Exalting God

Judah (49:8-12)

Although each son received a blessing from Jacob, two of them stand out as exceptional.  The first to stand out is the prophecy concerning Judah.  This prophecy can be summarized as a blessing of kingship, one which would ultimately be fulfilled in the Messiah (49:10).  Jacob foretold of Judah’s dominance and importance.  He described Judah as a “lion’s cub”, the phrase which spawned the magnificent Messianic title, Lion of the tribe of Judah.  Clearly, God intended something special for Judah and his descendents.  Of course, God is not obligated to share with us why he chose to place such a blessing upon Judah, but we can justly relate Judah’s blessing with the change that had been wrought in his life.  Yes, he had sinned, even impregnating his daughter-in-law.

Sure, we can argue that he thought she was a temple prostitute, but that obviously does not help the argument!  However, from the time he uttered those repentant words, “She is more righteous than I” (Genesis 38:26); we witness a change in his life.  For example, he fought for Benjamin and the well-being of his family, even placing himself and his own sons in danger.  It seems that somehow God had gotten through; Judah had become a God-fearing man (Gen 43:1-10; 44:14-34).

In an earthly sense this prophecy was fulfilled in men like David and Solomon, but more importantly it was fulfilled in the reign of Jesus Christ as the Lion of Judah.  The New Testament speaks to this truth with sparkling clarity: “For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah” (Hebrews 7:14a) and “one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals’” (Revelation 5:5).  But how exactly are we to see this in Genesis?  For that answer we must focus on verse ten for a moment.

Jacob’s words in verse 10 are widely accepted as the third prophecy of the Messiah found in Genesis.  The first is Genesis 3:15, which records God’s cursing of the serpent.  The second is Genesis 22:18 when God promised to bless all the nations of the world through Abraham’s offspring.  James Boice rightly summarizes: “In the first prophecy it is said that the Messiah would destroy the devil and his works.  In the second it is said that he would redeem his people, thus bringing salvation to both Jew and Gentile.  In the third prophecy it is said that all rule is his and that all peoples of earth will eventually bow before him.”[1]

However, there is some interpretive confusion surrounding this verse.  The first portion of the verse is straightforward and all major translations are roughly the same, each call attention to the fact that the tribe of Judah would wield a scepter for a time.

Through Jacob’s words to his son Judah, God communicated to Israel as a whole, teaching them that from Judah a Messiah would arise.  The ESV translates the next phrase as “until tribute comes to him”.  The question is this: Who is the “him”?  The easiest way to see this is by comparing it with other translations.  The New King James Version says, “Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” The New International Version says, “until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.”

Another helpful translation is the New Living Translation, it says, “until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.” So the “him” is the one to whom dominion and authority rightfully belong.  The “him” is none other than Jesus Christ, the lion of Judah and our savior.  Judah was truly blessed.  So here we see that just as sin negatively affects future generations, righteous positively affects those who follow us.

Zebulun and Issachar (49:13-15)

The prophecies concerning Zebulun and Issachar were short.  Zebulun would dwell near the sea and border Sidon, which was a wicked city (1 Kings 16:31).  We are told very little about Zebulun in Scripture, but we do know that Sidon (Zidon) proved to be a snare to Israel over the years (Judges 1:31, 10:6; Ezekiel 28:20-26).  Throughout Israel’s history Zebulun was a strong nation numerically speaking (Numbers 26; 26:25; 1 Chronicles 7:5), but the mention of Sidon was a warning and their wickedness proved disastrous to this tribe.  Later, Jezebel, a daughter of Sidon (1 Kings 16:31) would marry Ahab, the son of Asa and bring with her a host of sinfulness.

Jacob referred to Issachar as a strong donkey, which was actually meant to be a positive remark       (Judges 10:4; 12:14; 2 Sam 16:1-2).  He was also said to be satisfied and complacent.  History reveals that this characteristic carried over to his descendents.  The tribe of Issachar was also strong but satisfied and they were often invaded.  Ultimately they fell along with the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria in 721 B.C.

