GREATNESS
Text: Genesis 15:1 – 15:1
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Webster describes Greatness as Unusually, considerately or comparatively large in size, dimensions, degree, power, intensity, etc. Greatness means wonderful, first rate, or very good. Greatness may also mean immense, enormous gigantic, huge, vast, grand. A great person can be referred to as a champion, notable, remarkable, exceptionally outstanding, a famous, distinguished etc. He must have been a person who has achieved importance or a distinction in a field.
We have example of great people in world, great cities in the world, great countries in the world etc. Soccer – Brazil, Pele, Basketball – Jordan, Magic Johnson, Boxing – Mohammed Alli, In religion, we have people like Apostle Paul, Peter etc.
Big is the most general word, large is formal, but great is more and highly formal and even poetic, e.g. we may have a big tree, a large tree, but a great oak. Thus when reference is being made to degree or a quality, great is the usual word. Thus we have great beauty, great church, great surprise, but also there may be a great mistake, you are not going to make a great mistake in Jesus name. In the Bible, the word, great was used 959 times, so you see words like great wickedness, great city, feast, salvation, wonders, faith, grace etc. etc.
When I was young, there is this saying that “some people are born great, some people achieve greatness, some people have greatness thrust upon them”.
The people that are born great at times are referred to as people born with silver spoon in their mouths. We can give examples of Princes and Princesses, the children of the nation’s presidents etc. I don’t know whether you are born with silver or plastic spoon in your mouth, but whether you are born with silver spoon or not, I want you to know that you can be great. The beginning is not the main thing; it is the end that is the most important.I want you to know that your greatness depends on the Almighty God. You are only great if God says that you are great.
There are things, countries, cities, people that have great beginnings but have a poor or bad end, or ended in great destruction, your own portion will not be like that. And there are some people who started very poorly but ended being very great. There are people who started very great and maintain the greatness and ended up very great or even greater. And unfortunately, there are people who started very poorly and ended very poorly or even poorer. You must belong to one class, but like I said, the beginning is not the most important thing, but the end; I pray that you will end well in Jesus name.
Let us examine the lives of some people in the Bible for illustration of what I am talking about.
Reuben: The name means, “behold a son” for Jehovah has looked upon affliction of being less loved by my husband. Who is Reuben? Reuben was the first son of Jacob, later known as Israel, the Bible says that Abraham was great, Isaac was very great and that Jacob was exceedingly great. The next person on line would have been Rueben, and his case, if only he had remained on line would have been, greater than Jacob his father. Let us look at the way Jacob described him in Genesis 49:3 “Reuben, thou art my first born, my might, the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the Excellency of power." Let us look at the New Living Translation
"Reuben, you are my oldest son, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first on the list in rank and honor."
We can see what Reuben represented here or what he is supposed to be. Reuben represented might, vigor, first among equals, honor, strength; Excellency, dignity and power, what more can we expect of a man, what else do we expect a man to be? We can safely conclude Reuben was born great, or he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Also, there are so many blessings that are associated with being the first born, let us look at them, the first born has the family inheritance, family supremacy, has the father’s blessings, he is the Spiritual leader and priest of the family or tribe. He has the choice of all the family lands, fruitfulness in offspring; he has a special providence, and personal blessing to himself and to all nations, he has eternal inheritance, a special party to the Abrahamic covenant, father of the Messiah and many nations, father of kings, have power over enemies, headship of nations, material prosperity, spiritual blessings of Abraham and even curse upon enemies. Reuben at birth was no doubt an enviable person. But how did he end? And why? Let us look at Genesis 49: 4: "But you are as unruly as the waves of the sea, and you will be first no longer. For you slept with one of my wives; you dishonored me in my own bed." That is, because of sin, you will no longer be great, Kings James says "thou shall not excel" Reuben did not excel not necessarily because of this sin, but more importantly because he did not make any attempt to do something about the sin.
