ASHER: THE MAN CALLED “HAPPY”
Gen. 30:12-13; Deut. 33:24-25
INTRODUCTION
1. I’ve only met one man who went by the name ‘HAPPY,’ but there was a man in the Bible who had that name. In Hebrew his name is Asher, but it means ‘Happy.’ He was one of the 12 sons of Jacob and the head of a tribe.
2. I know what brothers can do with a name. I’m sure his brothers picked on him. When he walked up with a frown or was crying, don’t you know his brothers would say, “Well here comes ‘Happy!’”
3. But this man has special significance for us. Asher is a parallel to Christians. He started off with many problems, but God spoke the prophecy over him when he was born; “He shall be ‘Happy.’” That same prophecy has been spoken over all of us! So let’s take a look at “Asher: The Man Called Happy.”
I. BORN INTO A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY
A. RIVALRY BETWEEN WIVES
1. Asher was born into one of the most dysfunctional families in the Bible. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, but his father-in-law tricked him into marrying her sister Leah. Added into the story was parental favoritism, sibling rivalry, deceit, and longstanding resentment.
2. Leah, the not-favored wife, bore children for Jacob, but Rachel couldn’t conceive. So Rachel gave Jacob her servant girl to bear him sons. This made Rachel feel a measure of triumph. When Leah stopped childbearing, she gave Jacob her servant girl to bear children that would (sort-of) be counted as hers.
3. Genesis 30:12-13 says, “Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, ‘Happy am I! For women have called me happy.’ So she called his name Asher.”
B. ASHER WAS NOBODY SPECIAL
He was 8th in the list of boys, but he had less status because he wasn’t born to one of Jacob’s two wives, but to one of his concubines. He wasn’t the strongest, most successful or smartest; he was just one of the kids.
C. HE MADE BAD DECISIONS
He made the mistake of helping his brothers betray and sell Joseph into Egyptian slavery. He had to watch as his father grieved for Joseph and feel the guilt of his crime.
D. FATHER OF A BLENDED FAMILY
1. When Asher grew up he became the father of four sons and at least one daughter named Serah (Genesis 46:17). The Bible lists 53 grandsons of Jacob, but only one granddaughter; Serah. She stood out in the family.
2. Jewish rabbinical literature tells us that Serah was actually Asher's stepdaughter. Asher married a widow and adopted her 3-year-old, Serah. So Asher was the father of a blended family. All that says something about Asher!
3. HUMOR. Fathers & daughters share special times.
a. Heidi Berg got to ride with her Dad at work in his snowplow! After they’d been plowing along a few hours, she noticed a switch on the dashboard that was encased in a box.
b. “What’s this for?” she asked. “It’s to turn red lights green,” he replied. As they reached a red light, he pointed to the box. “Try it.” She hit the switch, and it worked—the light turned green! Only much later did Heidi find out that it was his garage-door opener, and a Dad’s sense of humor!
II. 3 BLESSINGS OF GOD ON ASHER
A. MERCY IN JUDGMENT
1. When Israel left Egypt (Num. 1:41), there were 41,000 fighting men in Asher’s tribe. After the 40 years, in which many judgments fell on the Israelites for disobedience, Numbers 26:47 reports that the number of fighting men in Asher had increased to 53,000, a 22% increase. Only Manasseh was better, with a 38% GAIN.
2. Four tribes showed abnormally large LOSSES of fighting men: Simeon – 62%, Ephraim – 19%, Naphtali – 14%, and Gad – 11%. Most of the other tribes showed a slight change one way or the other.
3. So it’s believed that the tribe of Asher was more obedient and suffered less judgments and had more offspring than other tribes. There’s no price tag for God’s blessing! It’s worth more than money.
B. ASHER ANOINTED WITH OIL
1. When Moses prophesied about Asher in Deut. 33:24, he said, “Most blessed of sons be Asher; let him be the favorite of his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.” Normally only the wealthy have the luxury of using olive oil to wash and soothe their feet.
2. But this prophecy came true about Asher. When Joshua divided up the Promised Land between the 12 tribes, God gave the tribe of Asher land in the area of Galilee, where the soil was rich and olive trees flourished (Joshua 19:24-31). Even today, one tree in that area will produce 15 gallons of olive oil per season.
3. In addition to this, the prophecy of Moses about Asher having oil led Israel’s Zion Oil & Gas company to do exploration in that area. In 2015, they made crude oil & gas discoveries near the “foot of Asher” both onshore & offshore, considered to be in the billions of barrels [timesofisrael.com, Nov. 20, 2015]. Wow! What a fulfillment!
C. VICTORY OVER ENEMIES
1. The rest of Moses’ prophecy about Asher was, “Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be” Deut. 33:25.
2. This is a promise of military strength, the ability to stand against their enemies. God cited two reasons for this. First God would supply them with iron & bronze in quantities to fortify their cities. Second, God promised they would be given strength sufficient to withstand whatever force their enemies brought against them.
