Genesis 49:1-15

This is our final opportunity to see the evidence of faith in the life of Jacob. He spoke to his sons who were to become the twelve tribes that would make up the nation of Israel and who would eventually be dwelling in the land of Canaan. What great faith this is when we remember that as these prophecies of the tribes is given, the Canaanite was then in the land and Jacob’s entire family was situated in there. and they’re doing quite ok there.

We begin Genesis 49:1,

And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days: 

We come here to an all-important expression. We find that there’re certain expressions which the Bible uses over and over again. One of those expressions is right here: “in the last days.”

The terms “The Last Days” or “The latter days” are used many times in the Bible and even though there’s debate over the exact translation, it certainly covers the total time of Israel, from this moment where the sons of Jacob are gathered before him all the way through to the end of the 1000 year millennial kingdom of Christ.

All the pictures we’ve seen in the lives of Jacob and Joseph include things which haven’t happened yet, they’re still in the future to us today. So, it doesn’t make sense for us to think this means anything else other than all of the history of Israel, right up to the end of human existence as we currently know it.

Despite portions of the prophecies extending beyond our time today, many of them were precisely fulfilled in Israel’s later history, leading up to the time of Christ, and some of the words Joseph speaks will be of the coming Messiah Himself. They’re so exact and so precise that there’s no doubt that these words lead to Jesus and to no other.

The last days of the nation Israel will be different from the last days of the church. There’s a big difference between the two which we need to see and if we don’t see it most of the Bible record doesn’t fit in. It doesn’t make sense.

Jacob’s talking about the last days of the nation Israel and what’s going to happen at that time to the twelve tribes which will come from these sons gathered with him from whom the nation will come.

Although some prophecies concerning the nation of Israel have already been fulfilled, we can narrow it down further by dividing Israel into twelve parts and recognizing that God has had something to say concerning each of those twelve parts.

Not only have His prophecies concerning the nation been fulfilled, but His prophecies concerning each tribe have been fulfilled. Surely, this makes us wonder at how remarkable this is. Who else but our God has the power to see outside our time dimension and, as Romans 4 verse 17 says,

God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

Right here in this chapter is where we’ll see the giving of these prophecies of what will befall each tribe in the “last days.” They’re given to Jacob, who is now Israel, by God through the Holy Spirit.

While some of these prophecies have already been fulfilled, most of them are still waiting their final fulfillment.

As usual, we’ll only be hitting the highlights as this is another lifetime study in itself, and it’s a study that’s just as vital for believers today as it was to Jacob’s family all those many centuries ago.

Verse 2,

“Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father. 

Here now we have this old man who’s close to death sitting up in bed.

He was leaning on his staff, as we learn in Hebrews 11:21 which reads,

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 

Old Jacob was a go getter all his life, and he wanted to keep going. Death is really an embarrassment isn’t it?

It comes at a most inconvenient time. It usually comes at a time when we want to keep going and sometimes just when we’ve finally discovered our purpose in life.

I would really love to complete the entire Bible in this Why God home study, but the truth is I don’t know whether it’ll happen or not.

Jacob found that he just couldn’t keep going any longer. He was leaning on his staff.

He’s a remarkable man in many ways.

Verses 3 and 4,

“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. 

Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it—He went up to my couch. 

These patriarchs fully recognised the great subject of heredity.

Like father, like son. Jacob recognises that and sees that Reuben’s a lot like himself. “Unstable as water” could have described Jacob in his early years. It was true of his oldest son, also. “You shall not excel,” Jacob prophecies over him and Reuben never did. He never took the major prize for anything. He won a couple of minor prizes, but he was never in first place.

There’re many of us like that today. We’re satisfied and have no real desire to excel.

The story about Reuben which Jacob mentions here is the pretty sordid story of when Reuben slept with his father’s wife Bilhah.

We didn’t dwell on it much when we went through it, mainly because once we realised it happened there’s no point in trying to see the intricate details. And let’s face it there’s an overabundance of sordidness all around us today to make us sick and tired of it.

I doubt God wants us to dwell on man’s sins. In fact, He tells us to do the opposite in Philippians 4 verse 8, and I read,

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things. 

But God does records human sins so that we have an accurate picture of the human family. We should never have any illusions about our own sin.

The next two sons are lumped together. They were full–brothers, sons of Leah.

