Ep. 22. Genesis 49-50 | Blessings and Death
EPISODE 22
BLESSINGS AND DEATH: GENESIS 49-50
After Jacob (Israel) blessed the two sons of Joseph, he blessed his twelve sons. We want to note the first four of these "blessings." If we're honest, a few of these don't sound like blessings at all. Of Reuben, Jacob says, "You shall not have preeminence because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it." This is a reference to Genesis 35:22, where it was recorded for us, "While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine." This act of betrayal prevented Reuben from receiving the blessing of the firstborn son. Remember, Reuben comes through the line of Leah and is her firstborn.
Next, Jacob lumps Simeon and Levi together, "Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council, or my glory be joined to their company." If you're wondering what this is all about, you will need to go back and read Genesis 34. In that chapter, Dinah, the daughter of Leah, was raped by a man in the city of Shechem. The rapist then went to Jacob and asked to marry Dinah. The brothers, deceptively, replied, "We can't let you marry our sister unless you are circumcised along with all your men in the same manner as we are." Jacob was abundantly wealthy, and the people of Shechem thought it seemed favorable to have their men circumcised so they could intermarry with the family and people of Jacob and, by so doing, obtain all his flocks and herds for themselves. But, on the third day, while the men were all still in pain from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi went through the city and killed every man. As a result, Jacob fled the area. This wicked act is why Simeon and Levi were skipped in the blessing of the firstborn. But there is something else here that I missed until early 2023 in my reading. Notice the end of verse seven, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. At this point, you still have about 459 years before Israel was established as a nation, and the twelve tribes received their inheritance. When you get around to reading the division of the land of Canaan, you will notice that Simeon does not receive his own portion of land but instead gets an inheritance within the tribe of Judah. Levi, as the priestly people, have no inheritance in the Promised Land but are scattered among all the tribes. Though it was recorded for us in the book of Joshua, it was prophesied by the words of Jacob in Genesis 49.
Lastly, we will consider Judah. Since the blessing skipped over the first three sons of Jacob, it is suitable for it to land on Judah. And we remember he was the son named with the praise of the Lord in mind. Is it any wonder he will be the forerunner of the kings of Israel, the line of the true King, Jesus Christ? We see hints of that in Jacob's blessing, "Judah, your brothers shall praise you, your father's son shall bow down before you." And, "the scepter shall not depart from Judah, or the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."
This book ends with Joseph's brothers worried that Joseph may repay them for the evil they had done to him. But again, he responds favorably, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." I can't help but be reminded of Peter's first sermon, "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." But what those lawless men intended for evil, God intended for good that many lives would be saved, "as they are today."
ADDITIONAL READING: Genesis 35:22; Genesis 34; Joshua 19:1; Joshua 21:1-3; Acts 2:22-39
