Bible Study with Jairus

Deuteronomy 33: Moses’ Prophecies to the Twelve Tribes

Asher: Let His Feet Be Bathed in Oil (Verses 24-25)

Introduction: From Jacob’s Observation to Moses’ Blessing

Welcome back to Bible study with Jairus. Today we are going to look at the prophecy concerning Jacob’s son Asher, both the blessing Jacob spoke over him and the blessing Moses later spoke over him. Jacob said that Asher’s food would be rich, and that he would provide delicacies fit for a king. That blessing was rooted in something Jacob had observed firsthand: Asher’s life was marked by being a peacemaker, by bringing good food to the table, and by serving others with a generous, hospitable spirit.

Moses took that same observation and developed it even further. In his blessing, Moses declared that Asher would be the most blessed of all the sons, favored by his brothers above the rest. He would be the peacemaker, embodying what the Apostle Paul later calls the bond of peace in Colossians 3, the peace of Christ ruling in the heart, the bond that holds us together as one body.

We are meant to live together in unity as brothers and sisters in God’s family. As the psalmist says, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. But the honest truth about Jacob’s family is that unity was not the norm. It was a household full of strife. Yet God’s calling for his people was never strife; God’s calling was to bring unity out of struggle and conflict. In time, God blessed the unity of his people, just as Psalm 133 describes: blessed are those who dwell together in unity, for it is like the precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robe. It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life forevermore. In other words, the outward picture is beautiful, but underneath there was real tension between the tribes. Still, God’s calling was always to bring them into unity.

When God’s children walk in unity, they receive a blessing from on high, pictured by that oil flowing from the head of Aaron, down through his beard, down to his garments, and finally to his feet. In his prophetic blessing over Asher, Moses built on Jacob’s earlier observation of Asher as a peacemaker, someone who cooked good food and brought delicacies fit for a king, much like a mother in the home whose cooking becomes an act of peacemaking. We see a similar pattern with Stephen in the book of Acts. When strife arose among the believers because the widows were being overlooked and were not receiving food, the apostles set apart Stephen and several others who were full of the Holy Spirit to handle that need. Through their service, they became peacemakers, and the word of God grew because unity was restored.

Those who supply food, whether physically or spiritually, often become peacemakers in this way. Stephen was a peacemaker. In the same spirit, Moses developed Jacob’s prophecy of Asher as the one who brings food to the table, calling him the most blessed among his brothers. We know that Joseph held a unique place among his brothers and received a remarkable blessing of his own. But why does Moses call Asher the most blessed and the most favored of all his brothers? Because Asher’s ministry, fundamentally, was the ministry of a peacemaker. When a peacemaker dwells among God’s people, when brothers live together in unity, that oneness releases great power for God’s people. Both the Old and New Testaments echo this truth. There is an old saying, using a Chinese illustration, that a single chopstick is easily broken, but when chopsticks are bound together, they cannot be easily broken. One can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight. The power of unity is immense.

Unity, Reconciliation, and the Power of the Spirit

This is the power of reconciliation, and it is the ministry pictured in Asher. The power of unity, built on the bond of love in Christ Jesus, whether among the tribes of the Old Testament or within the church today, becomes a powerful weapon in the hands of God’s people. Out of unity comes blessing from on high. Out of unity comes a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In both Testaments, the ministry of Asher is the ministry of the peacemaker, the bond of love and peace that produces unity. Once that unity is established on the firm foundation of Christ’s revelation, even Jesus’ own teaching reflects it: he told Peter that we should forgive our brother seventy times seven. He also told Peter that he was a rock, but it was the revelation Peter spoke, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that became the true rock and foundation of the church, and the foundation of its unity. A church built on this foundation, built on this ground of oneness in Jesus Christ, is one against which the gates of Hades shall not prevail.

