When the son of Hamor in Shechem
took Dinah and raped her, essentially, and then these two sons executed
all of the males in that particular city. Jacob was not pleased with
that, and obviously here he expresses that displeasure, and then he
highlights the result of their condemnation. In verse 7, he
says, 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. Well, we know that the Levites
ultimately do not receive their own portion of land. it does
end up being a blessing to them. I think there's 48 cities scattered
throughout the land that are Levitical cities, but they don't
actually possess or own their own piece of land. And then Simeon
is ultimately within the confines of Judah. So Simeon doesn't have
its own territorial allotment, but rather it is confined in
Judah. In fact, Joshua, rather, when
it deals with the division of the land, highlights that specifically. So the Levites receive no tribal
allotment, and then Simeon would dwell within the inheritance
of Judah. So Joshua 19.1, the second lot
came out for Simeon for the tribe of the children of Simeon according
to their families, and their inheritance was within the inheritance
of the children of Judah. I know we talked a little bit
about that last week in the tribal allotments. Well, that's it.
Simeon doesn't have its own. It is a part of or included in
Judah. So those are the signs that he
has disfavorable or unfavorable words toward. Now as we move
to the third instance, as I said, this is the Shiloh prophecy and
there is much writing on this or there is much in terms of
later redemptive history that alludes to or has this in the
backdrop. And essentially what we have
is the royal preeminence of Judah. As Matthew Poole highlights,
the crown or the dominion would not be Reuben's, rather it would
go to this tribe of Judah. And that's what we find in verse
8. So the tribe of Judah would be
praised by the other tribes. The tribe of Judah would be the
royal tribe. Others would bow down to them.
And then the tribe of Judah, according to verse 9, would be
as strong as a lion. When we get to the book of Judges,
for instance, it is Judah that initially begins the conquest
in the land. It is the tribe of Judah that
immediately begins to seize upon their inheritance. Unfortunately,
it's Judah later on that gives up Samson to the Philistines.
So the one tribe, the royal tribe, that is the bravest and most
courageous in terms of the tribes that are first and going to take
their portion of the land is also a tribe that expresses great
cowardice when it comes to the man Samson. I think that's probably
Judah's sort of worst blight in the Bible in terms of cowardice. They gave up Samson to the Philistines
and basically said to Samson, We kind of like what's happening,
even though the Philistines are our overlords. I mean, I'm paraphrasing
quite a bit, but essentially that's what they do. They deliver
up Samson to the Philistines. But nevertheless, Judah is in
fact the royal tribe. Notice as well that from the
tribe of Judah comes David, and then ultimately comes David's
greater son, and that's the backdrop of this particular prophecy.
And again, this isn't just a Christian interpretation. Jewish interpreters
apply this to Messiah as well. They see that last day's reference
in verse 1, they link it to the coming of the Messiah, and that's
precisely what this prophecy concerns. Notice the duration
of Judah's reign, verse 10a. And again, some of the language
is a bit difficult. Some of the concept or the metaphor
or the imagery that is utilized, it's poetic. The whole thing
is a poem in terms of blessing and prophecy. But in verse 10a
it says, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver
from between his feet. So essentially, Judah will be
preeminent among the people of Israel up until this time that
Shiloh comes. So the royal scepter would not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet. Most likely
that language refers to childbirth, not that men give birth to children. but the idea that this lawgiver
from between his feet refers to men being born. So they would
possess that royal prerogative, and they would possess that royal
position until Shiloh comes. And the Shiloh there is the messianic
reference. I know it's a city in the Old
Testament. It was the place initially where
the tabernacle was and where the people of God went to worship.
