In this message I am burdened to give an additional word concerning the spiritual significance of Dan, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali. In a sense, I love this group more than the group that includes Judah. Judah's group is the second, and this group is the third, which, of course, is more advanced. We have seen that there is a link in this third group connecting it with the second. Judah is a young lion and a lioness (Gen. 49:9, Heb.), Dan is a young lion, and Gad is a lioness (20, Deut. 33:22, Heb.). Thus, these two figures, the young lion and the lioness, link the third group to the second.
When I was young, I often studied Genesis 49. Many times I felt that these words were not very meaningful. For example, verse 21 says that Naphtali is a hind let loose and that he gives beautiful words (Heb.). I could not understand how a hind could give beautiful words. It seemed to me that the hind and the beautiful words were not related to each other. Furthermore, I wondered how a hind could speak. Consequently, for quite a long period of time, I did not care for Genesis 49. However, when we probe into the spiritual significance of this chapter, we see how meaningful all of it is. In message one hundred we considered the rest in the enjoyment of Christ's riches in life (pp. 1282-1287). We saw that we need to bind our donkey to the vine and soak our garments in wine. If we do this, our eyes will be red with wine and our teeth white with milk (vv. 11-12). One brother may ask another, "Have you bound your donkey to the vine?" The other may reply, "Brother, have you soaked your garments in wine?" Then the first brother may ask, "Are your eyes red with wine?" The second may respond, "Are your teeth white with milk?" The outsiders may think that this is the secret, mysterious language of the church people. No matter what others may say, how meaningful these new proverbs are to us! "Bind your donkey to the vine!" "Soak your garments in wine!" I want my eyes to be red with wine and my teeth to be white with milk. In order for this to take place, we must first rest in Christ and then soak our being, our behavior, in the riches of the life of Christ. Then we shall experience transformation, and our appearance will be changed. Our eyes will be red with wine, and our teeth will be white with milk, indicating that they are strong to take in the Word and to utter it to others.
The sequence in these four groups in chapter forty-nine is marvelous. It corresponds both to the history of the church and our spiritual experience. Firstly, we have Reuben, signifying that we all began as sinners. After Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, Judah comes. This means that Christ has come as the victorious lion. Following Judah, Zebulun, and Issachar, we have the fall of Dan. Dan's fall, however, was not only a failure and a defeat; it was apostasy. After the apostasy of Dan, we have the recovery with Gad, the sufficiency in Asher, and the consummation with Naphtali. In church history we also see the apostasy, the recovery, the sufficiency, and the consummation. If we cannot see the consummation today, we shall surely see it in the next age and especially in the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem. Naphtali will be completely fulfilled when New Jerusalem is manifested in the new heaven and new earth. The New Jerusalem will be the eternal Naphtali. These four items — apostasy, recovery, sufficiency, and consummation — also match our Christian experience. After a downfall, the apostasy, we have the recovery. Then come sufficiency and consummation. We have seen these things in the Lord's recovery. Throughout the years in the recovery we have been with Judah, binding our donkey to the vine and soaking our garments in wine. Our eyes have become red with wine and our teeth white with milk. But suddenly the apostasy of Dan came in. Nevertheless, following Dan there was the recovery with Gad.
Dan was the continuation of Judah, for Judah was a lion and Dan was a young lion. As the continuation of Judah, Dan was successful in gaining more Christ by his victorious life (Deut. 33:22; Josh. 19:47; Judg. 18:27-29).
Because Dan was successful and victorious, he became proud, individualistic, and independent. He cared only for himself, not for others. As Judges 18:30 says, "The children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image" (Heb.).
