# 453 The “Precious” Prophecy For Joseph

The Book of Genesis

Day 453

Ge 49:22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.  23 The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.  24 But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),  25 By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.  26 The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

In case there was any doubt about who Jacob’s favorite son was, this blessing should take care of that! But this blessing is more about the reward of a life of faith. Specifically, the faith of Joseph. His faith bore much fruit, it was like “branches running over a wall,” The faith of Joseph brings strength in the midst of  trying circumstances. (“The archers have bitterly grieved him, but his bow remained in strength.”) And let there be no doubt, surrender to God, (or faith and trust in Him) is how we bear fruit. It is how we are made strong, how we are helped, and how we are blessed!

Let’s look at another blessing for the tribe of Joseph. This blessing comes from Moses who says in De 33:13-17, “And of Joseph he said: "Blessed of the LORD is his land, With the precious things of heaven, with the dew, And the deep lying beneath,  14 With the precious fruits of the sun, With the precious produce of the months,  15 With the best things of the ancient mountains, With the precious things of the everlasting hills,  16 With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come 'on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.'  17 His glory is like a firstborn bull, And his horns like the horns of the wild ox; Together with them He shall push the peoples To the ends of the earth; They are  the ten thousands of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh."

 Did you happen to notice the repetition of “precious” in this blessing? Five times! Precious would be a good word to sum up the faith of the “one who was separate from his brothers!” 1Pe 1:6,7 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,  7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,”

Does this not describe Joseph? Through trial and testing his faith was found more precious than gold. Peter goes on to quote Isaiah concerning Christ as the chief cornerstone, elect, precious.”  Peter continues in 1Pe 2:6 to quote Isaiah, concerning Christ as the chief cornerstone, elect and precious. “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."

This blessing of Joseph by Jacob is the first mention in Scripture of the “Stone of Israel,” and it’s found in verse 24 of the blessing: (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), 

Of course the Stone of Israel, would come from the tribe of Judah, and there is great honor in that, but without faith in that stone, like the unshakeable faith of Joseph, we have nothing!. Without the faith of Joseph, we have no blessing. It was Joseph who waited for the hand of God to help him, rather than helping himself, and because of that faith Joseph received a  precious blessing.

Do you desire a precious faith? Then start trusting in God and His faithfulness in your circumstances. Every single time that you and I exhibit confidence in God and His Word, to the point of acting on it, we are building precious faith….the precious faith of Joseph! Don’t drag your heels…..begin today!