"Then Jacob called for his sons and said: 'Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.'" (Genesis 49:1-2) He uses both of his names here and I think that's because he's speaking to them both as their father and as the father of the nation they will become.
"Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power." (Genesis 49:3) At one time I am sure this baby boy was his father's pride and joy. I think Jacob rejoiced the first time he held his firstborn son. But Reuben disqualified himself for the birthright and as leader of the family. "Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled it." (Genesis 49:4) Rolling, tumbling, turbulent waves are usually used as a symbol in the Bible for human instability and wickedness or to represent troubled times. For example, "But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud." (Isaiah 57:20) Speaking of those who are immature and unstable in their faith, the Apostle Paul compared them to those who are "tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming." (Ephesians 4:14) The Lord's brother Jude, in talking about people who put on a false front of godliness but who are spiritually dead inside, said of them, "They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame." (Jude 1:13) Reuben has changed and matured a lot since the day in his rebellious youth when he slept with one of his step-mothers as an insult to the family leadership of his father, but he lacks the calm stability needed to be head of the family. His emotions are turbulent. He's still ruled more by emotion than by clear thinking. He can't be trusted to guide the family into the future.
"Simeon and Levi are brothers---their swords are weapons of violence." (Genesis 49:5) One man of the pagan city of Shechem forced himself sexually upon their sister, yet these two men slaughtered every man of the city to avenge the family honor. When Jacob tells these two men something they already know (that they are brothers) I think he's saying, "You two are as much alike as twins. One of you is as violent and impulsive as the other." In the Bible it will sometimes seem as if Simeon is judged more harshly for his behavior than Levi, perhaps because Simeon was Levi's elder brother and had an undue amount of influence over him. It may be that the plot to kill all the men of Shechem originated in Simeon's mind and he convinced or coerced Levi into going along with him. Whatever the case may be, both of these men have disqualified themselves to lead the family in their father's place. Jacob can't trust their advice and neither can his descendants. "Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel." (Genesis 49:6-7) Simeon and Levi, like their brother Reuben, have grown up quite a bit since the day they slaughtered the men of Shechem in a rage. But they are still prone to fits of anger. They still haven't achieved mastery over their rage. Men who are led by rage cannot be allowed to lead the family. They too are disqualified to take their father's place.
Jacob moves on to his fourth born son. "Judah, your brothers will praise you, your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you." (Genesis 49:8) We have seen Judah change more than any of Jacob's sons. The man who once sold his brother Joseph into slavery in order to be rid of him and make a profit on him later offered himself as a slave in place of his brother Benjamin. We've seen the proof of his repentance and conversion. This is the son of Jacob's who is fit to lead the family. This man's family line will become the royal line of Israel. This man is the ancestor of the coming Messiah. Jacob's words to him in our passage today contain not only prophecies, but blessings.
"You are a lion's cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches down, like a lioness---who dares to rouse him?" (Genesis 49:9) One of the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ is "Lion of the tribe of Judah". (Revelation 5:5) That title is based on Genesis 49:9. Judah's line will be the one from whom the King of kings comes. Israel has no king at this point in the Bible, and she will choose her first king unwisely from the wrong tribe, but the Lord will establish the tribe of Judah as the only tribe with the right to the throne. Judah is a family leader but he is no king---he's merely a "lion's cub"---but the Lion Himself will arise from among his descendants. Jesus of Nazareth, by virtue of genealogy, will hold the title to the throne of Israel. To Him belongs the crown and scepter. To Him belongs the right to rule over the earth forever.
"The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until He to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be His." (Genesis 49:10) David of Bethlehem will be the first king from Judah's line to reign over Israel. From that time on, only descendants of David can be a king of Israel. The Lord will make David a promise that every king of Israel will be from his direct family tree. Although there is no king in Israel today, that does not mean God's promise has failed. The prophet Ezekiel knew there would be a long period of time in which Israel would have no king from the tribe of Judah to rule over her. But he also knew God would keep His promise of the eternal King no matter how many centuries would pass while Israel was trampled on by invaders and conquerors, so he (speaking for the Lord while he received this prophecy from Him) said: "A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until He to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to Him I will give it." (Ezekiel 21:27) The prophet Zechariah foresaw the day when the King of kings would be given the throne by Almighty God, and he rejoiced as he said: "The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and His name the only name." (Zechariah 14:9)
"He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk." (Genesis 49:12) This verse indicates the overflowing blessings of the tribe of Judah. It is the "choice branch" of Israel, the branch from which the Messiah will come. It is the tribe that provides for and sustains the others (spiritually speaking) and that sustenance is symbolized by a fruitful vineyard and a land flowing with milk and honey.
But this verse is also symbolic of Christ, whose robes were covered with His own blood at His first advent and whose robes will be covered with the blood of His enemies at His second advent. The blood He shed when He came to earth in the form of a man was shed to wash us clean from our sins, so Jacob refers to this blood as being capable of washing garments. But the blood Christ sheds at His second coming will not be His own; it will be blood that's shed during the final rebellion when some will still be saying, "Give us anything but Jesus! We will not have this man to be king over us!"
Jacob foresees the descendant of his son Judah as one who sheds His own blood to cleanse and perfect those who give their allegiance to Him. He also sees this descendant of the tribe of Judah as one who has the right to judge, to hand down the death penalty, and to carry out executions. The Lord Jesus Christ could not truthfully be called righteous if He did not judge unrighteousness, and He alone has the right to pass such judgment. It is the Lord's laws that have been broken; it is the Lawgiver's right and duty to deal with lawbreakers. But we don't have worry about the fact that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31) if we have accepted the blood He shed for us at His first advent. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for us because He loves us. He willingly shed His blood to cleanse us from our sins and to robe us in righteousness. When God the Father looks upon anyone who has made Christ the Lord of his life, He sees only the righteousness of His Son.
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