THE BLESSING THAT COMES FROM ACCEPTING DIVINE ORDERING
N. T. Meek
Genesis 48: 20; Numbers 1: 32–35; 26: 28–30, 34; 36: 1–7 (first half) I would like to venture a word, dear brethren, as to the blessing that comes from accepting divine ordering. One desires to have right feelings in what one endeavours to say. The scripture we read in Genesis refers to Manasseh having to accept the second place. Although he was the elder, his grandfather, rightly, set his younger brother before him. The father objected, but the grandfather knew best. And perhaps it is to their credit that the two brothers do not say anything. This idea of displacement had happened before, with Ishmael and Isaac.
Ishmael was the elder but God’s choice was in Isaac. Ishmael
never, as far as the record goes, accepted the situation, he never got the gain of God’s ordering. It says that his hand would be “against every man” (Genesis 16: 12), meaning that he would be very difficult for anyone to get along with and he would be a thorn in persons’
sides—I suppose that is what it meant. Then later the same thing had happened with Jacob and Esau, in the principle of it, that the younger one (he may have been younger by only a minute or two, but he was younger and no doubt Esau never ceased to remind him about it), had a richer blessing than the older one. And once again the older one greatly resented it and developed, alas, a deep enmity towards his brother. And we can understand, I think, that naturally we do object to displacement.
Now the same question comes up the third time in relation to Ephraim and Manasseh and the beautiful thing is that in this third instance it seems that Manasseh accepted the divine ordering. There does not seem to be resistance with him to God’s sovereignty or God’s ordering. It has been noticed before that in the book of Numbers the tribes are numbered at the beginning of the wilderness journey and they are numbered towards the end. The tribe of Levi was not numbered so that left (if we count Joseph as two tribes) twelve, because Joseph became two. It is encouraging that in the wilderness journey, if you look at the numbers (that is where the name of the book came from) at the end of the journey, in Numbers 26, compared with chapter 1, seven tribes have increased and five have got smaller. I think that is encouraging, dear brethren, that there is a little increase in the wilderness journey, even if we might wish it was with all of us. It is easy to think things decrease, it is easy to get depressed, but we can thank God that seven got larger although five got smaller. You can see that there is some encouragement in that, but the very interesting thing is, that the tribe that increased most of all was Manasseh! The percentage increase, and the number increase, in Manasseh is greater than any of them.
Now is that not beautiful? I think it shows that through the wilderness journey the fact that his brother had been set before him did not rankle with him. He did not let it hinder him.
Whatever it must have cost him to accept, he accepted it, and God blessed him. And the blessing is seen in that the number of the tribe goes up from 32,200 to 52,700! And I judge from that, dear brethren, that if we accept God’s ordering. God will bless us. It may appear hard, it may be testing, and it is, in whatever way it may affect us, whether I have to take second place, or third place, or fourth place. I think we get such brethren named, Secundus, Tertius, and the brother Quartus—second, third, and fourth—and apparently not objecting to it. But whatever our lot we get blessing and increase as we accept it.
And so I read in connection with the daughters of this tribe of Manasseh who move in such a way that God makes a special provision for them. It is very interesting how Mr. Coates points out, in his comments on the book of Numbers, that God provides for failure, and He provides for the trials and the tests in the wilderness. He does that. He even provided waggons for the heavy furniture to be carried through. God provided that or, at least, He saw it was provided.
And He provided for the Nazarite even if he failed, and He provides for a person who cannot take the passover because he is on a journey or something of the sort. God provides for him.
And now He provides for the daughters of this tribe. He makes this special provision for them, so that the tribe and the inheritance should be retained intact. It seems to me, dear brethren, that the course of history with this family of Zelophehad, the daughters of the tribe of Manasseh, could have taken quite a different turn if their progenitor had resisted God’s ordering. But in fact he accepted it; Manasseh personally accepted it; and it seems to weave through and work out in the personnel of the tribe.
This brings up a matter of considerable importance as to what pattern we are showing to the rising generation. Am I in my spirit and bearing showing clearly that I bow to God’s will and ordering? We have a heavy responsibility to display to one another a proper pattern, and the power of example is very strong. So in the light of what Manasseh did it is perhaps not unexpected that these young sisters ask for their inheritance. God loves that, and God provided for them. That is all I have to say. The brethren know the scripture in Numbers 36 well—how it bears currently on us. As I say, one would speak very tenderly and feelingly as to the inheritance being kept in the tribe and not being lost. That is an important matter. The acceptance of divine ordering is testing, it might almost at times seem unfair, but as we accept these situations then we come eventually into blessing. Well, may we prove it, all of us in our several ways, for the Lord’s name’s sake.
Address at Redbridge
13 March 1982
Published by F. C. Mutton, 22 Christchurch Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 4QY, England Printed by C. Ellis, Billericay, Essex, England