Secrets Of Jesus Hidden In The Tribes Of Israel
Sunday, 31 March 2019
These are notes on the sermon, Secrets Of Jesus Hidden In The Tribes Of Israel, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 31 March 2019, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
Be sure to sign up to get updates on the latest sermon notes by Team JP.
Pastor encourages the congregation that as they come for service and hear the Word preached, come fully expectant that the Lord is able to touch you and set you free from any bondages that you are still experiencing—depression, bad habits.
Those who are facing marital or parenting challenges or even physical conditions that others may not even know, that God—the One who loves you, knows about it.
And He is able to move in healing even in the midst of the preaching of the Word, without the laying of hands. Just like the Roman Centurion who believed that the Lord could heal his servant even without the Lord being physically there with the servant.
Pastor shares a testimony from a brother in Hong Kong who was diagnosed with a large growth in his left foot after an MRI scan. Despite the report, him and his wife continued to partake of the Holy Communion and anointed himself with the anointing oil, declaring “as Jesus is without any tumors or growth in His heel, so am I in this world.” During a second MRI scan, the doctors could find no growth or tumor and no surgery or medicine was required! The doctor had never seen anything like this in his 30 years of practice.
Continue beholding Jesus even in the midst of your challenges and know that as Jesus is, so are you in this world.
Do we look at a portrait? Is it too simplistic an answer, or a piece of impractical advice?
It isn’t about seeing a portrait of Jesus but seeing Him in His Word. Don’t chase after visions, the Word is how you can see Jesus today.
Jesus Himself taught us that when He appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (see Luke 24:13-35).
“Emmaus” — It means “warm baths” in the Greek. The disciples’ hearts were warmed when Jesus expounded about Himself in the scriptures (see Luke 24:32).
The two disciples were discouraged and despondent from the news of Jesus’ death first saw Jesus as a means to an end (Israel).
Looking away from even the great heroes of faith, but “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
The word “looking” in this verse is to turn your eyes away from other things and to fix them on Jesus.
Why did Jesus restrain the eyes of the two disciples so that they would not recognize Him? Jesus deemed it more important for them to see Him in the Word than in person.Today, we all have the same privilege of seeing Jesus through His Word.
Seeing Jesus benefits all areas of your life, even in your marriage.
Every marriage needs a “third-party”—Jesus.
When you see Jesus in your marriage, you will not demand from one another what only the Lord can give.
The prophecies are all about Jesus and the gospel.
“And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days”—Genesis 49:1 NKJV
The blessing over the Tribe of Gad
“Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him,
But he shall triumph at last.”
—Genesis 49:19 NKJV
The word “Gad” is the Hebrew word for “troop”.
In Luke 8, the Gadarene demoniac was possessed by “Legion,” a troop of demons.
During the time of Jesus, a legion in the Roman army consisted of at least 6000 soldiers—the Gadarene demoniac had at least 6000 demons in him.
Yet, as possessed he was, when the man met Jesus, he immediately recognized Him; the man recognized Jesus as the answer. And with just one word, Jesus commanded the legion to leave him and the man was set free from the troop of demons that previously held him.
Do you feel like you’re up against an overwhelming troop of enemies today? The Lord is the One who will help you triumph over them.
The blessing over the Tribe of Asher
“Bread from Asher shall be rich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.”
—Genesis 49:20 NKJV
The territory of Asher (refer to Slide 14) is where the city of Tyre is located and it also the furthest North recorded in the Gospels that Jesus travelled to during His time on Earth.
Jesus met the Syrophoenician woman in Matthew 15 in the city of Tyre.
“And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
— Matthew 15:22 NKJV
The woman was a Gentile from Canaan but in the hopes that the Lord will heal her daughter, she pretended to be a Jew, calling Jesus the Son of David.
But Jesus refused to answer her when the woman was coming to Him in pretense.
“But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
— Matthew 15:26 NKJV
Jesus likens healing to the “children’s bread”.
In those days, the Jews refer to the Gentiles as “dogs” but here, Jesus uses it affectionately, using the word “puppies” that are loved in many homes.
That gave the woman the opportunity to reveal her true identity and to believe that her daughter could receive the healing too despite being a Gentile.
The Lord saw that as great faith and healed her daughter in that very hour (see Matt. 15:28).
Jesus is the Healer and He is also the One who gives healing as a gift.
If you’re currently experiencing a physical condition in your body, you can come to the Lord just as you are. He receives you just as you are and He heals you just as you are.
The blessing over the Tribe of Naphtali
“Naphtali is a deer let loose;He uses beautiful words.”
—Genesis 49:21 NKJV
The land of Naphtali, in the regions surrounding the Sea of Galilee, is where Jesus performed two-thirds of His miracles in the Gospels. On His time on earth, the Lord went around setting people loose from all kinds of bondages.
“beautiful words” — It is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, which is still regarded as one of the most beautiful pieces of writing.
Here, Jesus met the woman bound by an infirmity for 18 years.
With just a word from the Lord, the woman who was bound for 18 years was immediately healed (see Luke 13:12).
