GENESIS 49
After what we have been looking at, there remains to be considered the position occupied by Jacob as presented in the closing chapters.
As the depositary of the promises, he is the greatest man in Egypt. He is greater than Pharaoh, for he blesses him. Then chapter 48, he blesses the sons,
[p. 305] of Joseph. After Joseph as a type of Christ is fully presented, the Spirit looks on to the accomplishment of the promises; the return to Canaan is in view. Hence Jacob’s commandment as to his burial and Joseph’s as to his bones.
There are two things chronicled in Hebrews 11 in regard to Jacob, and they are found in chapter 48. It is the brightest chapter in his life: “Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff”. Hebrews 11:21. In blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, he guided his hands wittingly: it was across the will of nature. He placed his hands the wrong way according to nature. Joseph judged according to nature, whereas Jacob acted in the intelligence of faith. He had the mind of God. He saw best when he was blind physically. He saw into God’s world. There things are all contrary to the judgment of the natural man. Galatians 6 speaks of the rule of new creation. This would be the reverse of the law that governs man’s world.
Psalm 24 is helpful as showing the importance of Jacob in the mind of God: “This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob”. Psalm 24:6. Salvation is of the Jews. In Romans 11 the Gentiles are told not to be high-minded. They did not belong to the “good olive tree”, but to that “which is wild by nature”. Romans 11:24. For the moment, however, the testimony of God is among the Gentiles, and, as we have been seeing already, the remnant of the Jews have to go out and find sustenance and shelter there. There is a connection between Genesis 46 and Exodus 3. In the former Jacob and his family are seen leaving Canaan for Egypt, and God says He is the God of Isaac, that is, Christ risen. In Exodus 3 He says, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, showing that He has not forgotten the promises made to the [p. 306] fathers. They were about to be fulfilled, and so God takes a new name “Jehovah”, and this indicates His faithfulness. He is faithful that promised.
Jacob’s prophetic outline of the history of the tribes in chapter 49 views them from the side of their responsibility. In Deuteronomy 33 Moses blesses them; there it is in the light of God’s purpose. No doubt Genesis 49 indicates the history of man as man, and not only that of Israel. In the best people we can trace the whole moral responsibility of man. Defilement comes in at the fountain-head in Reuben. The next thing is murder in Simeon and Levi; “in their anger they slew a man”. Genesis 49:6.
In Judah we see the king. God intervenes for His people, and brings in a new centre. God will maintain His kingdom until the time of its public manifestation in power. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come”. Genesis 49:10. The result of the sin of Simeon and Levi was scattering: “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel”. Genesis 49:7. But in connection with Judah we get gathering; “unto him shall the gathering of the people be”. Genesis 49:10. Shiloh is the culminating point in Genesis; it was the final resting place of the ark before it went into the temple. Shiloh marks the end of the wilderness journey. It sets forth Christ as the gathering Centre for the people. Judah couched as a lion. Christ is the lion of the tribe of Judah, and His rousing up is seen in Revelation 5. Verses 11 and 12 of Genesis 49 allude to judgment. The full blessing of the kingdom will come in through judgment.
“Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea” Genesis 49:13. That was a dangerous position for the people of God to occupy; they took up a position of commerce with the world and opened up communication with it.
[p. 307] They had their docks in the heart of the city; “and he shall be for a haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon”. Genesis 49:13. The horizon of that sphere is the world. They found themselves restricted, so they extended their borders up to Zidon. This has been repeated in the history of the church; man, as publicly in the light of God, has sought an outlet into the world.
We come next to Issachar — “a strong ass couching down between two burdens”. Genesis 49:14. He represents those who seek to go on with the things of the world on the one hand, and the things of God on the other. All this is solemn in view of the light vouchsafed in connection with Judah. In the presence of the light of God, man lays himself out to enjoy the world, regarding it as more pleasant than the path of faith. He becomes subject to it. “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”. Genesis 49:15. The believer is under no obligations to the world, even in preaching the gospel. In a sense, we owe it to men to tell them of Christ, as Paul says “I am a debtor to the Greeks and to the Barbarians”. Romans 1:14. This is another matter, but the believer is not under bondage to the world system, as owing it anything. The evangelist delivers his message in the liberty of sonship.
In Dan we get apostasy, although he should judge his people; he is not mentioned among the tribes in Revelation 7, and no doubt it is for this reason. “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path”. Genesis 49:17. It is satanic influence, causing a falling backwards. The tribe of Dan had the first clergyman. See Judges 18 They ordained a priest there, but he was not of the order of Aaron. The whole clerical system will eventuate in apostasy, and when it reaches its height God will intervene. The remnant says, “I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord” Genesis 49:18.
“[p. 308] Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last”. Genesis 49:19. Christ’s triumph shall be seen at the end. Asher “shall yield royal dainties”. Genesis 49:20. Anna in Luke 2 is a good example. Naphtali points to Christ in resurrection, who gives “goodly words”. Genesis 49:21.
“Joseph is a fruitful bough ... by a well, whose branches run over the wall”. Genesis 49:22. Joseph is a type of Christ, as in resurrection, bringing in universal blessing. We see this in principle in John 4. The Lord met the woman of Samaria at the well which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. The branches were running over the wall then. The woman was surprised that the Lord spoke to her. The Lord was the target of the archers, but His bow abode firm, and the arms of His hands were made strong by the mighty God of Jacob. “From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel”. Genesis 49:24. The stone refers to the foundation and the shepherd gathers. “The God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep”, Hebrews 13:20. In resurrection Christ gathers and protects His people. In the Stone there is stability.
The prophecy closes with Benjamin acting in victorious power among the people, thus completing the type of Joseph. All being thus in His hands, He divides the spoil.