So, with the ministry of Asher, building on the prophecy Jacob gave through his observation of his son’s character, Moses developed this into a fuller blessing. Most blessed of sons is Asher, Moses says. Let him be favored by his brothers. That means everyone loved Asher; he was the most favored among his brothers. And further, let his feet be bathed in oil. This recalls the picture from Psalm 133, where oil was poured on the head of Aaron the priest and flowed down to his beard, then to his robe, and finally saturated him all the way to his feet. The poetic image of Asher’s feet dipped in oil shows that he carried the ministry of reconciliation and unity so completely that, from head to toe, he was saturated with it. He was accepted by every one of his brothers, even amid so much strife elsewhere in the family. His was a ministry of unity and of consolation. Out of this ministry, the tribes of Israel would become one great army of God.

That is why Moses continues, saying that the bolts of Asher’s gate would be iron and bronze, so that no enemy could break through, and that his strength would equal his days. Think about the situation in America today. There is a rise of antisemitism, and some say we can support the Israeli people but must never criticize the Israeli government, while others say we must understand the strategy of the enemy: if Satan can break the bond between the nation of Israel and Christians, he can far more easily move against all Judeo-Christian, Bible-believing people of God. So, we must be careful, and we must seek balance. Yes, criticism of a government’s policies is legitimate, and yes, we should continue to pray for the salvation of the Jewish people, who are not yet saved. But we must understand the strategy of the enemy and work toward unity between Jewish people and Gentile Christians, especially here in America. We cannot allow that bond to be severed.

Let us go further still. Imagine if all Christians, whatever their tradition (high church or low church, this denomination or that, Protestant or Catholic), all Bible-believing, Jesus-believing Christians, dwelt together in unity. Can you imagine the power of God we would receive, the blessing from on high, the beauty of a church about which Jesus said the gates of Hades shall not prevail? Just as Moses described, when God’s people walk in unity, their gates have bolts of iron and bronze, and they are full of power. Their days are full of strength, whatever number of days they are given, just as it was said of Caleb. They are full of strength and full of power, able to overcome the kingdom of darkness through unity. This is the revelation we are considering today regarding the ministry of Asher.

Colossians 3 and the Call to Unity in the Church

I want to return to Psalm 133 and also bring in Colossians 3. I will say more about this passage later, but here the Apostle Paul addresses the strife present among the members of his church and exhorts them toward unity. In Colossians 3:12-15, he writes, put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Just as there was strife and hatred among the children of Jacob in that dysfunctional family, a picture of the brokenness of this world, there has also been strife within the church of God, whether in Corinth or in Colossae. But Paul reminds them: remember who you are. You are God’s chosen ones. In Colossians 3:12, the Jewish people are described as God’s chosen, called to be a holy nation; strife or not, that calling remains. Likewise, we as Christians are chosen, holy, and beloved. There may be strife in the church, but we must remember that the ministry of Jesus Christ is reconciliation.

Paul encourages believers to put on, as one would put on clothing, compassion, kindness, love, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another when there is a complaint, just as the Lord has forgiven us, so we must forgive. And above all these, he says, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace, and be thankful. This is a beautiful illustration from Paul about the unity of the church. We experience strife, but we are called to put on the compassion and oneness of God, and above all, his love, that we might walk in this unity in Jesus Christ, in harmony.

This is a fitting picture for the Old Testament Israelites and for the ministry of Asher. Asher’s ministry is a type of reconciliation and unity, for the reasons already given: he was known as someone who put food on the table, food that was good, even fit to be called a king’s delicacy. Jacob first observed this, but Moses’ prophecy went further, describing Asher as the most favored and most blessed among all his brothers. Everyone loved Asher. And his feet would be dipped in oil, a continuous picture of the blessing of oil flowing on the heads of brothers dwelling together in unity. When you dwell together in unity, you gain the power to stand against your enemy. Your gate has bolts of iron and bronze, and your strength matches your days.

