Genesis 49:1-28
– Jacob Blesses His Sons
Jacob’s life is coming to an end. He calls his twelve sons around him and makes predictions about their future and the future of their descendants. These predictions are called blessings. Some could be called curses. These blessings are empowered by God. These descendants would become the twelve tribes of Israel. Some would be strong and some would be weak. Some would be large and some would be small. They all would make up one nation called Israel and they would enter the Promise Land of Canaan.
Some Christians today are strong and some are weak, but we all are one in Christ Jesus. We all have a Promise Land, heaven as our eternal home. We all have been blessed with different gifts and we all have the same heavenly Father. Like the twelve sons we all have faults and shortcomings, but God made them one nation and us one body in Christ and uses us for His glory.
Reuben is described as “my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.” – Gen. 49:3-4. If you remember Reuben had uncontrolled lust and slept with his father’s concubine in Gen. 35:22. Jacob is telling Reuben that he is just like water, unstable. He had no self-control. Matt. 6:22 say if your eyes are bad then your whole body is full of darkness. One bad deed corrupts the whole body. James 1:6-8 says, “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”
Jacob described Simeon and Levi as having uncontrolled anger. In Gen. 34 they took revenge on the men of Shechem by killing them because his sister Dinah was raped. Jacob said this was cruel and that they would be scattered throughout Israel. They would get no inheritance. But despite their sins, God is full of grace. Later God set apart Levi and his descendants to carry the Ark of the Covenant. They would have no inheritance because they had the Lord as their inheritance. They would be a tribe of priests between God and Israel.
Judah received the key promises. He received praise, power and prosperity. Jacob described Judah as powerful and predicted a royal line coming from him. “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness -- who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs” – Gen. 49:8-10. This is the prophecy about the Messiah. Rev. 5:5 – “See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.” Jesus is the Lion of Judah. Judah messed up, but repented. God chose Judah showing He forgives us even though we don’t deserve grace. God put us where He wants us to fulfill His plan.
Jacob prophesied about Zebulun. He would live by the sea. Matt. 4:13-16 shows this prophecy was fulfilled.
Issachar would be a farmer and settle in the valley of Esdraelon which was subject to raids. He would become lazy and satisfied not defending his land and would become a servant to his enemies. He is like a lot of Christians today. They have all the strength of Christ, but remain timid and weak. They become lazy and want to be comfortable in their Christianity.
Dan’s descendants would provide justice for the people. These are seen in the book of Judges. One of the great judges was Samson. Today a spiritual Dan can discern and judge people. They know how to apply the truth.
Gad would supply many troops for the later king of Israel, David.
Asher would become rich.
Naphtali is described as a doe set free. His tribe would have the ability to speak and negotiate.
Jacob blessed Joseph in Gen 49:22-26 – “Joseph is a fruitful vine”. He prospered in Potiphar’s house. He was second in command in Egypt. “With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.” His brothers sold him into slavery and Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him. “But his bow remained steady his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob”. He remained faithful to God. God was always with him and helped him through all his hardships. Joseph is the example of an ideal Christian today. Through all his hardships he remained strong.
Joseph’s blessings were transferred to his 2 sons, Ephraim and Manasseh as seen in Deu. 33:13-17. Their land was blessed, they had the best gifts of earth and they had God’s favor.
Benjamin would be a ferocious fighter.
Principle: We all have faults and shortcomings, but God still uses us for His glory.
Genesis 49:29-33; 50:1-14 – Grief and Hope
Jacob was dying and after he gave blessings to each of his sons, he gave them final instructions o bury him in the land of Canaan. It was the land God gave him and his descendants. He was not afraid to die because he had faith. He put his life in God’s hands. Matt. 22:31-32 tells us God was his God just like God was the God of Abraham and Isaac and that God is the God of the living not the dead.
When Jacob died, Joseph threw himself on him and wept. The Egyptians mourned him for 70 days. Joseph promised Jacob that he would be buried in Canaan. Joseph was faithful to the last and asked Pharaoh’s permission to take Jacob there and then he would return to Egypt.
