Happy Asher
June 21, 2020
I don’t think we know too many people who are named HAPPY. Did you ever see the movie Happy Gilmore? It’s a pretty funny and silly movie! Did you know that the most famous person named Happy is a marvel character. If you’re a marvel fan, you know who I’m talking about. It’s Harold Joseph "Happy" Hogan. In the movies, he’s shown in the Iron Man movies and more.
Well on this Father’s Day, I want you to know about a guy from the Bible who was not named Happy, but his name means happy.
His story is spread over the first 5 books of the Bible. He was born into one of the most dysfunctional families in the Bible. Any guesses which family that might be? If you were thinking it had to be Jacob’s family . . . well, you’re right!
This kid was the 8th son of Jacob. But he was not born to one of Jacob’s two wives. He was born to one of his wive’s servants. So, let’s look take a quick look back.
Abraham had a son named Isaac and Isaac had 2 sons, Jacob and Esau. Very quickly . . . Jacob stole Esau’s blessing by lying to his father. Jacob decieved Esau and his father. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, but his father in law duped him into marrying her sister Leah. Then made him work for 7 more years before he could marry Rachel.
Adding to all of that, there was parental favoritism, sibling rivalry, deceit, and longstanding resentment. I hope you know there are really no perfect families in the Bible. There's hardly a single model family for anyone to look up to with either awe or envy.
Leah, the not favored wife bore children for Jacob, but Rachel couldn’t. So, she had Jacob sleep with her servant who bore him sons. This made Rachel happy. But Leah was now no longer able to provide children for Jacob, had him sleep with her servant as well. And more kids were born.
Actually, I think they were ahead of their times. Almost sounds like a modern day family.
Well, Leah’s servant, Zilpah, had a son . . . and now Leah was happy. Genesis 30 tells us --
12 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher. Genesis 30:12-13
He was 8th on the list of kids born. He wasn’t first nor last. He wasn’t the strongest, most successful or smartest. He was just one of the kids.
He also participated in having his younger brother, Joseph, thrown into a pit, sold into Egyptain slavery. Watched as his father grieved the loss of his son, whom they said was killed by a wild animal. Only to find years later, that their brother was able to save them as second in command in Egypt.
It’s a pretty wild story.
Now, we don’t have any individual acts of heroism, bravery, signs of intelligence or anything from Asher. What we have are a collection of stories which add up to something I believe we need to hear this morning. This is not just for the men, but for all of us!
He left behind a legacy of wisdom, faith, character, and service to his nation at large: a legacy not only attached to him, but to his descendants. Let’s look at stories about him . . .
Asher was the father of four sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah. We also know he had a daughter, and her name was Serah. – Genesis 46:17
What's fascinating about this is Serah was the only granddaughter mentioned among 53 grandsons in the lineage of Jacob. There were other granddaughters, usually the sons were named, but for some reason, Srah, couldn't be left out.
Jewish history says she was a woman of great virtue. Also, Jewish rabbinical literature tell us - Serah was actually Asher's stepdaughter. It’s been said, Asher married a widow named Hadurah when Serah was three years old. So Asher was the father of a blended family. She was included in the lineage of his family, as the only granddaughter. That says something about Asher!
It was customary when a father was dying, he would give a blessing to his children. So, when Jacob was dying, he had each of his 12 sons come to his bedside. Each child received a message from Jacob. Some were not really so kind and hopeful. Asher went to his father’s bedside and in Genesis 49, we read -
20 “Asher's food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies. - Genesis 49:20
Some sons had a paragraph which told of their destruction. Asher had one sentence.
Asher will receive the blessings of richness by experiencing bountiful plenty during the latter days in the Promised Land. So rich in fact that it is described as delicacies of royal quality. Asher’s family will receive abundance and prosperity. They will have so much that they will appear to be royalty.
Now, we’re going to skip over about 400 years of history. The Jewish people are about to enter the promised land. Moses is on Mr. Sinai and he speaks a blessing to each of the 12 tribes, or 12 sons of Jacob. Of course, Asher is long gone. The tribe of Asher is very much alive and doing well. For some reason, Moses saves Asher for last and says this -
24 And of Asher he said, “Most blessed of sons be Asher; let him be the favorite of his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be. - Deuteronomy 33:24-25
This is a blessing passed on to Asher’s descendants. But it also says something about Asher. Sometimes we can’t measure the impact we will have in this world during our lifetime. We don’t always get to see the legacy we will leave. We don’t realize and know how our character will be passed on from generation to generation. We don’t always realize that the choices we make today will impact others and how those choices can potentially impact generation after generation.
Asher just seemed like an average guy, hoping to make it in a large, crazy family.
Yet, we see Moses blessing the family of Asher. In that culture being blessed meant numerical growth. That happened for Asher’s descendants. In the book of Numbers 1:41, we’re told that there were more than 41,000 fighting men from Asher’s family. Later in Numbers 26:47, that number has increased to 53,000. What’s significant about this is the fact that the number of fighting men in Israel had decreased by 2,000.
Let me make a blanket statement here. . . Hold onto these words. Maybe this is the point of the entire message . . .
There is absolutely no price tag for God’s blessing. God’s blessing is worth more than money. There is no monetary value to God’s blessing.