That concludes the introduction to today’s revelation. From here, we will move into the first section, returning to a principle we have outlined before

The Twelve Tribes: A Story Still Unfolding

In this first section, I want to reiterate something the Holy Spirit has shown us about God’s dealings with the twelve tribes. Each of the twelve sons of Israel carries a unique story of salvation, a story of turning from sin and being transformed by the life of God into a living stone of the New Jerusalem. As I have said before, their stories are not yet finished, even in the New Testament. They remain a work in progress. The tribe of Dan offers a clear example. In Revelation, when the angel marks 144,000 from the twelve tribes on their foreheads to protect them from harm, Dan is conspicuously absent from that list. It seems likely that Dan went through some particularly difficult trial. Yet eventually, Dan is restored and appears again as one of the pearl gates of the New Jerusalem.

Even from the story of Dan alone, we see that the work of Jesus Christ in this tribe was not yet finished, because the New Jerusalem is still being built, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, founded on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. In the end, there are twelve pearl gates bearing the names of the twelve tribes, and twelve foundation stones bearing the names of the twelve apostles.

As Gentile believers, we too are precious stones, though we were once made only of dirt, full of impurity. Yet through trial, that impurity is refined into something unique: a distinct kind of stone, shaped by our particular struggles, each one becoming a singular expression of God’s glory. In the same way, each tribe of Israel is being transformed into one of the twelve pearl gates of the New Jerusalem. Eventually, in the cornerstone of Jesus Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, living stones from the Old and New Testaments alike, are being built together into a spiritual temple. As the Apostle Peter says, we are all part of a royal priesthood, called by God.

So, the transformation of the twelve tribes of Israel is not finished; it is still underway. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 9 through 11 that when the full number of the Gentiles has come in, all Israel will be saved. The work of God in the twelve tribes is not complete. It may be temporarily paused, much like an app running quietly in the background on your phone, but God is still at work. Many of the promises given to the tribes of Israel remain unfulfilled. At least ten of the tribes effectively disappeared from history, scattered among the nations, yet they will be called back to Israel one day.

So what is the work God is doing among the twelve tribes? Beyond making them the pearl gates of the New Jerusalem, God is bringing them into unity, and bringing Jews and Gentile believers together into one building, the New Jerusalem. But the present reality is that there is no unity yet; there is strife. And that strife runs all the way back to the constant struggles within Jacob’s own family, which was, in every sense, a dysfunctional household: one father, four wives, twelve sons, and one daughter.

Two Rival Camps: Leah and Rachel

Within that family, there were at least two rival camps. The first was the camp of Leah, who had four sons of her own: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. I have described them before as something like a gang of four, four lions on the prowl, determined to conquer the world. Leah’s camp also included sons born to her maidservant Zilpah, who, though not born of Leah directly, were still counted as part of Leah’s tribe.

On the other side was the camp of Rachel, the wife Jacob loved most but who, for a long time, could not have children. Eventually she received sons through her maidservant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali. I have imagined, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, that Dan and Naphtali had a difficult childhood, raised in some sense apart from their birth mother, sitting on Rachel’s knees as she gave them their names, belonging fully to her in that legal and emotional sense. Perhaps, in moments of conflict, when they fought for their place beside Rachel, Reuben, Levi, Simeon, and Judah taunted them, telling them they were the sons of a maidservant, not true sons of Rachel, accusing them of overstepping, of not truly belonging.

Dan may have received Rachel’s affection for a season, but he surely lost that special place once Joseph was born; I doubt Rachel had much attention left for Dan after that. And so Dan became twisted, in a sense dehumanized in Jacob’s eyes, often described almost as a serpent. I have described Dan’s character as someone hardened by hatred, looking for ways to wound others, shaped by injustice into a desire for revenge. Jacob’s prayer over Dan reflects this: ‘I wait for your salvation, O Lord.’ Jacob understood that injustice had indeed been done to Dan, but also understood that injustice cannot be answered with more injustice, that violence cannot be met with more violence, that the wound must instead be met with deliverance.

