Genesis 30:9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. (10) And Zilpah Leah s maid bare Jacob a son. (11) And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
I. There are some lessons we can learn from Gad. The 12 sons of Jacob, in order of their birth, are: Reuben (behold a son or vision of the son), Simeon (hearing/hears and obeys/hearing with acceptance), Levi (joined/adhesion), Judah (object of praise/praise of the Lord), Dan (he that judges), Naphtali (obtained by wrestling), Gad (good fortune, troop, seer), Asher (happy), Issachar (there is here or reward), Zebulun (dwelling or wished for habitation), Joseph (may God add/increased), and Benjamin (son of my right hand).
A. Here Gad is the firstborn of Leah’s maid, but he is technically a middle child, stuck in the middle. He is the other son. I am a middle child, I get it. In those introductions you have the eldest, you have the baby, and then you have also our other son. Everyone seems to be talking about all the brothers. Even today you will hear preachers and Christians talk about the other brothers. Throughout the Bible you find very little information about Gad and his tribe, which is only mentioned 74 times out of the 783,137 words in the KJV Bible. In comparison, Judah is mentioned over 764 times.
1. Sometimes we feel stuck, stuck in our calling, stuck in our walk, always in the middle, not able to move forward. It seems like everyone is being talked about but you. It’s hard when you feel stuck. It’s uncomfortable. It plays with your mind and your emotions. You just can’t seem to get out of the middle.
2. You can feel like God is playing favorites. Everyone else seems to be blessed and highly favored, the head, and not the tail; …above only, …not be beneath; for you it just seems like a struggle. Everyone else seems to be talked about but you. It even appears God is talking about others over you.
3. I know because I feel that way. Just because I am a Child of God and serve in a ministerial position doesn’t exempt me from the flesh; For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Paul said: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am!
a. I fight discouragement and depression too. I deal with a blast from the past. As a teenager and even in my early 20’s and now in my 40’s I keep battling low self-esteem, depression, self-worth. Sometimes those feelings rise up from time to time.
b. I am weary in well doing and feel like Job; My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. The words of David ring true within me; For my soul is full of troubles: O my God, my soul is cast down within me. The Bible says in Pr 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but [when] the desire cometh, [it is] a tree of life. Right now, I am just sick and as far as I am concerned that tree was cut down.
B. While we feel like we are stuck in the middle, guess who else knows what it’s like in the middle. Jesus hung between two thieves, one chose Him and the other rejected Him, but He still loved them both. One was forgiven and the other could have been forgiven. This is the world today, those that accept and those that reject but Jesus as our great High Priest “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.” (Heb 7:24, AV) stands between us and God, connecting heaven and earth. 1Jo 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
a. There is no reason to get all tore up when the name that is above every name, the one who created all things, the one that saw satan fall like lightening, the one that stepped out of eternity clothed Himself as man, so that He could be our propitiation, who bare our guilt, our shame, and sin on the cross so that death, hell and the grave could be defeated. So that through accepting Him we would be saved by confessing and turning from our sins. So that soon and very soon we will take off this mortal, corruptible body and be as Him clothed in a new immortal and uncorruptible body where we will reign together forever in the new earth and heaven.
1. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1Ti 2:5, AV) (Heb. 9:24) For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Jesus stands between us and God making intercession for us.
2. While it may seem like no one is talking about you, Jesus can’t stop talking about you. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb 7:25) Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Rom 8:34) You are always on His lips to the Father as He is making intercession for you. You can count on Jesus. He said I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Jesus told Peter that Satan hath desired to have you, But I have prayed for thee. What He did for Peter He is doing for us; He is calling out your name day and night before the Father!
II. At the end of Jacob’s life he called together all his children so that he could bless them. Jacob’s blessing over Gad would be Ge 49:19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
A. Gad would be the son of enlargement. No name in all the twelve tribes of Israel is so much played upon in Jacob's blessing as the name of Gad, meaning "a troop." Invaders and robbers might try to plunder Gad, but victory would be his with resultant enlargement. Jacob predicted for the tribe of Gad a time of sore conflict, yet of final conquest. "He shall overcome at last." God enabled Gad to discomfit and defeat his foes with ease (I Chron. 5:18-22).
1. The men of Gad had faces like "the faces of lions," and when David needed help, the Gadites of lion-like character helped David the outlaw king. "They put to flight all them of the valleys, both of the east and of the west." These Gadite partnered with David and "executed the justice of the Lord, and His judgments with Israel."