Reuben is no doubt a good man; he tried to save Joseph in Genesis 37:18-22, and 29-30. He offered himself and his sons as a pledge for Benjamin’s safe return. Good works cannot save us from sins; the Bible says that our righteousness is like a filthy rag. Because of sin and more importantly because he cannot call upon God for forgiveness, Reuben was born a champion but he ended up being a loser. We have other examples of people who were born champions, but, because they left God out of their lives, they ended up being losers; Samson was one of them, Esau, ETC. This will not be your portion in Jesus name. We can imagine the time lapse between the time he slept with his father’ s wife and the time he was now being cursed, he had an ample time to ask for forgiveness of his sins, but he did not. It is possible that he was thinking that his father did not know, as we may also be thinking when we sin, we have a feeling that since there was no immediate repercussion when we sinned, it is either God has forgotten or the sin is of no consequence, the earlier we confess every know sin, irrespective of when they were committed, the better for us. If we refuse to confess any known sin, and ask for repentance, one day it will catch up with us like it happened to Reuben. Do not wait until there will be no time for repentance as in Reuben’s case. Today is the day of repentance, today should be your day of salvation and greatness.
Joseph: Joseph was not the first born of his father, nevertheless, he was born great because Israel loved his mother than any of his wives and being a long awaited child, he was special. Genesis 30:22-23, because he is an honest child, Genesis 37:2, and he was the son of his old age, Genesis 37:3. It was recorded that his father made him a coat of many colors. Also God was with him, anyone that God is with is a great person, the Bible records that the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. Gen.39:2. Joseph also had a gift of interpretation of dreams, he lived a great life. But there was time when he found himself on the other side of midnight, the other side of midnight as we all know is very dark. He was first of thrown into the pit, then into the prison. When he was in the pit and in the Potiphar’s yard as a slave, he was in constant communication with God, for the Bible recorded that God was with Him, he also refused to yield to sin of adultery like Reuben and when he was taken to the prison as a result of injustice, he kept on interpreting other people’s dream despite the fact that his own dream was gradually fading into oblivion. Many of us stop being good when it seems that things are not going our way, we lose our touch with God and start to look some where else. Joseph was still in constant touch with God, who in turn was showing him mercy, and gave him special favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
How did Joseph end and Why?
Joseph was exalted and made the second ruler of Egypt. Gen.41:37-57. 37 "Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his advisers. 38As they discussed who should be appointed for the job, Pharaoh said, "Who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the spirit of God." 39Turning to Joseph, Pharaoh said, "Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, you are the wisest man in the land! 40I hereby appoint you to direct this project. You will manage my household and organize all my people. Only I will have a rank higher than yours."
41And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt." 42Then Pharaoh placed his own signet ring on Joseph’s finger as a symbol of his authority. He dressed him in beautiful clothing and placed the royal gold chain about his neck. 43Pharaoh also gave Joseph the chariot of his second-in-command, and wherever he went the command was shouted, "Kneel down!" So Joseph was put in charge of all Egypt. 44And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am the king, but no one will move a hand or a foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval."
45Pharaoh renamed him Zaphenath-paneah[1] and gave him a wife--a young woman named Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis.[2] So Joseph took charge of the entire land of Egypt. 46He was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he made a tour of inspection throughout the land.
47And sure enough, for the next seven years there were bumper crops everywhere. 48During those years, Joseph took a portion of all the crops grown in Egypt and stored them for the government in nearby cities. 49After seven years, the granaries were filled to overflowing. There was so much grain, like sand on the seashore, that the people could not keep track of the amount.
50During this time, before the arrival of the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis. 51Joseph named his older son Manasseh,[3] for he said, "God has made me forget all my troubles and the family of my father." 52Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, "God has made me fruitful in this land of my suffering."
53At last the seven years of plenty came to an end. 54Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There were crop failures in all the surrounding countries, too, but in Egypt there was plenty of grain in the storehouses. 55Throughout the land of Egypt the people began to starve. They pleaded with Pharaoh for food, and he told them, "Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you." 56So with severe famine everywhere in the land, Joseph opened up the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. 57And people from surrounding lands also came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world."
God made him a ruler over his enemies, over his brothers, overall the land of Egypt. Be became a deliverer of the known world then, a type of Christ. Joseph was born great and he ended a great person because he was constantly in touch with God. Only few people were born great and ended great because the greatness usually entered into their heads and thus end very badly.
Ichabod
Let us turn to I Samuel 4:19-22, “Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her husband and father-in-law were dead, her labor pains suddenly began. 20She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. "Don’t be afraid," they said. "You have a baby boy!" But she did not answer or respond in any way.
