Episode 321 - "Jacob's pronouncements on his sons" - Genesis 49:1-28

Gen. 49:1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.

Gen. 49:2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,

listen to Israel your father.

Gen. 49:3 “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!

Gen. 49:5 “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.

Gen. 49:8 “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.

Gen. 49:13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;

he shall become a haven for ships,

and his border shall be at Sidon.

Gen. 49:14 “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.

Gen. 49:16 “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.

Gen. 49:19 “Raiders shall raid Gad,

but he shall raid at their heels.

Gen. 49:20 “Asher’s food shall be rich,

and he shall yield royal delicacies.

Gen. 49:21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose

that bears beautiful fawns.

Gen. 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.

Gen. 49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,

in the morning devouring the prey

and at evening dividing the spoil.”

Gen. 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.

As a reminder, the context of this section is that Jacob knows that he does not have long to live. He has already spoken with Joseph to make him promise not to leave his body in Egypt, but to bury him with his ancestors in Canaan. Furthermore, he blessed Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim. Even though Manasseh was the oldest, Jacob gave the blessing to Ephraim. We are not told why. Perhaps in the way that the LORD had told Rebekah that the older of her twins (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob), Jacob chose to follow that pattern foretold by the LORD, although that is just speculation. Finally, Jacob will treat Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons. Their descendants will each inherit a portion of the promised land of the covenant.

In this section, Jacob calls his sons to him to bless them. Scholars are quick to point out that there is nothing in the text that suggests Jacob’s words are divine prophecy. Yet, I’m not sure how Jacob could have made such specific statements about things like the border of Zebullan’s portion of land without having received such prophetic information from the LORD.

I have mentioned multiple times throughout this study how some of the actions of Jacob’s sons were evil and out of line with what the LORD intended. These actions are brought to light again as Jacob addresses each of his sons. Reuben gets called out for having sexual relations with his father’s concubine. Simeon and Levi are dressed down for their use of the sign of the Abrahamic covenant to deceive and murder the Canaanites who had agreed to be circumcised to have peace with Jacob’s family, and for their leader to marry Dinah, whom he had raped. Jacob tells these sons that they will be divided and scattered in Israel. We learn later on, as their descendants enter and divide the land, that Levi has no section of land. Yet, the LORD provides them with cities in each of the tribal lands where they are to serve as priests to that tribe. It’s fascinating how the LORD would use discipline not to punish, but as a means of leading people into service.

Next, Jacob blessed Judah. Wait a minute! We saw how Judah was the brother who suggested that they sell Joseph to make money and get rid of him. He was a self-serving, defiant, and deceiving individual. Why would Jacob not bring that up and disqualify Judah, as he had the three older brothers? As I’ve pointed out in the past, it’s obvious that Judah had repented of his ways and became a leader, willing to sacrifice himself for the liberty of his younger brother Benjamin and to honor his father. I suspect that Jacob saw a lot of himself in Judah. As the LORD was patient with Jacob, by bringing him to faith over time, Jacob saw the same kind of transformation in Judah.

As I read this section, I suspect there is much to be learned by studying Jacob’s words and examining how they work out with each of these tribes. What we’ll see is that Jacob’s “blessing” or pronouncement on each son is ultimately to their future descendants. Jacob’s sons will all ultimately die in Egypt. Yet, their actions have an impact on those who will come after them.

We come down to the question of why Moses included this. Is there something about what Jacob says that has significance for Moses' readers? If we remember that Moses is writing to the descendants of Jacob’s children who were about to enter the land the LORD had promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, 400 years after Jacob’s time, they will better understand the legacy of their ancestors. Hopefully, they will observe how trusting the LORD’s covenant promises is vital for their lives as they enter into this fertile land to dwell with liberty to enjoy God’s provision. Perhaps they may even see the hope of the seed to come in the tribe of Judah since Jacob had said of Judah, “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” (Gen 49:10)

It’s easy for Christians to read the Christian Scriptures and observe how the LORD has faithfully brought to fulfillment that which has been foretold in the past. The God we worship is able and faithful to bring about everything he has revealed. We can trust him.

Episode238 "Listen to God's voice!" - Genesis 3:17-19

Gen. 3:17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Once again, let’s quickly review where we’ve been in this story so as to interpret this Scripture in its immediate context. When the serpent tempted Eve and she ate the forbidden fruit, she gave it to Adam, who also ate it. But the LORD confronted Adam first. He reminded him of the command he had given Adam not to eat of one specific fruit in the garden. (Gen. 3:9-11) He then interrogated Eve before addressing the serpent and pronouncing the curse upon it.

As we read last week, the LORD then backtracked to Eve to explain that the blessing of bearing children would be experienced with greater pain because of her disobedience, and the harmony designed by the LORD between her and Adam would suffer. She had been formed from Adam’s flesh and bone and received the LORD’s command through him. Yet, she listened to the lie of the serpent and brought her husband to participate in this act of disobedience. The LORD’s pronouncement to her that “he (Adam) shall rule over you” seems to suggest that she will even experience a measure of forced subjugation to Adam, something that would not have occurred or have been necessary in their pre-fallen condition.

