The Life of Joseph- Week 19 (2)

A Prophetic Legacy

Genesis 49:1-33

INTRODUCTION

We skip from Joseph beside Jacob to Jacob calling all twelve sons.

He offers each a blessing and a prophecy of their future.

The prophecies were fulfilled in the tribes.

So accurate are the words of this chapter that many critics argue that these words were inserted into Jacob’s mouth after the fact. (Daniel)

It takes faith to believe in prophecy, but all the evidence surrounding this chapter supports these as the words of Jacob, and we have a God we know can reveal the future through His chosen messenger.”

I. The Fact of Prophecy

Genesis 49:1-2 “1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. 2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.”

A. Prophecy of Simeon and Levi (5-8)

Genesis 49:5-8 “5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. 6 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. 7 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. 8 “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.”

1. Speaking of their cruelty and anger.

2. Verse 7– Simeon and Levi were the sons who went up against Shechem and slew a whole nation because of the sin that was committed against their sister, Dinah. Jacob was angry with them because of their treachery, so he made the pronouncement that their two families would be divided.

3. Results of two tribes.

a. Simeon had no inheritance when the promised land was divided.

(1) They were scattered.

(2) Counted along with the people of Ephraim and Manasseh and Naphtali.

(3) Tribe of Simeon became smallest in Israel. Moses did not mention Simeon in his blessing to the nation.

(4) They disappeared.

b. Levi was scattered but as the priests of Israel.

c. No inheritance, no land.

d. Tribe of Levi became a blessing to the rest of the nation, rather than a curse.

B. Jacob offered a prophecy regarding every single tribe, and every one came true.

C. Prophecy is a fact.

II. 2 Prophecies that have a powerful message to our modern world.

1. The Prophecy for Reuben (3-4)

A. Genesis 49:3-4 “3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. 4 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!”

B. Reuben should have had the honor of being the firstborn with the rights and privileges that come.

C. Instead of receiving the birthright he forfeited it because of sin in his life.

1. Reuben lost his birthright because he became sexually involved with one of his father’s mistresses.

2. He committed adultery and tried to cover it up.

3. It appears this is the first time it was talked about. No longer hidden.

D. Jacob’s prophecy concerning Reuben was that, due to his unconfessed sin, his character and his future would be affected.

1. “Unstable as water”= never have a strong character.

E. The result of unconfessed sin is always instability.

1. Spiritually and emotionally.

2. Think of sins you have tried to hide.– Who can you trust?

F. Results of Reuben.

1. Tribe of Reuben never rose to prominence– no king of Judge.

2. They were first to demand inheritance and rashly chose the wrong side of the Jordan River.

3. Barred from the priesthood.

4. Jacob’s prophecy was true– no one from Reuben’s tribe ever excelled in history.

2. The Prophecy for Judah (8-12)

A. Judah started Rough

1. Married a pagan woman and later slept with his own daughter-in-law.

2. Interacted with the Canaanite culture.

3. His sons Er and Onan were so wicked they were killed by God.

4. Er’s wife Tomar was passed to Onan and then the 3rd son Shelah who refused to have a child with her. Tomar tricked Judah into sleeping with her.

B. Somewhere along the way Judah changed.

1. By the time the brothers come to Egypt for food Judah had become the spokesman for the family.

2. He gives one of the most blessed speeches in Scripture, repenting of his sin and making things right with the Lord.

3. Because he repented instead of hiding sin God blesses his life.

C. Judah’s Prophecy

1. No reference to his sin– it was forgiven.

2. The new character of the man is described (8-12)

Genesis 49:8-12 “8 “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. 9 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? 10 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. 11 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. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.”

3. Judah becomes the leader– Judah is head tribe.

4. “Lion”= The king of the forest is a beautiful picture to describe the kingship of Judah over all other tribes in Israel.

5. From Judah comes David and the Messiah.

a. David is called “lion”

b. Jesus is the “lion of the tribe of Judah.”

6. Judah was largest tribe and always marched first in place of prominence.

a. All kings came from tribe of Judah until the time of captivity.

7. “Shiloh”= Hebrew word for peace. Refers to coming of Jesus Christ.

III. The Rest of the Prophecy (13-33)

Genesis 49:13–33 ESV

13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon. 14 “Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds. 15 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. 16 “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 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. 18 I wait for your salvation, O Lord. 19 “Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels. 20 “Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies. 21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns. 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.” 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.

CONCLUSION

Judah was forgiven and Reuben was forgotten because of how they dealt with sin.

-1John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

-Proverbs 28:13 “13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

-I Corinthians 11:31 “31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.”

If there is unconfessed sin in our lives, and we refuse to deal with it, God will have to judge that sin. On Jacob’s deathbed Reuben’s sin was exposed and his hopes broken. Judah confessed and repented of his sin, and the Lord forgave him and gave him a wonderful ministry and heritage.

– a Picture of the Judgement Seat of Christ

“None of us can make it through this life without sinning. The road of life is rough, and there are ruts and potholes in which we can fall. But the Bible tells us how to deal with the sin in life: repent and confess it. If we do, God will bless. If we don’t, God will judge. The choice is ours.”