Does that make sense? God’s blessing is worth more than anything. We struggle with that, because we base so much of life on material goods and wealth. Yet, especially us men, if we would recognize the blessings of God, and then help others to see those blessings in us, that would help to change the world.
All the junk in my garage, as much as I like them, will not change the world.
Moses also said that Asher should be favored by his brothers. It means his brothers would delight in him. It means there would be a unity between Asher’s tribe and the other tribes. You know what it’s like in families? Have you ever been in a family that is always at odds? So many siblings don’t get along for one reason or another, yet the character of this tribe shines through as they get along with the other tribes.
Paul reminds us in Romans 12:18
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
We’re told to 32 be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you. - Ephesians 4:32
In Philippians 2, Paul adds -
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. - Philippians 2:3-4
Of course those are New Testament ideas, but these are universal themes.
Moses added - 24 . . . and let him dip his foot in oil.
That’s a pretty strange statement. When you want to bless someone just tell them, you look like God will dip your foot in oil. You’ll get some strange looks.
In those days foot washing was really vital, and only the wealthy had the luxury of using olive oil to wash and soothe their feet.
But this all makes sense, because when Joshua divided up the Promised Land between the 12 tribes, he gave the tribe of Asher land in the area of Galilee, where the soil was rich and olive trees flourished (Joshua 19:24-31). The best olives were raised where Asher's family lived. Even today, one tree will produce 15 gallons of olive oil per season.
I don’t expect you to go home and dip your feet into olive oil. But the theme runs true for us, doesn’t it? We are blessed beyond what we can imagine. Even when struggling, we are still so blessed by God. We have material comforts, we have the gift of Christ. We have the gift of seeing Jesus through His life, suffering, death and resurrection.
We are spiritually blessed by God. We have the promise of Jesus to the disciples in John 14 –
16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever 17 You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
You see, one of our blessings comes in the gift of the Holy Spirit. It’s the promise to use that God will always be with us and in us through the Holy Spirit.
In the Bible, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. So, in a sense we should seek to be dipping our feet in metaphorical oil on a daily basis. That oil will heal and empower us to do more than we believe we can on our own. Without that symbol of the oil, our hearts and souls will grow weary.
The last thing we see in Moses' blessing of Asher's descendants comes with these words -
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be. - Deuteronomy 33:24-25
This is a promise of military strength, the ability to stand against your enemies. The land Asher inherited in the Promised Land was at the northern tip of Israel, along the Mediterranean - just south of Lebanon.
They're promised they would be given strength sufficient to stand against the enemies that would invade from the north. God is saying, "Asher, you'll be blessed with prosperity, but at the same time your enemies will attack you, but you'll withstand them because the bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze."
His legacy is again found in 1 Chronicles 7:40 - -
40 All these were descendants of Asher — heads of families, choice men, brave warriors and outstanding leaders.
This seemingly average guy from a really crazy family had a pretty cool legacy. It was maybe more than he ever thought possible. Average Asher has a legacy that went far beyond his imagination - heads of families, choice men, brave warriors, and outstanding leaders.
Finally, Moses added --
25 . . . and as your days, so shall your strength be. - Deuteronomy 33:25
It’s strange sounding, but it simply means ‘you will be strong all of your days.’ That’s not a bad promise, either. Sometimes we wonder where that strength will come from. Sometimes we think into the future when we shouldn’t. We wonder about the WHAT IF’S of life. . .
What if this happened . . . what if that happened. . .
Notice that Moses said - "Your strength will equal your days." You don't get strength from God for tomorrow's trials; when it’s still today.
Does that make sense? I don’t have strength for tomorrow - - until tomorrow.
Corrie ten Boom, who was imprisoned during World War 2 for resisting the nazis in the Netherlands told the story about a conversation she had with her father. She said, "Daddy, "I'm afraid I'll never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ."
Her father told her, "Tell me, when you take a train trip from Haarlem to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?"
"No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train."
He replied, "That's right, and so it is with God's strength. Our wise Father in heaven knows when you're going to need things too. Today you don't need the strength to be a martyr. But as soon as you're called upon for the honor of facing death for Jesus, He'll supply the strength you need — just in time."
Corrie later said, "I took great comfort in my father's advice. Later I had to suffer for Jesus in a Nazi concentration camp. He indeed gave me all the courage and power I needed."
Moses is saying to the descendants of Asher and to us, "Yes, you'll face challenges from the enemy. You'll face hardship and grief and sickness and persecution. But don't worry about tomorrow, because as your days, so shall your strength be."
Well . . . Asher was a man who seemed pretty average. He produced a family line which was pretty impressive. He left a legacy that shows he and his family were greatly blessed.
One last bit of information about Asher. Soon after Jesus was born, his parents brought Him into the temple to present Him to the Lord, and there they met an old woman named Anna. Listen to what Luke says it about her - -
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
37 She was 84 and was a widow. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. - Luke 2:36-38
From Happy Asher all the way to the prophetess Anna! A woman who recognized Jesus.
Here’s the hope, and here’s the point of all this - -
You may have been raised in the most dysfunctional family ever. You may have made some mistakes, you’ve hurt others, you’ve been careless. We’ve all been there. You may consider yourself just average.
Yet, who you are has the potential to change the world and impact the future. You may not see the future, but your choices can make a difference in the world.
* Thanks to Mark Mitchell's inspiration on this sermon.
