I Won’t Let You Go Until You Bless Me
Something that we don’t talk much about today or fully appreciate is the blessing. When the Lord called Abraham, listen carefully to what the Lord said:
“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12: 1-3
Why did Abraham leave his whole world behind to go on a faith journey? The Lord promised that if Abraham obeyed and left, the Lord would bless him. Now, when we think of blessings, we think of someone speaking nice words over us. But as we look at these days, the blessing is more precious than gold.
If we move forward to Esau and Jacob, Esau was willing to give away his birthright, but the blessing was another thing.
‘So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Genesis 25: 34
The birthright is the privilege or possession to which a person is entitled by birth. Sometimes, we confuse the birthright with the blessing, when they are two totally different things. Jacob had the birthright but not the blessing.
When it came time for Isaac to give the blessing on his children, he called Esau and asked him to go prepare his favorite dish. Now Isaac like his son Esau, loved to hunt and loved the taste of game. However, Jacob working with his mother, deceives Isaac in order to get the blessing.
“Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. Therefore may God give you of the dew of Heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you, and blessed be those who bless you!”
Genesis 27: 27b-29
After blessing Jacob, Esau came in and sought the blessing only to find out it had been given to Jacob.
“But he said, ‘Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing. And Esau said, ‘Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing! And he said, ‘Have you not reserved a blessing for me?’ And Esau said to his father, ‘Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me- me also, O my father!’ And Esau lifted his voice and wept.”
Genesis 27: 35-38
Esau didn’t despise the blessing. Instead, he desperately wanted the blessing and refused to leave his father until he was blessed.
Jacob then flees and encounters the Lord at Bethel. Here, the Lord promises him a blessing but doesn’t bless him. Like so many of us, Jacob takes the promise and tries to make it happen. But Jacob finds that he runs right into himself. If we seek to overcome by running, we run right into the same problem. Jacob spends years struggling, but during it all, the Lord keeps him.
Finally, the Lord tells Jacob to return to Canaan. As we read Genesis chapter thirty-two, we see that the Lod has sent angels to meet Jacob and set a camp around him. But this was still not enough for Jacob to have the courage and strength to meet Esau. Ultimately, Jacob gets alone, and we are told:
“Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.”
Genesis 32: 24, 25
Hosea helps us understand Jacob a little better:
“He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he struggled with Go. Yes he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept and sought favor from Him.”
Hosea 12: 3, 4a
Jacob thought he was fulfilling the purpose of the Lord and “make it happen.” But it was all in his strength, power, and abilities. This is where many believers get stuck because they don’t understand the blessing. We receive the promise, but it is beyond our ability, skills, and strength. We keep trying foolishly, thinking that God helps those who help themselves. But that is not true. We need the blessing.
Finally, the Lod knocks out Jacob’s hip so he can no longer “do it.” Jacob is now weak and vulnerable.
“And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks,’ But he said, ‘I will not let You go UNLESS YOU BLESS ME!”
Genesis 32: 26
Jacob, in his weakness, suddenly discovers that all this time, he has been missing the blessing of the Lord. One of the first things that the Lord does is change Jacob’s name. Remember, his father explained that Jacob was just like his name. Oh, how we can’t outrun our past and our names. Jacob is finally free of the old through the blessing, enabled to fulfill the purpose of heaven.
It was only after the blessing that Jacob and his brother could face the day.
Now go to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”
Matthew 5: 3
Jacob found himself in a poverty of spirit. Paul discovered that when he came to the same place, the door was opened to the blessing.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12: 9
The blessing releases His grace so that in the poverty of our spirit there IS His kingdom. If we continue to look at the Beatitudes we see:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5: 4
Oh, that we catch the burden of Heaven and begin to mourn and cry out to Heaven. We become broken for the things that break His heart and the long to see His purpose on the earth. But it is beyond us and our ability to make it happen and yet we are broken to see the lives set free. The blessing comes and brings with it a comfort. We know that His Word will not return to Him void and what he promised He will surely do.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
2 Corinthians 1: 3, 4
In our anguish, in which we mourn and lament, He comes and comforts us with the blessing. This blessing lifts us out of the place of death and struggles to the place of life.
If we look at the end of the Tribulation Period, when the Jews have been reduced to a remnant, we are told that Jesus will personally come to save them. Then, they will have an experience that we all must go through:
“And I pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
Zechariah 12: 10
This is the moment that changes history.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5: 5
The word meek means to endure injury with patience and without resentment. It means walking with a spirit of submission and being mild and tender. Jesus demonstrated this when He came into Jerusalem on the day of their visitation. He was the Lord God Almighty, but He came riding on a donkey.
“Tell the daughters of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Matthew 21: 5
Jesus came in humility at that time, but when He returns, He will come as King of kings and Lord of lords, and He will inherit all the earth. So, as we see each of the beatitudes reveals some of impacts of the blessing.
If we turn to Deuteronomy chapter twenty-eight, we begin to see the benefits of the blessing and how the blessings work.
“Now it shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 28: 1
Like Abraham, the first part is hearing His voice and then secondly, obeying. In this verse, “diligently” comes from the Hebrew word “shama,” as does “obey.” These words come from shama, which means to hear, listen, and obey. We need to hear and listen to His voice, which is what happens in the Secret Place. In the Secret Place, we come because He is everything to us, and we eagerly desire to hear His voice.
“Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessings from the Lord…”
Psalm 24: 3-5
Jesus explained that the pure in heart will see God. As we come into the Secret Place redeemed and washed by the blood, we stand with a clean heart before Him. Here we can enjoy holy intimacy so we can truly hear His words and receive the blessing.
The blessing of God lifts us so that we are set above. No longer do we struggle in our own ability; we operate in the abundance of His grace. This blessing we can outrun, and it impacts us everywhere we go. We are blessed at home, at work, and in all we put our hands to.
The blessing brings an increase and causes you to bear fruit, and that blessing impacts our family.