Dan's apostasy was the setting up of a divisive center of worship (Judg. 18:30-31; 17:9-10; 1 Kings 12:26-31; 2 Kings 10:29). In a divisive way Dan set up a center apparently for the worship of God. Many use the matter of the worship of God as a cloak for setting up a divisive center. Some would say, "What could be wrong with doing such a thing for the worship of God? Isn't it better to set up a center of worship than to go to a movie theater?" According to the history in the Old Testament, nothing throughout the generations was more sinful or more damaging to God's people than Dan's act of setting up a divisive center of worship. In Deuteronomy 12, 14, 15, and 16 the Lord through Moses charged the children of Israel at least fifteen times not to offer their burnt offerings in the place of their choice. They were commanded to go to the unique place the Lord had chosen for His name and for His habitation. Deuteronomy 12:13 and 14 say, "Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee." The Lord seemed to be saying, "When you enter into the good land, you must not offer your burnt offerings in any of the places you see. You must go to the unique place, the place I have chosen for My name and My habitation. You have no right to choose any other place. You must go to this unique center. It is this center that keeps My people in oneness." Again and again Moses, the elderly, loving lawgiver, charged the children of Israel concerning this matter. If you read these chapters, you will see that Moses charged the people concerning the unique place, the place the Lord had chosen for His name and for His habitation. The reason the Lord commanded Moses to issue this charge repeatedly was that He was concerned about maintaining the unity of His people.
After the children of Israel entered the good land, the tabernacle, the house of God, was in Shiloh (Judg. 18:31). As long as the tabernacle was in Shiloh, Shiloh was the unique center for the worship of God. As the unique center, it should have maintained the unity of God's people. However, Dan set up another center in the north, which caused the first division among the children of Israel. In this way God's people were divided, not by a movie theater, but by a worship center. Today Christians excuse themselves by saying, "We are doing something here for the worship of God. What is wrong with this? God is not narrow; He is omnipresent. You have Him with you in your place. Is He not also here with us in our place? Certainly God is not as narrow as you are. He is everywhere. How can you limit Him to a particular place?" Nevertheless, God enjoys being limited for the purpose of keeping the unity of His people. Most Christians today are too free. Like the Danites, they feel free to set up another center of worship.
Judges 18:30 says, "The children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image" (Heb.). Here we see that the Danites did something for themselves. They did not care for the other tribes. Thus, the source of their apostasy was not caring for their brothers. Not caring for the other parts of the Body is the source of apostasy. This apostasy crept in under the guise of the worship of God. The principle is the same today. Many Christians set up other centers, not for gambling or dancing, but for worshipping God. Although this seems so positive, it is actually done by the self and for the self. Every divisive center is established for someone's self-interest. Such a practice causes not only division, but also competition.
If Dan had not set up another center of worship, there would have been only the unique center of worship in Shiloh. There would have been no competition. No matter how far the Israelites were from Shiloh, they had to go there to worship. But after Dan set up his center of worship in the north, he used the matter of convenience as a good selling point for his cargo. He could say, "You don't need to travel to Shiloh. Look, we are worshipping God right here in your own neighborhood." A divisive group in New York has done something very similar. A member of this group called an elderly sister and said, "Come meet with us. We meet in Chinese and have a Chinese flavor. In America it is difficult to have some Chinese flavor. Come meet with us and enjoy this Chinese flavor." This was their method of salesmanship for their cheap, divisive cargo.
Like the children of Israel, all Christians should be one, and the worship of God should have only one center. But the Danites could use the convenient location of their worship center to persuade their neighbors to meet with them for the worship of God. Suppose you were a neighbor of the Danites and one of them said to you, "Brother, why are you so foolish as to travel all the way to Shiloh? We are worshipping God right here in Dan. Why don't you meet with us?" This is competition. Today there is much competition in Christian salesmanship, with every Christian group trying to sell its cargo. This is sinful. What a shame to see this competition among today's Christians!
Some argue with us, asking, "Why are you separate from others?" Certainly Shiloh is separate from all other places. Shiloh is only one with Shiloh. Today some say, "Why do you call yourselves the church and say that the others are not the church?" We would answer, "Shiloh is Shiloh. No other place is Shiloh. On this earth, there is just one Shiloh. These other groups do not call themselves the church. Instead, they have taken other names. As long as they keep these names, this is an indication that they are not Shiloh. Rather, they are divisive places of worship."
Judges 18:31 says, "And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh." The words, "all the time the house of God was in Shiloh," indicate competition. After Dan had set up a divisive center in competition with Shiloh, it was never taken away. For the whole time the tabernacle was in Shiloh the graven image was in Dan. This indicates that there was competition. Later, the temple was built in Jerusalem as the continuation of the tabernacle. After the temple had been built by Solomon, Jeroboam, in the next generation, set up a more solidly established idol in Dan to compete with the temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:26-31). Jeroboam feared that if the people went to worship at Jerusalem, they would return to Rehoboam, the king of Judah (1 Kings 12:27). "Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan" (1 Kings 12:28-29). Jeroboam seemed to be telling the people, "You don't need to go to Jerusalem. We have a worship center right here." But what he did came out of the fear that his kingdom would be lost. Thus, the competition between Dan and Jerusalem was intensified. Firstly Dan competed with the tabernacle at Shiloh. Later he competed with the temple in Jerusalem.