21She named the child Ichabod--"Where is the glory?"--murmuring, "Israel’s glory is gone." She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her husband and her father-in-law were dead. 22Then she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured."
This is the story of a boy that the day he was born, everything that could be associated with evil happened. On that day, the Ark of God was taken captured, in other words, the presence of God, the glory of God was taken away, the father died, the mother died and the grandfather and the priest died on the day he was born. The mother looked at him before her death and called him Ichabod – the glory is departed from Israel. The glory of God will not depart from our lives.
Ichabod was born a loser, a nobody, and there is nothing wrong with being born a loser like I have said, the unfortunate thing is that it was not recorded anywhere in the Bible where Ichabod made amendment to his life. It was not recorded that Ichabod at any time called upon God to have mercy upon him, he was born a loser and died a loser. He was born as a nobody, he died uncelebrated, he died unsung.This will not be your portion in Jesus name.
Jabez
Let us compare this story with the story in I Chronicles 4:9 – 10; “9There was a man named Jabez who was more distinguished than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez[3] because his birth had been so painful. 10He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and extend my lands! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!" And God granted him his request.
The meaning of Jabez is “he makes sorrow”. He was called that name because his mother bore him in sorrow. He was also born a loser like Ichabod, he was a man without any family connection, probably a bastard, a child out of wedlock, but he became outstanding, he became a champion, he became a great person, why, because he called upon God and he was heard. He made the following five requests;
Bless me indeed, Enlarge my coast, let your hand be with me, Keep me from evil, and keep me from grief. These request are the most general ones God hears from the average man. God heard Jabez and we have all the right in the world to believe that He will also hear all others who pray likewise form heart, for God is no respecter of persons.
The reason why God allowed these verses of a refreshing story to appear in the midst of all the names in the book of Chronicles is to let us know that he is interested in our individual lives irrespective of where and how we were born. Jabez at the end became so great that a city in Judah was even named after him. The city of Jabez.
Thus we have seen four categories of people
1. People that were born great, and ended up as losers.e.g Reuben
2. People that were born great and ended up being great or even greater.e.g. Joseph
3. People that were born losers and died losers. e.g. Ichabod
4. People that were born losers and ended up being great.e.g. Jabez
You must fall into one of these categories; the category that you will belong to depends on your choice, if you are born a loser or you discover that presently, you are a loser, there is a need to go back to God through Jesus, even if you are presently a champion, there is a need to start calling on God through Jesus, so that your case will not become like that Reuben or Samson. There is only one choice to make to determine whether you will end up as a winner or a loser.
Cities are not left out; many of us have heard of a city called Bethlehem, What is Bethlehem noted for now? The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, very glorious. However, that was not the beginning of the city called Bethlehem.
Let us look at Genesis 25:19-20; “16Leaving Bethel, they traveled on toward Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). But Rachel’s pains of childbirth began while they were still some distance away. 17After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, "Don’t be afraid--you have another son!" 18Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named him Ben-oni; the baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin.[4] 19So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20Jacob set up a stone monument over her grave, and it can be seen there to this day."
Bethlehem was formerly a place of sorrow, where Rachael died, and even a pillar of sorrow,a cemetery or a burial ground, a tomb marker or a stone of sorrow was erected there, it was the first of its type in the scriptures, that was Bethlehem as it was formerly known, a place of sorrow, a place that is associated with the death of a loved one, a place associated with evil, sadness, a place that nobody will like to go, a place for the losers. But with the birth of Jesus, Bethlehem became a city of wonder, a city of joy, a city of happiness, why because the city had an association with God.
Barabbas’ name came in contact with Jesus name; he became a free man.Matthew 27:15-27:26. Today you will be set free in Jesus name. Like I said, the end justifies the means, whatever category you are today you need God, for you to end up as a great and free person.
Prayers:
Father, I confess every sin in my life that will not make me a free and great man in Jesus name. I ask for forgiveness in Jesus name.
Father, every foundation of curses, of failure, of problems in my life that would not make me great, destroy them today in Jesus name.
Father, everything that is slowing me down, from achieving my greatness, father cut them off in Jesus name.
Father, every relationship that will make me a loser, father destroy them today in Jesus name.
References:
1. Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, 2001.
2. Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible
