Chapter 49

There are three great prophecies in Genesis which are doctrinally critical to the understanding of the Word of God. The first is the prophecy of salvation in Genesis 3:15 where the seed of the woman is the Lord Jesus Christ. The second is the prophecy of the origin and trend of the races—Genesis 9:25-chapter 10. Now, thirdly, we have the prophecy of one national entity, the prophecy of Israel—Genesis 49. There is an historical sequence to the prophecy as well as personal content.

The first three men who will be mentioned in the prophecy of this chapter are Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. They depict Israel from the time of Malachi to the time of Christ. The next person in the prophecy will be Judah, and Judah is a picture of Israel at the time of the Second Advent. The next two will be Zebulun and Issachar, and they picture Israel scattered among the nations during the Church Age. Then comes Dan, a picture of the apostate Jews in the Tribulation. The next three, Gad, Asher and Naphtali, depict the believing Jews during the Tribulation and how they become a source of blessing. Joseph is another picture of the second coming of Christ, specifically to Israel—what He will do for Israel when He returns. The last person mentioned is Benjamin, which means son of my right hand. The prophecy of Benjamin depicts something of the rule of Christ during the Millennium—His power, and so on. This is an historical sketch but it is not the interpretation of the passage.

Verse 1 – “the last days” refers specifically to the end of the Jewish Age. What he says here describes each tribe as they will exist in the Tribulation. Then it describes each person and the characteristics which he will pass on to his tribe, and in a sense describes the character of that tribe throughout the entire history of Israel. And this is addressed to the Jews, the sons of Jacob or Israel.

In verses 3-15 we have three men who are the sons of Leah, the first wife of Jacob.

Verse 3 – Reuben was a person who had the greatest possibilities of being one of the great leaders in Israel. He had all of the potential and natural ability. The word Reuben means see, a son. In other words, Reuben is an exclamation type word. The word excellency in this verse is used twice, a word which was used originally for having a whole lot of rope. Having a whole lot of rope meant that you could tie down the ends of all of your tents. In the ancient world a person who could tie down all of his tents was a rich man. Reuben had all of his tents tied down as far as his ability was concerned. He had an abundance, it says, in dignity and power. Dignity really means potential character, it doesn’t mean that he was dignified. He had great power and ability to persuade.

Verse 4 – Reuben’s failure: instability. You can have all of the great qualities in the world but if you have instability they are all neutralised—“thou shalt not excel.” That is the story of Reuben’s life. His potential was never realised. Potential can never be realised when there is instability. It takes doctrine to remove instability. Unstable people always make everyone else around them miserable. They change just as time changes. They change every hour on the hour.

“because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.” He was guilty of incest, he seduced one of his father’s concubines—Bilhah, Genesis 35:22, 23. No one from the tribe of Reuben ever ruled Israel or helped Israel in a crisis. No member of the tribe of Reuben ever did anything good for Israel. Dathan and Abiram came from the tribe of Reuben—Numbers 26:9. Reuben was one of the tribes that failed to cross the Jordan to live, they stayed on the other side and raised cattle. They were so fond of their cattle that in Judges 5:15, 16 an emergency came up and they needed the Reubenites to help them, and the Reubenites said they couldn’t come, they were taking care of their cattle. Numbers 32:1-7 tells how occupied they were with cattle they wouldn’t cross the Jordan.

One thing not mentioned here but is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 5:1,2, Reuben as the first-born had three things that belonged to him by right of birth: rulership of the tribe, he was to be the king. The priesthood of the tribe. The double portion, which means the money and the greatest tribe. The kingship went to Judah, the priesthood went to Levi, the double portion went to Joseph—Joseph had two sons who became tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. So this is what instability did, he lost out on everything. Many people who start out with something wonderful lose it through instability.

Question: Could anyone in Reuben’s tribe come through and make it? Yes, through grace and doctrine. But here was a case of prophecy which proved to be true. God knew the volition of every person who would be in that tribe.

Principle

1. Instability neutralises human ability as well as divine operating assets and blessings of grace. The only cure for instability is doctrine. But most unstable people will not listen to doctrine, are not interested in doctrine, or if they are interested they are interested for a moment before they fizzle out. An unstable person is never consistent in interest in the Word and doctrine. But if a person is unstable and will stay with it instability can be turned into stability. Doctrine is the only cure.

2. Instability results in loss of spiritual focus. In other words, an unstable person cannot keep his eyes on Christ and stay oriented to the grace of God.

3. Human ability and talent is no guarantee for success, instability destroys it, but what God has provided for the believer in time is no guarantee of success

where instability exists. Instability rejects what God has provided.

Verses 5-7, Simeon and Levi.

Verse 5 – these are the second and third sons of Jacob by the same mother, Leah. They had the same parents and also exactly the same pattern and the same mental attitude. First of all, they were cruel—“instruments of cruelty.” This is a reference to Genesis 34 which is the Shechem incident, and specifically verse 25 where in their anger, their anger and their hatred they sought to destroy a tribe that lived in the same country. These two brothers had one thing in common. They were responsible for their own misery. When we fail to take the responsibility for our own actions we guarantee that we will be miserable for life, because by avoiding responsibility for our own actions we cannot come to the place of rebound, we cannot get back in fellowship with the Lord, and therefore the blessing and the happiness that belongs to us as a monopoly of our relationship with God eludes us constantly. It is always out of grasp, we are always off-balance, always unstable, and consequently we make ourselves miserable without help from anyone else.

Verse 6 – they are called plotters. The words “their secret” is literally, their counselling, their plotting. They were underhanded, always working behind someone’s back, and this is an expression of their mental attitude of cruelty and implacability and jealousy and hatred. They were always trying to make someone else miserable. They also worked each other up. This is another characteristic in the spiritual life. Believers who make themselves miserable for working each other up. They get together and talk about some bad thing. That reminds the other of a bad thing and pretty soon they have worked themselves up into a white-hot pitch, and when the object of their attention walked through the door they would probably mow them down.

“self-will” – they were full of self. This means they were full of ego. Everyone else was always wrong and they were always right.

Jacob himself was vicious in his younger days, but even so, he didn’t want anything to do with his two sons, Simeon and Levi. So he says, “O my soul,” a vocative referring to himself, “come not thou to their plotting”—don’t ever get involved with those two, no good will ever come of it. By the way, there is nothing in the Bible that you must hang around with every believer because the person is a believer. Many of us a better avoiding the Simeon-Levi combination.

“unto their assembly” – when they get together to plot; “mine honour” is a vocative, Jacob is still talking to himself. He is saying, “for the sake of my honour be not thou united.” Do not have fellowship with them.

“for in their anger,” and then he gives an illustration as to why he gives himself this good advice. Here is a father who will have nothing to do with two of his sons. And, by the way, this was a procedure which he generally followed. He would have absolutely nothing to do with these two sons. Reason:

“for in their anger they slew a man” – they were murderous—“and in their self-will”—combination of their ego, jealousy, hatred and implacability—“they digged down a wall” is literally, “they severed the tendons of oxen.” This refers to Genesis 34:28 where the Shechemites had cattle, and they stole their cattle in order to express their jealousy and hatred of the Shechemites, and they cut the tendons of all of the oxen. They did this so the Shechemites could come and find their cattle absolutely ruined. With them it was a matter of revenge, an expression of a mental attitude.

Verse 7 – they were totally devoid of mercy or grace. The word for cruel means implacable. If they were on top of a situation they were unmerciful and cruel.

“Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel.” “Wrath” means anger in the soul which comes from jealousy.

“I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” Here is the discipline of Simeon and Levi in their progeny. These two brothers always worked together, so the first thing that happened to them was their separation. The children of Simeon and Levi inherited these areas of weakness and as a result they couldn’t be concentrated anywhere without being trouble-makers and causing a great deal of difficulty. So in Israel these two tribes had to be completely scattered among the Jews. None of the Levites or the Simeonites could ever be concentrated in one area. We know what happened. In Numbers 26:14 and Joshua 1-9 the tribe of Simeon did not receive a definite portion of the land. They were smallest of all the tribes and they never did receive a portion of the land. They received a few cities in the area of Judah. Judah was strong and a good leader and knew how to keep trouble-makers in line. Principle: When you have trouble-makers in any kind of an organization, if you retain them in the organization, you have to be tough on them whether you want to or not. Simeon is a picture of the believer who does not rebound.