But the things that are spoken of concerning this particular
figure is not what we would expect with reference to its city. It
is with reference to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, as he
is referred to by John in Revelation chapter 5 verse 5. That language
itself, Lion from the tribe of Judah, has in its background
this Shiloh prophecy in Genesis chapter 49. As well, Zechariah
chapter 9, there's a reference coming, binding his donkey to
the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine. The idea
there is that under Messiah's reign there will be such prosperity,
the vines will grow so rapidly and so extensively that it won't
be a problem tying your donkey to those vines. You won't care
that your donkey eats the vines or the fruit of the vine, because
there will be so much. There will be such benefit under
the reign of Messiah. In fact, Wenham points out that
throughout the Old Testament, the golden age of future blessing
is associated with bumper harvests, including grapes. In fact, there's
one particularly you can look at, the prophet Amos. In the
Old Testament prophet Amos, you see this. Hosea, Joel, Amos,
the third of the minor prophets. In Amos 9.13, behold, the days
are coming, says the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the
reaper and the treader of grapes, him who sows seed. The mountains
shall drip with sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with
it. I will bring back the captives of my people Israel. They shall
build the way cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards
and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens
and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land.
And no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given
them, says the Lord your God. So the idea is not profuseness
in terms of use, it's profuseness in terms of availability. And
it highlights again prosperity under this Shiloh, under this
messianic figure. But this binding his donkey to
the vine suggests as well that the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem
on a donkey, Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9. 21 verse 2. We see those sorts of things,
and again, many commentators connect it back to this Shiloh
prophecy that we have as Jacob speaks concerning the tribe of
Judah. So in verse 11, after the binding
his donkey to the vine, his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he washed
his garments in wine. Again, I think that highlights
the profuseness and availability of it. You're not supposed to
take from this that everybody's getting hammered and they're
drinking way too much wine. That's not the point. The point
is that this was a sign of God's blessing upon Israel when the
vines were profuse. That last bit, I don't know.
It's anybody's guess. I read a lot of commentary today
and I don't know that anybody sufficiently answered what that
means in verse 12. His eyes are darker than wine
and his teeth whiter than milk. I don't know that it's supposed
to be a description of the Lord in terms of his physicality,
that he had really bright white teeth. and really dark. I don't
think that's the point. I think there's other significance.
Again, there are things involved in this particular expression
of poetry that are a bit difficult to nail down from this vantage
point. One of the commentators, Robert
Alter, suggests that this is one of the most ancient pieces
of discourse that we have in the entirety of the Bible. Now,
most people have said or recognized that Job is the oldest written
book in the Bible. Obviously, the events of Genesis
predate Job, obviously, but Job was, in the minds of many, the
oldest piece of written literature in the Bible. but in terms of
this narrative block, the fact that there are things that aren't
even in consideration yet indicates the ancient character of this
poetry. There are things in here, the
firstborn, for instance, the double portion, the specifications
in Deuteronomy 21, there's some things that predate the legislation
that are given later in the Mosaic Law, so it's a very difficult
passage to try and get one's head wrapped around. But again,
I think this Shiloh prophecy is the most preeminent portion
of Genesis 49, and it speaks of the times of Messiah. One
other thing that I failed to mention is if we look at verse
10, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and then notice, and to
him shall be the obedience of the people. Again, it's not just
Christian commentary, but Jewish commentary saw that Messiah would
exercise sway not only over Israel, but Gentiles as well. And that's
how they would interpret that last reference there, shall be
the obedience of the people. Not some of the people, not just
Israel, but the people. Jew and Gentile will ultimately
bow before Israel's Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
the next one is the tribe of Zebulun. Verse 13, Zebulun shall
dwell by the haven of the sea. He shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall adjoin Sidon. Now, the tribal allotment did
not border the Mediterranean Sea or the Sea of Galilee, but
they were on an important trade route where persons that were
sailors and seamen and sea merchants would have passed through there
and they would have benefited greatly as a result of that. And then the tribe of Issachar
finishes out the sons of Leah in verses 14 and 15. Notice the
prophecy there. 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." Again, some of the contours
of that language are difficult to unpack. But later, redemptive
history indicates that they were, in fact, mighty men of valor. They were known for their abilities
in terms of battle and military prowess. In 1 Chronicles 7, 1
to 5, And then 1 Chronicles 12, verse 32, it tells us about the
sons of Issachar. In fact, look at 1 Chronicles
12, 32. I've always loved this statement about the sons of Issachar. It's an intriguing statement.
It's one that indicates that they had something on the ball. 12, 32. of the sons of Issachar, who
had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to
do, their chiefs were two hundred, and all their brethren were at
their command." It's said incidentally. I mean, that's not the point.
