l, 2. And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last day. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
It must have been a great comfort to the old man to have all his twelve sons with him. What a quiet answer this was to his former unbelief! They were all there, yet he could remember the time when he had said, «Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away.» Ah! we also shall have in our later days to chide ourselves for our foolish unbelief. «Jacob called unto his sons,» so he was not bereaved after all. They are all here, Jacob. It falls to the lot of few fathers to have twelve sons, and to fewer still to have all twelve of them gathered about his dying bed. «Gather yourselves together.» They were to keep together as a family; and shall not the people of God keep together? Come away from the world, beloved, but come close to one another; be one household, be it your delight to assemble around your elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. «Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.» We are not told nowadays everything about the future, but much of the future is unfolded to us in the great principles of the law and the gospel, and we may learn very much of holy foresight by coming to the oracles of God.
Genesis 49:3. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
The patriarch fixes his eyes on his firstborn; he must say something sharp that would dishonour him, but he does not deny him the rights of birthright. He clothes him with the robes and the jewels of primogeniture, and then he strips him:
Genesis 49:4. Unstable as water, thou shall not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
So a man may have great opportunities, and yet lose them. Uncontrolled passions may make him very little who otherwise might have been great. Reuben was «the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power,» yet his father had to say to him, «Thou shalt not excel.»
Genesis 49:5. Simeon and Levi
They stood next according to the order of birth: «Simeon and Levi»
Genesis 49:6. Are brethren;
They are very much like each other.
Genesis 49:6-7. Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
Hence we do not read of the tribe of Simeon in the blessing of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy; but the Levites had this curse turned into a blessing, for, though they were scattered, yet they were scattered as priests and instructors to the other tribes. Happy is that man who, though he begins with a dark shadow resting upon him, so lives as to turn even that shadow into bright sunlight. Levi gained a blessing at the hands of Moses, one of the richest blessings of any of the tribes. This holy man, Jacob, in dying, did not express himself according to the rules of natural affection but he yielded himself up to the Spirit of God; hence he had to say very much that must have been very bitter for a father to say, and he said it in all faithfulness being taught of the Spirit concerning things to come.
Genesis 49:8. Judah,
Now the patriarch changes his tone, for he has come to that tribe which would take the birthright, out of which the Christ would come: «Judah»
Genesis 49:8. Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise:
They praised God for him, they praised God by him, they praised God in him; he is the type of Jesus, of whom we can say all this with great emphasis.
Genesis 49:8. Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
In the person of David, in the long line of kings of the tribe of Judah, all this came true; and in the person of the great Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, all this has come true to a very high degree.
Genesis 49:9. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
The coat of arms of Judah was a lion couchant, in the fullness of his strength, keeping still, waiting to spring upon his adversary. Our Lord Christ is such a lion today; «the Lion of the tribe of Judah» couchant, lying down: «who shall rouse him up ?» Ah! if he be once fully aroused what power will he put forth when he shall spring upon his adversaries ?
Genesis 49:10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Jacob's eyes were dim, but he could see a very long way; he could see to the coming of Christ, the Shiloh, the Pacificator, the Peace-maker; he could see that day when the Jews would cry, « We have no king but Caesar,» for the Shiloh would have come, and the scepter would have departed from Judah's tribe. «Unto him shall the gathering of the people be.» Oh, that it might be so today! May many be gathered to Christ! He is the true center, and we gather unto him. May the divisions of the Church be soon healed by a general gathering unto Christ, who alone is the center of the Church. «Unto him shall the gathering of the people be.»
Genesis 49:11-12. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
They were to have a land in which would be milk for babes and wine for strong men; surely this land is «thy land, O Emmanuel!» What nourishing milk there is in the gospel, and what exhilarating wine for those who know the love of Christ!
Genesis 49:13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his brother shall be unto Zidon.
When the land was divided by lot, the lot was disposed by God to the complete fulfillment of Jacob's prophecy. Many things may seem to be left to chance, but they are not, the hand of God still guides and controls. This blessing is very suggestive «Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for a haven of ships.» If God puts you by the mind that you are a haven for ships, the Lord, in his providence, fixes your position. See that you turn it to account for the good of others.
Genesis 49:14-15. Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: and he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
Issachar's was a poor case; he was so idle, so fond of rest, that he was willing to become a servant unto tribute. This seems hardly a blessing yet it was true of Issachar. He was strong, but then he was an ass as well as strong, so he liked couching down between two burdens much better than bearing either one of them, yet he had to bow his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
Genesis 49:16-17. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
This tribe would show more cunning than courage; it would excel rather in the strategy of war than in the force of arms. Here the old man paused, and refreshed himself by saying,
Genesis 49:18. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
What a happy breathing-space is this! When you and I also are near our journey's end, may we be able to say, as Jacob did, «I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.» He could not have said that once. This is the very Jacob who had, in his earlier days, been full of crafty policy, and tricks and schemes; but he has done with all that now, and he is able truthfully to say, «I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.»
Genesis 49:19. God, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
This has been the blessing of many a child of God, to fight, and apparently to lose the battle, yet to win it at the end. O thou who art striving against sin, or seeking to win souls for Christ, after many disappointments may you be able to clutch this sweet assurance, «He shall overcome at the last.»
Genesis 49:20. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
Asher was a tribe that was placed in a very fertile region where everything was crowned with delight. Oh, to have our inheritance where we feed upon the bread of heaven, and where the deep truths of God become to us royal dainties!
Genesis 49:21. Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
Naphtali was a tribe notable for those that could speak freely, helped of God with a holy freedom in bearing testimony to his truth.
Genesis 49:22. Joseph
Ah, now the patriarch comes to his beloved Joseph, and here the old man lingers long, longer than upon any other of his sons: «Joseph»
Genesis 49:22. Is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
The Hebrew puts it, «Joseph is a son of fruits, even a son of fruits by a well; whose daughters run over the wall.»
Genesis 49:23-24. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hand were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Joseph is a type of him who is both the Shepherd and the Stone to us, the Shepherd who defends us, provides for us, and dies for us, and the foundation on which we build for time and eternity.
Genesis 49:25-28. Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.