We come today to Genesis 49, where we see the last words of Jacob. I feel eager to preach this text today but I do feel some sadness as well. Because we’ve been in Genesis for some time now and as rich as it has been, here we are coming down to the end.
Before us today is a chapter of blessings, from one old man on his deathbed to all his sons. It’s not a chapter that many point to as a hallmark chapter in Genesis, yet I’m convinced it ought to be, because it deals with some of the most weighty matters in all the Scriptures.
Let’s pray and as we enter in…
Two headings are before us. See first…
The Bookends (v1 & v28)
This first heading calls attention to the beginning and the ending of our passage today. Both of these verses form bookends to this section, both give us guidance on how to interpret this passage, and both reach far beyond this passage into days yet to come. Let’s see v1 first, “Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.”
Here we see something that is expected for these days. It’s actually not quite too distant from us these days either. When the head of a household is nearing death, if possible they gather around the whole family for the giving of final words, for blessing. This is what’s happening here. Notice Jacob doesn’t just speak with each son individually but brings all his sons in before him at the same time to hear his words. This is very different to his own experience when a much younger Jacob stole the blessing meant for his brother Esau behind closed doors.[1]
So all the sons come in and Jacob says he’s about to tell them what will happen to them “in days to come.” This phrase “in days to come” is a phrase we ought to pay attention to. On one hand it means just what it says, Jacob will tell them much of what the future holds for all of his sons. But on the other hand this phrase in the Greek translation of the OT is loaded with eschatological importance.[2] What I mean is this…in Greek the phrase here is eschaton hemeiron, meaning ‘last days.’ This phrase meant the world to the Apostle Paul, and to the author of the book of Hebrews. In their own writings they used this very phrase to describe how Jesus’ ministry ushered in the period known as the last days. Now, what does this have to do with v1 here before us? There are other views of this, certainly, but I think this phrase in v1 shows us much…not just about the sons of Jacob, of their history as the twelve tribes of Israel…but that v1 also shows us much about Jesus’ rule and reign and how He brought the Kingdom of God into this world in His earthly ministry. More on this in a moment.
Now for v28, “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.” I mention this verse here before we travel through the rest of this passage because it clearly tells us what Jacob is doing here. Jacob is blessing his sons. You might think this is obvious, but you’ll see as we work through them, not all of Jacob’s blessings to his sons are favorable. One could even say that Jacob curses some of his sons here.[3] But v28 stands true. Jacob is doing the work of blessing here, and even though some of his words are hard words, true blessing comes from it all.
Those then are the bookends of our passage, that help us interpret this passage. Now let’s turn to Jacob blessing his sons in v2-27.
The Blessing (v2-27)
“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father. “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable 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! “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. 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. “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon. “Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds. He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor. “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls backward. I wait for your salvation, O LORD. “Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels. “Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies. “Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns. “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers. “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.”
To ensure we understand what each son is receiving from Jacob here, we’ll take them one at a time.