The point is, you know, numbering the amounts of persons in terms
of the the army there at Hebron, but they had understanding of
the times to know what Israel ought to do. So the sons of Issachar,
at least in later redemptive history, mighty men of valor,
certainly men who understood those things affecting Israel
and the way of progress there. And now he moves to the sons
of the handmaids, and there's a chiastic sort of an approach
here, an A-B-B-A pattern. He deals with Dan, who is a son
of Bilhah, and then he deals with Gad, who is a son of Zilpah,
and then Asher Zilpah, and then Naphtali is Bilhah. So that's
that A-B-B-A pattern that is utilized here. But with reference
to Dan, Notice in verses 16 and 17, Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel. That's the name or that's the
meaning of the name Dan. When he was given that name in
Genesis chapter 30 at verse 6, that's what it meant then and
that's what it meant now. Now, when it says, as one of
the tribes of Israel, again, that's a difficult statement
to try and figure out. They were, in fact, a tribe of
Israel. Why the language suggests as
one of, I don't know. You can read commentaries and
hopefully find the answer and report back to me, because I
obviously didn't get it as I read the commentaries today. I think
I got some of the main, I got the main ideas, but some of these
other things, and there's not a lot of agreement. When you
get into some of these things, there's a lot of difficulty in
terms of nailing down precisely what is in view. Again, I think
the poetic nature, the ancientness of the writing certainly affects
the ability for modern commentators and students to figure it out
with pinpoint accuracy. So, for the most part, biblical
prophecy is not simple, but it's not difficult. This is more difficult
prophecy than I'm certainly used to in terms of New Testament,
or even the prophetic prophecies concerning Jesus Christ and that
sort of thing. But why it says, as one of the
tribes of Israel, not quite sure. And then verse 17, Dan shall
be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path that bites the horse's
heels so that its rider shall fall backward. Now in terms of
judges, there are a handful of commentators that see the primary
emphasis or the primary application of this prophecy in the life
of Samson. Samson was in fact a Danite,
and he was in fact a judge over Israel, and he did a most excellent
and effective job while he did so. Now with reference to Dan,
the tribe would later abandon its tribal allotment. That's
specified in Joshua 19, verses 40 to 48. If you're not familiar
with the book of Joshua, the book of Joshua follows naturally
after the five books of Moses. So the book of Deuteronomy ends
with the people of Israel on the plains of Moab poised to
go into the promised land. And so Deuteronomy is a series
of exhortations by Moses to encourage the people of God, to remind
the people of God, and to prepare the people of God to go in on
the conquest. Joshua records the conquest. It records entering the land,
it records taking the land, it records dividing up the land,
and then retaining the land. Joshua is a very favorable approach
to the conquest. Judges, not so much. Judges does
it, they get in there and they do dispossess the land of the
Canaanites, but not entirely. So what we see in terms of positive
in the book of Joshua, we start to see it unfolding in the book
of Judges. Now there are great heroes in
the book of Judges. One of my favorites is Samson,
certainly Jephthah, Ehud, Gideon, these were wonderful judges that
served the Lord God most high. They were typical of the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Judge in that context doesn't
mean like a circuit judge or a judge that hears, you know,
small claims or that sort of thing. Judge in the book of Judges
is more like a king. They're not kings, but they're
more like that. They're tasked with providing
protection to the people. They're tasked with the vanquishing
of the enemies of the people. But with reference to the book
of Joshua, that's where you see the various allotments given
to the various tribes. And then they go into the land,
they take those portions, they settle there. But then in Judges,
as I said, things start to deteriorate. So the emphasis in Judges is
on those wonderful leaders, those wonderful saviors in Israel,
But what the author is showing us is the increasing Canaanization
of Israel. In other words, what happens
to Israel when they go into the land of Canaan is not that they
purify the land of Canaan, but they become like Canaanites. And that sets them up, ultimately,
for expulsion from the land. If anyone ever tells you that
what God does is not fair in terms of expelling or expunging
the Canaanites from the land of Canaan, it's most certainly
fair. It's righteous and it's just.
Because when Israel acts like Canaanites, they get kicked out
of the land as well. God doesn't say, well, I'm going
to go ahead and bypass your sin for whatever reason. I'm capricious
and arbitrary. That's not how God functioned.
