Genesis 49: 1-15
Now we are coming toward the end of the book of Genesis and the end of the stories of both Jacob and Joseph. Jacob, or Israel, has come into Egypt from Canaan and has lived the rest of his life in Egypt. He has lived another seventeen years in this foreign country, as many years as Joseph had lived in Canaan when he was taken to Egypt.
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob provided the bloodline for the people of God, as they were the ones who believed in the True God, so they were special to God; He gave them prophesies to pronounce over their sons as blessings, but these blessing/prophesies ended with these three.
Israel is now going to tell his twelve sons what is in the future for each of them and their families/tribes.
(1) Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come. (2) Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; and listen to Israel your father.
He is going through a ritual with stylized language to introduce these prophecies.
(3) "Reuben, you are my firstborn; my might and the beginning of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. (4) Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it--he went up to my couch.
Reuben is the first child born to Jacob by Leah (Genesis 29: 32). A man's first son is said to be the beginning of the father's strength, and he also started out having dignity and power. But when he defiled his father's bed, in laying with Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid and Jacob's concubine (Genesis 35:22), he showed that he had no self-control, and lost the preeminence. He also lost the right of the firstborn to receive a double-portion of inheritance from his father. This was given to Joseph, instead (Genesis 48: 22).
(5) "Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are implements of violence. (6) Let my soul not enter into their council; let not my glory be united with their assembly; because in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they lamed oxen. (7) Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
Simeon and Levi are dealt with together, because they were complicit with each other in deceiving and massacring the whole town of Shechem and Hamor for their mistreatment of their sister Dinah (the story is in Genesis 34: 1-31). And we learn here that they were also cruel to their animals, crippling oxen. So they also showed that they were not qualified to be honored, and will be scattered in Israel.
We see this in the Levites being the teachers of the Law to Israel, having cities in all the other tribes' territories, never given their own; and the tribe of Simeon was given the extreme southerly territory, below Judah's, and we never hear much from them in the record after the initial conquest of the land.
(8) "Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down to you. (9) Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion who dares rouse him up? (10) The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be obedience of the peoples. (11) He ties foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he washes his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes. (12) His eyes are dull from wine, and his teeth white from milk.
The three older sons having been disqualified, this brings us to Judah, who is a prince in his family. The name Judah means "Praise," and his brothers will praise him, and their descendants will bow down to his descendants. He is like a young lion who is sleeping in his den after devouring his prey.
Then we're told that the kingship will come through Judah's tribe, as the scepter and ruler's staff will be there, until "Shiloh," the "one to whom it belongs," will come; which is a prophecy of Messiah, who will have the obedience of many peoples. He will usher in such a prosperous era that pack animals will be tied up to fruitful grapevines, and wine will be as plentiful as wash water.
Then a description of this King is that His eyes are darker than wine, and His teeth are whiter than milk, a picture of health and strength.
(13) "Zebulun will dwell at the seashore; and he will be a haven for ships, and his flank shall be toward Sidon.
Zebulun's borders were land-locked, between Issachar, Naphtali, Asher and West Manasseh, pretty far south from Sidon. This apparently suggests that Zebulun will extend its territory to the sea as far as Sidon. We have not seen this yet.
(14) Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between sheepfolds. (15) When he saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, and became a slave at forced labor.
Issachar's name means "to hire for wages" (Genesis 30: 18), and here we see that this tribe is enjoying the "good life" so much that they sink into slavery, using their strength for bearing others' burdens.
This is Jacob's prophecies concerning his first six sons and their tribes. Some of these predictions have not yet been fulfilled, because he says that these sayings are for the days to come, or the last days. Since we've not seen the end of the last days, then there's still time for God to finish His plans for them.
O my Father, You are the only One who can say what will happen in the future. Only You have planned out the whole way, because You always do everything You want to do, for Your own pleasure.
If a human person would have Your wisdom and power, then he would play with Creation as his toys, not always considering the ramifications of what he's doing. But You are not a man, to ever change Your plan. You know already what all the results could be, and You always work everything out to bring out the good results, even when we need to wait through what we consider negative circumstances. We can always trust You implicitly no matter what is going on around us.
My Father, teach us Your ways, to think Your thoughts, and follow You along the road You have put each of our feet upon. You will never let go of our hand as we take each step, and proceed along, dealing with all of the rocks, stumbling stones, brambles and potholes. Show us the right way to step over or around these obstacles, or how to wade through them, strengthening us and preparing us for the next mile or meter. You know what lies ahead, around the corners, and over the hills and through the valleys. You know what we'll need to learn along the way for what we will encounter ahead.
O Father, as we travel our paths, send us out to all the world, each one of Your children going to the ones who can hear of Your love in the way they can tell it. Let every living person learn how much You have already accomplished on their behalf, in Your Son, our Savior. Have everyone understand Your way of Salvation to save us from ourselves and the sin that so easily besets us. Give us all the power over wrong to make the right decisions, to love You back and to love one another as You have loved us. That Your will be done here on Earth, as it is in Heaven.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord God Almighty, our Redeemer and Messiah, sovereign King of the whole World and all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, do come soon, Lord Jesus!