As is customary for this time, Jacob begins giving his blessing to his sons with his oldest, with Reuben in v3-4. In v3 Jacob begins with words you’d expect a father would give his firstborn. Words piling up describing majesty, strength, dignity, and power. Reuben has got to be feeling good as he hears this from his father, until v4 begins. In v4 we see the opposite of v3. There Jacob gives one of the harshest words in the book of Genesis, for once again in Genesis the oldest son loses his privileged status because of his sin.[4] So as it was with Cain, Ishmael, Esau, and Er, so it is with Reuben. Jacob calls Reuben unstable as water and strips him of preeminence, why? Because in Genesis 35 Reuben slept with Bilhah, his father’s concubine and defiled the bed of Jacob. Back then Jacob was silent about this incident, now he clears the air in so strong a manner that Reuben’s sin seems to be his lasting legacy.[5] This would play out in Reuben’s descendants. No prophet, judge, or king would ever come from this tribe. In fact the only time the tribe of Reuben exercised leadership was in the rebellion Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16.[6]
Next we come to Simeon and Levi in v5-7. They are grouped together and after Jacob rejected Reuben we might expect Jacob to elevate these next two oldest sons to lead the family, but he doesn’t. Why? Because of their former sins. In Genesis 34 it was Simeon and Levi who slaughtered the Shechemites. Because they shared in such violence back then, they share the same condemnation here.[7] Jacob says they are violent, fierce in anger, and brutal in wrath. For this Jacob wants none of their counsel and curses them with division and scattering in times to come. And tis plays out, Simeon’s descendants will receive a portion of the promise land that doesn’t last long at all, and Levi gets no inheritance among the people. Yet, how ironic that it is the tribe of Levi whom God turns into the priests of the nation?[8]
Now three sons have come and gone and we’ve heard their ‘blessing.’ Yet for all we’ve seen, each of the three have been cursed. One could ask, how are these blessings? Well, I think we see it in the future Israel to come. Jacob is blessing them by not blessing these sons with positions of prominence and leadership among them. And as we carry on to Judah, remembering his misdeeds, sleeping with his own daughter in law while thinking she was a prostitute, we are expecting more curse than blessing. Yet, we get the exact opposite. In fact, Jacob’s blessing to Judah is the most wonderful of them all! Why? Because after he sinned, he grew humble and repentant, even confessing that Tamar was more righteous than he was (38:26). Which led Judah to play the strong and sacrificial leader later on, being willing to go into slavery himself so that Benjamin could go free (44:33-34). Simply put, the blessing to Judah in v8-12 is the gem of this chapter.
In v8 we see prominence and power as Jacob says Judah’s brothers will praise him, Judah’s enemies will be defeated by him, and all Judah’s descendants will bow down before him.
In v9 we see more strength and power as Judah is likened to a lion that has gone out, captured prey, returned to its den, and lies there daring anyone to challenge him.[9] This is, of course, where we get the phrase the Lion of Judah, and while it truly does speak of Judah being one of the most faithful tribes of Israel, this not only speaks of Judah, it speaks of Christ. This is the very imagery John beholds in Revelation 5 as he hears the elders proclaim, “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.” So in all the imagery of the lion who has defeated his enemies, captured his prey and sits there in his great power laughing at all who would seek to dethrone him from his position of power and authority, we see the Christ who has done the same! Christ went out from His home in heaven to dwell among us as one of us, Christ defeated His enemy in the cross and the resurrection, and now Christ sits in the position of power and authority at the Father’s right hand ruling and reigning over all and making His enemies His footstool. That Christ is the Lion of Judah means our Savior is no push over, no weakling, no man of straw. No, Christ is a lion. Striking deadly fear in all His and our enemies. He is the incomparable Christ, no one is like Him, and no other god will dethrone Him. All united to Him by faith will dwell safe and secure in His mighty strength.
In v10 we see more. We see that the lion of v9 is also the king of v10. Kingly-ness and royalty is implicit in v9 with the image of the lion, but now it’s explicit in v10. I will say though, the phrase in v10 about tribute is the one of the most debated passages of Scripture in the OT. There is almost a different way this is translated in each translation. The Hebrew is very rare and so naturally interpreters do different things with it. So here are some options. The ESV we use here says, “until tribute comes to Him…” The KJV says, “until Shiloh comes…” The NIV says “until it comes to whom it belongs…” All and all, though there is great disagreement about what this phrase actually means in Hebrew, there is great agreement that all the options contribute to the kingly messianic prophecy of Christ.[10] And with kingship in view, again I say, this goes way beyond Judah. David is certainly in view here being the most famous king from Judah, but it goes beyond Him to Christ the King. As King He will always wield the scepter, it will never depart from between His feet, and to Him all tribute, all honor, all praise, and all obedience will be given.
v11-12 concludes the blessing to Judah with the images of beauty and abundance. It speaks of a time when so much wine will be in Judah that not only will all the people partake in it, but their donkeys will partake in it too. And more, the wine will be so lavish that all the people will wash their clothes in it! The metaphorical image of extravagance is rich. The image of an excess of rich wine is often used throughout the Bible to talk about the Kingdom Christ will bring.[11] Amos 9:13-15 speaks of this saying, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.”