Those Born to Bilhah and Zilpah

Dan (49:16-18)

Jacob prophesied that Dan would provide judgment for his people and strike like a serpent when necessary.  The strongest fulfillment of this prophecy is seen in Samson.  Samson was a judge in Israel for many years.  He was a strong, bold man who is probably known more for his seemingly supernatural strength and military giftedness than wisdom.  He certainly fulfilled all that Jacob foretold.

Gad (49:19)

Gad was to be raided, but in the end stand strong.  We know little about Gad and his descendents, except that they were brave warriors (1 Chronicles 12:8), but by choosing to settle east of the Jordan and not partake of the Promised Land, they exposed themselves to some of the most deadly nations of their day, Ammon and Moab, and most certainly faced hard opposition from them.

Asher (49:20)

Asher would enjoy abundance to the point that their food would be fit for a king.  However, their abundance caused them to wallow in themselves while their brethren fought for the kingdom.  Deborah, a judge of Israel, and Barak called for Israel to stand and fight.  Following their victory Deborah lamented the fact that “Asher sat unmoved at the seashore, remaining in his harbors” (Judges 5:17b).  Apparently their wealth had gotten the better of them.  On a positive note, once again we see that repentance and forgiveness can bring about change, for some where along the way the cycle was broken.  As Jesus was presented in the temple, one of Asher’s descendents was present to worship him:

Luke 2:36-38 – “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Naphtali (49:21)

Jacob prophesied that Naphtali would bear beautiful fawns.  The King James Version translates this as “godly words” rather than beautiful fawns.  There is interpretative difficulty with the original text here as well, but the idea seems to be that they would produce a people with an unchained spirit.  Barak, the brave man who fought alongside Deborah (Judges 5) is a great example of one of Naphtali’s descendents who captured this sentiment well.

Those Born to Rachel

Joseph (49:22-26)

Jacob’s beloved Joseph garners the other exceptional prophesy.  Essentially, Jacob’s words can be captured with one word – fruitfulness.  Joseph was a fruitful bough, or limb in Jacob’s eyes and he believed that this quality would remain with his offspring for years to come.

The fulfillment of this prophecy is easily seen in what became the largest of the twelve tribes, Ephraim.  In fact, this tribe became so large that at times Scripture refers to the entire nation of Israel with the name Ephraim.  Through Joseph many great men arose and served God faithfully.  Among them were five of the fifteen judges: Gideon, Abimelech, Jair, Jephthah, and Samuel.

Benjamin (49:27)

Jacob’s final prophecy was almost anticlimactic.  Working off the great truths of God’s sovereign and gracious work in Joseph’s life, we are simply told that Benjamin was a ravenous wolf; he would be small but a leader.  We see the fulfillment in different places.  One is in Psalm 68:27 where we read, “There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead”.  There were of course many mighty men from the tribe of Benjamin: Saul, Jonathan, Abner, Mordecai, Esther, Ehud and the apostle Paul.  However, physical might can quickly turn into arrogance and strength into cruelty.

Toward the end of the book of Judges we read of a Levite man and his concubine traveling through Benjamin’s territory.  While there certain Benjamites attacked and assaulted his concubine, ultimately killing her.  As the word traveled throughout Israel anger and disgust was the common response.  Israel as a whole was disgusted at how these men of Benjamin could allow their strength to consume them; truly they had become ravenous wolves.

“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).  A dying Jacob had spoken his peace and provided a stern challenge to his posterity.  As we have seen, they were slow learners for the most part.  The question which we now face is this: Will we learn from them?  Moreover, will we learn from them quickly enough so that we will be able to teach our children how to live for God before we find ourselves confined to a bed because of our rapidly approaching death?  The choice is ours.  We can either leave a legacy worth leaving, which of course is one that is saturated with God, or we can leave a legacy of sin.

Thankfully, repentance on our part and forgiveness on God’s is a means by which the course of our lives can be eternally changed.  We do not have to wait until death knocks at the door.  We can change now by surrendering to God’s call upon our hearts to forsake everything and follow him by faith.  We can change now by pleading with him to rip from our chests the heart of stone we were born with and replace it with a compassionate, joyful, and God-fearing heart (Ezekiel 36:26).  Yes, our testimonies can change.  Like Jacob, we all have a certain legacy of sin, but it does not have to be our greatest legacy.  Make the decision.  Amen.