Levi was just as bad, but with this difference: he was a beautiful picture of what happens when a believer confesses his sins. The cursing is turned to blessing. Levi eventually came back into fellowship. Moses was descended from Levi, but he utilised the grace of God. Levi did not inherit the land. In eternity Levi will not inherit the land but will act as the priesthood. Numbers 18:20, 21. The difference between Levi and Simeon, humanly speaking, was nothing; they were equally evil and carnal, and had the same area of weakness. But eventually a great difference came between them: one used the grace of God as a believer and one did not. One rebounded and one did not. For the believer who will use the grace of God in rebound the cursing is always turned to blessing.

Applications

1. Cursing is turned to blessing by the grace of God. In this case the mechanics of the grace of God, post-salvation—rebound.

2. The importance of orienting to the grace of God. If you do not understand pertinent doctrine for a situation and you understand the principle of the grace of God you can work it out. For every situation in life there is pertinent doctrine, but believers do not always learn the pertinent doctrine that meets a certain situation. But if you understand the principle of grace you have the slide rule whereby you can work it out.

3. Doctrine of eternal security. These men did terrible things but they were eternally saved.

4. Inspiration. Moses was not about to write these things except that God the Holy Spirit indicated what he was to write, therefore he wrote under the control of the Holy Spirit.

5. The problem of historical sequence. Reuben, Simeon and Levi depict the character of Israel during the 400 silent years between the Old Testament and the New Testament and the character of Israel during the incarnation of Christ. During the incarnation Israel, with the exception of a faithful remnant, was like Reuben, noble but unstable. They were like Simeon and Levi, religious and implacable and full of jealousy and hatred and all of these negative mental attitudes. These were the attitudes that the scribes and the Pharisees had when they were plotting to kill the Lord of glory.

Verses 8-12, Judah.

Verse 8 – the word Judah means he who shall be praised. It means that God would receive praise from Israel. Judah also is the ruling tribe of Israel, the tribe

from which David came and the tribe through which the humanity of Christ was brought into the world. “Thy brethren” refers to the Jews and the Jews would honour the tribe of Judah as the ruling tribe. This is brought out through the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7:8-16 and Psalm 89:20-37.

“thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies” – Judah was the conquering tribe.

“thy father's children shall bow down before thee” – the prophecy of the fact that Reuben lost the rulership, it was passed to Judah.

“Judah is a lion's whelp” – a young lion. A young lion has great power and vigour. In fact, one of the titles for the Lord Jesus Christ is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”—Revelation 5:5.

“from the prey, my son, thou art gone up”—in other words, he always gets his prey.

“he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?” The indication here is that there would be a period as a couched lion [lying down], as an old lion, there would be a time when the tribe of Judah would not rule in Israel. This is a prophecy of the fact that when the Babylonian captivity took place the last king in the family of David, Zedekiah, no longer ruled. When the Jews came back from the captivity they were ruled by a member of the tribe of Judah but not as king. From the beginning of the Babylonian captivity until the Second Advent of Jesus Christ no member of the tribe of Judah would ever sit on David’s throne. The old lion no longer going out to hunt is a picture of Judah no longer reigning. God said to David that he would have a son who would reign forever and ever and ever. That son is Jesus Christ. The Davidic covenant will be fulfilled and perpetuated into eternity.

“who shall rouse him up?” Who refers to Jesus Christ.

Verse 10 – “The sceptre” is the rulership; “shall not depart from Judah.” At the Second Advent the Lion of the Tribe of Judah will return to the earth to reign. Even though Judah is not actively on the throne today the rulership will not depart from this tribe.

“until Shiloh come” – Shiloh is Jesus Christ. Shiloh, the Hebrew word for peace [it comes from Shalom], refers to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

“and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” – a prophecy of how the Jews will be regathered at the Second Advent.

Verse 11 – what will the land be like when Jesus Christ returns? “Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine” – they are going to be so prosperous in that day that they can actually tie animals to vines and the animals can’t get loose. In other words, the land is so thick and the vines are so strong—an agricultural idiom of prosperity.

