Jacob Blesses His Sons

REVIEW

We’ve made it to the final lesson on the Book of Genesis! In the previous chapter, Israel blessed Joseph and blessed Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob even elevated them to the sons’ status, adopting them into the lineage.

TEACHING

Genesis 49:1–2: Chapter 49 is often referred to as the “Blessing” chapter, but it’s more of a prophetic chapter. Israel spoke into the 12 tribes.The gift of prophecy is meant to encourage, edify, and comfort us. Look at 1 Corinthians 14. This is a different context, but I feel like this is what Jacob was about to do.The phrase “in the days to come” is very similar to the language of “in the last days” (Isaiah 2:2).

Genesis 49:3–32: Jacob gave a blessing to each of his sons:

1. Reuben was the firstborn; whose mother was Leah. Although Rueben was the first son, he would not excel. Remember in Genesis 35:22, Rueben slept with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah after Rachel’s death. When discussing the word “turbulent,” Bruce Waltke wrote, “The Hebrew root means to be insolent, proud, undisciplined, reckless, uncontrollable or unstable.”1 Isaiah 57:20 really describes Reuben and the instability of his life. Reuben was constantly causing problems (Genesis 49:3-4).

Simeon and Levi, whose mother was Leah, killed all the Shechemite males in response to Shechem raping their sister (Genesis 34). There would be a loss to their power, and they would be scattered all over. Simeon was eventually absorbed into Judah, and Levi never got any land (Genesis 49:5-7).

Judah, whose mother was Leah, became the leader of all the tribes (Judges 1:1–12; 20:18). Judah had four major enemies: (1) Philistines—West. (2) Edomites—East, (3) Amalekites—South, and (4) Babylonians and Assyrians—North (Genesis 49:8–9). Judah was a young lion (Numbers 24:9; Micah 5:8).Bruce Waltke wrote, “Jacob blessed Judah with the rewards of wisdom: kingship, dominion, eternity, prosperity.”²The Messiah came from Judah (Hebrews 7:24; Revelation 5:5). Jacob didn’t even want to be with Judah’s mom, Leah. The theme throughout Genesis is: God choosing someone else. God always has a bigger picture in mind.

“The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until He whose right it is comes and the obedience of the people belong to Him.” MostJews called this person “He” or “Shiloh.” The name “Shiloh” means the promised Messiah. Remember in Genesis 38, Judah slept with Tamar and gave up the scepter, the staff, and the signet ring. But even though Judah was willing to give up the scepter and staff, God gave it back. Through the tribe of Judah, this scepter will never depart (Genesis 49:10).The scepter is a symbol of the royal command—the right to rule.2 Samuel 7:16 states that the Davidic Kingdom will last forever.Numbers 24:17 states the Seed, the star, and the scepter came from the line of Judah.

When we read Genesis 49:11, we have to realize that no one did the things stated in this scripture, unless they were prosperous and wealthy.And riding the donkey is a royal mentality.Zechariah 9:9 states that only the kings ride on donkeys.Matthew 21:5 is an incredible picture of the coming Messiah. The one to come would be handsome, well built, and taken care of. The Seed came through Noah, then through Shem, then Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, and then the Messiah was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)..

Zebulun, whose mother was Leah, lived by the seashore but never owned a port.Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Zebulun was located on an important route that carried merchandise from the coast to the Sea of Galilee and to Damascus . . . For the most part, the Jews weren’t seafaring people, but the tribe of Zebulun did business with the Phoenicians east of them and provided goods to the people west of them.”³(Genesis 49:13). InDeuteronomy 33:18-19, Moses reiterated this prophetic word that Zebulun drew wealth from the sea.Matthew 4:13 and Isaiah 9:1–2 both point out that Jesus did ministry in the land of Zebulun.

Issachar, whose mother was Leah, birthed the tribe of Issachar, which was made up of farmers and preferred agriculture.Wiersbe wrote, “The image in Genesis 49:14–15 is that of a strong people who weren’t afraid to carry burdens.”⁴The sons of Issachar were always watching, sensing God’s will (1 Chronicles 12:32).Wiersbe wrote, “This tribe produced no great heroes, but their everyday labor was a help to others. After all, not everyone in Israel was called to be a Judah or a Joseph!”⁵(Genesis 49:14–15).

Dan, whose mother was Bilhah. This tribe couldn’t drive out the Philistines.They were known as dangerous and aggressive people, who would strike unexpectedly. In Ezekiel 38, Dan is included in the kingdom but not in Revelation 7. Verse 16 is the first time you see the phrase “tribes of Israel” (Genesis 49:16-18).

Gad, whose mother was Zilpah.Gad would live a troubled life but was given a good portion of land (Genesis 49:19).

Asher, whose mother was Zilpah, would make food fit for a king.The tribe of Asher could not drive out inhabitants. They become an agricultural people. The tribe of Asher was the most blessed, and their land is fertile (Genesis 49:20).

Naphtali, whose mother was Bilhah. The tribe of Naphtali was made up of free-spirited people (“fawns”), writers or messengers that could write and speak. Zebulun and Naphtali became home base for where Jesus did ministry around the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4).Wiersbe refers to the tribe of Naphtali as “ideal messengers.”⁶(Genesis 49:21).

Joseph, whose mother was Rachel (Genesis 49:22–23).Joseph was forgetful and his fruitful vine went beyond the “wall” (v. 22). In verse 24 we see another reference to the Messiah: “…the Mighty One of Jacob…the Shepherd.” Over and over, Joseph depended on the Mighty One, the Shepherd to get him through life. Praise the Lord Joseph was going to save all of this! Some have taken this prophecy and said there will be blessings below the ground in the form of oil. The blessings happened at the head of Joseph’s family. The head of Joseph was now Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 49:25-26).Everywhere else in the Middle East there is oil, except in Israel. I believe because of Genesis 49 oil will be found in the land (given to the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim) of Joseph. The Lord’s hand was on Joseph.

Benjamin, whose mother was Rachel (Genesis 49:27). The tribe of Benjamin has a reputation for bravery in war (Judges 3:15-30; 5:14). There is this“loose cannon” mentality. For example, Saul, first king of Israel, came from Benjamin. Saul, who became the Apostle Paul, was from Benjamin. If they trusted in the Lord, they were good. If they didn’t, they were crazy.

Genesis 49:29-33: Jacob instructed his sons to take him back to Canaan to be buried where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah were buried.

Genesis 50:1–26: Joseph buried his father. The brothers were nervous Joseph would repay them for what they had done to him, but Joseph reassured them. Joseph died at the age of 110. He made the Israelites take an oath that they would carry his bones out of Egypt and back to the land of Canaan.

CLOSING

God is not done yet. There are Messianic believers today who represent each one of these tribes. My prayer is that we become the Josephs: going ahead, preserving the Seed, serving as a forerunner, and raising up a remnant.

The beauty of all this is that we got to experience these lives in 50 chapters, and we got to see what would happen to them because of what they experienced in life. The one word for Genesis is Seed!