The Prophetic Word - Day 179: The “self-made” man cannot receive the blessing of God.

“Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.” So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭25‬:‭21‬-‭26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Our society presents the concept of being a “self-made man” as being something that is desirable and praiseworthy.

Now, whereas I understand the concept of not waiting for someone else to make things happen for you, as well as the importance of having personal initiative, the concept of being self-made, actually goes against how we should see ourselves, and how we should operate, as children of God.

Indeed, Jesus made it clear to His disciples that He was the source of their ability.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Paul thought of himself as a self-made man until the Lord encountered him on the road to Damascus. Then, he came to count his own accomplishments, as trash.

“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Think of it, Paul had spent his entire life achieving great levels of knowledge and prestige in the religious community. But, he came to know that he could never be sufficient without the Lord.

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,”

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV

We have talked recently about how King Nebuchadnezzar found out the hard way that his authority, his prowess, was an allusion. What he had attained, could be taken away by the Lord, in a moment.

“At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!”

‭‭Daniel‬ ‭4‬:‭29‬-‭31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In our opening scripture we see that Jacob was born trying to promote himself and push ahead.

Yes, Jacob was well on the road of self-assertion. Indeed, he took advantage of Esau’s hunger to take his birthright.

“And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” 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 ‭25‬:‭30‬-‭34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Then, when it came time for his father to die, he again turned to his own devices (with the help of his mother) to receive the blessing that would’ve been Esau’s blessing.

“So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 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?””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭27‬:‭18‬-‭19‬, ‭35‬-‭36‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Now, please understand, the Lord had told Rebecca before Jacob and Esau were born that Jacob would rule over his brother. So, it wasn’t the fact that he became the receiver of the birthright and the blessing that made him in error, those were assigned to him by the Lord.

What truly made him a supplanter is that he apparently thought it was his own manipulating and maneuvering that had put him over Esau.

But, if Jacob was ever going to receive the blessing from God, he was going to have to lay aside his way of being and doing. But, that would be a process.

We will talk more about that tomorrow.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#ThePropheticWord