“he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes”—the wine is so plentiful it is like water. In other words, it is just an agricultural symbol for prosperity.

Verse 12 – this simply means there is an abundance of wine.

Verse 13 – Zebulun means dwelling or protective habitation, a haven. Zebulun is good to have around. He represents the type of person that you like to have around, a steady type of person, a person who is comforting, who can be helpful in time of stress and difficulty. He is actually the tenth son of Jacob, and we are not down to number ten yet, so we know from this point on the order in which the sons appear is significant because it is not chronological. Zebulun is placed here for this reason: During the first advent of Jesus Christ Satan sought to destroy Jesus Christ as a baby. Joseph had to flee to Egypt where he stayed until Jesus was twelve years old. Then he came back to the land but was warned not to go to Judea. All children were regarded with great suspicion because one of them was thought to be Messiah, and every attempt was being made by Herod to destroy Messiah. Instead, he was to go to Galilee which was the territory of Zebulon. Zebulon is mentioned next because Jesus Christ, from twelve to thirty-three, found His refuge in Galilee. He was protected there. By way of application, Zebulun speaks of the type of person who is thoughtful of others, the person who is capable of mental attitude love, the person who is a shelter for weaker people around, a shelter in a time of storm.

Judges 5:18; 1 Chronicles 12:33 – soldiers from Zebulun always stood in the ranks and did not give way. This means they were stable under pressure.

“Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.” Zebulun had the sea ports of the land which were havens from the great storms which occurred in the Mediterranean. There were many ports. This reminds us that there are many doctrines, promises, many things by which we can help people who are weak and helpless, and who need encouragement and need to lean upon us. Therefore to be a Zebulun there must be an overall understanding of doctrine and of the Word of God. Sidon was the Gentile, unregenerate, false religious group. Principle: A person who is a Zebulun is stabilised and does not fall apart in time of crisis, and he does not succumb to false doctrine.

Verse 14 – Issachar means He will bring reward. He is the ninth son of Jacob and the fifth one by Leah. He is listed last among the sons of Leah because of what is said right here. Issachar is a picture of a person who has great potential power and doesn’t use it.

“a strong ass” – the ass was a very honourable animal at the time of this writing, and also one of great strength and great usefulness. This is taught in Judges 10:4; 12:14.

“couching down” – the Hebrew word means reclining. In other words, he won’t carry his burdens. Issachar was a person who, first of all, had no sense of responsibility. A believer who has no sense of responsibility is a believer who is going to fail miserably. He had the strength to carry his burdens and wouldn’t do it. Reuben was noble but unstable; Issachar was strong but unstable. So we see again the principle that when a believer does not have a sense of responsibility it leads to great instability.

There is another principle here. The potential strength is not used. Issachar is a person who has great power but will not use it. This depicts the carnal believer today who has the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, but when he is not filled with the Spirit and in the carnal status he is not using the great power which he possesses.

“reclining between two burdens” – the purpose of the ass was to carry burdens, one of which was carried on each side. When a believer does not use the power which God has provided for him then he falls into the pattern of verse 15.

Verse 15 – “And he saw that rest was good” – rest means prosperity. The tribe of Issachar, by the way, became a very prosperous tribe. A person who will not utilise divine power has a false scale of values, and this was the third problem of Issachar. He put materialistic things first, success first. He suffered from approbation lust and from power lust. The principle is the substitution of natural power for divine power and the substitution of natural ability for divine provision.

“and the land that it was pleasant [prosperous” – i.e. the land that was occupied by Issachar.

“he bowed his shoulders to bear” – this means he became a slave. This is the history of the tribe as well as having a personal principle. Issachar is one of the most fertile areas in the land of Palestine, the land which they occupied. Under an agricultural economy they were very successful, and because they were very prosperous and very successful when the time came to resist the infiltration of the enemy they refused to do so. They didn’t want to fight or resist. They did not have the right scale of values and freedom wasn’t important to them. Prosperity was more important than freedom and consequently the tribe of Issachar bowed the neck to slavery. They made a deal with the invaders, whoever came in, and simply paid them off and became their slaves. This continued during the entire history of the tribe of Issachar. In other words, they loved prosperity more than they loved freedom. The application to the individual believer is obvious. If you have a false scale of values it destroys several things. First of all, it destroys the use of divine power. There is no appreciation of divine operating assets. He doesn’t use rebound, the faith-rest technique, the promises and the doctrines which provide inner happiness and power. Therefore, not using the inner resources and power he becomes one who is interested only in the superficial, one who is interested only in the materialistic, and therefore often one who suffers from materialism lust or approbation lust or power lust. Therefore the result is a very miserable creature.

