Father’s Blessing

Q. Why is the blessing of the father so important in OT days? Is there relevance for today?

A. A father’s blessings was important for several reasons:

1. They were usually given before the father’s death, and served as a “last will and testament” governing inheritances:
• Gen 27:4, 7, 10 so that my soul may bless you before I die. … and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death. … so that he may bless you before his death.

The firstborn receives a double portion as his right:
• Deut 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.
But sometimes the firstborn lose their birthright because of folly or sin:
• Gen 25:33-34 And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
• 1 Chron 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.

2. The blessings contain the father’s observation of the sons’ character, and provide commendation or caution of their conduct to encourage or warn them as the father departs:
• Gen 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him. (Read Gen 49)

3. They expressed the father’s wish (“may”) but, at least in the case of the patriarchs, were prophetic and fulfilled, possibly due to their covenant relationship with the Lord:
• Gen 27:28-29 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.
• Gen 27:33 Yes, and he shall be blessed. …
Isaac’s words indicate that Jacob will be blessed despite his deceit, because the blessing was not conditional.

I believe nowadays the written will has replaced the verbal will, and that our wish for our children are not prophetic in the same way as the patriarchs’ were. However, the second reason, that of appreciation or advice, is still valid. Frequently a child’s success in life is integrally tied to his acceptance and approval by the father, the lack of which often leads to his struggling to win what he did not have. In that sense I feel the blessing, even though it may be informal, is still relevant today.

Pray for your Missionaries

We had lunch with a missionary friend, who shared with us some of the challenges she’s facing in the field. Since I could not find good graphics for missionary statistics, I borrowed one from the pastoral ministry as many of the problems they are facing are similar. The difference is that for missionaries often the problems are even more acute, as they work in cross-cultural settings with few resources and limited support.

97% of pastors have been betrayed, falsely accused, or hurt by their trusted friends. Our colleague narrated the case of a young pastor who left the pastorate because he was falsely accused by a retired pastor. The saddest part is that the old pastor was the one who encouraged the young man to enter the ministry and mentored him, but grew increasingly narrow-minded and stubborn as he aged. The elderly pastor started well, but he did not finish well. I am less sure about the statistics being that high for betrayal by trusted friends, but have seen many cases of being hurt by “friends”.

94% feel under constant pressure to have a perfect family. Pastors live in a “fishbowl”, and their wife and kids (PKs) are under continual surveillance. The same applies to missionaries, their spouse and MKs.

90% work more than 50 hours a week, yet admit their work is never done and the expectations never end. This is not an exaggeration as my own experience was 62 hours a week, and I was only average.

80% feel discouraged, 78% have no close friends, 70% battle depression. Many hear only criticism from their lay leaders and feel lonely with little or no support. Nearly 2/3 of the 70% experiencing depression or burnout are serious to such an extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.

You can review the charts for other challenges your missionaries are facing. They have given up on climbing the corporate ladder and earning a comfortable living for their family, and the security of being surrounded by family and friends and having resources at their disposal. Often they face a hostile environment in which neither the language nor the customs are familiar.

If pastors feel discouraged by their apathetic congregation who care more about fun and fellowship than following the Great Commission, so much more for missionaries planting a church in foreign land. Few are those who regularly receive words of encouragement from their churches. Are there bad pastors and missionaries? Of course there are, but in percentage terms probably no more than bad sheep among God’s people. Many are conscientious workers doing the best they can with what little they have. Pray for your pastors and missionaries. They deserve better support than that.