When Israel goes into the land and they act like Canaanites,
and the book of Judges ends on that, you know, unfortunate note. I mean, if ever there looked
like a Canaanite civilization, it's Israel and the land at the
end of the book of Judges. I mean, it's absolutely horrific.
what goes on there. But that's kind of the flow from
Pentateuch into Joshua and Judges. But with reference to Dan, they
would ultimately migrate to the north of Israel. You've heard
the expression, Dan to Beersheba. Dan is up here in terms of the
city. The tribal allotment is a bit
lower, but with reference to city, Dan to Beersheba. So they
move from the place that God had given them to another place.
Verse 18, it looks like it's attached to the specific prophecy
concerning Dan. It most likely is, but it probably
applies to everything else. It's an expression of Jacob's
faith in the living God. As he rehearses the various prophecies
concerning the various tribes in Israel, he expresses his faith,
he expresses his confidence in the Lord God Most High. Wenham
again says, within the context of a prophecy about the nation's
future, this prayer of Jacob seems to be a reflection of the
difficulties he sees the tribes facing. He prays to the Lord
that he will deliver his descendants in the future. So that's why
verse 18 is in that particular position. The next is the tribe
of Gad. Again, Gad came from the handmade
zilpah. Now, the statement concerning
Gad recognizes that they will frequently be engaged in warfare. They are a transjordan tribe,
so they settle on the eastern side of the Jordan. Their neighbors
are the Ammonites, Just below them is Reuben, but then you've
got the Moabites. So they're in a position where
they're going to see a lot of battle. That's just what's going
to happen with reference to Gad. So verse 19, But he shall triumph at last. And again, 1 Chronicles chapter
5 and 1 Chronicles chapter 12 highlights that they were famed
for their military prowess. So that's what Jacob is alerting
them to here. The next is the tribe of Asher.
Now with reference to Asher, bread from Asher shall be rich
and he shall yield royal dainties. Now the best I can do is that
he's going to inherit a good piece of land, a good piece of
agriculturally rich land that will yield good benefits to that
particular tribe of people. And then Naphtali, the tribe
of Naphtali would be a deer let loose. That may refer to their
swiftness and agility on the battlefield. With reference to
that last statement, he uses beautiful words. Some suggest
that Beric, Beric was from the tribe of Naphtali. Beric helped
Deborah pen the Song of Deborah in Judges chapter 5, which was
basically praise to God for deliverance from their enemies. So some say
he has or was used beautiful words, and you can see it there
in Judges chapter 5. Others have suggested he was
a good talker and able to talk, you know, diplomatically, keep
themselves out of battle. He had the swiftness, he had
the ability, he had the agility, he was a dear let loose, But
he used beautiful words in order to be able to not enter into
battle and not enter into warfare with a whole host of various
peoples. And then we move to the sons of Rachel in verses
22 to 28. The two of them, Joseph and Benjamin. Now we spent a lot of time on
Joseph, beginning in chapter 37. When the text indicates that
this is the story of Jacob, the text then treats Joseph in great
detail. So the story of Jacob comes to
an official end in verse 33 in our chapter. The story of Jacob
certainly involves his sons, and what happened with reference
to Joseph takes a lot of chapters and a lot of ink to inform us
concerning. And basically what we have in
this brief section concerning the blessing of the prophecy
of Jacob concerning Joseph rehearses what we already know and what
we've already seen. Notice there is first a comparison,
verse 22. Joseph is a fruitful bough, a
fruitful bough by a well, his branches run over the wall. And then it indicates the challenges. Verse 23 says, the archers have
bitterly grieved him, shot at him, and hated him. Now, as I
recall, going from Genesis 37 to this point, I don't remember
a place where he was out in the open field and archers tried
to shoot at him. Remember, this is poetry. And
poets often use word pictures. They use metaphor. They use simile. They use word pictures to try
and describe life events. Well, I think we would all agree
that if it wasn't the case that there were actually persons with
physical bows and arrows shooting at him, It certainly was the
case metaphorically. You had his brothers who sold
him into slavery. You had the Ishmaelites whom
they sold him to. I'm sure that wasn't a pleasant
experience. The text doesn't get into life
with the Ishmaelites until he's ultimately delivered up to Potiphar's
house. He gets to Potiphar's house and there he's got this
woman shooting arrows at him, essentially trying to destroy
him. He moves from there into the prison. And there he's got
the royal cup bearer that assures him that he'll give a good report
to Pharaoh, and of course he forgets him. So there's this enmity against
Joseph from sort of day one. I mean the moment we meet that
young man, You know, in Genesis 37, it's like everything goes
downhill until, of course, God exalts him and puts him in a
position of great prestige and great power. And that's what
verses 24 to 26 express. This is Jacob's confidence in
the living and true God who has sustained, who has blessed, and
who has, in fact, delivered Joseph. So after that statement of verse
23, the archers had bitterly grieved him, shot at him, and
hated him. But notice verse 24, but his
bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made
strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. So Jacob understands
it wasn't Joseph's natural ability, it wasn't Joseph's savvy with
a bow and arrow, it wasn't Joseph's natural endowment, but it was
rather the hands of the mighty God of Jacob that delivered Joseph. And so in terms of this blessing,
in terms of this prophecy, he is rehearsing the faithfulness
of God to each of these particular patriarchs. It's as if he's saying,
look back at your lives and see how the Lord has dealt with you.
This gives you confidence for the present, and it certainly
gives you confidence and perseverance and expectation and hope going
into the future. The past faithfulness of God
steadies us in the present, and prepares us for life in the future,
and that is essentially what Jacob is communicating to him
at this particular time. So he was able to defend himself
and overcome by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. Wenham
says verse 24 tells how the attacks on Joseph failed because of divine
assistance. So every step of the way, when
we started with Genesis 37, when we saw this young man's dreams,
we saw that report given to his brothers, we saw their enmity
and their animosity, we see them hatching their plan, first to
kill him and then ultimately to sell him into slavery, all
the Every step of the way it was God there upholding him. It was God there in Providence
moving him from one place to another. We looked at that in
great detail and we can testify along with Jacob and Joseph by
the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. That's where the deliverance
came for this man Joseph. He goes on to say, from there
is the shepherd, the stone of Israel, and then verse 25, by
the God of your father who will help you and by the Almighty
who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of
the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of
my ancestors up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the
head of him who is separate from his brothers. So he is the one
that receives the double portion. Remember, when you look at your
map, that's not the right map. If we had a map of the tribes
of Israel, we wouldn't see one named Joseph. We'd see two. one
called Ephraim and one called Manasseh. In fact, Manasseh,
half of it is on the east side of the Jordan and the other half
is on the other side of the Jordan. So you see that double portion
brought to fruition in God's blessing upon Joseph. And so
Jacob rehearses that, and Jacob says it will be multiplied. The
blessings of your father, verse 26, have excelled the blessings
of my ancestors. And then the final is the other
son of Rachel, the tribe of Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin would also
have a warlike and a fierce disposition, and that's what we find in verse
27. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he shall devour
the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. Ehud was a
Benjamite. Remember, he was the man that
gave that message to the king. That message to the king happened
to have a point on it and came out of his... and lodged into
his great big fat belly. Eglon was the king that Ehud
dispatched when he said, I have a message for you. And he stuck
the knife in his belly. So Benjamin was certainly a warring
tribe. As well, they were known as archers
and slingers. The Old Testament indicates that
to us. And they were the ones involved
in civil war in Judges 19 and 20. Every other tribe was against
Benjamin, and Benjamin had to hold their own in that exchange. So Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall
divide the spoil. And then the summary concerning
the blessing is mentioned, though there is some condemnation for
Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. Overall, it's a blessing. Those
men are patriarchs of their respective tribes, and there will be tribal
allotments, land in the land of Canaan, that will come to
these people, and they will benefit and prosper as a result of the
God of Israel, as a result of the God who is faithful. Also,
they will be looking to that Shiloh prophecy. They will be
looking for that Messiah that's described with reference to the
tribe of Judah, that one who will come, David, and then ultimately
the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Going back to Benjamin, there
were two other famous men in the tribe of Benjamin, and that
was King Saul, and then Paul the Apostle. Paul was a Benjamite
as well. I'm not sure if he was a good
archer or a good slinger, but he was certainly within that
tribe. And then in the next place we
have the instruction of Jacob's sons. And this shouldn't be any
bit of a surprise to us. Jacob has already told Joseph
back in chapter 47 that he does not want to be buried in the
land of Egypt. He wants to be buried in the
land of Canaan. Remember, the two blessings that
the book of Genesis holds forth, or the two primary themes, are
land and seed. Seed is preeminent. Seed is ultimately
realized in our Lord Jesus Christ. Land is preeminent in terms of
an Old Covenant concept, in terms of God's gracious gift to the
nation of Israel. And so this desire on the part
of the patriarch to be buried in the land of Canaan reflects
that conviction. And then the instructions that
he gives are very detailed when he describes the piece of land
that he wants to be buried in. Do you notice what he says? I
am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the
cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave
that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the
land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron
the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. Remember when
we were back there. It was offered to him for free.
