 In
Genesis 49:14, Jacob says
that Yissachar (Issachar in
English) is like a strong-boned
donkey. Now in our modern
culture today, being called
a donkey wouldn’t be a very
nice compliment. But let’s
take a deeper look at this
reference. We know that Yissachar’s
tribe was noted for their
love of Torah study. Yet,
we consider the donkey as
one of the lowliest creatures
in the animal world, so what’s
the relationship between the
two? We know that the horse
and the donkey have served
man as beasts of burden. Out
in small villages, you would
see both going out early in
the morning into the fields
to work. When they returned
in the evening, the master
gave them an opportunity to
rest. There was a noticeable
difference however, in the
way each of them rested. In
order for the horse to rest,
it was necessary to remove
all of its’ load, take off
the saddlebags, and remove
all the ropes or whatever
from it.
The
horse would then jump around
and gallop off in abandon.
The donkey, however, rested
with its load still tied
to its’ back and its saddlebags
still in place. All the
constraints or ropes remained
on. All of those so-called
burdens did not bother the
donkey. All the donkey required
to rest was a quiet place
where it could stand “undisturbed.”
So what do “you” need to
“rest?” Does vacation time
for you include the loosening
of your structure and morals,
so that your spiritual commitments
are relaxed also. Can you
not rest, if on vacation,
you feel like it’s an “unnecessary
requirement” to pray and
read your scripture? This
is the rest of a horse.
If you continue on your
vacation with the same spiritual
requirements you do every
day, such as prayer, Torah
reading, etc, then you rest
as a donkey. You only need
to get away to a quiet,
undisturbed place. This
is because, like the donkey,
these tasks you do in your
daily life are not “burdensome”
to you. So we see that Yissachar,
the tribe that was devoted
to Torah study, reflected
this because they knew there
wasn’t, nor did they desire
there to be, a rest apart
from doing what is right
in the eyes of YHVH. So
being a donkey in this case
was a compliment! Which
are you?
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