Naphtali, by contrast, seems to have learned a different lesson from the same family pain. Consider an illustration from recent history: Donald Trump has said he never drank alcohol, smoked, or used drugs, not because he claims to be perfect, but because his brother died from alcoholism, and that loss shaped him deeply. He raised his own son, Barron, the same way: no drugs, no smoking, no drinking, and excellence in school. When your sibling has gone through something devastating, you either follow the same path, or you choose, deliberately, to become the opposite.

I once watched a documentary about an African American man who had killed someone and was serving time in prison. In the interview, he explained how he ended up there: his older brother had been a respected gang member on the street, someone he idolized as a kind of hero. When his brother was killed, he wanted revenge, and he followed in his brother’s footsteps, eventually becoming a gang member himself, and ultimately killing someone else to prove he, too, could be the one in charge. That is one example, drawn from real human experience, of how grief and admiration for a sibling can lead someone further into the same destructive pattern. Donald Trump’s story is the opposite example: his brother’s death from alcoholism led him in the entirely opposite direction. It is something we see in many dysfunctional families. Some children repeat the pattern, continuing cycles of dysfunction or divorce. Others determine, often painfully, to break the cycle, to turn the curse in their family into something different.

In a similar way, Naphtali, watching what hatred and constant family strife had done to those around him, chose forgiveness instead. I have described Naphtali’s calling as something like the ministry of the gospel itself: receiving forgiveness, receiving the joy of salvation through forgiveness. I have shared before how my own heart was once full of hatred before I came to Christ, as though a snake were biting me from within, full of poison. But when I received Jesus Christ, that hatred was released, and I was set free, free like a doe, like a mother deer leaping for joy, full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The Wisdom of Balance Amid Struggle

We see this pattern of two opposing camps in many places. In America, there is a left and a right, blue and red. In every human society, there are at least two competing factions, locked in ongoing struggle. In China, during the Cultural Revolution, there was a left and a right, with a leader, sometimes a dictatorship, sometimes even a king, working to balance these struggles and to maintain order between them. I am not describing this in a purely negative light; this kind of balancing is, in its own way, a form of wisdom. God works in a similar manner, not through deception or manipulation, but through wisdom.

So in the ongoing struggle within Jacob’s family, God intervened. When Jacob loved Rachel and Leah felt unloved, God stepped in. Seeing that Leah was unloved, God blessed her with children, four sons in succession. Each time she gave birth, she rejoiced: ‘I have a son, Reuben.’ ‘Now I have another, Simeon.’ ‘I have Levi; now my husband will be united to me.’ ‘I have Judah; now I will praise the Lord.’ Rachel, meanwhile, was not at peace. We see in this story the struggle between two sisters playing out in real time. Rachel had Jacob’s love, but no child, while Leah had children but felt unloved. Early in Genesis 30, Rachel finally cried out to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I will die!’ That is a striking, desperate plea. The tension between the two sisters had become fierce and dramatic. Jacob, understandably frustrated, responded, ‘Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?’

At this point, Rachel devised a plan, perhaps a human idea, but one God allowed to unfold. She gave her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob, so that Bilhah’s children would, in effect, be counted as Rachel’s own. ‘Then I will win this struggle with my sister,’ she seems to reason. ‘She has four sons and boasts of it every day. I will have sons too.’ Bilhah bore two sons, Dan and Naphtali, whose characters I have already described. As I have mentioned often, Jacob’s prophetic blessings over his sons were rooted in his observation of their character, observations later confirmed and expanded through prophetic anointing. He is steady, like a donkey that bears heavy loads, quiet by nature, eventually becoming attentive to God’s voice because he learned to be still.

When Dan was born, Rachel rejoiced, declaring in Genesis 30 that God had judged her, that he had heard her voice and given her a son. Even though she had not borne the child herself, God had stepped in through her maidservant, and she recognized his hand in it. When Bilhah bore a second son, Naphtali, Rachel declared that in her struggle with her sister, she had won. She had only two sons compared to Leah’s four, but she held the favor of Jacob, while Leah, despite her four sons, still lacked it. It was, in a sense, an even contest.