In the Old Testament we firstly see the competition of the graven image in Dan with the tabernacle at Shiloh. Then we see the competition of the golden calf in Dan with the temple in Jerusalem. After the temple of God was solidly built, the idol in Dan also became more solid. Both the tabernacle in Shiloh and the divisive worship center in Dan were set up by the common people. However, the temple in Jerusalem was built by a king, Solomon, and the divisive center was also strengthened by a king, Jeroboam. This is a very clear picture of the competition. The situation is the same today. When the church is solidly built, the denominations will also become more solid. The strengthening of the denominations comes from their competition with the church. Sooner or later, other groups will compete with the Lord's recovery. They may oppose and criticize us at first, but later they will imitate us and compete with us. Fifteen years ago terms such as the life-giving Spirit and the human spirit could not be heard among Christians in the United States. But recently even a paper put out by some Catholic charismatics used many of the terms of the Lord's recovery.
We need to understand the proper meaning of apostasy. Apostasy means to be distracted from the right track in following God. Apostasy is worshipping God in a devilish way. Whenever someone uses the worship of God as a cloak to take a devilish way, he has fallen into apostasy. The Roman Catholic Church is a total apostasy. No wonder it is called the apostate church. The Roman Catholic Church worships God, but it worships Him in a devilish way. Although those in Catholicism worship God in name, they are actually worshipping idols. The Roman Catholic Church does exactly the same thing Jeroboam did when he set up the idols and said, "Behold thy gods, O Israel." Jeroboam seemed to be saying, "This is the God you must worship." In reality that was not God; it was a golden calf. Hence, apostasy is worshipping God in a way that is false and devilish.
Today's Christianity is filled with apostasy. Apostasy is universal. Many who claim to be worshipping God are in fact worshipping idols. If you visit a Catholic cathedral, you will see people worshipping the idols that are along the walls and burning candles to the so-called saints. In name they worship God and Jesus; in actuality, they worship idols. According to G. H. Pember, one of the idols in the Roman Catholic Church is Buddha, who was assimilated into Catholicism under the name of St. Josaphat. What apostasy!
The words "for themselves" in Judges 18:30 are very significant. Many who claim to be worshipping God are really doing something for themselves. Apostasy is doing something for the self under the cloak of worshipping God. Jeroboam had no heart for God. Rather, his heart was for his own little empire. In his heart he feared that the kingdom would return to the house of David (1 Kings 12:26). Using the name of God as a cloak, he did everything possible to preserve his empire. This is apostasy. The whole of Christendom today is an apostasy. So many are doing things for themselves under the name of Jesus Christ and under the cloak of the worship of God. This is the reason the Lord needs a recovery. The Lord's recovery will always offend others. As long as the recovery is here, the divisive groups will stand condemned. As long as the temple was in Jerusalem, the golden calf was under condemnation. Was it possible for Dan to love Jerusalem? No, there could be no reconciliation between Dan and Jerusalem. Often others have come to me and said, "Brother Lee, please don't be so bold. Why not be a little nice?" I replied, "To whom should I be nice? To the serpent? To the horned snake? To the graven image? To the golden calf? I hate the golden calf, and I would like to burn the graven image and crush the head of the horned snake." How can we be kind to today's apostasy? There can be no compromise. Do not try to compromise with the serpent, the horned snake. If you are kind to the snake, you will be poisoned by it. If you try to be nice to today's apostasy, you will be damaged. The testimony is the testimony, and apostasy is apostasy. In Jerusalem there was God's temple as His testimony, but in Dan there was apostasy. Both in church history and in our own Christian experience we have seen this very thing. There may have been times when we were distracted from the right way in following God and fell into a type of apostasy. We might have said that we were working for the Lord when we were actually working for something else. This is apostasy.
