Genesis 49:1-17Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 49:1-17. Let’s go!
Genesis 49:1-2 (NIV)
1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so 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.
On verses 1-2: Nearing his death, Jacob gathers his sons and begins to prophesy over his sons. What is prophesy? Simply put, prophesy is declaring God’s heart and God’s plans to God’s people. Based on this definition of prophecy, I believe every parent has a prophetic role to play in the lives of their children and every leader has a prophetic role to play in the lives of those they lead. We are to communicate God’s heart to the people we are leading. “But how I do know what God’s heart, promises and plans are for the people in my care?” Draw near to God. Meditate on His Word. More and more He will give you a sense of His heart for the people He has called you to lead. When you speak in faith those prophetic pictures and images God places in your heart for the people in your care, the results will be powerful. That is what Jacob is about to do in the verses that follow.
Genesis 49:3-4 (NIV)
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, 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.
On verses 3-4: Jacob first speaks about his firstborn Reuben. Jacob begins by praising Reuben’s past excellence, how he used to excel in honour and power (v3). However Jacob ends by proclaiming that Reuben will no longer excel because he defiled Jacob’s bed by sleeping with Jacob’s concubine Bilhah (Genesis 35:22). What can we learn from this? We can severely compromise a good reputation and past glory which took years to build through momentary lapses of judgment where we give into lust and temptation. The pleasure lust offers is fleeting and never worth it. You’re guaranteed to lose when you give into lust.
From another angle, Reuben’s sleeping with Jacob’s concubine was possibly an attempt by Reuben to prop himself as being equal to his father Jacob. If that is the case, a lesson here is that whereas sedition and pride will tempt us to grasp power for ourselves and rebel against those God has placed over us, sedition and pride will eventually lead to our downfall.
Genesis 49:5-7 (NIV)
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.
On verses 5-7: Jacob then shifts his attention to Simeon and Levi who in Genesis 34 massacre an entire town that Shechem lived in by putting all the men in that town to the sword. They did this as retaliation for Shechem raping their sister Dinah. Jacob rebuked Simeon and Levi back then (Genesis 34:30) and now curses them here. What can we learn from this? Revenge and retaliation never give us the satisfaction we are looking for. If you have been hurt, instead of looking for revenge, forgive and trust God to avenge you (Romans 12:19-21).
Genesis 49:8-12 (NIV)
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, 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?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is 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.
On verses 8-12: Judah made some very public mistakes. You would be hardpressed in fact to find any other character in Genesis who made more public mistakes than Judah. It was Judah who first proposed that his brother Joseph be sold as a slave to the Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:26-27). It was Judah who refused to give his son Shelah to his daughter-in-law Tamar in fulfillment of the law of Levirate marriage. It was Judah who impregnated a prostitute, who unbeknownst to him happened to be his own daughter-in-law Tamar (Judah 38:26). It was Judah who upon discovering that Tamar had become pregnant by prostitution, hypocritically threatens to have her burned to death.
Despite all these mistakes Judah made, here Jacob has nothing but a magnificent blessing to declare over Judah’s life. When Jacob says, “Judah, your brothers will praise you” (v8), this is probably a play on words since Judah’s name itself means “praise”. Jacob describes Judah as an irresistible and powerful lion (v9), a ruler and king (v10). The picture in verse 11 of tying (“tethering”) his donkey to a vine speaks of peace, prosperity and possibly royalty (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:2). The picture in verse 11b of washing his robes in wine speaks of how prosperous Judah would be, with wine being so plentiful that it could be used as water. His eyes being “darker than wine” and his teeth “whiter than milk” (v12) also speak to prosperity and joy.
Why does Jacob reserve such a great and expansive blessing for Judah despite all the mistakes Judah made? It could be because Judah eventually repented of his sin against Tamar (Genesis 38:26). It also could be because Judah would eventually offer himself as a slave to Egypt in place of Jacob’s youngest son Benjamin (Genesis 44) and hearing about this must have touched Jacob’s heart. But beyond all this, I believe by far the biggest reason why Jacob would bless Judah is because Jacob foresaw that one day an everlasting king would descend from Judah’s line, one “whose scepter will not depart from Judah” (v10). This descendant is Jesus Christ. The picture in verse 11b of him washing his robes in wine may also foreshadow the idea that Jesus’ shed blood brings about clean robes.
Genesis 49:13 (NIV)
13 “Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon.
On verse 13: Jacob’s prophetic words about Zebulun living by the seashore and becoming a haven for ships would be fulfilled when centuries later, after the Israelites have taken over the promised land of Canaan, Zebulun would be allotted a land who extend to the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the Sea of Galilee on the east (Joshua 19:10-16).
Genesis 49:14-15 (NIV)
14 “Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags.
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 labor.
On verses 14-15: What is that supposed to mean? Jacob’s prophecy over Issachar is not a pleasant one. Jacob describes Issachar as a rawboned donkey who is tired and worn out from much labour. Despite having a pleasant inheritance, Issachar will be ruled by others, Jacob says in verse 15. These words would come true later as Issachar’s land would often live under the threat of invasion by foreign armies.
Genesis 49:16-17 (NIV)
16 “Dan will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.
On verses 16-17: Jacob proclaims a strong calling for Dan as a provider of justice for his people (v16) and as a powerful snake whose bite causes enemies much bigger than him to tumble (v17). Yet it is questionable whether Dan and his descendants lived up to this high calling, as the people of Dan would be known as much for their idolatry (Judges 18:30). What’s the lesson here? God has a high calling for your life, but whether or not we live up to that calling will depend on how we choose to live and whom/what we choose to worship with our lives.
Heavenly Father, through the help of Your Holy Spirit, I pray that I would wisely and effectively discern and communicate Your heart for my children and the people in my care. Thank You that though Judah made more public mistakes than his brothers, You had mercy on Judah and used him in a powerful way to bring forth Jesus into this world. Though I’ve made mistake after mistake, thank You that Your mercy is greater than my mistakes, and that You can use my life to show Jesus to this world. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
