Genesis 49:1 Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.
2 “Come and listen, you sons of Jacob; listen to Israel, your father.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first in rank and first in power. 4 But you are as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer. For you went to bed with my wife; you defiled my marriage couch.
Woof! Well, if you were preparing yourself for lovely platitudes, forget it! Jacob is now speaking as a prophet of the One True Living God, and he cannot lie, only tell truths about his sons. Genesis 35:22 tells how Reuben forced himself on Bilhah, one of his father’s concubines, the mother of Dan and Naphtali, his half-brothers. Why did Reuben do such a despicable thing? Perhaps Reuben felt that he could get away with it because he was the first-born and the son of Jacob’s first wife, Leah. Perhaps Reuben believed that because Bilhah was a maid servant before she became a concubine, she was of lesser status and therefore more vulnerable. At any rate, Reuben effectively deprived himself of the blessings he would have received as the eldest son the day he raped Bilhah.
5 “Simeon and Levi are two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence. 6 May I never join in their meetings; may I never be a party to their plans. For in their anger, they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport. 7 A curse on their anger, for it is fierce; a curse on their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob; I will disperse them throughout Israel.
The story is told in Genesis 34. Jacob had one daughter, Dinah, who went to visit the Hivite women; however, Shechem, the son of the local ruler Hamor, raped Dinah and then proposed marriage. Jacob’s sons were furious, but they hatched a plot, convincing the Hivite men that if they would undergo circumcision, Dinah would marry Hamor. On the third day when all the men were sore from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi slaughtered them. It’s quite possible that there were other traditional methods of addressing this problem without resorting to such violence. By giving way to wrath, these two men endangered their families. Jacob was angry and frightened, for this heinous act could easily result in his entire family being destroyed.
8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you. 9 Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor. 11 He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
Here God is giving one of the earliest prophecies about the Messiah through Jacob’s lips. Eventually, Jesus will fulfill everything Jacob is speaking.
13 “Zebulun will settle by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships; his borders will extend to Sidon. 14 “Issachar is a sturdy donkey, resting between two saddlepacks. 15 When he sees how good the countryside is and how pleasant the land, he will bend his shoulder to the load and submit himself to hard labor.
16 “Dan will govern his people, like any other tribe in Israel. 17 Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path that bites the horse’s hooves so its rider is thrown off. 18 I trust in you for salvation, O Lord!
19 “Gad will be attacked by marauding bands, but he will attack them when they retreat.
20 “Asher will dine on rich foods and produce food fit for kings.
21 “Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
22 “Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey, the foal of a wild donkey at a spring—one of the wild donkeys on the ridge. 23 Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him.
24 But his bow remained taut, and his arms were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. 25 May the God of your father help you; may the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb. 26 May my fatherly blessings on you surpass the blessings of my ancestors, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, devouring his enemies in the morning and dividing his plunder in the evening.”
28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said as he told his sons good-bye. He blessed each one with an appropriate message.
One of the tricky things about prophecy is the time line. When will these prophecies be fulfilled? Is Jacob speaking only about what has already happened or what is yet to take place? The short answer is “Yes.” God through Jacob is speaking about both and the years will prove the truth of these prophecies.
You might look at some of these prophecies and wonder “What’s peaceful about this stuff?” But understand something. These brothers have been competing ever since they came out of their mothers’ wombs. The tragedy of Jacob is that he failed to value the sons he had until Rachel gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin. So these men lived for decades, longing for their father’s attention and approval and failing to receive it. At least Jacob’s prophecies clarify their situations, even if some of the prophecies such as Reuben’s are less positive than others.
What about the extravagant blessing for Joseph and his sons? At this point, Joseph is the one who has saved and preserved the family. While his brothers might cherish their own resentments, nobody can doubt that without Joseph, they would have starved and died in Canaan. Joseph’s brothers are likely shrugging their shoulders and figuring that time will tell.
As we read these prophecies/blessings we should ask ourselves what we are leaving for our families and our friends. When I was a child, there were still older people in my community who had enjoyed having my great grandfather Nils Carlson as a Sunday School teacher. When I would mention that I was a descendant, these people would get a dreamy look in their eyes. “Oh, he loved us so much!” was the common theme. Children who came from difficult circumstances, homes where true poverty flourished, carried the memories of Nils’ kindness and compassion throughout their adult lives. Whether or not these men and women remembered the Bible stories Nils told, they experienced the pure love of Jesus when they were with him, and those memories sustained them.
Years ago, Steve Green created a song that should express our wishes as we age.
We’re pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road
And those who’ve gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God’s sustaining grace
Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who’ve gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives
[Chorus]
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
[Verse 2]
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we’ve left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find
[Chorus]
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
[Outro]
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to leave a legacy of holiness and godliness to all those who remain. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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