If just one thing was said about you, describing your whole life, what would you like it to be?
Here is Enoch’s testimony: “he pleased God” (Heb 11:5). And Abraham “was called the friend of God” (Jas 2:23). What will you be remembered for? Here’s what Moses said about Dan, Naphtali, and Asher. Sadly, Simeon is excluded due to the shameful crime he committed at Shechem, of which, seemingly, he never repented. But Dan also has a dark history, although you might not catch it from Moses’ words. “Dan is a lion’s whelp; he shall leap from Bashan” (Deut 33:22). As Simeon is excluded from this list, so Dan is left out of the list of God’s faithful Jews in Revelation 7. Dan, the first tribe to institute idolatry in Israel, rejected the land God gave their tribe near Zion, and moved as far as possible to the north. Yet Jacob said concerning his prodigal, “I have waited for Your salvation, O Lord!” (Gen 49:18), and Ezekiel tells us that Dan at last will have a gate to the City of God—an encouragement to believers with wayward children! “O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the Lord, possess the west and the south” (Deut 33:23). Bordering the Sea of Galilee, this is where Jesus chose His disciples. That they “possess the west and the south” is a call to spread God’s Word. Jacob is more specific: “He uses beautiful words” (Gen 49:21). How beautiful are the gospel words that spread around the world! And Asher? “Asher is most blessed of sons;…as your days, so shall your strength be’” (Deut 33:24-25). The only outstanding member from Asher is the widow Anna who certainly had not worn out! She “was of a great age,” yet “served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Lk 2:36-37). It’s great for those of us growing older to lay claim to this promise: “as your days, so shall your strength be.”