Verse 5,

“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. 

You remember how these two went to Shalem, a city of Shechem, and killed all the inhabitants of the city because one man was guilty of raping their sister, Dinah. They took their revenge by mass murdering the whole town! Now, Jacob reminds everyone of this, including us today.

Verses 6 and 7 now,

Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. 

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel. 

Cursed be their anger!

The Bible speaks of a godly anger (Be angry and do not sin, Ephesians 4:26) and an ungodly anger (Let all bitterness, wrath, anger…be put away from you, Ephesians 4:31). Often, the difference between a godly, righteous anger and an ungodly anger is self-will.

The tribe of Simeon became small during the wilderness wanderings. They started out from Egypt being the third largest tribe as we seee in Numbers 1:23, but 35 years later, at the second wilderness census of Israel, 63% of the tribe had perished and they became the smallest tribe. Numbers 26:14 tells us that.

The prophecy of dividing and scattering became a blessing for Levi.

Because of this tribe’s faithfulness during the rebellion of the golden calf which we’ll come to when we get to Exodus chapter 32, it was scattered as a blessing throughout the whole nation of Israel. They didn’t receive a large tract of land as we learn in Joshua 13:33, and I’ll read,

But to the tribe of Levi Moses had given no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as He had said to them. 

So, both Simeon and Levi were scattered, but one as a blessing and the other as a curse.

In Levi, we see the marvellous grace of God. It’s true that they were scattered in Israel, but this was because they were made the priestly tribe. It was the only the grace of God that could take such a cruel person as Levi and make him the head of the priestly tribe.

It’s only the grace of God that’s transformed us sinners into a kingdom of priests, my friend.

All believers are priests today. Among them are converted drunks and drug addicts, converted thieves, robbers, and murderers. In fact some of the cruellest people in the human record have been converted to children of God.

How could this be and how could this happen that they become priests in the Kingdom of God?

Well, just the same as we all did, by the marvellous grace of God.

As 1st Peter 1 verses 18 to 21 tell us, and I’ll read from the New Living Translation,

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.

It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

Then it goes on to say in 1st Peter 2 verse 5,

And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

Who’s being talking about here? Those who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ!

Reuben lost first place, and Simeon and Levi have also lost first place.

The King, The Messiah, won’t come from any of these tribes, but there’s another son who’s also a sinner and we’ll see what the grace of God did for him.

Verse 8,

“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you.

Wow! What was that? “Your father’s children shall bow down before you.” Why? Because although Israel is speaking to his sons and especially Judah here, he’s also speaking to Jesus, the Christ Who’s going to come through Judah’s line and Who is, effectively, already inside Judah at this time. Jesus is inside Judah just exactly the same as a mighty, full grown Australian Mountain Ash tree (the second tallest growing tree in the world) comes from a seed the size of a speck of dust. Just the same as my precious grand children were inside me my whole life.

But Jesus is not only the physical descendant of Judah, He’s also the only begotten Son of God, God the Father. It’s this Father’s children of whom Judah’s referring to here that will bow down before Him. It’s you and me my friends. Not only that but everyone, even the most ardent atheist, the ones viciously opposed to the very thought of God, will eventually bow to Jesus Christ.

Romans 14:10-12 tells us this in no uncertain terms,

…For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

For it is written: “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD.”

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Verse 9,

Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? 

Judah wasn’t exactly a good person with a perfect character.

It was him who suggested making a profit in getting rid of Joseph as we saw in Genesis37.

He didn’t deal faithfully with his daughter-in-law Tamar, and he ended up having sex with her as a prostitute as we saw Genesis 38:18 to 26. But he did show good character when he offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin in Genesis 44.

Overall, this blessing is an example of the richness of God’s grace to those who don’t deserve it.

We’ll say again here that this prophecy over Judah is a description of Judah’s greatest descendant: Jesus Christ. Israel was speaking of his own son Judah; but at the same time speaking to our Lord, who came from the tribe of Judah. Everything he says of Judah he’s saying to a greater Judah, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Judah’s compared to the lion, the king of beasts in physical strength. At first he’s the lion’s whelp, the young lion, which shows a snapshot of its future strength and power.

Then he’s the full-grown lion, with an irresistible force, completely overpowering its prey. Then, after enjoying the fruits of his victory, he quietly goes off to his haven, his lair, where he rests in undisturbed security.