Dan did not care for the other tribes; he cared only for his own tribe. After he won the victory and gained the expansion, the enlargement, he did something for himself. This was the source of his apostasy. According to the Old Testament, the Lord never forgot Dan's apostasy. In the eyes of God it was the worst sin in His economy. Nothing is more damaging than divisiveness. Nothing is more destructive than division among God's people. Divisive worship centers are often related to idols. Because the Devil lurks behind idols, by setting up an idol Dan became a serpent. Whenever you become divisive, no matter how good your reason may be, there will be something behind you — the serpent, the subtle one. The whole history of the church testifies of this and our experience confirms it. Whenever you do not care for others, but only for your interests, doing something merely for yourself, the serpent is at hand. The best way to be safeguarded from falling into apostasy is taking care of others. Suppose Dan had contacted the other tribes and said, "Brothers, do you agree that I set up another worship center in the city of Dan?" Had he done this, the others would have said, "Brother, don't do this. Deuteronomy 12, 14, 15, and 16 forbid us to have any other center of worship that we may come to the unique center." If Dan had consulted the other tribes, he would have been kept from apostasy. But being individualistic, he set up another worship center and fell into apostasy.
Dan fell into apostasy because he cared only for his own interests. In principle, every divisive center of worship is the same. Those who establish them care only for their interests, their desires, and they neglect all the other saints. They are like Dan, who cared only for his tribe, not for the others.
Dan not only set up a divisive center, but also ordained the hired "priests" (Judg. 18:30; 1 Kings 12:31). To hire the common people to be priests was profane because it destroyed God's holy ordination. In the downfall of the church, many unsaved ones have been hired to do the service of God. This is apostasy. In God's New Testament economy, all true believers are made priests of God (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10). But degraded Christianity has built up a system to ordain some of the believers to do the service of God, making them a clerical hierarchy and leaving the rest of the believers as laymen. This also is a form of apostasy. To have the clergy and the laity is an apostate practice which we must abhor and abandon.
Praise the Lord that, under the inspiration of God, after Dan, Jacob spoke of Gad! With Gad we see recovery. After the apostasy of Dan, Gad came in to recover the lost victory (49:19). The victory of Judah, the lion, had been lost by Dan's apostasy, but Gad regained it and even enlarged it. Gad is not a young lion, but a lioness producing cubs. He is the continuation of the victorious Judah and Dan.
God was so happy about Gad's recovery of the victory that He enlarged him. Deuteronomy 33:20 says, "Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad." Gad was enlarged not only by God, but also for God. He was enlarged for the executing of God's justice among God's people.
Gad crushed the enemy by the productive life of Christ. Deuteronomy 33:20 says, "He dwelleth as a lioness and teareth the arm, even the crown of the head" (Heb.). Gad crushed the enemy not as a lion, but as a lioness producing young lions. This implies that his destruction of the enemy is a corporate matter. It is the same with us today in the Lord's recovery. We are the young lions destroying the enemy in a corporate way.
The best aspect of Gad is not merely that he crushed the enemy's head, but that he would not enjoy his victory by himself. Although he gained land on the east of the Jordan, he would not enjoy it until the other tribes had won their portion of the land. Gad went with the other tribes to fight the battle to gain more land so that all the tribes might be able to have their share. The New Testament interpretation of this Old Testament figure is that we must always take care of the brothers, the members of the Body.
For many years I could not understand Moses' word in Deuteronomy 33:21. This verse says, "And he provided the first part for himself, for there a portion of the lawgiver was reserved; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his ordinances with Israel" (Heb.). Although I studied this verse again and again, especially the last part about the heads of the people, I simply could not understand it. But today I understand this verse. The "first part" refers to the land east of the Jordan. Gad provided that part for himself; yet he would not remain there to enjoy it. Instead, he came with the heads of the people, the princes of the other tribes, to fight the battle for the rest of the land. Here we see the action, the move, of the Body. Dan took care of himself individualistically, but Gad took care of the Body corporately. In the church today we would say that Gad was filled with the sense of the Body.