NOTE: My opinion is that these people, made in the image of God, would have conducted themselves toward each other as do the members of the Trinity. In the New Testament, we often read that Jesus only does what the Father wants him to do. As God himself, he submits to the Father. Yet we see other Scriptures in which the Father gives all authority to the Son. In short, there appears to be mutual submission within the divine Godhead. This is important for us because we often think that submission to others makes us less important and is a negative thing. That clearly isn’t true with God. I believe what we see here is that because of sin, there will be resistance to a harmonious mutual submission and conflict within human relationships. There would be a sense of competition instead of perfect cooperation within marriage relationships. The cooperation will not be so natural now that they have acted out of accordance with God’s will and character.

In verse 17, God returns to Adam to explain the consequences of his sin. Adam will also experience pain. His work is going to get more difficult. In Genesis 2:15, Adam’s responsibility was to tend to the garden. What appeared to be easy and pleasant work will now be painful and troublesome.

Notice that this curse on the ground was not because Adam had listened to his wife. It was because he obeyed his wife’s words contrary to the LORD’s command. Adam ought to have recognized that Eve’s invitation to eat was in contrast to what the LORD had commanded, and he should have refused. In fact, he should have even tried to stop her from eating it.

The LORD cursed the ground so that Adam’s survival would be toil. The ground would produce thorns and thistles, and he would experience pain when harvesting food to eat. Finally, he would die, just as the LORD had said would happen if he disobeyed.

The most obvious takeaway from this section seems to be the importance of discerning and obeying the LORD’s words. Sometimes, people close to us may attempt to encourage us to do something that doesn’t seem right. Regardless of the relationship, we need to trust and obey God’s voice first and foremost.

Episode237-"The Pain of Disobedience" - Genesis 3:16

Gen. 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

To review, the LORD gave Adam and Eve one prohibitive command not to eat of the fruit of one specific tree in the garden. The consequence of disobeying that command, the LORD informed them, is best translated as “dying you will die.” It means that death would be a definite reality for them. It is not evident how quickly that might happen. We are left to wonder, “Will this be immediate?” We don’t have to wonder too long because it appears they disobeyed this command rather quickly after the serpent deceived Eve, and she ate and gave some to Adam, who ate the fruit along with her. But they did not die immediately. In fact, rather than God striking them down for the offense, the LORD provided coverings for their nakedness, which represented their shame. It seems obvious that he would not bother doing this if death would be an immediate judgment upon them. Furthermore, when the LORD approached them in the garden and elicited confessions from them, there was an indication that they would be around for a while. The LORD began by pronouncing a judgment upon the serpent who twisted the LORD’s words and impugned God’s character in the deception. The LORD spoke of a seed, or descendant of the woman, whom the serpent would bruise his heel. Yet, that seed would bruise his head. This suggests that while the serpent has upended the authority God had given his people to rule over the earth, the serpent would ultimately be crushed. It’s a glimmer of hope that God would someday set everything right according to his purpose in creation.

Concluding his verdict and judgment on the serpent, the LORD turned to Eve and told her that an immediate consequence of her disobedience was increased pain in having children. In fact, in the Hebrew language, what is likely conveyed here is a sense of anxiety in conception through the physical pain of birth. This pain is not just a natural consequence of her disobedience, but something the LORD brings upon her for this disobedience. I must admit that I ask myself, “Why this?” The text doesn’t explain it outright. Perhaps it is because Adam and Eve understood that the LORD’s first command to them was to be fruitful and multiply, and they understood this as an important part of their identity and purpose, which continues to be so after their “fall.” Because Eve is the one who will conceive and bear children, the LORD is giving her a reminder that disobeying God will bring pain. As she looks forward to her seed that will someday crush the serpent’s head, it will not come without anxiety and pain.

The LORD continued with the second part of her sentence by saying, “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” Hebrew experts have debated the exact translation of this, but the bottom line is that there will now be a conflict of authority within the relationship. What began as the perfect compliment of a partner to the man, will now manifest conflict at times.

I would caution anyone from the tendency to read and judge this ancient story through the lens of our 21st-century AD proprieties concerning gender roles. What is most important to observe from this story is how people radically upset the harmonious state of life on earth through a simple act of disobedience. It is not difficult today to see the divorce rate in our world, recognize other interpersonal conflicts, and know this is not the ideal state of humanity in the world. We long for harmony, peace, and healthy relationships. That was God’s intent for us in the beginning. My hope is that as we read this, we recognize that we sometimes violate God’s righteous ways in our minds, words, and actions. When we do, it has terrible results and tends to bring pain and conflict into our lives. Let’s humbly acknowledge how relevant this story is to us today and continue in this story to see both the tragic consequences of disobedience to the LORD and the hope that he offers in spite of our rebellious ways.