Genesis 48-49

Jacob and the family are all comfortably settled in Egypt, waiting out the famine. In time Jacob’s health began to fail and so he called together his family to say “Good-bye.”

Chapter 48, verse 1 Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So, he takes his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim and visits Jacob. Jacob sees the young men (they were in their late teens by now) and he basically adopts them so that his “estate” will go to them, just as part of it would go to Joseph and his brothers. Jacob says, in verse 5, “Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.” I hope he at least discussed this with Joseph before he said this. When a child is adopted, they have all the same legal rights as the children born to the couple. What is happening here is the land that would be given to Joseph would go to his two sons. We refer to these territories as the TWELVE tribes of Israel, not the THIRTEEN tribes because one of the brothers, Levi, would not inherit a territory. This gets a bit confusing, but we’ll see how it end up shortly.

Of the two sons, Manasseh was the oldest and the one you might expect to be given the birthright, but when Jacob places his hands on them to bless them, (this was the first blessing with the laying on of hands) he crosses his arms so that Ephraim, the youngest, would have Jacob’s right hand placed on him, giving him the birthright (verse 14). Joseph saw this and tried to correct his father (verse 18), but Jacob says, in effect, “Back off, son, I know what I’m doing.” He then says that the younger son would become greater than the older and his descendants will become a group of nations. You might recall that in an earlier lesson I mentioned the discredited theory of British Israelism. This is the idea that the “lost tribes of Israel” migrated to Europe and that the U.S. and British Commonwealth are really modern-day Israel. The term, “a group of nations” used in this passage was given as “proof” by Herbert Armstrong to “prove” that Ephraim was modern day Great Britain because, after all, it did become a group of nations, the British Commonwealth. But so were Rome and Persia made up of a group of nations. Weren’t all colonial powers “groups of nations”? So much for his scholarship skills.

Back to the lesson, the descendants of Ephraim became more powerful than any of the other tribes in the north and was often used to refer to the northern kingdom of Israel as a whole. They weren’t always the largest in population, but they were in status, in influence.

In verse 21 Jacob prophecies their return to their homeland, “God will be with you, and take you back to the land of your fathers.” He knew that this trip to Egypt was temporary, it was not their real home.

Chapter 49 Jacob moves onto blessing the other sons. The term “blessing:” is used, but in most cases, it is more like a prophecy. Imagine calling into your room each of the children to provide each of them a word of wisdom. “You know Bob, if you don’t change your ways you’re going to end up in prison.” Or maybe, “Son, I want you to have my fishing pole and Rolex watch.” Jacob is sitting up in bed and the kids are sitting there in anxious anticipation as to what will happen. Rather than waiting until after he is dead, Jacob makes his views known up front, while he is still alive so that there are no misunderstandings between siblings. Jacob begins with his firstborn, Reuben. There he sits, alert, eager to hear what Dad has to say, hoping for nothing but good news. He is in for a disappointment.

Verse 3, “Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.” Hey, so far, so good. Reuben feels pretty confident at this point. But then, verse 4, “Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel for you went up onto your father’s bed and defiled it.” You might recall this incident in Chapter 35:22. Rueben doesn’t have the proper temperament to be a leader of men, in fact, he can’t even control himself. Imagine if your father started a business and it grew into a huge enterprise. If his firstborn is an undisciplined (turbulent as water), lazy person who is careless and wasteful with money, he should not be in any position of authority at the business, let alone inherit it. So, Reuben was disappointed. His descendants never produced a judge, a prophet or leader and Reuben himself played only a minor role in Israel’s subsequent history. Rueben sits there the rest of the session with his arms crossed and pouting.

Who’s next on his list? Yes, it’s Simeon and Levi. You remember them from chapter 34. Their sister Diana was “violated” and then the father of the guilty man came by and suggested to Jacob that the two get married. One of the sons deceitfully agreed if all the men of his village are circumcised. While the men were healing Simeon and Levi went into their camp and killed all the males. Let’s see what Jacob has to say about these two sons. Verse 5, “Simeon and Levi are brothers-their swords are weapons of violence. They have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.”

Simeon and Levi were not engaged in a “just war” but committed an act of vengeance. Not only that, but their anger was so fierce, they were cruel to innocent animals. They cut the tendons of the oxen so that they could no longer continue working. This was totally unnecessary; it would be considered a war crime today. Because of their temperament and cruelty, they would not inherit any land for themselves. Their territory was within another brother’s territory. This would be like each of the brothers getting a state, but all Simeon got was a county in someone else’s state. Simeon’s descendants were small in number. And as for Levi, though they did side with Moses in the sin of the Golden Calf (Ex. 32:26-29) they were scattered in forty-eight different Levitical Cities scattered throughout Israel. This is like the Amish. They don’t have a state of their own, Amishland, but they are scattered among the states in small communities.

