Lesson 101 Genesis 49:22- 33 Joseph is up Next

Jacob has the Last Word 49:22- 27

English Standard Version (Chapter 49)

22  “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.

23 The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely,

24  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),

25 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.

26 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.

27  “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.”

I believe we have all heard that a man is known by his words. Here we are shown that this was a man who knew his kids and described them in terms that was not totally flattering. We are not told what words would have framed the sons if we were given the text that was running through their minds. After all, Dad is 147 years old and does not have anyone left he has to please, so he let’s it rip, prophetic words, warts and all. He has described several of the men in terms of animals. Joseph gets the most promising words, aside from Judah. This also the longest blessing after Judah and speaks highly of the son who was spoken badly of in the beginning. Yet this was the son that rescued the lot of the, even Dad.

Joseph is said to be fruitful, but not as fruitful as Dad. The picture in verse 22 is the fruitful limb of a tree, or in this case the vine of a grape producing plant or Branch. This fruitful plant is by a spring, but surprisingly, grapes do not need an abundance of water to survive. The branches that run over the wall would be his two sons born to him in Egypt. Manasseh and Ephraim are not named, but it is understood that they are branches running over the wall. The brutal attacks, wanting to kill him were none other than his own brothers. They also harassed Joseph in the household with a frequency described as severly. In all of this, Joseph was not discouraged or deterred. It seemed to spur him on to his imagined greatness. His dexterity in his arms and his bow were formed that way by God above, “the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, the all powerful One.”

The next description points us in the direction of Jesus Christ who is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. The one who was behind the success that the brothers fought against was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who is and was, and is to come. We know him as our Shepherd, the Shepherd of Psalm 23. We also know Him by the “Stone.” That is not a well used term in our vernacular, but rather we think of Him in terms of the “Rock that followed them in the wilderness” - none other than the Savior. Also Jesus is the Cornerstone, the Rock the builders rejected. Once again, the Savior is shining through the flow of this family line and we see His picture more clearly in Judah and Joseph.

Verse 25 shows us that Jacob is telling Joseph that the God of His fathers is not done helping him out and thee Almighty will bless him with blessings from above. The blessings will also be deep and they will be nurturing and the fruitfulness is referred to as fruit of the womb.

Verse 26 the flowery language now points us to the blessings of Jacob (your father) are even mightier than the blessing of his parents. This blessing points to the eternal realities of the “everlasting hills.” And all of this is to rest on the head of Joseph, the one who was set apart from his brothers. There are six blessings here and five names of God. This is quite a treasure of Scripture names. Let’s not get stuck on the Lion of the tribe of Judah, but remember the Mighty One of Jacob, The Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, The God of your Father and the Almighty. But if we are going to get stuck on something, please let it be Jesus.

Verse 27 is reserved for Benjamin, a man described as a wolf, and a ravenous wold at that. If we are the sheep of the shepherd, we would do good to be wary of this individual. But it also refers to the passion within Benjamin and the limitations of his character. In later years after reaching the promised land, the Benjamites are almost wiped out totally because of their sin. We see this story unfold of their moral corruptness in the Book of Judges 19, 20 and 21. It was so bad, the nation of Israel declared war on their brothers tribe, the tribe of Benjamin. Yet in later years, King Saul was a Benjamite as was the Apostle Paul. God is always in the redemption business. He can take the useless tribe and turn it out for the good of the nation and the whole world.

The last words, really are right now:

English Standard Version (Chapter 49)

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. 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—

32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

The final words are for where Jacob is to be buried. He said that his blessing was suitable for each of the sons. It may have been true, but much of it does not seem to be a blessing. The force of the blessing rests in the family as it paved the way for the messiah to come. In all of it’s faults and fractures, we as a world have indeed been blessed through Jesus Christ. He is a blessing suitable for every man, woman and child on the face of the earth. Jacob wanted to be buried in the plot with his parents and his wife Rachel, at the field of Machpelah, in the cave that Abraham purchased. We know that Abraham and Sarah are there, Isaac and Rebekah, and also Leah, the mother of six of Jacobs sons and his daughter Dinah.

His death was simple and all of this prophesying wore him out. It says he drew up his feet in the bed. I would say, he moved them off the floor at the side of the bed, put them under the covers and took his last breath. “Drawing up the feet “ has the distinct notion that it was a complete harvest. It was moving from one place to another, as you move things in harvest from the field to storage, he moved his feet from earth to eternity. This was his earthly phone booth. His feet stepped inside the phone booth as a mere man and he stepped out into eternity as one of God’s chosen sons. It was a magnificent motion. It was completed in front of his family and then the family melts. What a way to go. Jacob’s path was an uneven road, rarely smooth, but the destination was plain, he was heading to his Lord and Master, The Almighty One of Israel.