So Issachar had all of this power and didn’t use it, just as every believer has tremendous potential power, and failure to use what God has provided through grace means that the believer will use the alternative. The alternatives are the superficial activities connected with this life and the result is a very miserable believer.

Now we move on to the sons of Bilhah. The first one who is mentioned in verses 16-18 and 21 is Dan.

Verse 16 – Dan is one of the worst of all the tribes. First of all we have the fact that Dan is going to rule in the future, and this has to do with the Tribulation. The word judge means to rule. Right up to the time that Israel was dispersed this is the history of Dan. He is described as a snake, and this is an adverse description even in the day in which this was written. Dan always brought up the rear in Israel—Numbers 10:25. Dan was the first tribe to go into idolatry—Judges 18:30. Dan was the last tribe to receive an inheritance in the land—Joshua 19:47-49. Dan is mentioned last on every list that involves merit. For example, in 1 Chronicles 27 we have a list of the tribes according to merit and Dan is last. Dan is not mentioned in the list of tribes in Revelation 7 in connection with evangelism in the Tribulation. There will be no evangelists from the tribe of Dan in the Tribulation. Dan is omitted from the genealogies of 1 Chronicles chapters 2-10. All of this adds up to the fact that Dan was a very poor tribe in Israel.

Jacob prophesied specifically with regard to the Tribulational dictatorship. The Antichrist or the dictator of Israel in the Tribulation comes from the tribe of Dan, which is why Dan is not mentioned in Revelation 7.

Verse 17 – “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.” The horse refers to Israel in the Tribulation and Dan is the one who is going to destroy the Jews, the believing remnant, in the Tribulation, or seek to do so. The rider is the Jewish remnant of the Tribulation and the serpent is the false prophet, the beast out of the land of Revelation 13. So here we have the dictatorship of Dan and it does not occur until the Tribulation.

Verse 18 – the believers in Israel, the remnant, offer this cry when Dan starts to oppress them. “I have waited for thy salvation [deliverance], O LORD.” In other words, this is the cry of the remnant waiting for the second advent of Christ when the remnant will be delivered from the dictatorship of Dan.

So in the historical sequence Dan depicts apostate Israel under the Antichrist in the Tribulation. But there is an application and it has to do with religion. Religion is the worst persecutor of the truth. Satan is the author of religion, religion is his greatest weapon, it is his ace trump. Religion is used to seek to neutralise the effectiveness of a clear witness for Jesus Christ. All of this comes from Dan in the Tribulation.

Verse 21 – Naphtali. “Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.” Naphtali means my wrestling. He was the sixth son of Jacob and he was the second son of Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine. My wrestling is apparently a reference to Jacob’s wrestling with the Lord and the fact that he lost, and he named one of his sons after that event.

We have two fulfilments of the history of Naphtali. The word hind is a young deer, a deer that can move very fast. This word for hind is used as a synonym for swiftness in the Song of Solomon. To be let loose means to be sprung from a trap. So Naphtali is pictured as a deer caught in a trap and able to break loose and to move with great rapidity out of danger. This is a prophecy with regard to two things that would happen in the tribe of Naphtali. In Judges 4:6 Barak was from the tribe of Naphatali. He was trapped by the invaders and discouraged, and then Deborah came and gave him some information from the Word of God which encouraged him to fight Sisera and he was able to deliver Israel from the Canaanites at that time. So this is first of all a prophecy dealing with that event which occurred in Judges chapter four. Then it has a distant fulfilment—Revelation 7:6. Twelve thousand Jews from the tribe of Naphatali are trapped by sin. The Rapture of the Church so startles them and so shakes them that there are 12,000 Jews in the tribe of Naphtali who respond to the message of the gospel and become believers in Jesus Christ and become evangelists. They trusted in Christ and were spring from the trap of sin, and they began to declare the message of the gospel. There are other passage son this such as Matthew 24:14 which has, among others, the 12,000 from Naphtali in mind. Also the results of their message is found in Revelation 7:9 cf. 7:14, they will have a great host of converts.