3. Ellicott states that Jewish scholars believe the last phrase (“as your days, so shall your strength be”) can mean, “Your strength in old age shall be as the strength of your youth!” Wow! What a promise!
III. PARALLEL TO CHRISTIANS
A. WE COME FROM A BAD FAMILY LINE
1. Like Asher, we’ve all come from a messed-up bloodline. The sin of Adam & Eve made all of us sinners and separated us from God. And like Asher, there was no way we could escape from our genetic depravity.
2. But thanks be to God, we’ve been born of God, engrafted into Christ, made partakers of the divine nature, and made new creatures in Jesus! In Him we are restored to favor with God, made heirs of God, and joint-heirs of Jesus Christ.
3. ILLUS. It’s like the family who hired a biographer to write a family history. They warned him of their "black sheep:” Uncle George had been executed in the electric chair for murder. The
biographer said, "No problem! I'll merely say that Uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution. He was attached to his position by the strongest of ties and his death came as a real shock."
4. All that we lost in Adam we regained through Jesus Christ! Praise God!
B. GOD SHOWED MERCY IN CHRIST
1. Just like Asher’s tribe was spared from judgment, so we’ve been spared from Hell by the wonderful atonement of Jesus for us on the Cross.
2. We were once enemies of God, aliens to the covenants, and separated from the life of God. But because of God’s grace, His wrath was exhausted on Christ. God has nothing left for us but mercy and love! Christ opened a new universe of love and joy for us that we will inhabit forever!
C. GOD FILLS US WITH HIS SPIRIT
1. And just as Asher was promised oil by God, so God has given us abundance of His Spirit. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (1 Sam. 16:13; Zech. 4:2-6; Matt. 25:1-13).
2. Jesus told His disciples in John 14:16-17, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter to be with you forever. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” He was speaking of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2 the disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit and we’re commanded (Eph. 5:18) to be continuously filled with the Spirit.
3. So let’s dip our feet in the oil of the Spirit on a daily basis. That oil will heal and empower us to do more than we ever could on our own. Without this new Fresh Oil, our souls will grow dry and weary. We must have this Oil!
D. GOD GIVES US VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL
1. Finally, Asher received the promise of strength in warfare. So have we. The Lord Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” Luke 10:19. We have power over the devil and his angels in the name of Jesus!
2. Remember, “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn” Isa. 54:17. We are invincible when we are obedient/ under the blood!
4. The final promise is possibly the best; “As your days, so shall your strength be” Deut. 33:25. This is a promise without limits. When we need strength, God will supply it, no matter
how great. Thus we will never be overwhelmed, for as our opposition increases, so our grace increases. “Where sin abounds, God’s grace does much more abound” Rom. 5:20. “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” 1 Jn. 4:4.
5. You may face hardship, grief, sickness, or persecution. But don't worry about tomorrow, because ‘as your days, so shall your strength be.’ Our Lord Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” John 16:33.
E. EXAMPLE OF STRENGTH IN PERSECUTION
1. 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."
2. Her father told her, "Tell me, when you take a train trip…, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?" "No, Daddy, you give me the money just before we get on the train."
3. 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."
4. 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."
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Steven Marsh of New Jersey was a typical busy American businessman. When his old eccentric aunt died, he hoped he might get a windfall. She had no kids and he was her favorite nephew.
2. He was called to the reading of her Will and the lawyer read, “To my beloved Steven Marsh I bequeath my family Bible and all it contains, along with the rest of my estate after my funeral expenses and debts are paid.”
3. Wow! Steven was her only heir! But he was disappointed when her net worth turned out to be a few hundred dollars, after expenses. Steven shook his head and stuck the old Bible in a trunk in the attic.
4. Years went by and Steven’s business failed. Money got tighter and tighter. Finally, he had to sell everything just to pay his debts. In preparation for moving he was cleaning out his attic and found the old family Bible.
5. He thought to himself, “I probably need to read this! Only God could help me now since my situation is so bad.” He opened the old volume and began leafing through. To his joy and astonishment, he found she had scattered through it $500,000 dollars! Within his reach were riches he could have been enjoying all along. Why had he never opened it before? [Adapted from Paul Tan, 7,700 Illus., #2008]
6. God has made many promises to you. Why not claim your family inheritance? Mercy; Holy Spirit; Victory over your enemies; Strength.
7. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jer. 29:11. God is for us!
B. THE CALL
1. We’re going to pray. How many of you have been raised in dysfunctional families and could use some healing? Have you ever made mistakes and hurt someone, like Asher?
2. Maybe you need to forgive someone whose hurt you. And I believe there are others of you who want to rise to your potential to change the world and impact the future. Slip up your hands.
3. Are there any who need Jesus Christ in your life and forgiveness of sins? Let’s pray.
[This is a rewrite of Michael Deutsch’s sermon, “Father's Day Message About Asher.”]
