Gen 47:10, And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence. We are in the process of the consideration of what it means to be the blessed ones of God’s grace and mercy in this world. We are given a responsibility by the Lord to show forth the living character of His new life within us in all our dealings with those who surround us. As with the prophet of the One True and Living God, Jacob, who blessed the Pharaoh of Egypt, so are we to bless those with whom we have any interaction. In so doing, we will be a blessing not only to them but to God, Whom we represent on this earth.
In last week’s deliberation, we saw that this blessing from God was even request by the Pharaoh of the Nation of Israel’s slavery. After suffering the plagues and then releasing the Chosen People of God into freedom, he asked Moses and Aaron to bless Him. Ex 12:31+32, Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, "Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also."
We want to continue, then, with the manner of God blessing His people and the blessing that we are to be to others in His name. We will do so as we read throughout the scripture. 
Please turn to Num 6:22-27, as we read about the blessing that Moses was instructed to give to the people of Israel. Num 6:22-27, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' "So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them." 
Note that this blessing was given to Moses by God. God was the One Who phrased it and told Moses to so instruct the priests how to bless His people. This blessing involved the power of God to keep and to sustain His people and to manifest His grace upon them. The Lord, Himself, would keep them in the center of His vision with the full supply of His peace. 
This was no small blessing from the mouth of God! It encompassed everything that His people would need in the days and years and decades ahead. As the priests so showered this blessing upon His people, so would God shower upon them all the blessing of Himself as their Protector and their Keeper and their Supply and their Safety and their Comfort in His peace. 
Then, just before the people were to cross over the Jordon River into the Promised Land, Moses, who would not be permitted to cross over, gathered them together. He instructed them to keep the covenant which the Lord God had given them in the grace and mercy and blessing of Himself. 
Please turn to Deut 28:1-8. Deut 28:1-8, "Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. "The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 
Please note the specific blessings that were promised to the Children of Israel as they went into the land and faithfully honored the Lord God Almighty. Everywhere they went, whether in the city or in the country, they would know the blessing of God upon them. Their children and their every endeavor would receive the approval and the covering goodness of God. His protection and keeping power would surround them. 
They would become the example to all humanity of what life on this earth could be as God was recognized preeminently and supremely and diligently. After all, the promise of God was that in them, through His Christ, all the nations of the world would be blessed. As God dealt so faithfully with His people, so would all the nations see that there was truly only One Living Lord God Almighty Who blessed those who were His own possession.
As we read in Josh 21:43-45, the Lord fulfilled all that He had pledged to the Children of Israel as they were entering the Promised Land including His peace upon them. Josh 21:43-45, So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass. 
 This was the triumphant return into the land of God’s faithful promise to Abraham and to Isaac and to Israel. In the following chapter, we have the words of Joshua to those two and a half tribes who wanted the land on the other side of the Jordan River. They had sworn to help the rest of Israel to inhabit the land of Promise and to fight against those nations who would rise up against them. In fulfilling that oath, Joshua then thanked them for their faithful actions and released them from their oath and blessed them for all that they had done to allow their brothers to inhabit the land. 
Please follow along in Josh 22:1-6. Josh 22:1-6, Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not forsaken your brothers these many days to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; therefore turn now and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan. Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 
They were not released from their duty to serve the Lord with all their heart and with all their minds and with all their substance, but were further instructed …to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. In this, they retained the blessing of God upon them even though they were outside the land of God’s Promise. The blessing upon them would be as full and wonderful as it was upon their brethren on the other side of the Jordan, as long as they continued their direct connection in faithful service to the Lord God Almighty. 
We have another example of the blessing of the Lord offered upon His people as we read the account of the Ark of the Covenant being brought into the city of Jerusalem and being placed in the tent so prepared to receive it. In the joy of bringing such a treasure of God into the appointed place, King David offered a blessing upon the people in the name of the Lord. 1 Chron 16:1-4, And they brought in the ark of God and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. And he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread and a portion of meat and a raisin cake. And he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: 
Please note that the joy and the reverence and the blessing was so great that the people not only shared together in the supply of the bread, meat, and cake, but priests were appointed for the sole purpose of celebrating and thanking and praising the Lord. There was such rejoicing and honor and adoration toward God placed upon this momentous occasion of the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into the city that its very presence caused all the people to be blessed and to make provision to return that blessing unto the Lord through those chosen priests. This is a tremendous aspect of how the blessing of God is returned unto Him by those so blessed and so honored to partake of His bounty of love and provision. In being blessed, there is a requisite desire to manifest gratefulness and thanksgiving and honor and adoration upon God Who has so blessed us.
The Psalmist recounts one of the great reasons that we should seek to honor and worship the Lord for His tremendous blessing in our lives. Ps 3:8, Salvation belongs to the Lord; Thy blessing be upon Thy people! Selah. We are so blessed by God in His glorious and gracious plan of salvation through the giving of His Only Begotten Son! As a consequence, we should be seeking to bless God with lives that honor and reverence Him for all that He has done in giving us His eternal life. We are to seek to please Him in the manner in which we are the testimony of the reality of our living relationship with Him through Our Lord and Savior. As blessed as we are, so are we to bless God and to bless others in full accordance with the heart that seeks to proclaim His goodness and His grace and His mercy and His love to all the earth. 
This, too, is in the Psalmist’s heart as we read in Ps 24:1-6. Feel free to read along with me in joining our hearts together to declare the awesomeness of Our Lord God Almighty. Ps 24:1-6, The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Thy face — even Jacob. Selah. 
Our entire being is to be wrapped up in that which will show forth the goodness and the faithfulness and the righteousness of God in our every interaction with those around us. As we live by the guidance and the direction of the Holy Spirit, in line with His Word, and with the yearning aspiration to bless Him for all His love and mercy, so will He be exalted and glorified by our exchanges and interactions with others who are in such need of knowing Him in life and reality.  
	In this course of our walk on this earth, in seeking to be a blessing to others, we will know that we are in the safety and the security of the very hands of God, Himself. Ps 37:23-26, The steps of a man are established by the Lord; And He delights in his way. When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand. I have been young, and now I am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends; And his descendants are a blessing. …And his descendants are a blessing.
	We are blessed as we live in accordance with the very heart of God and that will be translated into even greater blessings unto those who are so touched by this graciousness of God in our lives. Our succeeding generations and descendants will see that we live in a manner that is different from the ways of this world. In that reality, there will be a drawing unto the Lord which will cause them to be blessed and to become a blessing unto others. 
	Finally, in the Psalms, we have the direct blessing that God has created in bringing into place our union in Jesus Christ as His Church on this earth. We are blessed by God, and through Him, we find blessing in one another as we look unto God to make us one in Christ Jesus. Ps 133, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron's beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing — life forever. 
	His complete blessing, life forever, is ours as we focus our hearts and our minds and our thoughts and our actions absolutely unto Him. As He is the focal point of who we are and how we act and think, so will His blessing be flowing in overabundance upon us, His Chosen Ones, as it was upon the Israelites of old. So be it.
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Ps 145:8-10. The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. All Thy works shall give thanks to Thee, O Lord, And Thy godly ones shall bless Thee. Amen.