Sermon Manuscript | Genesis 49:18-33 | Jacob's Prophecies Part 2

(Genesis 49:18-33) Joseph’s Prophecies (Part 2)

What are we doing? Why am I about to read 15 verses from a book written over 2000 years ago, about an ancient people, that lived on the other side of the world.

What does this book, the Bible, what does the OT, the book of Genesis, Jacob’s prophecies have to do with us. Why spend our time here?

Because this is not just any other book, and this time is not just any other time, this is what we call a sacred book, and a sacred time.

This is God’s Word, and many of us here today are God’s people, bought by the blood of Jesus, and we have gathered to worship the God of the Bible, and hear from him again.

And this is what will hear about today.

We will learn the following five truths from these prophecies about the tribes of Israel

1.    Find Faith through Pain (v19) This is what we will learn from the tribe of Gad.

Sometimes you have to go through something, to learn something.

And sometimes God allows you to go through that hardship, in order to strengthen your faith.

I was talking to someone just this week, going through a terrible time, everything that could go wrong is happening all at once, but you know what they said with tears in her eyes, “I know God has a plan, I know God is strengthening my faith through all of this.

2.    Be Thankful and Generous with God’s Blessing (20-21)

This is what we learn from the tribes of Asher and Naphtali. Recognize and remember that God is the giver of all good blessings, give him the thanks he deserves, and imitate God in your generosity.

3.    Trust in Help from Our Mighty Shepherd (22-26)

This is what we will learn from the blessing about Joseph it could be easily turned in to a praise song, exalting God for who he is the Shepherd, the Rock, and our Helper.

4.    Find Your Strength in the Lord (27-28)

Though the tribe of Benjamin will be small, God will give them strength, as powerful as wolves. Though we may be small and weak, we can be strong in the Lord.

5.    A Life Well Lived (29-33)

And Lastly the final words of Jacob, as we reflect on a life well lived and strive for that kind of lives for ourselves.

Let us stand in honor of the reading

“Genesis 49:18  I wait for your salvation, LORD. Genesis 49:19 Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. Genesis 49:20 Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies. Genesis 49:21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. Genesis 49:22 Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall. Genesis 49:23 The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him. Genesis 49:24 Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, Genesis 49:25 by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and the womb. Genesis 49:26 The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the ancient hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers. Genesis 49:27 Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder.” Genesis 49:28 These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing. Genesis 49:29 Then he commanded them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite. Genesis 49:30 The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property. Genesis 49:31 Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there. Genesis 49:32 The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites.” Genesis 49:33 When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.”

So we ended on v.18 last week

(Gen. 49:18-50:26) “Genesis 49:18  I wait for your salvation, LORD.

We saw how Jacob prophesied about both blessings and curses of the future tribes of Israel.

Looking forward to the King of Israel the Lion of Judah, Jesus would bring salvation to his people.

And so Jacob cries out that he will wait and depend on the Lord. In some ways this was a cry of exasperation, and dismay, because he knew of the struggles and hardships his future descendants would experience.

But Jacob had 12 sons so he has a few more sons to prophecy about.

Next up is Gad, and like last week there will be a mix of blessing and hardship.

1. Find Faith through Pain

Genesis 49:19 Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.

Even though they are attacked, they will also be able to fight back, and win. They will run their enemies them out of town, that is what is meant by attack their heels.

Part of the reason they will face these conflicts is because of their location. Gad was between the Moabites to the south, the Ammonites to the east, and the Arameans to the northeast. As a consequence of their wars for survival, the Gadites became renowned warriors^[1]

As it says of them in (1 Chr. 12:8) “Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were valiant warriors, trained for battle, expert with shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.”

And from this we can see that the difficult circumstance of being attacked formed and shaped them into a strong tribe.

Though it was difficult, it caused them to be prepared and to train for battle.

Many times this is what happens in our lives, God allows hard things so he could grow us into strong warriors trained for battle.

At our special event at the Voice of the martyrs, this was a recurring theme. Though the people were persecuted and thrown in jail for their faith, they looked back on that time and said it was the best time of their lives, because they grew closer to the lord, the felt the Lord’s presence, they felt the prayers of their church family like never before.

So the next time you experience hardship and pain, view it as the training ground for your faith.

Many people have experience loss and pain and have learned to trust in God more through it. And then they would be able help and encourage others who have experienced similar trials.

2. Be Thankful and Generous with God’s Blessing

The next son is Asher, who some of the other tribes might be jealous of because it sounds like they will experience no hardship at all

Genesis 49:20 Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies.

