Good Morning.
And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days: gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father. (Genesis 49:1-2)
At the end of his life, the patriarch Jacob called for all of his sons — the twelve tribes of Israel — to gather together and hear what their father had to say to them. Considering that he was soon to die, it is logical to presume that what he had to say to them would be words of wisdom gleaned from a lifetime of suffering, endurance and overcoming life’s obstacles. His last words to his sons were that and more; he told them of their future and what would come upon their descendants in the last days. In short, he prophesied to them, and consequently, as followers of the Messiah we should carefully consider what Jacob said to them.
That he called them all to “gather” and “assemble” is, in itself, prophetic because it alludes to what God intends to do in regards to Israel and His people. The literal translation of Jacob’s words are “what will call to you in the end of days.” In other words, the things that would occur in the future would not be happenstance — everything that would occur in the life of the tribes would serve a specific purpose. More specifically, those things that occurred would pertain to God’s call upon His people and that call at the end would be “to gather and assemble.” At the end of days, God would call them to come together as one people. Through the prophet Micah, God said:
“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men.” (Micah 2:12)
This regathering was weighing heavy on the mind of Messiah’s disciples as He was about to ascend into heaven, thus prompting them to ask, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). And though He didn’t specify when it would happen, He assured them that it would. But for that to occur, someone had to go out into the world to “call” to all the lost sheep to return to their Master and Shepherd. That is where we, as witnesses of the Resurrected Messiah, come in — we are to preach to the lost sheep that the time to gather and assemble has come. Those who are being called will “hear” their Shepherd’s voice in the message of His disciples.
So then, if the time has come for God’s people to gather and assemble, we should not be engaged in anything that would provoke God’s people to scatter. In other words, we need to work in harmony with what the Father is doing at this time. In that vein, take note of what the world is demanding of people in general but God’s people specifically — “Don’t assemble. Don’t gather.” May God give us the wisdom and the courage to answer His call in this all-too-important time.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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