The Last Tribes of Church
Preached by Apostle Aje Pelser, Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town.

My Dad once preached a series in Chester, UK and the local church leader Keith was quite a jester. We called him the jester from Chester! When he looked at the 3 tape series of This is That – he asked us what should we call each tape? This is That one. This is that too. And that\’s it then! So then this would be the last of the Mohicans!

As we were studying the names of the tribes of Israel, we were seeing ourselves more clearly in the mirror of God\’s Word. Our spiritual lineage is revealed through our DNA – that same faith that worked in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Those prophetic words over the tribes can be ours – in Christ Jesus they are both \”yes\” and \”Amen.\” Enjoy rediscovering your tribe of Church!

Look at Moses’ prophetic word for the tribes:
Deut 33:6 \”Let Reuben live, and not die, Nor let his men be few.\”
Deut 33:7 And this he said of Judah: \”Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, And bring him to his people; Let his hands be sufficient for him, And may You be a help against his enemies.\”
Deut 33:8 And of Levi he said: \”Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one, Whom You tested at Massah, And with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah,
Deut 33:9 Who says of his father and mother, \’I have not seen them\’; Nor did he acknowledge his brothers, Or know his own children; For they have observed Your word And kept Your covenant.
Deut 33:10 They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, And Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You, And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar.
Deut 33:11 Bless his substance, LORD, And accept the work of his hands; Strike the loins of those who rise against him, And of those who hate him, that they rise not again.\”
Deut 33:12 Of Benjamin he said: \”The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders.\”
Deut 33:13 And of Joseph he said: \”Blessed of the LORD is his land, With the precious things of heaven, with the dew, And the deep lying beneath,
Deut 33:14 With the precious fruits of the sun, With the precious produce of the months,
Deut 33:15 With the best things of the ancient mountains, With the precious things of the everlasting hills,
Deut 33:16 With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come \’on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.\’
Deut 33:17 His glory is like a firstborn bull, And his horns like the horns of the wild ox; Together with them He shall push the peoples To the ends of the earth; They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh.\”
Deut 33:18 And of Zebulun he said: \”Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, And Issachar in your tents!
Deut 33:19 They shall call the peoples to the mountain; There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; For they shall partake of the abundance of the seas And of treasures hidden in the sand.\”
Deut 33:20 And of Gad he said: \”Blessed is he who enlarges Gad; He dwells as a lion, And tears the arm and the crown of his head.
Deut 33:21 He provided the first part for himself, Because a lawgiver\’s portion was reserved there. He came with the heads of the people; He administered the justice of the LORD, And His judgments with Israel.\”
Deut 33:22 And of Dan he said: \”Dan is a lion\’s whelp; He shall leap from Bashan.\”
Deut 33:23 And of Naphtali he said: \”O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, And full of the blessing of the LORD, Possess the west and the south.\”
Deut 33:24 And of Asher he said: \”Asher is most blessed of sons; Let him be favored by his brothers, And let him dip his foot in oil.
Deut 33:25 Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be.
Deut 33:26 \”There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds.
Deut 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, \’Destroy!\’
Deut 33:28 Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.
Deut 33:29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places.\”

Today\’s sermon will cover the last names mentioned in the lineage of Israel, that reveals attributes of Jesus Christ and His Beloved tribe of Church.

Issachar, “Wages”: Heb. 11:6, God is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And His rewards are not only after Christ’s second coming but also now while we live in this earth. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Think stewardship, parable of the talents, the wise servant who helped people to pay part of their debt and he was rewarded. Think crowns in heaven at the last judgment and consider how the elders take those crowns and cast before the Lord.
Isa_49:4 Then I said, \’I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, And my work with my God.\’

Zebulon, “Dwelling”: 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16, we are the temples of the living God. He doesn\’t dwell in temples made by man but in us, therefore we bring His presence into a place. Buildings are only shells, tools. We don’t worship the building but the Builder. If we love God and keep his commandments, Jesus and the Father come and make their home with us. Jesus stands at the door of churches and knocks, so they can open up for Him and He can have supper with them. Moving from visitation and temporary manifestations of glory with an emphasis on outward impressiveness, to inward realities of Christ within in the hope of Glory helps us to realize that we are practicing the presence of God and that we are in co-habitation with Christ. God’s spirit without measure is within every believer. When believers come together and praise and worship God He inhabits their praises. When two agree in Jesus’ name it is established and where there is unity of faith Jesus appears in our midst collectively. God’s tabernacle is with men. We are in our Father’s tenet – recall the meaning of Aholiab who worked with Bezaleel on the Tabernacle of Moses?
Adam’s relationship with God is restored with the work of the second Adam, Jesus on the cross. We enter into that communion of Eden by faith and eat of the tree of eternal life because we believe in Jesus’ work on the cross.
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, \”If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Dinah (daughter), “Justice”: God is a God of Justice, He judges righteously. There’s an opportunity for justice in the Church. We shouldn\’t give our issues to unbelievers to judge. Judgment starts in the Church, we have the authority to do it. In church we are open to judgment and we see correction as coaching, not as rejection. As we accept the correction and submit we will speed up the process of sanctification in our lives.
Isa_45:21 Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me.

Hab 2:4 \”Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.

Isa_1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice, And her penitents with righteousness.

Isa_28:17 Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place.

Isa_30:18 Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

Isa_33:5 The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
Hos_2:19 \”I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy;

Mat 12:18 \”BEHOLD! MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN, MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL IS WELL PLEASED! I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE WILL DECLARE JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.
Joseph, “He will add”: Matt 6:33, God adds your needs (what you shall eat, drink or wear) because He knows you and what you need. Learn to differentiate your needs and your wants. He will always give you your needs, yet He also gives our wants, the desires of our hearts. But the important thing and what we should seek is His Kingdom: righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Let peace rule your mind and heart when you make decisions or speak up if you don’t have peace. Kingdom joy is consistent and (you need a word to stand on). Acts 2:47, the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Church is not a club which you join in, but God adds those who need to be added and they add value to the church.

Benjamin, “Son of the right hand”: look for the right way of doing things. We are the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 6:21), we are righteous by faith, yet we have to walk righteously and be led by the Spirit, who convicts us of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and we are also seated in heavenly places (. This speaks of judgment and government. Gen 35:18 Rachel called her son Ben-Oni, which means “Son of My Sorrow” but Jacob called him Benjamin. This two names show a transition from sorrow to glory. They show the life of Jesus: He was a son of sorrows; He carried our sorrows and suffered. But humbled Himself and became obedient, therefore God also highly exalted Him (Phil 2) and now He is at the right hand of the Father (Eph. 1:20). And we are seated with Him in heavenly places!