So far Jacob has spoken of three sons, and rather than giving them blessings, they were given curses. Who’s next in line? Judah. Judah may have been worried at this point, trying to remember all the things that he did that might bring upon him a curse, but that doesn’t happen. The mood changes, and Judah is praised and blessed. Verse 8, “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the necks of your enemies.” Verse 10, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and the obedience of the nations is his.” This means that the kings will be from Judah until the Messiah comes to take over and rule the earth. Continuing with Judah we read some strange expression. This is where I bring in my Jewish scholars for explanations. In verses 11-12, “He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garment in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.” I told you there were strange expressions. Normally, you wouldn’t tie up a donkey to a skinny vine. The donkey would just back up, pull the vine out of the ground and walk away. But these vines would be so big, so thick and heavy, you could do that. We would normally wash clothing in water, not wine. This is saying that wine will be as plentiful as water. It would be like saying someone is so rich, the sandbox his kids play in is filled with gold.

What about Zebulun, in verse 13? “He will live by the seashore.” Actually, Zebulun was land-locked, but it was near enough to the coast and near enough to the Phoenician City of Sidon to be enriched because of the sea-borne trade. A major highway called the Via Maris passed through the Tribe of Zebulun. Jonah the reluctant prophet was from Zebulun. Maybe today, as you enter this area is might say, WELCOME TO ZEBULUN, HOME OF THE PROPHET JONAH! Or, “Visit the Jonah Museum, second exit.”

Verse 14, “Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags. When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor.” If I were Issachar, I would be puzzled. Is this an insult, connecting him with a beast of burden? This tribe was devoted to agriculture, not to political or military power. These people weren’t particularly ambitious and preferred a life of ease, submitting to others, a rather passive group. Could we say they were the Midwesterners of their day? Living a peaceful life raising their crops, caring for their livestock, and not getting involved in the political power struggles of the day.

Verse 16 addresses the tribe of Dan. “Dan will provide justice for his people. Dan will be a serpent by the roadside a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider rumbles backward.” This tribe will be known as warriors. Samson was one of the judges from this tribe.

Gad is mentioned in verse 19, “Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.” Gad will be located on the east side of the Jordan River, the first to be attacked by enemies from the east. These guys were warriors, out of the eastern border where desert raiders would most likely attack.

Verse 20, “Asher’s food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king.” This tribe will settle in very rich territory, along the Mediterranean coast where olive trees are grown. What luck. If I were assigned to the desert area of the east, I would want to transfer to Asherville. “Entering the State of Asherville, Where Life is Good.” Imagine living along the coast growing olives, shipping out lovely gift baskets to wealthy families, including the king.

Naphtali gets only one sentence, verse 21, “Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.” What? Translation, please. The territory of Naphtali is mountainous land, and the people are pictured as free, mountain people with great ability in warfare as portrayed in Judges 4:1-24. This brings to mind the people who live in the Appalachian Mountains. People who are free, independent, self-sufficient, and able to take care of themselves, and defend themselves. How would we promote this territory, how about, “Welcome to Naphtali, Home of the Best Moonshine Ever.”

Now we come to Joseph. Verse 22, “Joseph is a fruitful vine. . . with bitterness archers attacked him, but his bow remained steady.” Joseph prospered in all that he did and when he was attacked by outsiders (his brothers, Potiphar, and his wife) he remained faithful.

Finally, a word about Benjamin, the youngest. Verse 27, “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.” The tribe of Benjamin did provide some famous fighters, including Ehud (Judges 3), Saul (I Sam 9) and his son Jonathan (I Sam 14). Mordecai and Esther were of this tribe and in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul.

Next, we see the death and burial of Jacob. In verse 29, it says, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.” Notice the expressions that he used. “Gathered to my people” is an expression of faith in the afterlife. He then says, “Bury me with my fathers.” The distinction shows that being gathered to his people is distinct from being buried with the fathers.

What can we learn from these chapters? I would suggest that Jacob was a realist concerning death and he planned for it. In America, we have been called death deniers. We don’t like to talk about it and we do little preplanning concerning our end of life care, funeral, and the adjustments that survivors have to make. May I suggest that to avoid conflict among family members when difficult decisions have to be made, that you make them now, in writing, so that there are no misunderstandings and conflicts among family members and less stress for the survivors?

Here are some things to consider:

• Living Will to express the level of health care you desire at the end of life.
• Do Not Resuscitate Order, if desired.
• Funeral plans, including casket, clothing, visitation times, funeral service, songs, eulogy, message, draft of obituary etc.
• A Letter of Instruction telling the survivor of where all the assets are: life insurance policies, policy numbers, company phone number; pensions plans, investments, savings, checking accounts, Social Security Number, office number, funeral home number, cell phone company to cancel phone service.
• And a letter of instructions which gives the survivors directions as to who gets what. Too often family conflicts arise when two siblings argue over who gets what with regards to sentimental items. Avoid all of this by spelling it out in writing. Then put together a list of businesses that you call when you need help.
• Make a list of the people who you normally rely on for repairs, such as the plumber, electrician, air conditioning contractor, appliance repair shop. Every decision that can be made now, is an act of love for those left behind. This frees them to deal with grieving and not having to deal with all of the other decisions that need to be made while under duress. Jacob prepared for his death and we should do the same.