Genesis 49:1 – 2 “Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come: Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.”
Jacob is on his death bed. As tradition demands, Jacob is laying hands on his sons. While the sons are hoping for blessings, Jacob is speaking prophetically. By this point, Jacob’s family has been settled in Egypt for seventeen years, and things appear to be going well. Presumably, Jacob has forgiven his older sons for selling Joseph into slavery and there is peace in the family. But now God’s Holy Spirit is resting on Jacob and Jacob is predicting what will happen to his sons and their families. If you are a student of Bible history, you will realize that these predictions eventually came true.
What is surprising is the harshness of the assessments Jacob makes of some of his sons. Obviously, Jacob clearly understands the personalities of his various sons.
v. 3 – 7 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it. Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim. Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.”
v. 8 – 12 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you. Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. 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 staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his. He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.” This passage is not only pronouncing blessings on Judah and his descendants, but it is also one of the earliest prophecies of the Messiah, here referred to as “Shiloh.”
v. 13 – 21 “Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds. He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant. Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel. He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward. I await Your salvation, O LORD. Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies. Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
Then Jacob comes to Joseph and Benjamin. v.22 – 27 “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall. The archers attacked him with bitterness, and aimed in hostility. Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb. The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
APPLICATION: Some people have a mistaken idea that to forgive someone means that you must overlook their shortcomings, but this is far from true. If people had no shortcomings, there would be no need for forgiveness. Some people also feel that once you have forgiven someone, you must trust them; this also is wrong. You can acknowledge the hurt someone has caused and forgive it, but that does not obligate you to trust that person again when he or she has shown no evidence of a changed heart.
The old saying “Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!” still holds true. As Jacob was blessing his sons, he was also telling some of them why he wouldn’t trust them and why they would fail unless they had a change of behavior. Jesus ministered to all kinds of people; however, John 2:23-25 tells us, “While He (Jesus) was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the signs He was doing and believed in His name. But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men. He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.”
PRAYER: Father God, help us to forgive those who have hurt us, but also help us to know when to trust and when to distance ourselves. Help us to know when it is time to be vulnerable, even if that means hurt or loss for us. But above all else, help us to forgive as you have forgiven us. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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