throughout the whole of the history of Israel. For instance, a time came when they demanded a king to rule over them; though warned of the conse quences, they continued to press their demands upon the Lord so a king was given who came from the tribe of Benjamin — his name was Saul. The people of Israel lived to regret then- demands upon God. This matter of becoming demanding of God in prayer in these days comes so often with us in the case of anxie ty as to healing of illnesses. We want to be careful for our desires, if granted, may cause us heartache and heart break. It is interesting that Benjamin was the only son named by his father. Je sus, too, was named by His Father, for God had given Him “a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.” The reason Jacob loved Benjamin so deeply was the fact that he cost Jacob the life of his wife Rachel whom he loved so dearly. In that sense, we who are Christians are all Benjamins be cause we cost the eternal God the life of His only begotten Son that He might give us eternal life. For the needed Scripture on Benja min by Jacob, we must turn again to Genesis 49:27 — “Benjamin shall be as ravenous as a wolf: in the morn ing he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” When this was said of Benjamin he was a fully matured man with his fixed char acteristics. As head of the tribe, we can see from the Book of Judges something of the exploits of this particular tribe. Better still, we can find in some of the individuals of the tribe, the general nature that seemed to prevail. Israel’s first king, Saul, was a Benjamite <— he said to Samuel, . . Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benja min? . . .” Saul knew how to be rave nous as a wolf. Jonathan would, of course, be of the same tribe. Mordecai
and Esther, who were undoubtedly called of God for a time and a purpose — made a great destruction of the ene mies of the Jews and enjoyed the eve ning of their lives in places of power and authority. Now of all the characters that could be named of that tribe was the one who said in Romans y .:l . . For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Thus spoke the Apostle Paul! In the morning of his life he was as a rave nous wolf. Paul ravaged the churches and laid hold of anyone who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and threw them into prison. In the evening of his life, after he became a Christian, he shared the suffering of the saints of God and had part of the spoils of a preacher. May we, in the morning of our lives, ravage the bulwarks of Sa tan and then in the evening of our life’s day present the trophies, with thanksgiving to the Lord. The amethyst was a gem of great hardness, and while,we might easily apply this characteristic to Benjamin — still we prefer to look beyond him to his tribe and there see how head strong and hard they oftentimes were in their warlike character. There is a gruesome story recorded in Judges 19 and 20 of one of their battles. The Hebrew word for the gem ame thyst means “a dream.” This particular stone was said to be productive of lovely dreams and visions. And so goes the thinking of many of the folk of those ancient years. But the product of your Christian quiet and meditation can be a dream of the better man and the better woman which can be your part when you believe in Jesus Christ unto salvation — that is the only land of beginning again that we know any thing about in this world!
“ The Bible Institute Hour” Y A K IM A Washington 10:00 AM . Daily, KBBO, 139 kc.
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