Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
Genesis
49:14-15
“Issachar is no better than a donkey That lies stretched out
between its saddlebags. But he sees that the resting
place is good And that the land is delightful. So he bends his
back to carry the load And is forced to work as a slave. Good News Translation
“Issachar is a rawboned[f] donkey lying down among the sheep pens. When
he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he
will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor. NIV
“Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds. He
saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he
bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor. English
Standard Version (ESV)
Issachar is a strong donkey,lying down between the sheepfolds. He saw that his resting place was good and that his
land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor
as a servant.… Berean Study Bible
Transit points are not final destination points. They
are connecting points to final destination points. They should therefore not
become rest points but should serve the divine purpose of connecting you to
your final destination. This is because a person in transit actually has no
rights and privileges in a transit point. But in a final destination; either as
a tourist, short to medium or long term visitor; a person has rights and
privileges and is not likely to become a slave.
If Joseph for instance had consented to the sin of
sexual immorality with Potiphar’s wife which appeared pleasant then – he was
liked by his boss and colleagues; Joseph would have remained a slave forever,
enslaved to Potiphar’s wife who would always blackmail him if he refused to
continue in sin, assuming he consented the first time.
Even prison was not Joseph’s final destination. It was
another transit point; a connecting point to his final destination. Significantly,
Joseph took advantage of every transient point he found himself in. He used
them as transient points and not final destination points as in the case of
Issachar. Issachar chose to settle down at a transit point because the transit
point appeared to be pleasant, pleasant in quote because that pleasantness was the
reason for his slavery. Sadly, Issachar became a band of slaves simply because
he chose to rest in the wrong place, a transit point which would have connected
him to his final destination where people would serve him.
Issachar could have resisted servitude because he
had strengths – he is described as a strong donkey but he chose to deploy that
divine strength for servitude. Apparently, Issachar was not willing in the day
of God’s power to rule in the midst of his enemies. Please see Psalm 110 verses
2 to 3. Rather, he deliberately, consciously and willingly chose servitude. It was
too much effort to make it on his own; just like it was too much effort for
Professor Lazy to roast the game he took in hunting (Proverbs Chapter 12 verse
27) and to lift food from the bowl to his mouth (Proverbs Chapter 26 verse 15).
While Professor Lazy’s character defect is that his hands refuse to labor
(Proverbs Chapters 21 verse 25, 24 verses 30 to 34, 6 verses 4 to 11) which
explains the string of excuses for not laboring (Proverbs Chapters 26 verses 13
to 16, 22 verse 13 and 20 verse 4): it is ironic that Issachar’s hands do
labor, in point of fact great labor. But unfortunately, Issachar labored as a
slave with little or no profit; just enough to get by. Issachar’s character defect
is contentment with just enough to get by despite laboring intensely. He did
not bother with getting more than enough to rise above slavery – he was content
in a negative way.
Though Joseph was practically a leader in prison, he
sought creative ways of getting out of prison. He was not content to be a
leader in prison because he knew that prison was one of his transit points
which should connect him to his final destination. Therefore, Joseph told the
butler to remember him. Joseph was discontent with prison despite the
privileges he enjoyed in prison. But Issachar was not discontent with servitude.
He loved it and slaved his life away serving masters who were actually people
who should serve him and his generations unborn.
It is ironic and sadly so that
Issachar was not compelled to labor as a servant. He had divinely and naturally
endowed abilities to make it on his own which was God’s plan and purpose for
his life. However, because Issachar saw that transit point was good and that
the land was pleasant, he chose to submit to labor as a servant. In point of fact, as the Message Bible puts it,
Issachar voluntarily gave up his freedom, rights and privileges to independence
and went to work as a slave. This is not good at all especially considering the
fact that Issachar had all that was required to succeed on his own right inside
of him. Yet, Issachar took those spectacular God given strengths and exchanged them
for a life of servitude. Does this remind you of what Esau did when he exchanged
his birthright to Jacob for a plate of food? In essence, Esau gave up his
rights and privileges to the divine benefits of the first born for a plate of
food. If only Esau knew that the birthright was his transit point to
leadership, wealth, honor and fame, he would have suffered the pangs of hunger
for only a short while knowing that greater glories awaited him.
Issachar was divinely designed to lead nations and make
nations serve him because he was divinely and naturally capacitated to do so. Recall
that the Bible records that the sons of Issachar were the ones who had an
understanding of the times and therefore knew what Israel should do. They played
a major role in making David King over Israel. Yet because of transient
comforts, Issachar submitted to servitude, abandoning the national leadership
role of giving direction to nations. Please see Genesis
Chapters 39, 40, 49 for details.
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