They really are all over the place . . . they are scattered freely throughout the New Testament, but in the Old Testament they are sometimes a bit more hidden and surprising to encounter . . . there, they are amidst storylines and dramas, and so, you can often miss them. But then, there are those times when — and I’m seeing them more and more as Holy Spirit directed times — when you kind of trip over them . . . they cause you to pause . . . and look again . . . and it starts to dawn on you, “Hey, I found another one!” What are they? Gems . . . precious gems of Scripture . . . tucked away insights into the mystery of God and His work among men. And I found one this morning in Genesis 48.

Context . . . Jacob and the fam are now in Egypt with Joseph. Jacob, renamed by God, Israel, because He prevailed in His struggle with God (Gen. 32:28), is 147 years old (47:28) and nearing death. Joseph brings his two boys, Manasseh and Ephraim, to his father’s bedside that they might be blessed by the patriarch. Jacob determines to own the boys as his own (48:5) and then, in a storyline twist which has become common place surrounding Jacob, Jacob determines to bless Ephraim over Manasseh . . . setting the younger before the older . . . sound familiar?

In a nutshell that’s the drama played out in Genesis 48 . . . read over it too fast though and you miss something that’s pretty cool. Check this out . . . “And [Jacob] blessed Joseph, and said: ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.’ ” (48:15-16).

There it is! What I “tripped over” . . . or perhaps what the Holy Spirit tripped me with . . . was the word “redeemed.” And I start thinking that this is the first time I’ve come across this word in Genesis . . . and I check it out with my handy dandy “Online Bible” and sure enough . . . this is the first occurrence in Scripture of the word “redeemed.” (Note: you miss this in the NIV because they’ve translated this as “delivered” and have used “delivered” before for other Hebrew words). It’s the first occurrence of “gaal” . . . to redeem, to act as a kinsmen-redeemer, avenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman. Here in the Old Testament . . . the law . . . we find Jacob talking about being redeemed from all evil . . . ransomed . . . rescued.

And you look at it a bit more and you see it is imbedded within Jacob’s description of His God . . . “The God who fed me all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from evil.” And the light of this “gem” grows in it’s beauty and wonder! Here God is equated with “the Angel”. God is the faithful feeder of Jacob in all circumstance and He is the redeemer from all evil. Is it just me, or is the truth of the Trinity all over this? At least the translated structure seems to use “God” and “the Angel” as synonyms. God is the Angel . . . the Angel is God. In the person of God He is faithful provider . . . in the person of the Angel, He is the blessed Redeemer. God is the Father . . . the Angel is the Son . . . together, with the Holy Spirit who operates in the background (and is moving Jacob to articulate such a blessing), the three comprise one . . . the Godhead, the Trinity . . . He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

He was Jacob’s faithful provider and, praise God, He is mine. He was Jacob’s redeemer, He is mine. Oh, how ancient the purposes and works of God . . . literally, from the beginning.

And Jacob’s blessing to his son and to his grandson is my blessing this morning. Jacob’s testimony is mine. This gem, now marked in my Bible and put in my “treasure chest”, reveals something of the glory of God. The God who provides and the God who redeems. I’m reminded that God has always been in the redeeming game and that, before the Son manifested Himself as the Jesus of Nazareth, He was the Messenger of God, the heavenly Kinsman-Redeemer, rescuing men, such as Jacob . . . and such as me . . . from the penalty of sin. To the Father, and to the Son, be all glory and praise . . . amen!