You can go ahead and bury Sarah here, Abraham. Abraham insisted. Abraham insisted on paying for
it. Why? Because he owns dirt in
the promised land. This was down payment. This is,
you know, the beginning of what would ultimately flow from the
hand of God. Verse 31, he says, there they
buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac
and Rebekah, his wife. And there I buried Leah. The
field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons
of Hath. Again, very descriptive. He doesn't say, just send my
bones back to the land of Canaan. No, he pinpoints the place and
there's a reason. I think Robert Alter gets this
reason correct. He says, Jacob, in his last words
to his sons, exhibits an elaborate consciousness of the legal transaction
between his grandfather and Ephron the Hittite. Like the account
of the purchase in chapter 25, he emphasizes the previous owner,
the exact location of the property, and the fact that it was acquired
as a permanent holding. Thus, at the end of Genesis,
legal language is used to resume a great theme, that Abraham's
offspring are legitimately bound to the land God promised them,
and that the descent into Egypt is no more than a sojourn. Very
crucial and very key to get that, because when we turn the page
and we get to the book of Exodus, they're in the land of Egypt.
But as Alter points out, this language indicates the binding
legality, the reality that based on God's faithfulness, they will
inherit the land of Canaan. There may be a detour. There
may be an unwanted time in the land of Egypt. But as this brother
says, it will only be a sojourn in Egypt. They have title to
the land of Canaan. And that's where this section
ends. And then, of course, his death in verse 33. And when Jacob
had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the
bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. The
only way I can visualize that he was sitting on the edge of
the bed and then laid down, put his legs on the bed and died.
And that was that. And now chapter 15 is going to
deal with the final disposition of his body in terms of Joseph,
and then it will deal with the last words of Joseph and his
death. So that is Genesis 49. As I said,
there's a whole lot more that can be gleaned from a study of
this chapter. I would recommend John Gill. Calvin spends a lot of time on
it as well. Matthew Poole, very helpful.
Typically the bulk of the place where those men stay is in the
Shiloh prophecy concerning Jesus, specifically in verses 8 to 12.
Some very helpful stuff. Lennon, very good. Robert Alter,
very good as well. Brief. Alter's strength is that
he's brief. I think he's Jewish. And the
basic thrust is a new translation. That's what he's working on.
A translation of the Old Testament. But he does provide commentary
in the footnotes section. But again, it's very brief. He
doesn't get into 10 pages of discussion on things. So if you're
interested in delving further into Genesis 49, there's certainly
further to delve into. But hopefully this will at least
provide some sort of an overview in terms of Jacob's blessing
of his sons that are prophetic in nature concerning ultimately
the scope of God's dealings with Israel. And in terms of the scope
of the prophecy, it is programmatic for the entirety of the tribes
of Israel. Calvin said, and this prophecy
is comprised the whole period from the departure out of Egypt
to the reign of Christ. Again, it's very powerful. In
Genesis 49, we have a formal, articulated messianic prophecy. Not that Genesis 3.15 isn't. It is, most assuredly, but it's
not sort of set off the way that this is. This is a wonderful
specimen of biblical prophecy concerning the coming Messiah. In terms of the Shiloh prophecy,
the Lord Christ did in fact come from the tribe of Judah. You
see that in Matthew, you see it in Hebrews chapter 7. Paul's
whole argument with reference to the priesthood of Jesus, he
connects him not to Aaron because Jesus wasn't from the tribe of
Levi. He was from the tribe of Judah.
