livered from this curse and he was to be acceptable among his own brothers. Wonderful thing of a wonderful man. Let him dip his foot in oil is what the Bible says, too, about Asher. Many have made reference to the fruitfulness of the tribe of Asher as a land of olive groves and olive oil and of the pressing out of the olive berries into oil. Now a modem view is that it might be a prophetic refer ence to the pipe line of the Aarak Petroleum Company which passes through the land of Asher and pours out millions of gallons of oil daily. These suggestions are very acceptable but one still feels that the spiritual meaning of this statement is of para mount importance to your heart and mine. The richness of the land is no doubt present here but what of the richness of the believer’s walk in Christ, a foot literally dipped in oil would leave be hind it an indelible impression wher ever it went. Isaiah said, “How beauti ful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salva tion . . .” Not only what we have now but what we will have is before us. What did Moses say? He said “Thy shoe shall be iron and brass.” The word translated shoes is elsewhere translated bolts or bars and the whole suggestion is a strong fortification of trampling under foot of evil and then Moses said “as thy days, so shall thy strength be.” The majority of his words are in italics which means they are not in the original manuscripts of the Bi ble. Now if you leave out the italicized words you see it “as thy days thy strength.” A strength that will last as thy days or a strength which, like thy days, is ever increasing is a won derful thing Lean assure you. There is no suggestion of fluctuating strength which varies according to circum stances as many interpret it but here it is. It is difficult to speak too much about the onyx except to say this, that the onyx undoubtedly was a very, very beautiful stone—its meaning is obscure.
Asher (continued) like apples of gold in pitchers of silver. And then come with me to Deuter onomy 33. What did Moses say about Asher? He said, Let Asher be blessed in his children. Now there are many interpretations given to this statement of Moses. Some have said it means blessed with many children, others say blessed above the other children or blessed of his children, all of which would ably fit the character of the man. But as there is a preposition which is always used as denoting the source of which anything proceeds or the agent by whom anything is done, the interpretation of blessed with children might readily be accepted as meaning he was to be blessed through his chil dren who were to reap their benefits from him. Now this is a beautiful thought. Asher in the richness of his own ex perience was to become such an ave nue, such an agent of blessing, that in coming generations his children would rise up and call him blessed. Now do your children do that to you? Well, my friend, do they see how you as a parent live, the terrible habits that you have around them, your language in the home, the way you conduct your busi ness? Or do your children rise up and call you blessed and do they thank God that they have a mommy and a daddy like you? Be careful as a parent about these things. How can we come into such rich ness of blessing? The answer is very, very simple. If we want to bless the lives of our children that they, in turn, may bless us, then remember that we are children of God. We ought to live like i t We ought to act like it. Our influence upon our children ought to be in that direction. Then Moses said, “Let him be ac ceptable to his brethren.” Oftentimes success, whether in material pos sessions or in spiritual qualities in serv ice,’ bring a jealousy in the hearts of one’s brethren, as in the case of Jo seph’s brothers who grew into a hatred that insisted Oifi vengeance. Now the Bible says that Asher was to be de
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