Blessings for a Future Nation
a commentary on Genesis 49
Welcome back to another Biblit! Last week we saw Jacob not only adopt Joseph’s two eldest children, Ephraim and Manasseh, but he also bestowed the firstborn blessing to Ephraim. This week, we get to see the continuation of these blessings as Jacob prophesies over the future of the remaining children of Israel. Let’s jump into this commentary on Genesis 49.
But before we do, I have 2 quick announcements!
We only have one more week of Genesis left. Don’t worry though, we are planning to continue on into an Exodus study! We will be taking a one week break, on 8/31, and then Exodus chapter 1 will be coming out the following Tuesday, 9/7! This will be the perfect time to send Biblit to any friends, family, or anyone you know that may want to study Exodus with us.
Thursday I am dropping a bonus Biblit about who the Pharaoh might be during the time of Joseph
Context
This chapter is actually a tough one to write about. It is also one of the toughest ones to translate, which is why there are a ton of footnotes at the bottom of your Bible.
The passage here is Jacob’s prophetic “blessings” over his 12 sons, who will become the 12 tribes of Israel. I put blessings in quotes because not everything here is actually a blessing, but it says in verse 28:
“All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.” (Genesis 49:28 ESV).
So, we will call them all blessings.
The order of the blessings is by birth mother, so first Jacob blesses all 6 of Leah’s children, then the 4 children birthed by the handmaids, and then finally Rachel’s 2 children.
The reason this passage is difficult is that it is all prophetic and written in Hebrew poetry. There is a lot of wordplay using the son’s names, as well as a lot of analogies to animals. Since we don’t read the original Hebrew, some of these nuances get lost in translation. However, we will do our best to describe each blessing.
Reuben: Jacob announces that since Reuben slept with Bilhah in Genesis 35, he is excluded from any blessing. The firstborn rights are ripped from him (as we saw last week) and instead he is cursed. We see this come to fruition since Reuben’s tribe becomes a pretty lowly tribe that doesn’t do much.
Simeon and Levi: these two are given their “blessing” together because they committed their atrocity together. If you recall back in Genesis 34, Simeon and Levi slaughtered every man in Shechem because Hamor’s son defiled their sister. Though their anger was rightful, their vengeance was unacceptable and abhorred. Thus, they are also ripped of any inheritance. Neither brother receives any land whatsoever in the nation of Israel. Instead they receive some cities spread throughout Israel. Simeon’s people end up being absorbed by Judah. Levi gains some mercy because his people end up being the line of the priests in Israel (which is ironic in my opinion). Levi is the line that leads to Moses, who is also seen murdering someone, but we’ll get to that in a few weeks.
Those first 3 sons are all given curses rather than blessings. The next few are going to get a little better, though.
Judah: if we recall, Judah was also pretty immoral in his life. Though he turned his life around and came back home eventually, it is still incredible that his inheritance is not ripped from him. Instead it is prophesied that he will lead to great leadership and royalty. We know his line leads to king David, and the ultimate fulfillment of this is of course seen in Jesus Christ. This is why Christ is called the lion of Judah; because right here the lion, which signifies strength, courage, and boldness is attributed to Judah.
The next few brothers are not talked a lot about in the previous narratives in Genesis, and are honestly not talked about too much here either.
Zebulun: Jacob prophesies he will live on the seashore, which ends up becoming true.
Issachar: it is prophesied that they will have fertile land, but will fail to guard it and choose to become servants instead. This is seen in that they fail to conquer all the Canaanites and become their servants until Deborah and Barak save them in the time of the Judges.
Dan: Jacob prophesies that Dan will be like a serpent; small, sneaky, and dangerous. This is seen in that Dan leads to a lot of the powerful Judges, including Samson who single handedly took out 1,000 Philistines.
Gad: it is only prophesied that poor Gad will be raided, but he will do some raiding himself.
Asher: Jacob tells this son that he will have fertile land, which becomes true when the tribe of Asher settles in some land near western Galilee.
Naphtali: his prophecy is perhaps the most confusing so I will record it word for word:
“Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns.” (Genesis 49: 21 ESV).
