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Gathered to His People

Words of Faith Final

Gathered to His People
Words of Faith 8-26-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 49
[29] Then he gave them these instructions: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, [30] the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. [31] There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. [32] The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites."
[33] When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

With Jacob's death, the Age of the Patriarchs came to a close. It is difficult to measure the faith impact of these generations-- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
As he was dying, Jacob made a request that his sons bury him in the Land of Promise with his fathers. The specific place he had in mind was "Machpelah." This was the burial place that Abraham had purchased. He wanted to be buried in the land with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah, the central figures of his life.
So Jacob died after 147 years of struggle. His birth name means trickster of heal-grabber but the name given to him by God was Israel-- one who struggles with God. This is the defining identity of God's people. Israelites are the ones who struggle with God. God is in our struggle and accompanies us in our sorrow. God lift His people, redeems His own, and points them toward the Promise He has for them.
Jacob had many sins in his struggle. But more importantly, he had an unquenchable desire for God's blessing. Jacob grew to have a heart that relied upon God above all else. In the end, Jacob died as a man of genuine faith. He learned in his life where the real blessings came from. He passed those blessings on to his sons and God's people.
We don't want to miss the significance of the Promise of the Land. The Promise had always been to the seed of Jacob. They would live in peace in the land promised to Abraham and Isaac. Jacob's faith in God's promises remained firm to the end. He... breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Father God-- God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I give thanks to You for Your big plan. I thank you for not abandoning Your children but continuing to care for them in the Land of Promise. I thank You for the larger Promise of the coming of Messiah. This is where I place my hope and faith. In Jesus' Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.