2. God would enlarge and expand Gad. The tribe of Gad would say "The place where we dwell... is too strait for us." The tribe of Gad was a determined and aggressive tribe that could not remain static, so their inheritance was extended beyond its original limits until it covered the whole area of Gilead.
3. When you are in the middle you keep fighting. You can’t stop fighting. You can’t give in to defeat. The enemy may overcome you but don’t let him defeat you. You keep fighting. In the end you will overcome all your enemies. Don’t quit now, you have been promised victory! This world is a battleground not a playground. Ro 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Don’t let anything separate you from God. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5)
a. Nike named their shoes after the Goddess of victory, but that name comes from the Greek word Nikao which means to overcome, conquer, prevail, get the victory. 1 John tells us that victory only comes through Jesus. Nike you don’t need a swoop you need a savior.
B. In Numbers 32 the time comes for the children of Israel after 40 years of wilderness wandering to possess the promise land but the children of Reuben and the children of Gad looked at the land outside the promise land and thought it was good enough and so they went to Moses and said they would settle in that land and Moses says Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? Gad and Reuben (18) We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. (19) For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward. The children of Gad and Reuben said they would fight for their brethren to obtain their land within the promise land. Moses agreed to allow them to settle outside of the promise since they would still fight for their brothers.
1. There are times when you feel stuck in the middle that you just stop fighting for your promises. Now we will fight for others, but we have settled to stay where we are and not take the full promise. When we are discouraged and feel overwhelmed it’s easy to look at a substitute promise and claim it as the true promise.
2. When you’re in the middle you still have that fight in you but not for you. You will stand in the gap and make up a hedge, you will touch and agree and go to war for others to obtain their promise, but you are ok with being on the outside, the border of your promise. Our place is not outside the promises of God but within them. God is always moving us toward the promise.
3. Even if you think you are too far removed from your promise. God is still moving you toward it. In
Ezekial 48 describes the realignment of the 12 Tribes after the return of the Lord. Within that alignment you won’t find Gad on the outside but on the inside.
4. Delays are not denials, there is an appointed time, though it tarries we still must wait. Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint. In Him the promises are yes and amen. It took Joseph 13 years to see the dream to come true, it took David 20 years before he sat on his throne, Abraham waited 25 years for the promise of his son, Moses had 40 years in the desert before was sent back to Egypt, Noah waited and labored 120 years before the promise of the flood came. We may feel stuck, but we keep fighting, we keep moving forward, don’t settle for Potiphar’s house, don’t birth an Ishmael, don’t place yourself on the throne. Wait on God. He won’t leave you at the river’s edge, He plans to send you to the other side. Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. La 3:25 The LORD [is] good unto them that wait for him, to the soul [that] seeketh him.
III. Now we jump ahead over 1400 years from when Gad was blessed to the New Testament where most of the tribes and their land has been scattered due to rebellion and conflicts with the Assyrians and Babylonians during the exile periods. In Mark 5, Matthew 9, and Luke 8 we are given an account of Jesus crossing over to the country of the Gadarenes, that’s GAD-arenes who are of the tribe of Gad and reside in the portion they settled in.
A. That location should sound familiar because we find a famous occupant of Gadara, we normally call him the demoniac of Gadara. I have a huge problem with that name we have given him but more on that later. To see the full picture of this event you must look at Matthew, Mark, and Lukes’s account.
1. When you study their accounts, you find that there were two unnamed demon possessed men. Everyone in the surrounding area knew of these men. They could not be bound by chains or fetters because they would break them. They were naked and dwelled in tombs which made them unclean by the law, and they spent all day and all night, crying, and cutting themselves with stones. When they see Jesus they violently run up on Him, but because every knee should bow, And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, they fell down and worshipped Him and the demons fearing what Jesus would do to them asked if He had come to torment them before the time and cast them into the abyss, which is speaking of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9 and the final judgment in Revelation 20.
a. The demons in one of the men identifies themselves as legion, for they are many. A legion is a Roman word for a company of 6000 or more which is why we believe this man had over 6000 demons. The other man we are not told how many demons he had. Some believe that the word troop and legion are interchangeable and that Jacobs blessing which said, Gad, a troop (or legion) shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last was speaking prophetical of this moment.
b. The demons ask if they can be cast into the herd of 2000 pigs (since there was a herd of pigs in the area this shows that this portion of Gad was shared with Gentiles), and Jesus allows them to flee into the herd which they cause the herd to go mad and cast themselves into the sea. When the keepers of the herd tell the locals about it they meet with Jesus and ask him to leave.