No mention of foreign enemies, no mention of war are hardship. Just a prophecy of the blessing of good food. They will be like the Louisiana of food, cooking nothing but the best.

Food fit for a king. Royal delicacies

And surprisingly the other tribes will not be jealous of them instead, Asher will be one of their favorite tribes, As Moses prophecies about them (Deut. 33:24) “He said about Asher: May Asher be the most blessed of the sons; may he be the most favored among his brothers”

I’m guessing because they were willing to share the gumbo and shrimp etouffee.

So two truths here

One, we should remember that God does not want us to be jealous or envious when others are blessed and we aren’t.

We should rejoice in that God chose to bless them. And who knows, maybe they will be generous and share their blessing like the tribe of Asher.

Which is a second truth that we can learn here, if God does bless you, we ought to be generous with the blessings God has given us.

This generosity was a marker of the early church as we will look into greater detail in a few weeks as we go through the book of acts.

“Acts 2:45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Acts 2:46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, Acts 2:47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

The church members generosity, not only helped one another, but it was evangelistic, people saw their generosity and it drew them closer to the Lord.

And I am thankful for the church’s generosity at Union Chapel. In the past month we raised over 1600 for local missions to Wakelon Elementary and Camp Truett.

Slide And today we have the opportunity to be generous toward North American Missions through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. Which goes to support missionaries in North America.

So keep up your sacrificial giving of the resources God has blessed you with.

And if you’re a member here at union chapel and you aren’t giving generously, prayfully seek what God is calling you to give to support his church.

The next tribe is Naphtali, who also receives blessing.

Genesis 49:21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

This is an image of prosperity and blessing. As Moses will also prophecy (Deut. 33:23) “He said about Naphtali: Naphtali, enjoying approval, full of the LORD’s blessing,”

The same truths that we saw in the tribe of Asher apply here to Naphtali, rejoice in God’s blessing, even if it is a blessing on someone else.

And if God does choose to bless you, share that blessing with others.

The next prophecy about Joseph is usurpingly more elaborate than the other brothers, because we have seen Joseph was Jacob’s favorite.

3. Trust in Help from Our Mighty Shepherd

Genesis 49:22 Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall. Genesis 49:23 The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him.

Here it speaks of Joseph’s blessings, but also his hardships. His own brothers attacked him and sold him into slavery.

Despite these hardships, God was still with him and Joseph remained strong.

Genesis 49:24 Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

We see here that it is ultimately God helped and sustained Joseph through out all those years in slavery and in prison, ruling the nation.

God is called the Mighty One, declaring God as all powerful, if God is for you then who can be against you. God is more powerful than anything this world or the devil can throw at you.

God is also called the Shepherd, The Mighty One takes care of you like a shepherd takes care of his sheep. The shepherd protects the sheep from wolves and enemies. The shepherd feeds the sheep. The shepherd shows us how to live and leads us into righteousness.

As it says in “Hebrews 13:20  Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Hebrews 13:21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

That is possible because Jesus is our Good shepherd, listen to his voice, follow his voice into righteousness.

God is also called the Rock of Israel in Gen 49:24, declaring that God is always there for us, he cannot be moved and his promises never change, he is strong and secure, he is our fortress in the midst of the storm.

Because God is all these things, the Rock, the Shepherd, the mighty one, we can trust him completely because helps us 49:25 by the God of your father who helps you

Even if everyone leaves you, God is still there,

Though life may seem unbearably, God is still there helping you each and everyday.

This word for help is used to describe how God is our helper 1 Sam. 7:12) “Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The LORD has helped us to this point.””

The word Ebenezer is used to describe how God is our helper and is used in the hymn come though fount of every blessing.

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here by Thy great help I’ve come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home

God is our helper, we trust and wait on him in all things.

And in the new covenant, that new promise  brought about by Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have the Holy Spirit, God, helping and empowering us in a special way.

someone asked me about this last week, we would think it would be better if Jesus stayed on earth after his resurrection. We might think it would be better for jesus to be here on the earth instead of ascending to heaven. For Jesus to continue his ministry, so people could watch and learn from him directly.

But Jesus actually says its  better that he go and the Spirit and the Helper come

(John 16:7-8) “John 16:7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. John 16:8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment:”

God, Holy Spirit is our counselor our helper, and he opens our eyes to our sin, opens our eyes to the way we should go, and to the truth about God and his judgement and salvation.