At this point, the rivalry intensified further. Leah, seeing what Rachel had done, said, in effect, ‘You came up with this idea? I never thought of it, but I can do it too.’ She gave her own maidservant Zilpah to Jacob, and Zilpah bore Gad and, later, Asher, the very son we are focused on today. Gad was the first son born outside of Leah herself, though he remained counted within her tribe; he may well have endured some teasing or rivalry from Leah’s other sons. Jacob observed of Gad that he would be attacked, but would turn and attack his attackers at the heel.

When Asher was born, the struggle between the two camps, we might playfully call them Democrats and Republicans, though every culture has its own version of left and right, was still ongoing. But the calling that emerges through Gad and especially through Asher points beyond that struggle entirely. Within the tensions of differing opinions among the tribes, Gad’s particular calling, through hardship and struggle, was to produce a kind of unity rooted in the unique ministry of Jesus: the ministry of reconciliation.

Without Jesus, there is no true reconciliation. When the Jewish people do not yet receive Jesus, there can be no full reconciliation with the Palestinian people, because the Palestinian people likewise lack peace apart from Jesus Christ. If both Jewish people and Palestinians were to receive the ministry of reconciliation found in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, they would become one body in him. The very fact that strife persists between Jewish and Gentile peoples, between Israelis and Palestinians, testifies that neither side has yet fully received the light of God found in the reconciling work of Jesus Christ. God allows struggle and strife to occur, but his calling does not end there. It calls us higher, calls us to be built together into one body in Christ through the ministry of reconciliation found in Jesus. That is precisely the ministry pictured in Asher.

Mandrakes, Rivalry, and the Hidden Hand of God

The family rivalry continued. Rachel, growing desperate, saw that Leah’s son Reuben had found mandrakes in the field, and she pleaded for some, believing, as some traditions suggest, that mandrakes had properties that might help with fertility. Mandrakes were likely rare, not something one could simply find again easily. Leah, understandably, was indignant: ‘You have already taken my husband; now you want my son’s mandrakes as well?’ The tension between the sisters was so intense that even something as small as a plant became a flashpoint. Rachel, desperate enough, agreed to trade a night with Jacob for the mandrakes.

So, for a season, perhaps as long as three years, Leah regained access to Jacob. When Jacob came in from the field, Leah went out to meet him and said, in effect, ‘You must sleep with me tonight, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ God again stepped in to maintain balance: Leah conceived again, bearing Issachar, and the following year, Zebulun. Counting carefully, this period likely spanned at least three years, since only one child could be born each year. Even if Jacob was not constantly with Leah during this time, she clearly had ongoing access to him across this span.

Meanwhile, God stepped in again on Rachel’s behalf. Once Leah’s season of bearing children had ended, the narrative shifts to highlight God’s hidden purpose at work through all of this human striving. Without this struggle, Leah would not have borne so many children, and without those children, we would not have the foundation for the twelve pearl gates of the New Jerusalem. Just as Joseph later understood, looking back on his own suffering, that his brothers had meant evil toward him but God had meant it for good, we must learn to see God’s divine purpose at work behind human suffering and struggle. God is good. God was using even painful circumstances to produce overcomers, people who would ultimately rule alongside him and bring salvation to entire nations, whether the Jewish people or the people of Egypt.

Through the rivalry of Rachel and Leah, God produced the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem. Think of it like the work of a builder. The book of Hebrews tells us that Abraham, when he received the promise, was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. As God shapes the living material for that city, the gates of the New Jerusalem, he allowed the suffering and strife between Jacob, Leah, and Rachel to take place, so that he might shape the very material he would later use to build the New Jerusalem.