All mourned Jacob’s death, because they deeply respected Joseph. Pharaoh showed deep respect and support of Joseph and allowed him to leave and take his father to Canaan. Pharaoh sent officials from the court and from Egypt to accompany Joseph probably for protection along the way. Then all Joseph’s family along with Pharaoh’s chariots and horsemen went with Joseph to bury Jacob. They stopped at Atad near the Jordon and they mourned for another 7 days. Joseph buried his father with great pomp and ceremony in the patriarchal tomb in the land of promise.
Tears are not a lack of faith. Loss is worth grieving. It can be an experience of pain that words cannot describe. We grieve because death separates us from our loved ones. We grieve, but we have hope by faith in God’s promises. The resurrection of Christ is the basis for our hope of being reunited with our loved ones who have died in Christ.
Principle: God’s promises bring hope and direction in the midst of grief and loss.
Genesis 50:15-21 – Joseph Reassures His Brothers
Now that Jacob was dead Joseph’s brothers were afraid they had received mercy and forgiveness from their brother only for the sake of their aged father. They fully expected punishment from Joseph. They concocted a story that their father had requested mercy for them. When Joseph heard this, he wept. How could they not believe he would honor his forgiveness and not harm them? He was deeply hurt that they thought so little of him and doubted his character. Then they backed up their plea with a genuine display of humility offering themselves as slaves. Joseph reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Again Joseph told them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” – Gen. 50:19-21.
The key verse here is “God intended it for good.” – Gen. 50:20. Whatever you’re going through, you can know that others may mean it for evil, God means it for good. We need to endure trials and trust Him so that He will be glorified in your life.
Ultimately our lives are not in the hands of men, but in the hands of God. He overrules all things for His glory. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” – Rom. 8:28.
The way Joseph treated his brothers is a picture of how God treats us in Christ. They didn’t deserve Joseph’s patience, grace and forgiveness; we don’t deserve God’s patience, grace and forgiveness. Joseph loved and provided for them and God loves and provides for us. He sent us Jesus to die for us.
God’s purpose for Joseph was the saving of many lives as well as saving the lives of his people, which later would be the nation of Israel. Joseph’s belief in God transformed his pain into praise.
Principle: Believing in the sovereignty and grace of God transforms our fear and pain into peace and praise.
Genesis 50:22-26 – The Death of Joseph
After a full and prosperous life, Joseph’s departing words related to the fulfillment of God’s promises. When Joseph was about to die, he wanted his brothers to know that God would keep His promises. “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” – Gen. 50:24. Twice in his dying words he said “God will surely come to your aid” and predicted that God would deliver the future Israelite nation from Egypt and bring them into the land promised. He wanted to assure and encourage them in their faith to trust God and His plan.
Joseph made only one request of them, that the sons of Israel take his bones out of Egypt and back to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land – “you must carry my bones up from this place” – Gen. 50:25. Canaan is like heaven for believers today.
Joseph was never buried. His coffin lay above ground for 400 years until it was taken back to Canaan by Moses in Ex. 13:19 – “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. ‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.’”
Joseph lived for a purpose beyond himself. He was thinking about his brothers. Like Jesus, his final words show what was on his heart. In John 17:20-26 Jesus prayed for his disciples and for future believers. Jesus knew he would experience a hard death. He was thinking about you before He died. Because of Jesus Christ we can have hope and assurance.
Joseph lived 93 years where he did not choose. If God has you somewhere you do not want to be, He is there and will bless you as he did Joseph. “God will surely come to your aid” – that is Joseph’s story, totally confident and with no worries. He did not want his family to live in fear, but know God would be with them.
Principle: Because of Jesus Christ, believers can live each day including our last, with assurance of a true and faithful God.
This concludes our study of Genesis. What a great study this has been! We’ve learned so much about God and how He is sovereign in all things. During the summer I will be posting on miscellaneous topics and then in the fall I will be posting on the book of Matthew. I hope you will continue to check out my insights taken from my Bible studies. -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
_________________________________________
If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below.
You can follow this blog by clicking "Subscribe by Email". If you follow by email, you will receive an email every time there is a new post.
