The 12 Stone Memorial Part 7: Joseph & Benjamin Series

-- Rachel is the one that Jacob loved from the beginning, but she is the last one to give birth to any children.

-- Rachel had to stand by and watch 10 sons be born to her husband with none of them coming from her directly. You know that was messing with her mind!

-- Rachel dealt with the shame, disgrace and guilt of being childless.

-- She also dealt with her older sister being “fertile myrtle” and giving birth to six sons and one daughter.

Rachel

a. The name Rachel means ewe or sheep.

b. Rachel speaks of being the sheep of God’s pasture. Rachel speaks of being what God is looking for in the church.

c. Rachel represents the era or type of the church that is truly operating as she should – as the sheep of God.

d. This is the type of the church that God is most in love with. This is the church that He as the Great Shepherd is able to produce the most through.

e. Rachel was beautiful and highly favored and is the one that Jacob loved.

*Out of these 4 women came the 12 tribes of Israel. Out of these 4 women came the fruit of God in His people. Out of these 4 women we find the different types and manifestations of the church. As we look at the 12 tribes going forward, we can begin to see what things are produced during these times. With that, we will see that the 12 stones take on new meaning when we realize what they represent and what God has brought us out of or through.

JOSEPH

-- Joseph means Jehovah has added.

-- Rachel named him declaring that God had finally added unto her a son and taken away her disgrace.

-- Joseph speaks of God adding or blessing in His time and in His way.

-- It took years of patience on the part of Rachel before she held God’s addition in her arms.

-- What might have happened if Rachel had truly given up and quit enjoying intimacy with Jacob? She would have never held God’s provision.

-- Joseph was the son that was most favored and blessed by his father Jacob.

-- Joseph was used of God to be a blessing to the entire camp of Israel in providing for them in time of famine.

-- If Rachel had given up and not exemplified patience, all of God’s people would have suffered.

-- When it seems like God’s provision or addition is never going to come, it may be that He is preparing you and things to bring about the greatest provision of all.

-- We never know what God might be about to produce through us. We must hold strong and not faint or lose heart.

-- God’s provision, God’s best, God’s direction doesn’t always have to come at first. We just need to make sure that we are in position when it does come so that we don’t miss out.

-- In Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33, we read of the great blessings bestowed upon Joseph.

-- JOSEPH REPRESENTS EVERYTHING IN THE CHURCH THAT WE WANT.

BENJAMIN

-- Benjamin means son of my right hand or son of good fortune.

-- There was quite a gap of time between the birth of Joseph and Benjamin.

-- Benjamin’s birth was hard and difficult to the point that Rachel died during the birth. As she was told she bore a son, she named him Benoni which means son of my sorrow.

-- Jacob, however, changed his name. Jacob was unwilling to view his son as sorrowful. He saw him as strength and good fortune.

-- Jacob was declaring that he was happy to have Benjamin no matter what it cost to get him into this world.

About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders. Deuteronomy 33:12

2 THINGS I WANT TO EMPHASIZE ABOUT BENJAMIN:

1. You have been produced by God and therefore you are a blessing. No matter what it may have cost to get you here, you are worth it.

a. It makes no difference what others may have said or think, the father says you are a blessing.

b. God doesn’t see you the way you see yourself or the way others see you. God sees you as special and the most important person in His world.

2. If the church is going to produce what God has in mind, she is going to have to die to herself.

a. Through the death of Rachel, we have Benjamin.

b. Jacob, the father, declared that Benjamin was the son of his right hand. He was born at the death of Rachel.