Some commentators believe this is actually talking about the character of those in the tribe of Naphtali. That they will speak good and peaceful words, and that they will work hard. I guess like peacekeepers of sorts? Again, this is a hard passage to interpret. If they are peacekeepers then it is ironic because Naphtali was one of Jacob’s sons born from Bilhah when Rachel was knee deep in her sibling rivalry with Leah on who could have more kids.Joseph: it is prophesied that Joseph’s line will be prosperous and defeat their enemies. It is extremely evident in the prophecies that all their successes will be due to God’s presence. We of course see this play out because Joseph actually receives two tribes through his children, Ephraim and Manasseh, and Ephraim is the largest tribe in northern Israel.
Benjamin: Jacob compares his youngest son to a wolf and is said he will be a great warrior. I think that’s ironic because it seems like he was babied, but I guess he did some growing up.
Wooh! That’s all the prophecies. You see what I mean; they are hard to track. The cool part of this passage is that every single one of them came true! But more on that later. After Jacob blesses his children he makes them all promise to bury him in the cave where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekkah, and Leah are all buried. This is the promise Joseph made earlier, but now he’s asking all his sons together.
Then Jacob breathes his last breath and dies.
Interpretation
Going deep into these prophecies is beyond my knowledge level. It would probably take an actual degree to interpret them fully, if not more. I think there are a few things we can still glean from them, though!
Judah received grace. I think this was a really interesting part of the prophecies. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi all committed awful sins against their father or other nations. They received a rightful judgement here from the Lord.
Judah also committed some pretty terrible deeds. He was the first child to run away from the promised land and people of God and live in the midst of bad company. He denied the Lord and chose to live in sin instead. This led to him denying his daughter-inlaw his son in marriage and sleeping with who he believed to be a prostitute but was actually the same daughter-inlaw.
However, here we see Judah receive grace. I think this really highlights the point of grace. Grace is receiving something that is NOT deserved. None of these first 4 sons deserved anything but judgement. Some of them did receive judgement, but one received grace. I think this is powerful because it shows that grace is not earned nor is it deserved.Every prophecy comes true. This is such an overlooked example of God’s incredible plan and encouragement. Oftentimes when we talk about prophecies fulfilled we are talking about either Jesus or the end times (so Jesus again). However, we shouldn’t overlook this incredible prophecy. Jacob makes these prophetic claims over 400 years before any of it would be close to true. Israel still has to go through intense slavery, rescue, wandering, and then they have to trust God to conquer Canaan. Only then do any of these prophecies get fulfilled, and every single one of them does!
Application
Ok, so I actually have quite a few ways I want to apply these truths to my life.
Grace is not deserved. This is so important to remember and hold onto. It goes both ways. If we rest too much in grace, we abuse it. Paul summarises this point in Romans:
“What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not! Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:15-16 CSB).
Grace is NOT an excuse to sin. Because we don’t deserve it. We need to remember we are all sinners, we all fell short, and we all deserve the judgement that Reuben, Simeon, and Levi had. The judgement Jesus took for us.Grace is not earned. Knowing that we don’t deserve grace can sometimes make us believe we need to earn it. We read that Romans 6 passage and say, “I need to live for the Lord or I’ll lose grace.” Well, thankfully, that’s not how it works either! Again in Romans, Paul says:
“The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24 CSB).
We are justified FREELY by grace through Jesus. There is NOTHING we can do to earn grace. We don’t deserve it. However, the reverse is also true. There is NOTHING we can do to lose grace, either. Rest assured in your salvation.
The point Paul is making is that we don’t work for grace. We work for God because we are devoted and in love with the savior who saved us!Judgement is real. We can’t talk about the fruition of grace without mentioning judgement. This passage highlights that judgement is 100% real. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi were judged and received a just punishment. This is real! God’s judgement is real. Are we telling our friends and loved ones about Jesus? About the judgement that is real and eternal? Personally, I suck at this and it is an absolute shame. We heard an amazing sermon this weekend, and I’m going to drop the link for it. It covers this idea from Genesis 19.
God’s promises WILL be fulfilled. Last but not least. God promises many things. I say again, let’s pray his promises back to Him, because the Lord is faithful and will fulfill every promise! Just remember, He promises judgement too. He will come and He will judge. He is patient, we have time, but we don’t have eternity. Not yet. Take this as both an encouragement to rest in His promises for your life, but also as a motivator because His promise of judgement is real and coming.