I am reminded of a quote often attributed to Martin Luther, comparing human suffering to letters set backward on a printing press. In that moment, the letters appear reversed and meaningless. But when the printing is finished and you turn the page over, you find a beautiful poem of God’s creation. In the midst of suffering and strife, we rarely perceive God’s purpose. But when the process reaches its completion, we will see the beautiful design God has woven through human suffering, through strife, through struggle, through pain, ultimately producing the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem. Without the twelve stones, there are no twelve gates. Without the struggle of Rachel and Leah, perhaps neither would have had children at all; and we see something similar today, where many simply choose not to have children. Yet God uses even human suffering to accomplish his wonderful work.

The Birth of Joseph, the Birth of Benjamin

Eventually, when Leah had borne all the children she would bear, God remembered Rachel, and she gave birth to Joseph. Joseph was a single son, yet so significant that Satan stirred up at least ten of his brothers in an attempt to harm him. We know that Reuben and Judah made some effort, in varying degrees, to protect him, but Scripture is largely silent about the other brothers. Most likely, they simply remained silent witnesses, much as Christians today often do. We hear of evil things happening and choose to look away. We hear of a Nigerian Christian murdered for their faith, and we stay silent, telling ourselves it is not our concern, that no one is paying attention to Africa anyway. We hear of a Chinese Christian killed for their faith, and again we stay silent, telling ourselves no one cares about China. This same posture, I am better off staying quiet, I do not want to provoke Simeon, he might kill me too, has played out across human history, beginning right here in the family of Jacob.

In this ongoing family struggle, Rachel had another son, Joseph. The birth of Joseph likely came at a real cost to Dan and Naphtali, who probably lost much of whatever attention and affection they had once received. Later, Benjamin was born, a birth marked by deep sorrow, as Rachel died giving birth to him. By this point, however, Jacob had already come to understand God’s larger work taking shape within his family through all of this struggle. He recognized Benjamin as the final son of this particular family configuration, and somehow understood, prophetically, that Benjamin would eventually represent the dwelling place of God, the New Jerusalem, where the temple would stand. As the son of Jacob’s right hand, Benjamin would point toward the consummation of God’s work among the Jewish people, ultimately bringing in both the earthly temple and the heavenly New Jerusalem, the eternal dwelling place of God and humanity together.

By the time Benjamin was born, Jacob had already grasped the shape of God’s work among the twelve tribes, and that understanding shaped how he prophesied over his sons. Of Asher, he said, in essence, ‘You make good food, just as I do; I cook a fine stew, and when my brother came home hungry, I fed him well. You, too, make good food, even delicacies fit for a king.’ Throughout all the struggle and strife recorded across the Old and New Testaments, Scripture never records Asher doing anything wrong or harmful. Asher’s role was, fundamentally, a mystery of reconciliation. He made good food. He made people happy. He made his father Jacob happy, and very likely made his brothers happy as well. He could prepare food fit for a king’s table, in other words, he had a gift for making nearly everyone around him content.

Asher’s Full Blessing in Moses’ Prophecy

Moses continued to develop this picture, declaring that Asher was the most blessed of Jacob’s twelve sons, the most favored by all his brothers. He would be like Aaron, bringing unity, carrying the blessing of God that comes like the dew of Hermon, like the anointing poured from on high, flowing from the head down through the beard, down to the robe, and finally to the feet, until his whole being was saturated with the oil of God, the oneness of the one Spirit. His ministry was a ministry of oneness, a ministry of reconciliation. All his brothers loved him; he was the most favored among them, and no one held anything against him, because he humbled himself, brought food to the table, made even the king’s table glad, and served everyone around him with genuine humility.

This is exactly the picture Paul gives us in Colossians 3: you are God’s people, his chosen ones, holy and beloved. Put on a compassionate heart, kindness, humility, and patience, bearing with one another in love. If you have a complaint against another, forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. And above all this, put on love, the bond that holds everything together in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you are called to that peace. In this kind of unity, this ministry of reconciliation pictured so beautifully in Asher, the twelve tribes find their oneness. When brothers finally dwell together in unity, the blessing of God flows from on high. Their gates are made of iron and bronze; no enemy can break through them. Their strength matches their days; they are full of mighty power, full of the power of God, able to overcome every enemy. That is where Moses’ prophecy regarding Asher comes to its conclusion.