“So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound— think of it— for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
— Luke 13:16 NKJV
Jesus went around setting people free from what they were previously held bondage to. Even today, we can be bound by negative and depressive thoughts but Jesus came that we will be loosed from these thoughts.
Only Jesus can truly set us free. Don’t miss the real thing.
Pastor Prince shares a personal encounter with a brother who was unsure about his salvation. You cannot be unsure about your salvation. Don’t spend your whole life being unsure of the gospel and the salvation that you have through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your life is too precious to miss the most important thing—knowing Jesus.
“But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me” (Jer. 9:24 NASB)
The blessing over the Tribe of Joseph
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.”
—Genesis 49:22 NKJV
There was a wall called the wall of partition between the Jews and the Gentiles in the temple of God during the time of Jesus.
Joseph is one of the clearest types of Jesus in the Old Testament. Joseph was loved by his father but rejected by his brothers. God the Father gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, but He was rejected by His own, Israel.
“But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”
—John 4:4-6 NKJV
Sychar was located in the area where the Gentiles lived. The Samaritan woman, who was a Gentile, was not supposed to interact with the Jews. Yet, Jesus’ blessings went over the wall of partition separating Jew and Samaritan.
Even when He was “wearied from His journey”, Jesus was still ministering and pouring out to the woman.
No matter how far or how distant you feel from the Lord, He always bridges the divide to reach you. There is no sin too great nor sinner too far gone that the Lord cannot and will not reach.
The blessing over the Tribe of Issachar
“Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.”
—Genesis 49:14-15 NKJV
Before Pastor Prince left on his trip, one place that he really wanted to visit is Nain or Nin as it is referred to now. The city of Nain is located in the territory of Issachar.
"Nain" — The Hebrew word for “pleasant” or “beauty”.
It happened the day after a series of miracles, which ended with the Centurion’s servant’s healing in Capernaum.
“Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.”
— Luke 7:11-12 NKJV
At the gate of Nain, two groups of people met. Jesus came with a large crowd from Capernaum while a funeral procession was leaving the city.
“When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.”
— Luke 7:13-15 NKJV
“When the Lord saw her” — This is the first time Jesus was addressed as “the Lord” in the gospel of Luke because He is the Lord of life.
At the gate of Nain, death and life met. The custom of that day was to follow the procession when you meet them but Jesus rerouted them.
“Do not weep” — The Lord comforted the widow before He even healed her son.
Jesus raised the boy from the dead and sent him back to his mother. He didn’t ask for anything in return. In the Gospels, Jesus never performs a miracle and commands the person to follow Him.
There was a city opposite of Nain where a similar miracle took place, and the two cities were separated by a hill called Moreh. (refer to slide 15)
When the word “moreh”—the Hebrew word for “teacher”—is there, it is there for our instruction, there’s a point of comparison that the Lord is inviting us to look at.
Comparison of what happened to Jesus in Nain and Elisha in Shunem
Pastor draws a parallel between the story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman, and the story of Jesus and the widow of Nain.
In Shunem, the prophet Elisha raised a boy from the dead. In Nain, Jesus raised the only son of the widow from the dead.
Elisha — It means Elohim saves.
Jesus — It means Yahweh saves.
Elohim can refer to a God far away but Yahweh is a God near to us, He is a covenant-keeping God.
Elisha had to go through great exertion—taking three tries and praying to the Lord to raise the boy to life. It only took Jesus one word to raise him.
“And he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.””
— 2 Kings 4:36 NKJV
Elisha had to ask the mother to pick up her son.
While Jesus “presented him to his mother” (see Luke 7:15).
In every way, Jesus is greater than even the greatest prophets that the people who saw the miracle called Him “a great prophet” (Luke 7:16).
“Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between the sheepfolds.”
— Genesis 49:14 NASB
From the map (refer to Slide 15), Mount Moreh lies between the city of Shunem and Nain. It is like the donkey lying between two resting places revealed in Jacob’s prophecy.
“Shunem” means “double resting place” in the Hebrew.
“He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant (“nain”);
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.”
— Genesis 49:15 NKJV
“band of slaves” — Without the Lord, we are like a band of slaves, slaves to sin.
At the cross, the Lord rerouted us from ultimate death to eternal life; that we are no longer slaves to sin but sons and daughters of the Most High God.
“Father in Heaven, we don’t take for granted Your protection. Father, we know that You promised that those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. A thousand can fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand but it will not come near us.
We thank you, Father, that arrows can fly by day and all kinds of disasters can strike at night, but they will not come near us, they will not come near our dwellings. Throughout this week, Father, be it unto us according to Your Word in Psalm 91, preserve Your people, protect them from danger, harm, and from all the powers of darkness. Father, let them live their lives, looking at Jesus and enjoying Him; wanting more and more from Your Word. In Jesus’ name. And all the people said? Amen.”
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2019
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
Sign Up for Latest Sermon Notes Updates
SubscribeTo complete the subscription process, please click on the confirmation link in the email we just sent you.
You're already in our mailing list. Thank You!