The application to us is obvious: We have been released from the trap of sin and therefore we are to move for the Lord--the implication is in the field of witnessing.

In the historical sequence these three tribes—Gad, Asher and Naphtali—describe Jewish believers in the Tribulation; the remnant, the election according to grace in the Tribulation. Just as Dan describes the apostate Jew in the Tribulation, Gad, Asher and Naphtali describe the born again Jew in the Tribulation.

Verses 19-20, the two sons of Zilpah—Gad and Asher. Gad will teach us the principle of rebound and Asher will teach us the importance of knowing doctrine.

Verse 19 – “Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.” Gad is the 7^th son of Jacob, the first son by Zilpah who was Leah’s maid and one of his concubines. His name means good fortune. Gad was first of all beaten down but he won in the end. Gad was whipped the first time. The application is wonderful: Gad was defeated but he didn’t allow his defeat to keep him down. The great believers in the Old Testament as well as the great believers today are believers who do not allow failure to discourage them. The big problem is failure to rebound. We are all going to get into carnality but it is what we do after the carnality that counts. Do we rebound or not?

Here is the beautiful thing about Gad and this was true of the whole history of the tribe of Gad. Although they were beaten once they got right up again. In other words, the tribe of Gad lost battles but they never lost a war. That is the way it has to be with us! God has provided so that we can always win the war. “He shall overcome at last” – he always bounced back. The principle is that believers should never allow failure to keep them down.

Verse 20 – Asher. “Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.” The word fat means rich or prosperous. His bread means his life, it means everything he touched turned to gold. It means that Asher couldn’t lose on a business deal. This has an application to us, a spiritual one. Our life can be measured in terms of prosperity as far as being a believer is concerned. Whether our life is one of prosperity depends upon our spiritual condition. It depends on the filling of the Spirit, the faith-rest technique, upon rebound and occupation with Christ and use of doctrine. But our prosperity before God is not measured in terms of money or land or whatever we use as a criterion for wealth today, our prosperity with God is determined by our spiritual production. So by way of application Asher speaks of believers who produce. Asher produces. A believer who is habitually productive “yields royal dainties.” If your life is right with the Lord your life in relationship to other people will be a blessing to them. A royal dainty is a pastry which you have for desert. In other words, there are some lives that can be classified as desert lives. You run through life and you bump into a lot of ordinary people and a lot of horrible people that you would like to omit—like some foods you do not like—but there are certain believers whose walk with the Lord is of such a nature that he is relaxed and has such a wonderful walk with the lord that it just overflows into the lives of others. That is what Asher stands for.

Verses 22-26, Joseph.

Verse 22—“Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall.” Joseph is the double portion tribe. He became two of the tribes of Israel, Ephraim and Manasseh. Possibly a better translation here is “a fruitful tree.” He is a tree by the rivers of water. The life of Joseph was characterised by using the Word of God. The well refers to water. Here is a tree planted by the rivers of water of Psalm one. The secret of the life of Joseph was the Word—the well of water, the water of the Word of God.

“whose branches run over the wall” – over the wall means over the wall from Israel. The wall separates Israel from the rest of the world. In his later years Joseph had a great impact with his own people. He was hated and despised and rejected by his own people but his great production was not with the Jews but with the Egyptians. Joseph reached an entire generation of Egyptians.

Verse 23 – “The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him.” Joseph was the object of operation sour grapes, the recipient of jealousy. And who was hurt by the jealousy? Those who were jealous, not Joseph. The archers who have shot at him were his ten brothers, and later Potiphar, and so on. So Joseph was the recipient of a great deal of pressure and persecution. He was hated because of his great ability.

