20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Our stories of faith continue in the book of Genesis with Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. God made a promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that the world would be blessed through him. God gave him a son, Isaac. It was through Isaac that God’s covenant to Abraham was fulfilled. Isaac had two sons: Jacob and Esau. They were twins and had a lot of conflict as brothers. Esau was firstborn and was entitled to a birthright (double inheritance) and his father’s blessing. Jacob deceived his father and swindled his brother Esau to get both of those for himself. Jacob had 12 sons. One of those sons was Joseph who was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. Eventually his whole family came to Egypt, but Joseph also knew that his people would not end up in Egypt; he wanted his bones to be taken back to his homeland, the Promised Land, when God’s people return there. There is a commonality that runs through all their stories. They all looked to the future with hope at what God was going to do.
Biblical blessing is conferment of blessings through faith, which involves looking forward to the future. In the ancient world, parents would bless their children. In doing so, they were desiring upon them blessings and blessing them with abundant future, livelihood, family, and relationship with God. Blessings don’t look at the past. Blessings are empowerments that create a glorious future for the blessed. When you are blessed, God’s favour and grace begin to work out a glorious future for you. Our opening verse tells us that it was by faith that Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, and that by faith when Jacob was dying blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, worshipped, and leaning upon the top of his staff. Did you see the relationship between faith and blessing people? They are similar in that they both look ahead towards the fulfilment of the Word of God, not hopelessly but with joyful expectancy. When we bless, we do it by faith. How? We do it by the Word of God. Whatever God has spoken about our future is worth speaking as blessings on us and on our children. Listen, bless your loved ones, children, siblings, and people around you by faith. Do it by faith! There is tremendous power in blessing people!
MY SOLID FRONT (YOUR CONFESSION): In the Name of Jesus Christ, I declare that I am blessed and that I bless others by faith. I believe the Word and declare the blessing according to what the Lord has commanded, and I get awesome results! Amen.
Further Meditation: Genesis 1:28; Genesis 27:27-29.