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540 | Deuteronomy 33 - Held in His Hand · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  God is in control.
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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org, We invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Have you ever needed a reminder that God doesn't just lead his people,
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  he loves them, protects them, and holds them close?
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  Deuteronomy chapter 33 is Moses' final blessing over the tribes of Israel,
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  spoken just before his death, and it is overflowing with the tender, faithful love of God.
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  It is a chapter filled with hope, promise, identity, and blessing.
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  As Moses reviews the journey of the Israelites, he reminds them that they are
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  a people loved by God, carried by God, and held in his hand.
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  And in our key verse, Deuteronomy 33.3, we read these powerful words,
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  Yea, he loved the people, and all his saints are in thy hand.
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  This chapter shows us a God who goes before his people, fights for them,
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  shelters them, and promises them a future.
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  And just as he blessed the tribes of Israel, he continues to bless,
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  guide and guard his people today.
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  Join us as you walk through this chapter and discover what it means to be people
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  who are loved, chosen, and held securely in the hands of a faithful God.
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  Join with me as we read Deuteronomy chapter 33.
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  And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children
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  of Israel before his death.
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  And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Syir unto them.
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  He shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints.
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  From his right hand went a fiery law for them.
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  Yea he loved the people. All his saints are in thy hand. and they sat down at thy feet.
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  Everyone shall receive of thy words.
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  Moses commanded us a law, even an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
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  And he was king in Jeshurun, when the hands of the people and the tribes of
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  Israel were gathered together.
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  Let Reuben live, and not die, and let not his men be few.
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  And this is the blessing of Judah. And he said, Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah,
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  and bring him unto his people.
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  Let his hands be sufficient for him, and be thou and help to him from his enemies.
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  And of Levi he said, Let Thummim and thy Urim be with thy Holy One,
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  whom thou didst prove at Massah, and whom thou didst strive at the waters of
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  Meribah, who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him,
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  neither did he acknowledge his brethren,
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  nor knew his own children, for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.
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  They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law.
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  They shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.
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  Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands.
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  Smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate
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  him, that they did not rise again.
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  And of Benjamin, he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him,
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  and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
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  And of Joseph, he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things
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  of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
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  and for the precious fruits brought
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  forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon.
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  And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things
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  of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and fullness
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  thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush,
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  let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head
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  of him that was separated from his brethren.
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  His glory is like the first thing of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns.
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  With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth,
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  and they that are the tens of thousands of Ephraim, and they are the tens of thousands of Massah.
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  And of Zebulun, he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out,
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  and Issachar in thy tents.
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  They shall call the people unto the mountain. There they shall offer sacrifices
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  of righteousness, for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas,
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  and of treasures hid in the sand.
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  And of Gad, he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gab.
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  He dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.
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  And he provided the first part of himself, because there in the portion of the
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  lawgiver was seated, and he came with the heads of the people.
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  He executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments are with Israel.
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  And of Dan, he said, Dan is a lion's whelp.
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  He shall leap from Bashan. And of Naphtali, he said, O Naphtali,
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  satisfied with favor and full with the blessing of the Lord,
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  possess thou the west and the south.
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  And of Asher, he said, Let Asher be blessed with children, let him be acceptable
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  to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
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  Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, as thy days so shall thy strength be.
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  There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy
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  help, and in his excellency on the sky.
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  The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms,
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  and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them.
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  Israel, then, shall dwell in safety alone.
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  The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine,
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  also his heavens shall drop down dew.
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  Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord,
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  the shield of thy help, who is the sword of thy excellency, and thine enemies
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  shall be found liars upon thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
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  As we move into Deuteronomy chapter 33, we are reading Moses' final blessing
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  over the people of Israel.
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  This chapter is deeply personal for each tribe of Israel, very prophetic,
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  and it's filled with reminders of God's faithfulness from the very beginning of Israel's story.
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  Moses is nearing the end of his life, and before he leaves the people,
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  he blesses them tribe by tribe, just like Jacob did in Genesis chapter 49.
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  These blessings are not random, statements or farewells.
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  They're declarations rooted in God's love that reflect God's character.
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  Israel's history, and God's plan for their future.
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  The chapter opens in verses 1-5 with a powerful picture of God's glory.
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  We see God described as the one who came from Sinai, who shined forth from Sair,
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  who rose up from Mount Paran.
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  These references point to the majesty of God's appearance when he gave the law,
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  reminding the Israelites that the same God who thundered on Sinai is the God
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  who has carried them through the wilderness and has brought them to the cusp of the promised land.
