A Fruitful Vine Climbing over a Wall

The dying old man whispered his words blessing upon each of his sons. At last he came to Joseph – the one who had made the whole family proud.

Joseph will be a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.”
See Genesis 49:22-26 for the full text of this blessing

Joseph’s great mission in life had been the preserving of life, but it had not been an easy mission. God had preserved him from a dry cistern in the desert, from the schemes of treacherous brothers and slave-traders, from dark forgotten dungeons of Egypt. Joseph came into fame, fortune and economic power, but used these not for private advantage, but to be the saviour of his generation.

Indeed his branches grew beyond the wall of his family and blessed the entire nation and the world. God planted him in dry foreign soil and grew him into a very fruitful vine, fulfilling God’s blessing to his great-grandfather Abraham in Genesis 17:6 “I will make you very fruitful”.

Even blind old Jacob could see that Joseph’s virtue and vitality were sustained by an invisible spring of spiritual power. No one could endure the kind of hostility Joseph suffered without a strong sense of destiny and purpose. For Joseph, that was a deep conviction that Yahweh was active at his side.

Jacob describes this fountain of grace with four vivid names for God - the Almighty, the Rock, the Shepherd, your father’s God. The same Spring of Living Water that supported Abraham, Jacob and Joseph would continue to nourish future generations. And through them the ultimate Saviour would one day come to be the Spring of water for the entire world!

It makes me wonder . . .

• how God might use any of us if we are willing to endure hardships and bloom where we’re planted, even if the soil feels dry and hostile? 
• What is the spring within that nourishes me? 
• Do I have a sense of destiny and purpose sustaining me in adversity and the fog of doubt? 
• Does the grace of God flourish in me and climb over the wall of my life to enrich others?