Knowing these things, how wonderful is it then to go to John 2, to the scene at a wedding in Cana, where Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into the best of wines. This was not a party trick for Jesus, no, He did it to signify and state that He was the long awaited One that Jacob speaks of here in v11-12. Iin His Kingdom the richest of wines will be as common as water.[12] The hymn The Sands of Time Are Sinking puts all of this together wonderfully in a few of its stanzas. They read, “O Christ, He is the fountain, the deep, deep well of love; the streams on earth I’ve tasted, more deep I’ll drink above; there to an ocean fullness His mercy doth expand, and glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land… Oh! I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved’s mine! He brings a poor, vile sinner into His “house of wine;” I stand upon His merit, I know no other stand, not e’en where glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.”
Church, all of this is here to see and embrace and enjoy in Jacob’s blessing to Judah. Yes he was a poor vile sinner, as we are, but how wondrous is the image of drinking deeply of Christ in His Kingdom. Is that something you know? Is this part of your experience? Or is that image foreign to you? I pray you know it. Here it is promised, that one day the Messiah would come and when He does the mountains themselves will drip with the best of wines, and all His people will glut their souls on the riches of His house.
Now, before moving on to v13, at this point remember v1. Jacob said these things would take place in the last days. So here we see that in the last days One will come from Judah who will rule over all nations as a lion like king, and this king will usher in the most abundant kingdom ever known. When did this occur? Well, it first broke into our world in part at the birth of Christ the King, and it will come and take over this world in full measure at the return of Christ in the end.
We must pick up the pace a bit now. In v13 it’s Zebulun in view. He and his descendants will be a people living near the sea. And time would show this, there land would not have a border on the sea, but they dealt much with the Phoenicians who did.
In v14-15 it’s Issachar we come to. And though Jacob says he is strong and capable, he also says he will pursue the comforts of the world. And in time this would occur as the tribe of Issachar would exchange their freedom for slavery and the comforts of Canaan.
In v16-18 we see Dan. Jacob says Dan will judge and will be as cunning as a serpent as well. And sure enough, Samson came from this tribe. He would judge, would act cunningly in his own way. Yet it seems Jacob knew some grief in Dan, which Samson also brings, so in v18 he cries out for God to save!
In v19 we see Gad. They will be a people always at odds with those around them. Being raided and yet raiding themselves.
In v20 we see Asher. They will be a rich people who thrive in delicacies. And they’re allotment in the promise land, up in the Galilee hills was known for its lushness. So this seems to be in view.
In v21 we see Naphtali. They will be a secure people who brings forth beautiful children.
In v22-26 we come to the blessing to Joseph. Jacob likens him to a well-watered tree, so healthy that its branches fill the area and feed all who shelter under it. Of course, Joseph was this to his family and to all Egypt during the famine, and here we see that legacy continued on.[13] It also mentions his strength, that he will be attacked continuously (think of his brothers, and Potiphar’s wife, etc.) and yet will not cave but thrive because God, who is mighty, who is his shepherd, who is his father, will bless him and care for him. For this, Jacob greatly blesses him, because he has been such a blessing to himself and so many others.
And finally, in v27 we see Benjamin. Who like many others in this list is described with an animal figure. This time it’s the ravenous wolf, referring to stout military success in times to come.
Conclusion:
Having now seen all the last words of Jacob, his blessing to his sons, what are we to with these things for us? Two things.
First, we can learn from this. That long before it would come to pass God revealed His purpose to bring such a great king from Judah to rule over all. God’s people would have to wait a long time for Him, but His abundant kingdom would come and when it did, nothing would be the same.
Second, we can live in light of this. These blessings might seem to be far removed from us, but we are closer to them than many think. The blessing to Judah, of the coming of Christ, includes us too. For we are greatly blessed in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 says it so well, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…”
[1] Waltke, 604.
[2] Wenham, 471.
[3] Hughes, 550.
[4] Wenham, 471.
[5] Currid, 374.
[6] Hughes, 550.
[7] Waltke, 606.
[8] Currid, 375.
[9] Wenham, 476.
[10] Waltke, 608.
[11] Kidner, 230.
[12] Hughes, 554.
[13] Hughes, 559.