2. This proves that there is none equal to the Lord, but I hear repeatedly among Christians that claim that God and satan are on the same power level. There are plenty of scriptures that disprove that the created being satan does not match or is in no way equal to God. We are told that when we final see satan for who he is we will be shocked; Isa 14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; We know that satan was cast out of heaven by Michael the arch angel (Rev.12) while the Lord watched Lu 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
a. The Bible tells us of Jesus in Col. 1: 14) In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins: (15) Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (16) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (17) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Which tells me if He stops thinking about us and creations for one second; everything would disappear including satan and his demons. Jesus told Pilate in Joh 19:11, Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, except it were given thee from above:
b. Maybe that’s not enough to convince you that He is all powerful, so let’s have some fun with math. In the garden when Jesus was being arrested, Peter pulls out a sword to fight the arresting mob and Jesus says in Mt 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? One legion is 6,000 angels, so if you simply multiply that number by twelve, you get a minimum of 72,000 angels. But Jesus said the Father would give Him more than twelve legions of angels; therefore, you can conclude that there were potentially many additional thousands of angels available to Jesus the night He was arrested!
c. The next question to ask is how strong is an angel? Isaiah 37:36 records that a single angel wiped out 185,000 men in one night. Since a single angel was able to wiped out 185,000 men in one night, it would mean the combined strength in a legion of 6,000 angels would be enough to destroy 1,110,000,000 men (that is, one billion, one hundred ten million men) — and that’s just the combined power in one legion of angels!
d. Now let’s multiply this same number 185,000 by twelve legions, which was the number of angels Jesus said was available to Him on the night of His arrest. When we do that, we find that there was enough combined strength at Jesus’ disposal to have wipe out at least 13,320,000,000 men (that is, thirteen billion, three hundred twenty million men) — for comparison there are only approximately 8.2 billion people living on the earth right now, and remember the Lord created those angels. I think we are in good hands!
3. There were two men that were delivered that day. We never hear anything about the other man, like the other thief on the cross. There was a decision to be made that day and the other man that was possessed with demons like so many that were healed left Jesus and were never heard from again. He took deliverance but rejected devotion. Like so many now they want to be delivered by Him but not devoted to Him.
B. Here are the final 2 lessons we can learn. The one that legion was cast from is now clothed and in his right mind and before Jesus leaves since the people were afraid and wanted Jesus to depart.
1. We call this man the demoniac of Gadera, the Bible never called him. Like he is a monster. We identify him by his condition. Like Thomas who we repeatedly call “Doubting Thomas” which is a term we gave him not Christ or scriptures. We pick Peter apart for sinking when he stepped over the boat and walked on water with Jesus. We call the larger books of the prophets; major while the smaller books of the prophets are minor as if they are less significate. We call Paul the greatest apostle because he makes up a majority of the New Testament. We find comfort in other’s conditions or look for ways to class and group others.
2. We all have conditions that we are not proud of. We all have things that we try to hide. Things that make us feel unworthy, ashamed, or that just make us feel like we can’t be good enough. Satan the accuser of the brethren who is always running his mouth uses this tactic on us constantly, but sadly, people also want you to remember and identify only by your condition as well.
a. Remember brothers and sisters that 2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
3. Before Jesus leaves the man asks if he can go with Jesus but Jesus tells him Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him:
a. Decapolis was a large territory that was made up of 10 cities, Scythopolis (modern Bet She?an, Israel), Hippos (modern Sussita, on the Golan Heights), Gadara (modern Um-Qays, Jordan), Raphana (modern al-Rafa), Dion (modern Tell al-Ash?ari?), Pella (modern Khirbat ?abaqat Fa?il), Gerasa (modern Jerash, Jordan), Philadelphia (modern Amman, Jordan), Canatha, and Damascus (capital of modern Syria). Jesus sent him to evangelize 10 cities.
4. If a man that had 6000 demons can evangelize 10 cities resulting in the resurrection of Jarius daughter and the woman that had an issue of blood receiving her healing. Who knows how many more this man helped to lead to the Lord. Who knows how many churches were planted, how many dead were raised, and sick healed. He didn’t have time to document his calling; he just knew that he was sent. He was doing what Paul said in 1 Cor. 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. (8) Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. (9) For we are labourers together with God: ye are God s husbandry, [ye are] God s building.
C. Your commission is greater than your condition. We have overcome the enemy. No forces in hell are greater than Christ, in our weakness He is strong, Re 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;. There is nothing you have done that can keep you from your commission if anything it was those conditions that make your commission even greater. Don’t let who you were stop you from being who you are, a child of the King that has a commission from Him to overcome, win souls, etc. As a blood bought child of God, He calls you son, He calls you daughter. He doesn’t call you by who you were but who you are in Him.
