01.21.2015 Old Testament: Gen 49.14–15

To read the Bible in a year, read Genesis 49–50 on January 21, In the year of our Lord 2015

By Don Ruhl

Jacob prophesied of the tribe that would come from his son Issachar, that it would word hard, but then it would become forced labor,

“Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.”
(Genesis 49.14–15) 

Hard physical work helps the body and the soul, and apparently Issachar would do well as a hard worker, but then, like all the other tribes, the Lord would send foreign powers against Issachar because of the tribe’s sins, forcing the tribe to do work that it would not want to do.

When we work for the Lord, or do our work for the Lord, great things happen, but when we turn our hearts away from Him, eventually the work turns against us.