We will begin this lesson in Genesis 49:1 “And Jacob called unto his sons, and said,
Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you [that] which shall befall youin the last days.”
This is a prophetic Scripture reaching to the last days. The
following is a statement to the tribe of each son, and what the
future holds.
Genesis 49:2 “Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of
Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.”
Isreal was about to speak to his sons for all of eternity, and he
told them not only to listen, but to take heed to what was being said.
Genesis 49:3 “Reuben, thou [art] my firstborn, my might, and the
beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the
excellency of power:”
Genesis 49:4 “Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because
thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou [it]: he went
up to my couch.”
Here, Jacob was saying to Reuben, your morals were bad. you were
wishy-washy; you wuld not prosper, because you did not have your life
set on the solid rock of faith. Your eyes were set on fleshly pleasures
rather than on the things of God.
Genesis 49:5 “Simeon and Levi [are] brethren; instruments of
cruelty [are in] their habitations.”
Genesis 49:6 “O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto
their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger
they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.”
Genesis 49:7 “Cursed [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and
their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and
scatter them in Israel.”
This harsh reprimand of Simeon and Levi was because of the cruel
way they avenged their sister, Dinah. They used, circumcision, their
covenant with God, to kill their enemies. This brought shame and
disgrace to the house of Israel. Jacob had to go somewhere else to
live to keep the neighboring tribes from attacking. Jacob was living
in peace with these people, and these two sons brought unrest, and made
Israel become a stench to the people around. He was telling them that
they would be divided, and not be a great tribe for this, their sin,
the killing unmercifully of the Shechemites.
Genesis 49:8 “Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall
praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s
children shall bow down before thee.”
Genesis 49:9 “Judah [is] a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son,
thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old
lion; who shall rouse him up?”
Genesis 49:10 “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a
lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him
[shall] the gathering of the people [be].”
Of course we know that Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
The statement above saying……..Thine hand being on the neck of his
enemy….., was, probably, referring to the victories of David the King.
Perhaps Solomon was, also, mentioned in that brief statement. We do know
that lawgivers were from this tribe. They were not diminished, until
the grace given came in Jesus Christ our Lord. We do know that the
gathering, spoken of here, is the gathering together unto Jesus.
These next verses were still about Judah and his descendants’
future.
Genesis 49:11 “Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt
unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes
in the blood of grapes:”
Genesis 49:12 “His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth
white with milk.”
All of this has to do with the blood of Jesus which was shed and
remembered through the wine. In all this, we need to see Christ
through the blessings of Judah. Our lives with Christ are eternal, just
as the blessings of Judah was everlasting.
So many shadows of Jesus are in the above.
He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah
He is the true Conqueror (over death)
He will draw all men unto Him.
Every word is really speaking of Jesus.
Genesis 49:13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and
he [shall be] for an haven of ships; and his border [shall be] unto
Zidon.”
This was more Physical than spiritual with Zebulon. It just marked
his territory.
Genesis 49:14 “Issachar [is] a strong ass couching down between
two burdens:”
Genesis 49:15 “And he saw that rest [was] good, and the land that
[it was] pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a
servant unto tribute.”
Issachar, it seems, was lazy and would work for others all his
life. He seemed to just drop into obscurity.
Genesis 49:16 “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes
of Israel.
Genesis 49:17 “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the
path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall
backward.”
Dan’s tribe had some very interesting facts about them. About the
time of Samson, he was in the position of leadership. Samson was of
the tribe of Dan. Dan’s descendents were the first to fall into
idolatry and were not even mentioned in the twelve tribes in
Revelation. Some people speculate, because his tribe was not mentioned
in Revelation, that the antichrist might be from his people. It is
just supposition. No one knows for sure. At any rate, this statement,
his father made of him, was not a good one.
Genesis 49:18 “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.”
It seems to be just a cry of Jacob for rest in Jesus.
Genesis 49:19 “Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall
overcome at the last.”
He was a warlike tribe.
Genesis 49:20 “Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he
shall yield royal dainties.”
It seems this land would produce plentifully.
Genesis 49:21 “Naphtali [is] a hind let loose: he giveth goodly
words.”
Genesis 49:22 “Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful
bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall:”
Genesis 49:23 “The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at
him], and hated him:”
Genesis 49:24 “But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his
hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob;
(from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)”
Genesis 49:25 “[Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help
thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of
heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the
breasts, and of the womb:”
Genesis 49:26 “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above
the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the
everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the
crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.”
Joseph had already withstood terrible sorrows that would have
broken a normal man. God was with him.
God preserved him in Potiphar’s house.
God preserved him in the dungeon.
God prepared a way for him to become ruler in a strange land.
Jacob was speaking a blessings forever on Joseph and his
descendents. This fruitful bough could be looking back at the famine
in the land of Egypt, and how God miraculously provided for Joseph.
It also, was looking to the future for the blessings of God would
shower on Ephraim, and Manasseh, and their descendents. His strong
arms meant that he was made ruler. The shepherd was one who cared for
the flock, and surely Joseph was that. Everything that Joseph did would
be blessed of God. He would have overflowing crops and rain when he
needed it. The elements would cooperate with him, as well. The blessings
which Jacob spoke on Joseph far surpassed even what Jacob had received from Abraham and Isaac.
God alone, chooses who can handle greatness, and he had chosen Joseph from these twelve sons.
Genesis 49:27 “Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf: in the morning
he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.”
This spoken of Benjamin tells us that he would be a mighty
warrior, and that he would win the battles and bring the spoils of war
home.
Genesis 49:28 “All these [are] the twelve tribes of Israel: and
this [is it] that their father spake unto them, and blessed them;
every one according to his blessing he blessed them.”
Genesis 49:29 “And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to
be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that
[is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite,”
Genesis 49:30 “In the cave that [is] in the field of Machpelah,
which [is] before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought
with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a
buryingplace.”
Genesis 49:31 “There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife;
there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
Genesis 49:32 “The purchase of the field and of the cave that
[is] therein [was] from the children of Heth.”
Jacob wanted to make sure that they knew not to bury him in
Egypt, but to bury him with Leah, his wife, and his ancestors. He made
them promise to bury him there. The rest of the above verses were so
they would know why he wanted to be buried there, and to leave no
question where this burial place was. Even today, People know exactly
where this burial place is, in Israel.
Genesis 49:33 “And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his
sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost,
and was gathered unto his people.”
Jacob died.