What does it means to “finish well” in life and faith? Drawing from the Bible’s accounts of Jacob, Joseph, Judah, David, Solomon and others, in this study we discover that starting strong isn’t enough. It’s about persevering, repenting when we stray and renewing our minds with God’s word. Like running a race, we need encouragement, wisdom and a willingness to adjust course. Finishing well is a journey of growth, trust and continual action.
God has a grand design unfolding over eons and generations, using even flawed individuals to fulfill prophecy. This study explores how through King Saul’s massacre of the priests who gave fugitive David some of the retired Bread of the Presence, God removed Eli’s sinful priestly line as foretold years earlier. Though Saul faced due punishment, God first used his wickedness to kill Eli’s descendants as promised.
Generations after that promise and hundreds of years after the instructions given in Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24), David felt convicted for the priests’ and neighboring villagers’ death but not for what might be considered a minor Torah breach. Yet Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) affirmed that God held David guiltless. God’s plan surpassed surface events, working through personalities with long-term consequences.
One of the key lessons from the blessings of the 12 founders of the tribes of Israel in Torah reading ויחי Vayechi (“he lived,” Gen. 47:28–50:26) is that ancestry doesn’t mean much if each generation doesn’t carry on the legacy handed down. We can learn from these blessings and from the final messages of King David for Solomon (1Kings 2:1–12) and of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) for the Twelve (John 13–17) what Heaven wants us to pass on to our children and to the world.
We all have to choose spiritually and physically (belief in action) to follow what is right to receive the blessings that God has for us to further the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.