Genesis 49:1-33 Jacob Blesses His Sons
“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.
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.
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. (Judah sounds like the Hebrew for praise.)
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. (Dan means he has judged or he has vindicated.)
Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. (Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raid and also for band of raiders.)
Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
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 (or of my ancestors) 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.”
These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
The Death of Jacob
Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.”
Jacob is dying, and as is customary, he is pronouncing prophetic blessings over his sons. Obviously, Jacob has no illusions about the nature of his sons, as evidenced by the comments on Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. But notice the prophecy in verse 10 about Shiloh. These words embody one of the earliest prophecies about the coming Messiah, who will come from the tribe of Judah. “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.”
In Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, there are magnificent stained-glass windows created by Marc Chagall depicting the prophecies of Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33. For a good look at these windows, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoirjEu4P60
Reuben forced Bilhah, his father’s concubine, to have sex with him, hence the comments about lack of self-control. When Dinah, Jacob’s daughter was raped by the son of a local ruler from Shechem, Simeon and Levi were the ones who organized the destruction of Shechem. The tribe of Levi will wind up being dispersed because this tribe will handle the worship of Elohim and its members will be scattered throughout Israel to serve in temples.
The tribe of Simeon never amounts to very much once the Israelites return to Canaan. “Although the tribe did receive some land, it eventually ended up conflating with the Tribe of Judah. The Tribe of Simeon thus became one of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel since, after the Babylonian Exile in 586 BCE, there is no evidence of what happened to the tribe and it probably assimilated into other cultures.” https://study.com/academy/lesson/tribe-of-simeon-history-symbol-facts.html#:~:text=Although%20the%20tribe%20did%20receive,probably%20assimilated%20into%20other%20cultures.
Eventually the tribe of Benjamin will produce many outstanding warriors, including King Saul. The blessings over Joseph are obvious and stem from his success in Egypt. But some of the other blessings are clearly prophetic and only future generations will see their fulfillment.
Jacob prophesies over his sons and then dies, after having given specific instructions about the site of his burial. After a tumultuous life of 147 years, Jacob the supplanter and deceiver, has become Israel, the man who has struggled with God and prevailed. God has allowed Jacob to be reunited with Joseph and hopefully to have peace in the family before he dies.
As a surgeon, I have witnessed many different circumstances surrounding death. Among the saddest are those who die suddenly from accidents or heart attacks, leaving their loved ones no time to adjust to the idea of their dying and frequently leaving large amounts of family conflicts unresolved. More chronic diseases such as cancer are tragic; however, families have time to adjust to the idea that their beloved is dying. Frequently, family members of those killed in accidents are simply in shock, lost for words. When I was a surgical intern, I was on duty at an ER over a major holiday weekend. A pickup truck with several teen-agers was proceeding legally when a drunk driver crossed the center line, plowing into the pickup and killing its occupants. As the ER doctor, I was forced to call the father of the driver to inform him of his son’s death. This poor man kept repeating, “Lady, you must be kidding!” Sadly, I was not.
When my father was dying, I was in Ghana; however, two different sets of friends called on Dad on my behalf. One lady doctor had visited us in Saboba and was a farmer’s daughter from Iowa, so Dad and she got along beautifully. Another friend was a close personal friend from childhood and a leading member of our tight-knit community. Two days before Dad died, he called his pastor and outlined the program for his funeral, ensuring that each of the grandchildren would have a part of some kind. Dad chose the hymns to be sung and the scriptures to be read. It was a very moving service.
My advice after a lifetime spent in medicine: make peace with your family members as quickly as possible and as thoroughly as possible! You can say “I’m sorry” to a tombstone, but it’s much better to heal relationships while the person is still alive. And if you are an older person with lots of belongings, follow my grandmother’s example. Grandma moved into town from the farm when she was 90, but she still had a lot of her little knickknacks. The last two years of Grandma’s life, when we visited, she would urge us to select something to take home with us. That way, people got what they wanted and Grandma didn’t have the burden of trying to divide up her things.
These days, one of the most common phrases I find myself using is “Bless you!” I bless people who have helped me in the theater(OR). I bless people who help me in stores. I bless people when I pray for them. Blessings are always appreciated and never wasted. The Bible advises us not to allow the sun to go down on our anger, in other words, settle all disputes by the close of the day. When Corrie Ten Boom was traveling with younger ladies as companions, she always insisted that they keep short accounts with each other, that they settle any small differences before they became larger ones. Corrie Ten Boom had survived German concentration camps after her family was arrested for hiding Jews in their home. Corrie had seen what could happen when people harbored grudges, and she wanted no part of it.
Keep very short accounts with your family and friends! 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” No matter how badly someone has hurt us, it is nothing compared to the pain we may suffer if we refuse to reconcile with them while they are alive.
I am re-reading a series of novels by Tony Hillerman about Navajo police officers. The Navajos are very concerned with maintaining hozho. Hozho is said to be the most important word in the Navajo language and is loosely translated as peace, balance, beauty, and harmony. To be “in Hozho” is to be at one with and a part of the world around you. (https://bluffutah.org/what-is-hozo-2/#:~:text=Hozho%20is%20said%20to%20be,of%20the%20world%20around%20you.) The Jewish word for peace is “Shalom,” implying something very similar to hozho. Today, I urge you to strive for Shalom, strive for hozho!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to settle family matters quickly so that we will live in peace and harmony. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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