Verse 24 – “But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” The bow means the weapon which fires the arrow. The analogy is this: the bow is bent but when the string is released it always bounces back. Joseph was bent and bent and bent but he was never broken, and he always bounced back. No pressure in life ever broke Joseph. The bow was made strong. Every time the bow was bent and released it was stronger than before. In other words, persecution and suffering and trial and heartache and frustration and adversity just made Joseph stronger. Why? The answer is the well of water, the Word of God. He utilised the resources provided by God, “the mighty one of Jacob,” which is the God of grace. In other words, if God could put up with Jacob He could put up with anyone. Joseph appropriated under the system of grace, by means of faith-rest, whereas his brothers did not. He knew and understood the grace of God and appropriated it when he needed it in time of great stress.

Parenthesis: “(from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel)” -- from thence means from the mighty one of Jacob, not from the tribe of Joseph. From God the Father comes God the Son. Jesus Christ who founded the Jewish race is also the Shepherd of the Jewish race. Jesus Christ is called here “the stone of Israel.” That is the Rock of Israel. In other words, He is the saviour. He is the founder of the Jewish race, the Shepherd/Provider of the Jewish race, and He is the saviour of the Jews.

Verses 25 and 26 – the prophecy of when He will do this. “Even by the God of thy father,” who is Jesus Christ.

“who shall help thee” – this is the Second Advent of Christ when the unconditional covenants will be fulfilled.

“and by the Almighty [the omnipotent One], who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.” This is the declaration of the double portion.

The blessing of the life of Joseph is the reliance on the Word of God as it was given to him, verbally, through dreams and visions.

Verse 27 – Benjamin, who is called the son of my right hand. He is a beautiful illustration of the Lord Jesus Christ but personally he did not turn out too well. Probably Benjamin could be called the spoiled brat type. He was the twelfth and last son of Jacob and was spoiled by his father after Joseph disappeared.

“Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf” – the word ravin means to raid, to be fierce, to be rough and tough. The word is used in the Hebrew for tearing something in pieces.

“in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” He attacks in the morning and is still eating at night. In other words, Benjamin is fierce and tough, and the tribe of Benjamin was the great tribe of soldiers.

Two people from the tribe of Benjamin: The worst king in many ways was King Saul who was from the tribe of Benjamin—1 Samuel 22:17-20; the worst sinner who ever lived in the history of the human race came from the tribe of Benjamin, Saul of Tarsus—1 Timothy 1:12-16. He was a self-righteous, moral, religious person. He was the perfect illustration of Benjamin tearing the flock to pieces.

This has an analogy to the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ returns to the earth He will ravin, devour, and divide. This has to do with the judgment which follows the second advent of Christ and it is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ reigning in the Millennium, the Son of the right hand reigning over Israel forever and ever.

The historical sequence of this prophecy

1. The character of Israel up to the time of Christ: Reuben, Simeon, Levi.

2. The first reference to the second advent of Christ—the tribe of Judah, the Lion from the tribe of Judah.

3. Israel scattered among the nations, under the fifth cycle of discipline, during the Church Age—Zebulun and Issachar.

4. Apostate Israel during the Tribulation—Dan.

5. The believing Jewish remnant during the Tribulation—Gad, Asher, Naphtali.

6. The second coming of Christ to Israel—Joseph.

7. The rule of Christ during the Millennium—Benjamin.

Verse 28 – “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he

blessed them.” This is a very strange phrase in view of the fact that he told them everything that was going to happen. Why does it say he blessed them? By prophesying the trend of each tribe whatever their failures are, by knowing ahead of time what these failures are they can avail themselves of the grace of God and avoid the trend that will characterise the unregenerate of the tribe. In other words, the more you know about the future the more you can be prepared to meet it. Prophecy prepares for the future. That preparation gives stability in time. So Jacob was giving them a blessing even though the blessing involved certain curses.

Verse 29 – his dying request. Why does he want to be buried with his fathers? His fathers refer to Abraham and Isaac. In the resurrection he wants to be with them. He knows that there is something special for all of them in the land—the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and therefore in his dying moments he is looking at the future. When he gets his resurrection body he wants to be standing with his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham. In dying he is perfectly relaxed. He knows where he is going and that in a few moments after he utters these things he will be in the presence of the Lord.