It is worth remembering that Moses’ blessings to the twelve tribes are not arranged in the order of their birth. Rather, they are arranged according to a kind of spiritual consummation, culminating in the ministry of unity represented by Asher: the ministry of loving one’s brothers and sisters, the ministry of being beloved by every member of one’s tribe, the ministry that brings God’s people into unity and, ultimately, enables them to overcome their enemies. This is, fittingly, where Moses’ prophecy comes to rest, because Moses built upon Jacob’s earlier prophecy and developed each tribe’s unique calling more fully. The twelve tribes of Jacob’s family were, throughout their long history, marked by struggle, by deep and constant hatred, by violence between brothers severe enough that the tribe of Benjamin was nearly wiped out entirely at one point in the book of Judges. There were even wars between the northern and southern kingdoms, conflicts that extended far beyond the original rivalry among Jacob’s twelve sons.

And yet, can we say that the twelve tribes of Israel are, in the end, one people, one chosen people of God, one body? Yes, we can. In the same way, the church today, Catholic or Protestant, high church or low church, whatever the denomination, is called to be one. We are holy. We are chosen. We are meant to be one unit, to receive the ministry of reconciliation found in Jesus Christ. Jews and Palestinians alike are called to receive Jesus Christ, to be reconciled to God and reconciled to one another. There is no reconciliation possible outside the ministry of Jesus Christ. This is the ministry of Asher.

The blessing of Moses over the twelve sons of Israel ends, fittingly, with the blessing of Asher: the ministry of unity, the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry of blessing from on high, the one loved by all his brothers, called the most blessed among them all. Everyone loves Asher, and his feet are bathed with oil, saturated with the oil of God’s unity, the same oil that flows from the head of Aaron, down through his beard, down through his garment, and finally to his feet, saturating the whole person and making the many into one body. Jews and Gentiles, in the same way, are meant to become one body of Christ, built together into the New Jerusalem.

The Spiritual Rock and the One Body in Christ

This transforming work for the Jewish people was already present in seed form in the Old Testament. Jesus said that Abraham rejoiced to see his day. When David wrote, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet,’ Jesus used this very passage to challenge the Pharisees, pointing out that while the Messiah is indeed a descendant of David, David himself called him Lord. Even Moses, the Apostle Paul tells us in First Corinthians, was accompanied by the spiritual rock that followed Israel through the wilderness, and that rock was Christ. All of Israel passed through the same cloud and through the same sea, and all were baptized into one body through that same Spirit. We, too, are one body in Christ. Amen.

I have to say, this is a revelation I had not considered quite this way before today. I believe this is something the Holy Spirit brought to light as we studied together, this picture of Asher’s quiet, personal ministry. His father observed him simply bringing food to the table, making good food, bringing joy to his family, able to prepare a delicacy fit for a king. He made everyone around him happy, even bringing joy to a king’s table. Everyone loved Asher. And Moses, building on that, declared him the most blessed among all his brothers, beloved by all, and full of the oil that represents unity, the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry of oneness. Out of that unity comes blessing from on high, and from that blessing comes a gate the enemy cannot overtake, bolts of iron and bronze, strength equal to one’s days, full of power, full of might, able to overcome the enemy for God’s purposes.

I am grateful for what the Holy Spirit has shown us today through this fresh look at the ministry of Asher. I did not anticipate this revelation before we began; it came as we studied together, and I give all glory for it to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Thank you for joining us today. If this teaching has been meaningful to you, please consider sharing it, leaving a comment, or writing a review for Jairus Bible World Ministry on Google Maps; it genuinely helps more people find this teaching. We continue to work through real obstacles and unfamiliarity to get this word out, but I believe the presence and revelation of the Holy Spirit has truly been with us today. Thank you, and I hope to see you again, the Lord willing, next Monday.