The word for lion used here can also mean a lioness in defence of her cubs who’s even more dangerous than the male.

After being satisfied the lion rests in his majesty, and no one’s going to rouse him up and then escape.

In Revelation 5:5, Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

This all shows us the ruling position Judah will have among his brethren. He inherited the leadership aspect of the firstborn. This leadership position among his brothers meant that the eventual kings of Israel would come from Judah along with the Messiah – God’s ultimate leader, the ultimate King.

Now we come to one of the most remarkable prophecies in scripture, Verse 10 of Genesis 49,

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

“Until Shiloh comes”!

Shiloh is the ruler.

This is one of the more remarkable prophecies in all the Word of God. Already we’ve been told that there’ll be a seed of the woman. That was the first prophecy of Christ in Genesis 3 verse 15,

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.

“The “seed” of the woman is the One who’ll do the bruising of the serpent’s head. He’ll be the One to get the victory. This first prophecy was in Genesis; then that Seed was confirmed to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Now it’s being confirmed to Judah because it’s out of Judah’s line that He’s coming.

Also, the word Shiloh means “rest and tranquillity.” Christ is the One who will bring that rest.

Remember that when the Lord Jesus walked here on earth, He turned from those who had rejected Him, and He said to the people as we read in Matthew 11 verse 28,

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

That’s Shiloh. You see Shiloh had come.

Not only is Christ Shiloh, but He’s the One who will hold the sceptre, the power of rulership.

The sceptre of this universe will be held in nail–pierced hands. In the last part of verse 24 of this chapter we’ll read that from God will come the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. So, this Shiloh is also a shepherd and a stone.

When we get to Numbers 24:17 we’ll find that a Star is prophesied. We read,

A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult. 

Think of all that the coming of Christ means. He’s the Seed promised to the woman and to the patriarchs. He’s the Shiloh who brings rest. He’s the King who holds the sceptre. He’s the Shepherd who gave His life, and He’s the Chief Shepherd who’s coming someday. He’s the Stone that the builders disallowed but who’s now become the headstone of the corner. He’s the Star, the bright and morning Star for His church.

This is the line that went from Adam to Seth (after Abel was murdered). From Seth it went through Noah to Shem and then to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and now to Judah. My Friends, we mustn’t miss this wonderful fact that God is moving according to a pattern and a program here. This is very important for us to see.

This leadership prophecy took 640 years to fulfill in part with the reign of David, the first of Judah’s dynasty of kings. The prophecy took some 1600 years to completely fulfill in Jesus, Shiloh.

The promise was that Israel would keep this sceptre until Shiloh comes. Even under their foreign masters during this period, Israel had a limited right to self-rule, until a.d. 7.

At that time, under Herod and the Romans, their right to capital punishment, which was a small but still remaining part of their self-government, was taken away.

When that happened, the rabbis considered it a disaster. Why?

Because they thought that God had lied and therefore all Scripture was a lie.

This plunged them into a state of ultimate despair and hopelessness. There is no God? There is no Law? There is no foundation of truth? How did they come to this way of thinking?

Because God broke His promise! The last remnant of the sceptre had passed from Judah, and the Messiah, Shiloh had not come.

It was reported that rabbis walked the streets of Jerusalem weeping and in despair crying, “Woe unto us, for the sceptre has been taken away from Judah, and Shiloh has not come.”

And yet all the time God’s Word had not been broken. The rabbi’s trust was placed firmly on what they saw with their eyes and the decisions they made in their own strength because you see my friends, Shiloah HAD come.

Up in Bethlehem right at that moment in a lowly manger, a virgin had given birth to the Child on who the entire Universe hangs. Shiloah HAD come in the form of flesh. The Messiah, the One who would die, be buried, and be raised from death on the third day, to pay the wages of sin was already born!

I there anything more powerful and more moving than this?

Verses 11 and 12,

Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes. 

His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk. 

Who is this talking about?

It is Christ who came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, offering Himself as the Messiah, the King, and the Savior.

I wish we could go in depth and see the incredible story behind the story here, but to summarise it, in Jesus, we have both a Kinsman Redeemer and an Avenger of blood. You see He had to be a kinsman of you and me, a human, to be able to pay the price for our sin. As God he could not. Nor could an angel or any created thing other than a human.