That's why his priesthood is connected to Melchizedek. It
isn't connected to the Aaronic or the Levitical priesthood.
So you see that in Hebrews 7, 14. And then the Lord Christ
is the one to whom shall be the obedience of the people. And
to him shall be the obedience of the people. Again, not just
Jew, but Gentile. He is the Messiah of Israel with
the scope of the entirety of the earth. And then the Lord
Christ is the one who brings blessing and prosperity to his
people. I think that's what verses 11
and 12 indicate or highlight in that poetic, sort of highly
charged, symbolized language. And then a third observation
in terms of practical application is Jacob's confidence in God.
You know, I just talked about Joseph, and he had a difficult
life, to be sure. I would argue that in terms of
the patriarchs, in terms of the people that we have studied in
the book of Genesis, not many people had it more difficult
than Joseph. I mean, he's right up there with,
you know, hard lives. But Jacob had a tough life as
well, and what did Jacob learn in the midst of his life? At
the end of his life, he has confidence in God. Verse 18, I have waited
for your salvation, O Lord. And then in verse 26, the blessings
of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors
up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall
be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him
who is separate from his brother. So there is this great confidence
in God that Jacob manifests and expresses in this particular
chapter. And I would suggest that finally,
in terms of practical observation, Jacob can have that great confidence
in God because of the faithfulness of God as it has been expressed
throughout the book of Genesis up to this point. For every single
one of these patriarchs, for every single one of these instances,
the Lord has been there. We tried to see that as we've
moved our way through the book of Genesis, tried to see God's
providence, and it's very obvious, and it's very conspicuous for
the most part. You see how, especially in the
life of Joseph, each move is calculated to put him in the
next spot where he needs to be to ultimately ascend to the throne,
second throne, in the land of Egypt, so that he can provide
that safe haven, and he can provide that shelter for his brothers,
so that he can afford them life. In fact, that is going to be
his confession, God willing, next week when we look at chapter
50. He is able to say, but as for you, you meant evil against
me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as
it is this day, to save many people alive. In the final analysis,
Jacob, the patriarchs, Joseph included, have or has confidence
in God because of the faithfulness of God. When we have experienced
that, when we have seen that, not only in scripture but in
our own lives, hopefully it will promote in us that confidence,
that trust, that ability to rest upon the Lord and not fret and
not freak out and not lose our minds when things happen in this
world. There is that steadiness and
that settledness that the people of God manifest. And I would
have to say this text also manifests what one brother in the church
has said, not this church, in the history of the church, our
people die well. Jacob certainly died well according
to verse 33. I mean, he drew his feet up into
the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
He was able to say what he needed to say. He was able to provide
that blessing and prophecy to his sons. He breathed his last
and entered into the presence of the man who would indeed achieve,
or the one, the pre-incarnate Christ who would achieve the
Shiloh prophecy. So it's a blessed thing. to appreciate
God's grace, God's mercy, God's faithfulness, to increase our
confidence and our trust in Him. Well, let's close in a word of
prayer. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You
for this series of prophetic statements by Jacob. We thank
You for the one respecting Christ, our Lord, that one that has come
into this world, sinners to save, and that one who brings great
blessing and prosperity and great joy to His people. We give praise
to You that this was no afterthought in the mind of God. The very
beginning of Scripture indicates that it would be the seed of
the woman that would crush the serpent. All of this in accordance
with that covenant made between the Father, the Son, and the
Spirit to save His people from their sins. We give praise, Most
High, for Your goodness, for Your graciousness, and for Your
faithfulness. And I pray that you would increase
our trust, increase our confidence, and increase our stability and
security as we reflect on who you are. Again, Father, we ask
that you would go with us. We ask that you would bless and
protect all of the people in this local church. We pray that
you'd move the hearts of the civil magistrate so that these
restrictions placed upon churches would be lifted and that all
of your people could gather together on the Lord's Day in the house
of God to worship and to glorify you. And we ask this through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
