02/06/09

The Lord will bless the house of Israel and of Aaron

Psalms 115:12 - The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.

Just last Sunday on Pentecost being global prayer day at the service I attended they were praying for everything under the sun and one such section was for the different nations around the world.

The first nation they prayed for was the nation of Israel for the one leading called it the beloved nation of God. Most people consider the Israel in the Bible to be the country Israel. If you read the scriptures like in the one given to us today; the Lord talks of the house of Israel and the house of Aaron as two different. Aaron was an Israelite and yet the Lord is differentiating them both. The same is with Judah, Jerusalem, Jacob, Benjamin, David, Levi, Isaac, Ephraim and Zion. Later in the scriptures like the book of Amos, Micah and latter Prophets the people of the countries like Samaria are considered as part of Israel! (Check the reference scriptures)

It is interesting to know that each name has a meaning and the meaning plays a very important part in the story (the Author of the Bible give more importance to the understanding then the text). If you carefully read the comparisons in each scripture at places it talks of the physical tribes, like in Genesis but latter they get complicated because it does not refer to the physical tribe but to the spiritual state of the people. Like the people are referred to as children of Jacob and children of Israel in the same scripture and identified differently. Jacob was the unredeemed man and Israel is the redeemed one. So when the Lord referred to his people as Jacob you will notice they had sinned against the Lord or rejected Him at that point of time.

Therefore the names refer to spiritual states of one growth which starts from Egypt and goes up to Zion with some being a subset of others.

We may not have been born in Israel (Isra-El means Princes of God) but surely we are more Israelites than the political citizens of the country Israel. Similarly Aaron means light bearers. Being Israelite is not sufficient; we need to know where we are carrying the Light of the Word unto the world? When we get counted in the house of Aaron we receive a separate set of blessings unlike remaining of Israel.

Let us not stop at Aaron and move right up to Zion in our spiritual growth to be like Jesus - the Son of Zion (notice there is no rebuke in any scripture against the sons of Zion).


[ Prayer Starter ]

Lord God, we thank You because You bought us out of Egypt and saved us from Babylon. You called us Israel and lead us in our journey to be like Jesus. Let your grace and mercy be always over us, that You do not forsake us when we fall or go astray...

We ask this in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]

Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Exodus 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;

Numbers 23:23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

Hebrews 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Zechariah 1:19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

Amos 7:16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.

Micah 1:5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?

Amos 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

Micah 1:13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.

Zephaniah 3:14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

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