Genesis 49:14 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Genesis 49:14

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Issachar – what a shame! They were strong, willing to work and to build up their farms; they were home loving, They were blessed, because they were a hard-working tribe and bound to prosper. But at the same time they became slaves to their comfort. They aimed too low, and became mundane people – ‘Give me a quiet life.’ ‘And became a servant unto tribute’ – strictly, that means a slave, or a servant. This is a trend that passes down to Issachar’s descendants. They seem to have been a very tough tribe. We imagine them as being very broad shouldered, unusually strong; they were also sheep rearers. But they would do anything; they would work, and they would stick at their work. They were not lazy people. ‘Issachar is a strong ass’, like a working animal, ‘and couching down between two burdens’, which means they will undertake one heavy role, and they will take a rest and get straight on with something else. They didn't grumble. They worked and they worked. ‘He saw that rest was good’, peace, that is. It’s nice to have peace and no worries and the land that it was pleasant and bowed his shoulder to bear.’ But what he seems to have said is this: ‘Look, as long as we are eating well, and resting well, and we are comfortable and we are at ease, that suits us. If people want to hire us; if the other tribes want to hire great squads of us to go and dig quarries and build buildings, do this and do that, fine! As long as we live well and comfortably, we are not after office or rule; we have no ambitions; we have no vision. We are not straining after anything.’ That seems to be a fault in that particular tribe. What a great shame it was! God blessed them; God said, ‘All right you people of Issachar, you will be blessed’, but they never got any privileges; they never got any great role. If you want to paddle along and not stretch for anything, God will bless you if you are his child. He will bless you, but you won’t be greatly instrumental. What a shame! That's the warning that we have here.

Application

Some of what is seen in Issachar is commendable. Oh, if we were all steady workers and good labourers, but to have no vision; that is sad. But it happens like this in churches. There are Issachars in churches, everywhere. ‘Oh, don't complain that liberalism is coming in; don't complain that something is wrong. We don't want a battle; we don't want to fight. As long as everything is nice, and we have got better people, then anything can happen. I am satisfied; I am getting the basics of the word of God. And there are men in office as deacons in many churches who want peace at any price. If somebody says, ‘Look, we haven't done any visiting in the church for 10 years; it's about time we did’, they say, ‘Don't bother me. We have got some people here; everything is all right. As long as we are eating and sleeping and we are getting by!’ No vision, no anxiety, if things are slowing down, if souls are not being won, if people are not being reached.

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Genesis 49:14 Commentary and Bible Study