Both terms come from the same Hebrew word, Goel. As our Kinsman Redeemer, Christ put on garments of flesh and became like us in His human nature.

“He washed his garments in wine”.

His garments were the flesh with which he clothed Himself to come into this world.

What kind of wine did he was those garments in? Blood, His own blood.

He washed his clothes (His flesh) in His own blood. His blood stained garment became our righteousness.

But Christ is also our Avenger of blood, and this is the role He’ll come back as when He comes the next time. His garments will be red again except this time it won’t be from His own blood but from the blood of His enemies.

We see it again in Isaiah 63 verses 1 to 3. Let’s read verse 1 where a question is asked,

Who is this who comes from Edom, With dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, Traveling in the greatness of His strength?

And the answer is given,

“I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

That’s the Lord speaking. Then in Verse 2 another question’s asked,

Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?

In verse 3 and 4 the Lord answers,

“I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come.

Eyes darker than wine and teeth whiter than milk points to the work of the Messiah. In Him, there is eternal health, abundance, wholeness, and blessing. In Christ there is the free enjoyment of the good things of life which grow into everlasting contentment.

This prophecy given to Judah is one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Scriptures.

Verse 13,

“Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He shall become a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon. 

Zebulun was the tribe which lived along the coast up in the northern part of the land.

Zebulun, Issachar, Dan and all Jacob’s sons were real people and their tribes actually existed in the nation of Israel. But God has used them to show us His Son.

After blessing Judah, Jacob now turns his attention to his tenth-born son, Zebulun. Judah was the fourth son of Israel, so this seems out of place, but Zebulun was born to Leah, not to one of the maidservants, so the blessing is upon her sons first. However, Zebulun’s brother, Issachar was born to Leah before he was. And yet he gets the blessing first.

Zebulun means Glorious Dwelling Place, and Jacob’s words are making a play on his name. “Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea.” The word “sea” is plural and what it implies is that this tribe would fill the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee, or at least they’d have access to it.

In Deuteronomy 33 verses 18 and 19, we see that the land of Issachar is jointly used by Zebulun who has been given priority over Issachar in this blessing of Jacob. This is the reason Jacob’s blessed Zebulun before Issachar, even though Issachar was born first.

This might seem trivial and something we don’t really need to know, but it shows that the spirit of prophecy working through Jacob was correct. The order of the blessing has meaning, and God’s word is once again seen as truthful. We have that great assurance that the difficulties we think are found in the Bible are simply our difficulties, not the Bible’s. Those difficulties come from our unwillingness to study and check out what’s in question, not the accuracy of this beautiful treasure, the Bible.

Verses 14 and 15 and Jacob or Israel is still speaking,

“Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between two burdens; 

He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, And became a band of slaves. 

Jacob now gives Issachar’s blessing. He’s Jacob’s ninth son, but the

fifth born to Leah.

His name means “He is wages.” He’s placed into a position under and behind Zebulun, but his blessing is a good one. First he’s called a strong donkey. In Hebrew the thought is of being strong and sturdy.

In other words, Issachar will be like a strong, sturdy animal. This type of donkey is a servant animal, used like an ox for ploughing and other such heavy work.

Issachar was also finally located way up in the northern part of the land, and they were the ones who did a great deal of the work that made up the backbone of the nation. They were the workers.

Already we see the picture of Christ.

The verse say’s “And that the land was pleasant;”

Jacob prophesied that the dwelling of Issachar would be a delightful place between two areas which would provide him safety and rest.

Because of his delightful surroundings and his well-placed position of safety and rest, he’ll be willing to bear a heavy burden in order to obtain what he desires. Servitude is the key to enjoying this land of delight.

In today’s world there’re so many people pushing their own importance while actually achieving very little and it becomes sickening, but there is what’s known as the silent majority who, just like little tribes of Zebulun and Issachar, just get on with their work and get the job done. We tend to pass over them when really they’re the backbone of a nation just as these 2 tribes were to the nation of Israel when they got settled in the Promised Land.

Next time we’ll finish the Book of Genesis as we continue to see how these 12 tribes were prophesied over by Jacob and then and we’ll see Jacob is death. There are still some surprises and great insights so join us for this last study in the Book of Beginnings and until then God Bless each and every one of you.