Diamond- Gad
1. His Birth
Genesis 30:9-11- When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. Rachel had given her handmaid first to have children by proxy, and so Leah followed suit. God never meant for a man to have more than one wife, nor for a woman to have more than one husband.
Gad means a troop. Certainly, a troop of children did follow, but also a troop of trouble. Trouble always follows a man who listens to his wife's desires instead of following God's will (i.e. Sarah's desire to have children through Hagar).
2. The Patriarchal Blessing
Genesis 49:19- Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. This tribe certainly lived up to this blessing and is described in I Chronicles 5:18- The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.
Israel was oppressed by many "troops"- the Egyptians, the Philistines, the Midianites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Romans. They are the only historical people who have truly overcome and remained close to their original roots.
3. The Mosaic Blessing
Gad seems to be a warlike tribe. Deuteronomy 33:20-21- And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head. And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel. Both Jephthah and Elijah were Gadites, both were tough men! Both executed the judgments of the Lord, Jephthah as a judge of Israel, and Elijah as the prophet who stood against Ahab and Jezebel and all the prophets of Baal.
4. The Stone Diamond in the Breastplate
The diamond is the hardest stone, one which is not easily broken. It is a precious stone that can leave an indelible mark. Oh, that as soldiers of the LORD we, too, can leave an indelible mark of the grace of God on those around us.
