Zebulun Naphtali Gentiles

11.19.2009

Matthew 4:15 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

New American Standard Bible

Makes you wonder why it wasn’t, “…land of Judah, place of power, downtown Jerusalem…” Makes you wonder why any prophecy regarding the Messiah included the world Gentiles. What was God up to?

It is somehow totally frightening and altogether comforting that God is able to know it all down to the very last detail, and He didn’t need (and doesn’t need now) a spreadsheet to keep track of it all to keep it in order, on pace, or on track. And He told them(His people) in their precious religious records that it all would take place, hundreds of years before it ever actually happened. But they didn’t get it.

If God were to have prophecied over my life and told me I was going to be in Baker City, Oregon despite how I was raised and what I was taught, I would’ve laughed in His face. But sitting here in Baker now, I am reminded that God does what God does down to the very last detail; and He has placed me strategically, exactly, where He wants me to be (See Acts 17.26) and has ordained so since before the world was formed. Including the people with whom I rub shoulders in this community at work, at play and in church.

So I am comforted and encouraged to face one more day knowing that the prophecies about Jesus sometimes included verbiage that made it hard for humans to follow let alone swallow, but it is all because God, strategically, purposefully, and intentionally does what He does to you, to me and to everyone in the world; He does it in love, and for the greater purpose of relationship with all of us.

Father in Heaven,

You do what You do but it doesn’t always make sense to us and more often than not includes people and places that we’re not the most comfortable with. I am humbled that the prophecy includes forgotten names like Zebulun, Naphtali, and Galilee of the Gentiles. It might also include Baker City – for me it does. I will worship You and serve You with renewed purpose this day as You use it for my growth and maturing in the Kingdom. Help me to learn today, I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.