Recap: (see Genesis 35b) Judah became the forefather of David, and Jesus. Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt, and when Pharaoh had dreams, Joseph explained that they pointed to impending famine. He was put in charge of the grain stores. When the famine severely affected Joseph’s family they too went for grain. Joseph finally arranged for them to move to Egypt. Some years later, Joseph’s father Jacob (Israel), called his grandchildren to his bedside.
You may choose not to read through this whole chapter first.
Jacob (Israel) summoned his children to his deathbed to pass on his final words – in some cases these would be blessings, in others he explained why their actions had prevented this:
Read Genesis 49:1-4
1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: ‘Gather round so that I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2 ‘Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
3 ‘Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honour, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.
Reuben, his first son (by Leah) would normally be the main beneficiary. But all that changed when he chose to sleep with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid and Jacob’s concubine. She had born him Dan and Napthali, half-brothers to Reuben. By this one foolish act he had forfeited all (Genesis 35:22).
Read Genesis 49:5-7
5 ‘Simeon and Levi are brothers –
their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
Simeon and Levi were born next – also by Leah, and would have been next in line for the rights of the ‘firstborn’. But they too forfeited that when they brutally murdered the inhabitants of Shechem (Genesis 34:25-26). More than that, their names would not survive as tribal areas in Israel: Simeon’s inheritance was absorbed into Judah, and Levi’s would literally be scattered, in towns throughout Israel.
Although these blessings were prophetic, they were incomplete. Levi would indeed be punished in this way, but his tribe had actually been chosen by God for greater things – Moses, Aaron and the whole Priesthood would be Levites!
Read Genesis 49:8-12
8 ‘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.
9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness – who dares to rouse him?
10 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.
Judah, his fourth child, also by Leah, would therefore now have the rights of the ‘firstborn’. Again this blessing contains prophecy which would only be realised later. In what way?
In David and his descendants, and ultimately in Christ. See Revelation 5:5 : ‘Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ (See also a possible reference in Ezekiel 21:26-27)
There is also prophetic imagery in verse 11 which may also point to Jesus – in what way?
Do you remember the meeting between the two Disciples and Jesus on the road to Damascus, when . . . beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself (Luke 24:27)?
Read Genesis 49:13-26
Genesis is the first book of Moses and I am sure that Jesus would have quoted this passage as one of those that pointed to him. But we must remember that when Jacob spoke to his sons, living in Egypt, they had no knowledge of anything that the future held. They only had the promises of God that one day they would become a great nation. Currently the size of that ‘nation’ was Jacob, his sons, and grandsons!
13 ‘Zebulun will live by the seashore
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend towards Sidon.
Zebulun was Leah’s sixth son, but joseph had others before him by Bilhah and Zilpah. Again this blessing is entirely prophetic: the allocation of land (Joshua 19:10-16) would be by lot – only the Lord could know where it would be!
Today we find it difficult to place Zebulun’s inheritance with certainty as the boundary with Manasseh to the south was so vague. It is possible that Carmel and the mouth of the Kidron fell within Zebulun’s allocation. If that was so, Asher’s boundary would have been the north bank of the Kidron.
Note too that here, and in the tribal lists in Numbers, Zebulun is mentioned before Issachar (the older of the two) – but why, is open to conjecture!
14 ‘Issachar is a scrawny donkey
lying down among the sheepfolds.
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and submit to forced labour.
Issachar was Leah’s fifth son (Jacob’s ninth), and again this prophetically described his tribal allocation – gentle terrain, but with international trade routes passing by its south and west borders, it would be easy for passing armies to plunder it for food (a common practice).
16 ‘Dan will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider tumbles backwards.
Jacob now includes the children he had by the two handmaids. Dan was Bilhah’s first child and he specifically says (v16) ‘one of the tribes of Israel’ in case others would want to exclude them, and as a full tribe they would not be controlled by the others ‘Dan will provide justice for his people’.
Perhaps verse 17 might allude to Sampson (a Danite) in Judges 16:27-30.
18 ‘I look for your deliverance, Lord.
Why did Jacob break off to say this here? (Perhaps, on his deathbed, he needed a breather before continuing with quite an exhausting discourse)
However it also reminds us of Hebrews 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
It is noticeable that the blessings for the remaining sons that were born by concubines are shorter. Perhaps because they were of less importance, or that Jacob was saving his strength for Rachel’s sons.
19 ‘Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders,
but he will attack them at their heels.
Gad was Zilpah’s first child. This short blessing contains three alliterative words – playing on the name ‘Gad’ – a troop, or raiding party. Their inheritance would be on the Eastern side of the Jordan and subject to constant attack, but they will be able to repulse these.
20 ‘Asher’s food will be rich;
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
Asher was Zilpah’s second son, and their inheritance (nowadays southern Lebanon) was fertile and fruitful (see also Deuteronomy 33:24).
21 ‘Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.
Napthali was Bilhah’s second son. Why he was placed here and not after Dan, is open to conjecture. Their land, sandwiched between Asher and the Jordan from its source to the sea of Galilee, was also fertile and productive. (Note that many translations have ‘Naphtali is a doe let loose, He gives beautiful words’ (NASB). Neither translation is easy to comment on!)
Now Jacob can turn his attention to the sons of Rachel, his true love. First Joseph, his favourite son: (Genesis 37:3).
22 ‘Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.
23 With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed supple,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of your father’s God, who helps you,
because of the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,
blessings of the breast and womb.
26 Your father’s blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
Immediately it is obvious that this blessing is different.
In what way?(A lot longer, and with no specific reference to a future land)
Verse 22: What is the significance of vine, spring, branches and wall?
(Vigorous growth, rooted in a sure source of strength, fruitful and able to overcome the obstacles placed in his way.)
Verse 23: What does that allude to? (Initially his brothers, then Potiphar.)
Verses 24-25: What was the secret of his success? (Only because God was with him, helping and guiding him, as he had done for Jacob too.)
Verses 25-26: What specific blessings can you read here?
(Primarily the blessing of having God Almighty to shepherd, and watch over him, who would abundantly provide for him and give him many offspring. Hills and mountains spoke of certainty and unshakeability.)
Note in verse 26 that Joseph was to be a prince, not a King. He would no doubt continue to be in charge for the immediate future, but leadership of the tribe had already been assigned to Judah.
Now Jacob turns to his second favourite son, but perhaps less so since Joseph had been restored to him!
Read Genesis 49:27-33
27 ‘Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.’
An odd blessing. This must have been prophetic – so: who can we remember came from the tribe of Benjamin: in the morning (Old Testament) and the evening (New Testament)?
(Ehud, the Judge (Judges 3:12-30), Saul, first king of Israel (1Samuel 9:1-2 etc.), Esther and Mordecai (Esther 2:5-7). Then Paul the Apostle (Philippians 3:5-6), when the plunder consisted of the souls of those saved by grace through his life and work.)
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh had already been blessed – Genesis 48:8-9 etc.
29 Then he gave them these instructions: ‘I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.’
Joseph knew that Egypt was not ‘The Promised Land’, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So he gave instructions that he should be buried in Canaan.
33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
