49.1-33

Genesis

The clarity of Jacob's final words to his sons resounds through time. But the truth in them is revealed to us now as we look back to a Savior who has come as King. Jacob summons his sons to tell them what will befall them in the last days (v1). The disciples of Christ also wanted to know, as Jesus describes the last days, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Mt 24:3). The same question is reflected in Mark's Gospel (13:4), and Luke's (21:7). For nearly the last 2,000 years, we have been living in the last days. The last days are not the end of the age, however, and the two should not be confused. In Mark 1:15, John the Baptist preached, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel." Paul instructed Timothy of the last days and the nature of men that have been in an ongoing state of decline in the world since the time of Christ (2 Tim 3:1-5 ). Christ declares many things about the end of the age that are distinct from the last days, including things that have yet to occur "So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous," (Mt 13:49). What Jacob declared to his sons of the last days, foretold the coming last days, when Christ would arrive - through the line of Judah - as King. In verse 10, the word Shiloh שִׁילֹה is often confused for the city of that name. However, there is no relevance to that connection. Not seen in English translations of the Word is the correct rendering of the original Hebrew conjunction Jacob spoke and Moses recorded. SHILOH: "it" ה (H), "to/for" לֹ (LO), "who/which" שִׁ (SHI) - "it, to/for, whose (it belongs)" - Him, to Whom it belongs. The prophecy of Christ revealed in Genesis 49ff - "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until (Him to Whom it belongs) comes." Christ's arrival signified the arrival of the last days. Today, the end of the age is very fast approaching.

CHAPTER 49

Jacob Assembles His Sons

1 Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Gather together that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days.
2 “Assemble together and hear, O sons of Jacob;
And listen to Israel your father.

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn;
My might and the beginning of my vigor,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in strength.
4 “Uncontrolled 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.

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Their swords are implements of violence.
6 “Let my soul not enter into their council;
Let not my glory be united with their assembly;
Because in their anger they killed men,
And in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.
7 “Cursed be their anger, for it is strong;
And their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will divide them amongst Jacob,
And scatter them in Israel.

8 “Judah, as for you, your brothers shall praise you;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
9 “Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a lioness, who dares rouse him up?
10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 “He ties his foal to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;
He washes his garments in wine,
And his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 “His eyes are dark from wine,
And his teeth white from milk.

13 “Zebulun will dwell at the seashore;
And he shall be a shore for ships,
And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

14 “Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between the sheepfolds.
15 “And he saw that a resting place was good
And that the land was pleasant,
So he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,
And became a slave at forced labor.

16 “Dan shall render justice to his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17 “Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
A horned snake in the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
So that his rider falls backward.
18 “For Your salvation I hope, O Yahweh.

19 “As for Gad, raiders shall raid him,
But he will raid at their heels.

20 “As for Asher, his food shall be rich,
And he will yield royal dainties.

21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose,
He gives beautiful words.

22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring;
Its branches run over a wall.
23 “And the archers bitterly attacked him and shot at him,
And they bore a grudge against him;
24 But his bow remained firm,
And his arms were agile,
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,
25 From the God of your father who helps you,
And by the Almighty who blesses you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 “The blessings of your father
Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
May they be on the head of Joseph,
And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And in the evening he divides the spoil.”

Jacob Breathes His Last

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. So he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.
29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about 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 of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial site.
31 “There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah—
32 the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.”
33 So Jacob finished commanding his sons. And he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.