only proves that whatever decisions a person makes, there will always be criticism.
It is a huge advantage to join a champion team to win the game of life. If God is with us, we are victorious. In Romans 8:31, 31 If God is for us, who can be against us?

There will always be problems on earth but if God is with us, we can overcome it.
Joshua and the Israelites were victorious in their battle because they trusted in the Lord. Victory is blessing. They had supreme happiness. They did not worry about anything, even opponents. But why is it great to count our blessings?

1. Count

6 Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. 7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them, 8 saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide the plunder from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”

How do you normally bless other people? When Joshua sent the eastern tribes to their inheritance on the eastern side of the Jordan River, he blessed them and mentioned the great wealth they accumulated from war. He also instructed to divide the plunder with their fellow Israelites.
The Lord let the Israelites faced battle. War was His method of blessing them with more livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron and clothing. That was a faster strategy of God to bless them instead of mining for gold, silver, bronze and iron ores, and then processing them. It takes time waiting for livestock to multiply or sewing clothes.
Interestingly, Joshua implied that they have to count their blessings. Aside from the practical purpose of dividing their wealth proportionately among themselves, what is the spiritual implication of counting their blessings?

Tired from war, it is not impossible that they felt some kind of battle inside them. Was it simple for them to kill the enemies and never felt bad about the death of innocent women and children? Remember that they annihilate everyone in their path young and old, soldier or not. There could also be other problems that may arise in the future and not necessarily war. It could be famine or pests that may destroy their crops.
The material blessings of the Israelites were tangible reminders that God gave them victory. If they continue to trust the Lord, they will overcome any difficulty in life.

Similarly, we can overcome our battle if we continue to trust the Lord. When there’s problem, the mind is become vulnerable to panic attack. One can be rattled and confused and decides recklessly. We need the God of peace for us not to panic.
It says in Philippians 4:6-7, 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

By allowing Christ to perform His Lordship over our life, He sustains us with peace to guard our hearts and mind not to make drastic and irresponsible decision. While waiting for the right decision, we are to count blessings to be reminded that God will eventually win our battles for us. Counting blessing teaches us to rely upon God even when making decision on how to address our problems. This song tells more of it.

“Count Your Blessings” Lyrics – Gold City
Tired, frustrated and feeling down / The end of the day has you wearing a frown
Your troubles have doubled and brother, what can you do?
Here’s a little advice, pound for pound / It’s guaranteed to bring you around
From an old sob story to a brand new point of view

Count your blessings when you’re feeling blue, It’s surprising what a little bit of counting will do,
Count ’em when ever thing goes wrong, Soon you’ll find yourself singing a song.
Count ’em whether they be big or small, You just might have trouble counting them all,
Your problems will simply fade from view / If you’ll just start counting your blessings.

Some people today will drive you insane / All they want to do is fuss and complain
About who, what, when, where, how they’ve been done wrong / For so long
Find less time for worry, more time for prayer / You’ll have a lot less stress and a lot more hair
When you find you’re done counting, You’ll be shouting ’cause you’re back on your feet.

How do we know that a decision comes from God? Pray that whatever decision made will be His will, that He would give a firm reason for that decision, that He would remove any doubt before making a decision.
It says in Psalm 136:10-16, 10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt;
His love endures forever. 11 and brought Israel out from among them; His love endures forever. 12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever. 13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder; His love endures forever. 14 and brought Israel through the midst of it; His love endures forever. 15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever. 16 to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever.

Psalm 136 has 26 verses that narrated what God has done for Israel. Counting His blessing reminds that His love endures forever. No human can duplicate God’s blessings. His blessings come to fruition through His commands.

2. Command

9 So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.

Israel’s inheritance is God’s blessings. When Moses gave the inheritance of the eastern tribes, it was God who commanded it, and not just random decision of Moses.
When the Israelites plundered their enemies, God has declared it beforehand.
Ten out of the twelve men that Moses sent to spy Canaan gave discouraging report and the Israelites were scared and they grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They assumed that God was bringing them to Canaan to be killed.
The Lord responded in Numbers 14:31, 31As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.

Indeed, God’s declaration was fulfilled, and the Israelites went home to their tribal inheritance with much wealth to divide. Those who doubted the love of God died in the wilderness. The Israelites’ victory against the Canaan should have served as inspiration for the next generation Israelites to keep on.
God’s blessing is sure because He commands it. God’s declaration of blessing is God’s command. Since we cannot see God face to face, how can we realize God’s command for blessings in our context or our situation individually or as a church?
It says in Number 6:22-27, 22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Aaron and his sons were priests. God commanded that Israel’s priests were to declare blessing upon the Israelites. Christians are a Royal Priesthood, and Christ has given us the authority to bestow blessings. God wants to bless other through us. Jesus commanded us in Luke 6:28, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Just as Aaron was to declare God’s grace to the Israelites, we are to invoke God’s blessings upon others even those who speak of negative things against us. When people curse us or say unpleasant words, we are to pray and ask God to bless them. Really?
Right! It is a tough act. But we let Christ rule our hearts and minds we can obey as He told us. When we bless people who disappoint or frustrate us, He blesses us more.

Job experienced one of the most difficult testing recorded in the Bible. Job was righteous, and God praised his exceptional righteousness. God allowed Satan to destroy all Job’s wealth and torture him physically. Someone asked, “Did Satan use as instrument Job’s friends (Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite) and their misplaced arguments to torture Job psychologically and emotionally.
In Job 42:10, 10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.

The Lord expected the righteous Job to pray for his friend. How about us?
Would you pray for those who criticize you? Would you bless those who gossip about your predicaments? Would you invoke or call with earnest desire for God’s gracious to fall on those who oppose or hurt you physically or emotionally?
Only by faith in Christ that we can obey Christ’s command to bless others. With Christ’s righteousness prevailing in our life, we would bless and pray for others. Amen!

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