A Blessing After All

Scripture:
Issachar is one tough donkey
crouching between the corrals;
When he saw how good the place was,
how pleasant the country,
He gave up his freedom
and went to work as a slave.
Genesis 49:14-15

Observation: Overall, the blessings of Jacob are confusing at best, as many of them are simply ... well, not blessings. Reuben is disowned, Levi and Simeon are said to be unwanted, Gad will be attacked by bandits, Benjamin is just gluttonous. Then there's Issachar, a tough beast of burden who succumbs to slavery. Considering this, there are a couple different possible meanings,

The negative meaning is just as said ... Issachar will succumb to slavery, and even eventually embrace it as normal. There are elements of this in history, as Issachar was founded in the heart of the future Samaria, with all their tribe taken into exile from the Assyrians, and potentially never returning. They potentially were taken away, and then embraced that new lifestyle and integrated into that culture.

The positive meeting of the blessing is that ... Issachar may represent the proper attitude of faith. Strong animals are prideful, headstrong, resistant to taming. However, when one finds a master that is willing to reward it well for its hard work, it will become not just compliant but will embrace that work in return for a good life. This is a life of surrender to our Lord. Living a life that is aligned to the Lord's instructions may look like compliance - even slavery - however it is really a good life, full of care and blessing, where instead of attempting to work hard to figure out everything for ourselves, we simply do what we are instructed and receive gifts.

Application: Thinking on this ... yea, I'm a tough donkey. I'm not even smart enough to be a lion or some other kind of untamable beast. Rather, I'm just a stupid ass. Too often, I refuse to do my work, and perhaps even hide away from the world. However, when I look around and see how wonderful life really is, and how blessed I am when I simply obey the Lord, I should want to absolutely surrender my false freedom, and embrace life as a slave to Christ.

Was this the "blessing" upon Issachar? That he would become a metaphor for faith in Jesus? I don't know. But if that works for my understanding, and the understanding of others, then it is a blessing after all.

Prayer: Lord, again today I say, may thy will be done. And in that doing may I be one who does it, as your servant, one desiring to obey you and your commands. Amen.