Did Issachar have any idea that one day his descendants would “understand the times and know what Israel should do” in 1 Chronicles 12:32? Or that comparing him to a donkey in Genesis 49:14 was a prophecy that like donkeys the tribe of Issachar would become skilled at reading the circumstances they were in and able to choose the right course of action?
But that was the skill the tribe of Issachar would provide in the turmoil of 1 Chronicles 10 to 12, when Israel had lost its king. People were flocking to David, but was he really God’s choice? It was a vital tipping point in their history, because it would be David’s lineage that would lead up to the birth of Jesus, so confidence in David as their king was crucial in God’s plan. Which is when the 200 chiefs of Issachar stepped in. They could clearly see David was God’s choice, and their confidence convinced the other tribes. So what Issachar “the clever donkey” turned out to be was essential to God’s plan at that moment. That was the time, in other words, when they completed what God had prepared them for and given them to do.
It was a perfect picture of Jesus one day being able to say to his Father in John 17:4, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” He played his part to perfection, just as God had the tribe of Issachar play its part to perfection too.
So does the same thing apply to us? Well, Paul did say in Ephesians 2:10, that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” He prepared Issachar in advance, placing his descendants in prime farmland to develop their skill at reading the weather, which plants flourish when and where, and the types of soil that suit which crops best. They grew to know what to do, a learned skill that enabled them to know what Israel should do regarding David as king. And all prepared in advance by God.
God did the same with Jesus. He planned in advance for Jesus to have “the Spirit without limit,” that enabled him to “speak the words of God,” John 3:34, which Jesus then did to perfection (John 17:8). But he also prepared in advance to gift us with the Spirit too (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) to complete what he’s given us to do – “according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,” Ephesians 1:11. But is it important, though, “Knowing what God has given us to do”?….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 