JULIE A. GIBSON

The name Issachar means recompense. I like the word recompense. It means divine restitution. The God who sits high and looks low is keeping tally of what is owed whom, and He will bring recompense. The word “restitution” in the Oxford dictionary means “restoring of a thing to its proper owner” or “reparation.” Many are familiar with the term “reparations” because it has been debated in the African-American community as of late. The question is should Africans be compensated for past slavery? The answer is yes.
American descendents of slavery are due reparations for the forced slave labor of their ancestors. The African continent is due reparations for the theft of human capital that left its shores. The issue is un-debatable in my opinion, but our grievances have been directed to the wrong source. Let me explain it by way of an old African proverb that says, “The master will never supply the tools necessary to dismantle his own house.” We cannot look solely to the government to redress these grievances. It is okay to organize and push this agenda through legislative means, but the government is not our primary source.
The debate is being waged at too low a level. The magnitude of reparation and restitution owed the African Diaspora cannot be legislated or disseminated through merely natural means. How can one even quantify the effect of a people scattered and peeled for over 400 years? How can physical, mental, cultural and spiritual breaches be repaired? Can monetary tokens resurrect the estimated 50 million Africans buried in the Atlantic Ocean as a result of the Transatlantic Slave Trade? I don’t think so.
By all means a huge debt is owed and continues to accrue, but the recompense must come from the spiritual realm if it is to be thorough and complete. The demand for reparations must be taken up in the heavenly realms. We must ask Almighty God for divine recompense. We must have righteous indignation like the poor widow in Luke chapter 18 who demanded she be avenged of her adversary. We must stand on the promises of God’s eternal word. The King of Glory has promised the daughter of Zion that her reward and recompense is coming. Isaiah 62:11-12 says:
The Lord has made a proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies Him. They will be called the Holy People, the redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City no longer deserted.

Let’s ask God to repay us for the atrocities of slavery that our ancestors endured and the persistent repression that still exists. Surely the African Diaspora is due enormous recompense. But rather than receive small monetary tokens and empty apologies, let’s go for broke. Let’s ask God Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth for just recompense. Let’s ask Him to turn things around. Jesus said that the last shall be first and the first last. Can you imagine what it will be like to be sought after and no longer despised and rejected? Can you imagine the African Diaspora being called the holy people, blessed and chosen, not cursed or forsaken? Can you imagine the feeling of being favored by Almighty God?
Issachar’s mother Leah certainly understood what it felt like to find favor with God after being rejected by man. Many are familiar with the story in Genesis chapter 29 regarding Rachel and Leah. Here we have two sisters married to one man. Jacob loved Rachel. She was beautiful, and because men are sight-stimulated, Jacob was enamored with her. Leah, on the other hand, wasn’t too attractive, had weak eyes, and was the booby prize that her father Laban forced on Jacob after his hard labor. However, Leah was the more fruitful of the two. The one whom Jacob loved was barren, while Leah kept having babies.
From this story we can draw some parallels. Jacob represents God as our husband, while Rachel represents Israel, God’s beloved people whom He chose first. Leah then represents the Gentile church--essentially God’s second choice. Looking through the lens of history, this analogy makes sense. The Gentile church has been fruitful in propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the growth of Christianity has overrun Judaism by a wide margin. The Bible is replete with one account after another of Israel’s [Rachel’s] unfruitfulness. But let’s not write Rachel off completely. She was later shown favor by God and bore Jacob sons--namely Joseph and Benjamin--in his old age. This points to the final redemptive plan of God toward the nation Israel: one day the gospel of Jesus Christ will take root and bear fruit amongst Israelites, God’s first choice.
For now let us focus in on Leah. God blessed the fruit of her womb, and Issachar was the fifth son that Leah bore Jacob. The number five is significant here because five represents mercy. The word “mercy” stems from an ancient Latin word merci, which implies merchant or finances. This is also the root word for “mercenary,” i.e. a hired soldier. So we see that not only does Issachar’s name point to his purpose, but his birth order also indicates his destiny involving money and mercy.
As we dissect Genesis 30:14-18, we see that Leah says in response to bearing Issachar, “God rewarded me because I gave my slave girl to my husband.” Here she is talking about Zilpah, her Gentile handmaiden who bore Jacob two sons, namely Gad and Asher. Their names mean “fortune” and “happy” respectively. Let’s think about this for a moment. Leah says God has recompensed her for giving her handmaiden slave to her husband. This is a prophetic picture. It depicts the fact that when God employs handmaiden [ex-] slaves, i.e. daughters of the Diaspora in the service of the Lord, the fruits of fortune and happiness will abound. This is the kind of recompense that only Almighty God can deliver. And that He will deliver as daughters of the Diaspora walk in the Issachar Anointing.

Father God, in the name of Jesus I ask you to reverse every curse and reproach suffered by those in the African Diaspora. I ask that you would pour out divine reparations and spiritual blessings now. Give us double for our trouble. Amen