The reason for Gad's success was that he let go of his own enjoyment in order to take care of the Body. This is justice in the eyes of God. It is the executing of the justice of the Lord. In New Testament terms, it is the accomplishment of God's will. When the children of Israel entered the good land, it was God's will in His justice that His people be settled. God did not want only Gad; He wanted all the twelve tribes to be settled to become His kingdom that His ordinances may be observed. This is to accomplish the will of God. Romans 12:1 and 2 say that if we present our bodies a living sacrifice, we shall be able to prove what the will of God is. According to Romans 12, the will of God is simply to have the Body life. Thus, to have the Body life, to take care of the needs of others, is to execute God's justice for observing His ordinances. Nothing is so just as caring for the members of the Body. No ordinances can be observed without the execution of God's justice. God's New Testament ordinances can only be observed in the Body of Christ, which is built up by the mutual care of its members in justice.
Dan's failure was that he was individualistic. Gad's success was that he was corporate, moving with the brothers. Dan was for himself, but Gad was for all the tribes. Whenever you are concerned only for your own spiritual interests, you are a Dan. But when you forget your own spiritual interests and care for all the other brothers, that is, care for the Body, you are a Gad. We must care for the Body and move with the Body. Are you a Dan or a Gad? Are you taking care only of your locality or of the whole Body? As long as we do not care for the Body, we are today's Dan, and we have fallen into a form of apostasy.
After the recovery with Gad, we have the sufficiency of Asher. The account of Asher begins with the exceeding blessing and the surpassing grace. Deuteronomy 33:24 says, "Asher shall be blessed more than [the] sons; let him be favored among his brethren" (Heb.). Asher received the exceeding blessing and the foremost grace. Many of us are able to understand this language. In Dan's apostasy we lost all the blessing and the grace, but in Gad's victory the blessing was recovered and the grace was returned. Now in Asher we are enjoying the exceeding blessing and the surpassing grace.
In Asher we also see the rich provision of life. Firstly, Asher has the rich provision for living and growing. Genesis 49:20 says, "Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties." Deuteronomy 33:25 indicates that Asher also has the rich provision of life for fighting and building. The first part of this verse says, "Under thy sandals shall be iron and copper" (Heb.). The fat bread and royal dainties are for Asher's living and growing, and the iron and copper are minerals for fighting and building. Asher certainly received the richest provision.
Asher also has the bountiful supply of the Spirit for his daily walk (Gal. 5:25). Deuteronomy 33:24 says, "Let him dip his foot in oil." This certainly is figurative speech. The spiritual significance of dipping the foot in oil is being full of the Spirit. In typology oil refers to the Spirit of God. Asher does not have a mere trickle of oil, but enough to dip his feet in. This means that in Asher we have the rich, bountiful supply of the Spirit (Phil. 1:19). Oh, we can walk in oil! A number of times in the Lord's recovery I have had the sense that we are walking in oil. I worship, thank, and praise the Lord, saying, "Lord, this is too rich! The supply of the Spirit here is too rich! Our oil is so bountiful!" Do you have oil in which to dip your feet? We do. We have the fat bread, the royal dainties, and the rich, bountiful oil in which to dip our feet.
Deuteronomy 33:25 says of Asher, "And as thy days, so shall thy rest be" (Heb.). When we have the exceeding blessing and surpassing grace, the rich provision of life, and the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we have absolute rest with peace, strength, security, and sufficiency. This was the experience of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:11-13. He was content in any situation. I can testify that this week I have had the deep sense that I am walking in oil and that I have satisfaction, peace, and rest. I have also been full of strength. Thus, I have security and sufficiency. The Lord is my Shepherd, and I have no want, shortage, or lack (Psa. 23:1). Instead of want, I am full of sufficiency. I have fat bread, royal dainties, deep oil, and iron and copper under my sandals. Everywhere there is provision. Hence, I am safe and secure, and I have rest and strength. Do you have the boldness to say that you have this security and sufficiency? Or would you say that this morning your wife gave you a difficult time and that you barely endured it? You need to be able to say, "This morning my wife gave me a difficult time. But praise the Lord that I walked in deep oil! Now I have rest, peace, security, strength, and sufficiency. My strength is as lasting as my days. As my days, so shall my rest, my security, and my sufficiency be." This is the experience of Asher.
Although Asher is wonderful, he is still not the end of Jacob's poetic prophecy with blessing. After Asher comes Naphtali (49:21). How good it is that Jacob had twelve sons! This number is truly sufficient, even eternally sufficient. When Jacob needed someone to represent sinners, he had Reuben. When he needed someone to expose the evil, cruel disposition, he had Simeon. When he needed someone to express the victory of Christ, he had Judah. He also had Dan to represent apostasy, Gad to signify recovery, and Asher to portray sufficiency. Now we come to Naphtali.