Let us depend on the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives each and every day. Depend on God our helper.

With God as our helper, and the mighty one, our shepherd, and our rock, be blesses us with everything we need and more

49:25 by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below,

Blessings from the heavens all the way to the deep below the ocean is a way to describe all the blessings, from the smallest to the biggest, everything in between, is every blessing is from God.

He created and owns it all. And God gives his people a massive amount of blessing.

This idea of lavish and amazing blessing on God’s people is a repeated theme through out scripture declared again for those united to Jesus in Faith.

(Eph. 1:3) “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.”

It can sometimes fell like God has forgotten about us, it can sometimes feel as though we have no blessing in life.

But we must refute these lies, and remind our selves of the truth that God is for us, and has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing. One of those being the great blessing of the forgivness of our sins and the love of God.

And part of Joseph’s blessing is that God will bless his family, they will be numerous, God will keep his promise to Abraham and to multiply his people.

When his says

v.25 and blessings of the breasts and the womb. Speaking of the birth and care of the children that will come.

And these future blessings will be better than blessings than any of their ancestors

Genesis 49:26 The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the ancient hills.

This is theme in scripture as well. The future blessing will be better than the past blessing.

The old covenant was looking forward to the better blessings of the New covenant.

And the blessings we have now, are going to be even better.

We are waiting on the future ultimate blessing

Because even though we experience supreme blessings from God everyday, Though we have the great blessing of forgiveness and adoption into the family of God.

There awaits a greater blessing, the blessing of being in the presence of God in the new creation, with resurrected and glorified bodies, with no more pain and sin.

We live with the hope of that future and greater blessing.

And Jacob looks forward to these future blessings and prays that God would grant all these prophecies to come true.

v.26 May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

Now the last prophecy concerning the youngest brother Benjamin. Of which the prophecy is very unexpected.

4, Find Your Strength in the Lord (27-28)

Genesis 49:27 Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder.”

This is shocking, Benjamin has been portayed as the innocent little brother thus far. There was no hint at him being a ferocious wolf that shreds its prey.

So what’s going on? –

It is describing the tribe of Benjamin as those who win military battle. They will tear their enemies to pieces when they go to war.

(1 Chr. 12:2) “They were archers who could use either the right or left hand, both to sling stones and shoot arrows from a bow. They were Saul’s relatives from Benjamin”

Though they were from the youngest brother, and though their tribe was often referred to as the smallest tribe they were fierce, skilled, and brave.

This again points to God’s grace and empowerment. As Moses say in

Deut. 33:12) “He said about Benjamin: The LORD’s beloved rests securely on him. He shields him all day long, and he rests on his shoulders.”

Though they may have seemed weak and small by the world’s standards, God raised them up and put them on his shoulders.

This theme of showing God’s power through the weak and small is continued throughout the OT and into the NT.

“2Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 2Corinthians 12:10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong”

In your weakness God can be glorified.

God may be bringing you to a point of weakness so that you would depend and trust in Him. Instead of yourself.

Though the future of the tribes of Israel will be complicated, filled with sin, despair, hardship, through it all, will be renewed blessing. God will be with his people

They will increase to a great nation, and God will be with them every step of the way.

As Jacob concludes his prophecies.

Genesis 49:28 These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

God will keep his promises to his people, they will be blessed and multiply. And in this last statement we also see that these blessings are given to each one accordingly. Each one with a suitable blessing

We saw that some will receive more blessings than others, again this emphasizes God grace.

He chooses whom to bless.

Now after he has completed these prophecies and blessings, Jacob reiterates the importance of him being buried in the promise land with his people.

5. A Life Well Lived (29-33)

Genesis 49:29 Then he commanded them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite. Genesis 49:30 The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property. Genesis 49:31 Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there. Genesis 49:32 The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites.”

Genesis 49:33 When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.

This is a picture of a life well lived for God. We have been following Jacob’s story for 25 chapters.

He had his moments of weakness and sin, but along the way he humbled himself and trusted in God for his salvation.

And at the end of his life he recounted what the Lord has done for him, and one of his last actions was to be a prophet for God, speaking these prophecies and blessings over his sons.

May our lives be marked by humble trust in God. May we finish well, serving the Lord to the very end.

So we could say with Paul - (2 Tim. 4:7) “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Though life is hard, though you will make mistakes, stay humble, keep the faith, look forward to eternal life, and being gathered together with God’s people once again.

 
^[1] K. A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27–50:26, vol. 1B of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 901.