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  Verse 3 tells us something precious, that God loved his people and that they
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  were gathered at his feet to receive his words.
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  Verse 4 reminds them that the law they had received was their inheritance,
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  something given to them as a gift.
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  And verse 5 declares God as the king in Jeshurun, the king over his chosen people,
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  when the tribes were gathered together.
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  Jeshurun was the poetic name for Israel.
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  Beginning in verse 6 and running through verse 25, Moses speaks blessing over
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  each of the tribes of Israel.
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  These blessings mirror their unique character, calling and history of each of
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  the tribes, showing that God knows his people individually.
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  Reuben is blessed with preservation and strength.
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  Judah is blessed with help in battle and unity with the rest of Israel.
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  Levi receives a blessing tied to their priestly role.
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  Their faithfulness during times of testing in their sacred responsibility to teach God's law.
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  Benjamin is pictured as dwelling safely under the special protection of the Lord.
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  Joseph is described with abundant fruitfulness and great strength.
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  Zebulun and Issachar are blessed in their work, their worship, and their partnership.
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  Gad is blessed with expansion and military might.
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  Dan is compared to a young lion. Naphtali is full of favor and blessing.
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  Asher is blessed with strength, security, and abundance.
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  The chapter concludes in verses 26 through 29 with a declaration of God's incomparable
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  greatness and his final blessing over Israel as a whole.
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  God is described as their refuge, the eternal God who carries his people and
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  drives out their enemies.
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  Israel is reminded that they are a blessed people because God himself is their shield and their sword.
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  Moses' final words to them highlight the privilege and the protection that belong
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  to those who belong to the Lord.
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  When we look at Deuteronomy chapter 33, through the lens of applying it to our
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  lives, we see a chapter overflowing with encouragement, identity,
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  and the tender-hearted nature of a God who knows his people personally.
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  This chapter is not simply Moses' farewell address. It is a reminder of who
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  God is and who we are as his people.
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  The chapter opens with a vivid picture of God's glory and God's presence.
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  The same God who descended on Mount Sinai in fire and majesty is the same God
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  who walks with us each and every day.
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  Verse 3 is incredibly comforting because it reminds us that God loves his people
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  and gathers them at his feet to receive his word.
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  For those of us on this side of the cross, this is a reminder that our relationship
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  with God begins with His love and with our response to His voice.
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  We are His because He loves us and because we commit ourselves to learning and obeying His word.
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  As Moses blesses the tribes, we see something beautiful.
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  God's blessings were unique, specific, and intentional.
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  Each tribe received a blessing that matched their calling. In the same way,
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  God knows us individually.
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  He knows our strengths, our gifts, our burdens, and our circumstances.
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  The blessings of God in our lives are not random. They are personal.
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  They are tailored to his purpose for us. Some of the tribes were blessed with
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  strength, some with protection, some with fruitfulness, and some with peace.
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  God meets each of us exactly where we are and equips us in the ways he knows we need.
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  Moses' blessing to Levi reminds us that God values faithfulness.
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  Levi stood with Moses during a time of great sin in the wilderness and was willing
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  to put obedience to God above all else.
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  That faithfulness became the foundation of their blessing.
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  This teaches us that obedience is always worth it. Our choices matter,
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  and God honors those who honor Him.
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  The blessing to Benjamin reminds us of the safety we have in the presence of.
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  God, that we dwell between his shoulders.
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  For those of us walking through seasons of difficulty, grief,
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  fear, or uncertainty, it is a powerful reminder that God holds us close and protects us tenderly.
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  Joseph's blessing speaks of abundance and fruitfulness, reminding us that every
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  good thing we have, whether it be family, work, influence, or success,
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  comes from the hand of God.
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  Blessings are not accidents, they are gifts. The closing verses of the chapter
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  take all of these individual blessings and wrap them up in one great truth.
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  God himself is the everlasting refuge of his people.
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  Israel was reminded that there is no God like our God, the one who rides on
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  the heavens to help his people, who is their shield and their sword.
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  For us, this means that no matter what comes against us, the Lord himself is our protector.
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  We do not face battles alone. We do not walk through uncertainty alone.
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  The God who blessed Israel is the same God who watches over us today.
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  If Deuteronomy 33 teaches us anything, it teaches us that we serve a God who
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  knows us individually, who blesses us intentionally, and who defends us powerfully.
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  It teaches us that obedience, faithfulness, and worship are not small things.
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  They are pathways to walking in the fullness of God's blessing.
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  And it teaches us that no matter what we face, our God is our refuge.
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  Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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  We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
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  Remember that God loves you. You.