Genesis 49:21 says, "Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth beautiful words" (Heb.). In his prophetic blessing Jacob used many animals as figures: a lion, a lioness, a donkey, a foal of a donkey, a serpent, a horned snake, and a hind. Naphtali is neither a lion nor a donkey, but a hind. We thank God both for His creation and for Jacob's poetry. A hind is a lovely animal, so living and active. Although a hind is not proud or especially large, it is quite strong, able to skip upon the mountaintops. According to the Hebrew text, the title of Psalm 22 speaks of the hind of the morning. Years ago I heard a message by Brother Nee in which he said that the hind of the morning signifies the resurrected Christ. Psalm 22 firstly speaks of Christ's death on the cross. Then, beginning with verse 22, it proceeds to His resurrection. Psalm 22:22 says, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the assembly will I praise thee" (Heb.). This indicates that in His resurrection Christ declared the name of the Father to His brothers and praised Him in the midst of the assembly, the church. Thus, this psalm eventually issues in the resurrection of Christ as the hind of the morning. Resurrection surely is a morning, and Christ in His resurrection is the hind of the morning.
Genesis 49:21 says that as a hind Naphtali gives beautiful words. When I was young, I could not understand the relationship between the hind and the beautiful words. It seemed that these things were absolutely unrelated. But now we can see the significance of this in our spiritual experience. When you experience Christ as the resurrected One, you will be filled and bubbling over with pleasant words. Instead of gossip, out of your innermost being will flow living waters through the words you speak. This means that all your words will be rivers uttered out of the resurrected Christ. In Matthew 28 and Acts 2 we see that the speaking of the pleasant words is intimately related to the resurrected Christ. After Christ was resurrected, He told His disciples to come to Him on a certain mountain, and there He charged them to go forth to speak not with their natural words, but with the resurrected Christ as their words (Matt. 28:16, 18-20). Thus, on the day of Pentecost Peter stood up to speak beautiful words (Acts 2:32-36). Peter's message that day was a proof that he had been experiencing the resurrected Christ. Because he had been experiencing this resurrected Christ, his teeth were white.
Rich words, pleasant words, beautiful words, words of joy and life — all these come out of the experience of the resurrected Christ. The more we experience Christ as the resurrected One, the more we have something to say. We could never be silent. Everyone who experiences Christ as the resurrected One will be bubbling over with beautiful words. This does not mean that we shall be talkative. No, it means that because we are filled with Christ, we are bubbling over and always have something to say. Christ is the word of God, the word of life, and the word that is spirit. I am filled with this resurrected Christ; thus, I have many words to utter. The principle here is that we always utter what is filling us within. The word we speak comes out of the abundance of our inner being. When our inner being is filled with Christ, we must speak lest we burst. Now we can understand why Naphtali, a hind let loose, gives beautiful words. Because he has experienced Christ, he is filled with beautiful words.
Deuteronomy 33:23 says, "O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord." The favor and blessing here link Naphtali with Asher, who is more blessed than the sons and favored among his brothers. In the Lord's recovery we are daily satisfied with rich grace and full of God's blessing. This blessing does not refer to the material blessing, but to the blessing in the spirit, the blessing in life, the blessing in the heavenlies. What grace we have tasted and what blessing we have enjoyed since coming into the church life! We all can testify that in the Lord's recovery we are satisfied with the rich grace and full of the rich blessing (1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 13:14).
Deuteronomy 33:23 also says of Naphtali, "Possess thou the sea and the south" (Heb.). Naphtali will possess the west, the sea, the Gentile world, and the south, the land, the nation of Israel. This means that Naphtali will take the earth. It is the resurrected Christ experienced by us who will take the earth. At the end of Psalm 22 we see that the resurrected Christ will gain the nations. Psalm 22:27 says, "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee" (Heb.). All the nations will submit to Him, obey Him, and worship Him. Naphtali, the one who experiences the resurrected Christ, will possess the sea and the land. When we truly experience Christ in resurrection, we become those who will take the earth by preaching Christ (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8; Rom. 15:19).
