The tribe of Issachar learnt what their God-given gifts were when a situation arose in Israel that needed their gifts for the benefit of the entire nation (1 Chronicles 12:32). It worked that way with Jesus too: God “anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power” in Acts 10:38, gifts that enabled him to “go around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil.”
So just like the tribe of Issachar, Jesus was gifted with exactly what was needed for the benefit of the people in his day too. Gifted by the Spirit “he preached good news to the poor, healed the brokenhearted, loosed people from their prison of guilt, gave sight to the blind, and freed people from their debilitating burdens,” Luke 4:18.
When he ascended back to heaven, he then began “giving gifts to people,” Ephesians 4:8, to enable us – like himself – to do good and be of service to others (12, 16). We then learn, as needs arise and we find ourselves wanting and able to meet them, what our gifts are. That’s what happened to the tribe of Issachar. They found out they had a gift for “understanding the times and knowing what Israel should do” when a crisis arose that needed such a gift.
The Spirit is working the same way with us. All sorts of needs arise and “different kinds of service,” 1 Corinthians 12:5, that require “different kinds of gifts,” verse 4. The intent of such gifts is always “for the common good,” verse 7, so where there’s a need there’s someone with a gift to meet it. And really practical gifts too, like “a word of wisdom” (8), where, like the 200 chiefs of Issachar, someone “understands the situation and knows what to do.”
But maybe like Issachar we have no idea what our gifts are, or the help they give to others, until someone tells us. Like the person enduring pain every day who never complains and just studies away trusting God, who has no idea how inspiring their example is. So imagine what it does for them hearing that the gift of endurance God has given them has been of benefit to others.
But that’s the whole point of God gifting us; it’s to “build us up in love, as each part does its work,” Ephesians 4:16. He’d love us to learn what our gifts are, then, because he gave them to us – just like he gave Issachar their gift, and Jesus his gifts – to do good. To the next tribe of Israel, then, “Dan: the gifted judge”….(next blog)
