Gad - fullness of the Gentiles

Gad

When Leah saw that she was no longer bearing children, she took a play from Rachel’s playbook. She gave Jacob her own handmaid, Zilpah, to have children by her. Zilpah did conceive and bore Jacob a seventh son. “Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she called his name Gad.” (Gen. 30:11 NASB) Translations and commentaries differ on the meaning of the word gad. The A.V. translates it to mean “a troop” as well as Youngs Literal Translation and Adam Clarke. Becke’s translation from 1549 translates it to mean, “Good Luck!” Barnes* translates it that Leah was saying “Victory is coming.”

The Latin Vulgate translates it to mean feliciter, happily. Easton’s, the NASB, and the Septuagint all render it to mean, “Good fortune.”

There is a truth that has been restored to the Church in this generation. No group has propagated this truth more than the charismatic movement yet all the Church has benefited from it. It is the message of victory and prosperity. Biblically God’s favor was almost always reflected in addition not subtraction. “It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.” (Prov. 10:22 NASB). From Abraham to David to now, God’s favor was reflected both in spirit and in the natural, not limited to one or the other.

The concept of Grace has been defined many ways. My favorite is “unmerited favor.” When looking at this definition, I, like others, have always placed emphases on “unmerited.” But look at what is gained, “Favor.” God’s favor. Grace brings us God’s favor. Baseball legend, Lefty Gomez, once said, “I would rather be lucky than good.” Well, I would rather have favor than talent. I would rather have favor than ability. In the world ones talent can distinguish one musician from another. In the church God’s favor distinguishes one musician from another. Why is it a talented musician can bring us pleasure but a less talented musician can bring us into His presence. Like the recognizable anointing on David we recognize His favor on people. Grace brings God’s favor to us. His favor brings manifest blessing. Manifest blessing reflected in “victorious” living and “good fortune.” Which honors God more; when people say, “He is a shrewd businessman,” or “He sure is blessed by God.”

We only assume that Samson looked like a young Arnold Swartzenager. But the Philistines did not know where he got his strength. Obviously his strength defied logic. He very possibly simply looked like, well, you. God was the source of his strength, not his physique. I would rather have favor than ability.

Look at your life. Is there manifest blessing in your life? Is there, “Good fortune?” The absence of manifest blessing might constitute something wrong in your relationship with your God. Through the Holy Spirit God has birthed in the church manifest favor.

Look at the house of Obededom. The name Obededom means “servant of Edom.” He was a Gittite from the city of Gath. He was a philistine. When David attempted to bring the Ark of God to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the ox driven cart which carried the Ark stumbled and a Hebrew by the name of Uzzah was killed. Now Uzzah was the son of Abinadab. In all probability Uzzah was Abinadab’s grandson and the Ark had been in their house under their care for a long time (the bible says 20 years, but the time frame suggest it was much longer.) the bible does not say that the sons of Abinadab were Levites but it is believed by some that they were and that Eleazar the son of Abinadab had been given charge for the care of the Ark. Now over the coarse of the next forty years the house of Abinadab probably became very familiar and accustomed to having the Ark around. And when it came to moving the Ark to Jerusalem it was assigned to two of the sons of Abinadab to transport the Ark of God. They casually placed the Ark on an ox driven cart and took off. But when the ox stumbled, Uzzah reached up with his hand and steadied it and God “smote” him. “We have become very familiar with the God we hardly know,” Bobby Conners once said. We can walk in and out of His glory with coffee and donuts in our hand. Sometimes their can be a price for taking for granted the privilege of transporting His glory.

They took down the Ark and set it in the house of a philistine living in Israel. And God began to bless the house of Obededom. His manifest blessings became so a apparent that word came to King David that God was blessing the house of Obededom.

Grace brings us into a realm of favor. We can cultivate the blessing by honoring God with our increase. Malichi 3:10 says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try me in this,’ says the Lord of host, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out such blessing that their will not be room enough to receive it.”

written by

Rusty Owens

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