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Genesis 49
1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
2 “ Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
3 “ Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.
5 “ Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6 Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.
8 “ Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “ Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He shall become a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon.
14 “ Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between two burdens;
15 He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, And became a band of slaves.
16 “Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse’s heels So that its rider shall fall backward.
18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD!
19 “Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last.
20 “Bread from Asher shall be rich, And he shall yield royal dainties.
21 “ Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.
22 “ Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.
24 But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 “ Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then he charged them and said to them: “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place.
31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.
32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.”
33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
I think it would be incredible to have your father come to the end of his life and with his last breath tell you the things listed here... could you imagine being Reuben and being told that you are unstable as water!! Could you imagine being Simeon and Levi and being told you have an anger problem. I mean this is the summary of who you are... Some of you know about my "Frank" conversations... well that is exactly what this is, except it is about to be the last thing that you ever hear your dad say to you... imagine that!!
Well, maybe we should live (once again) like Joseph who recieved the greatest compliments from his father.
Have you ever heard this quote: Live your life so the preacher wont have to lie at your funeral!!
Well, that is pretty much it... which of the brothers do you think got rebuked the hardest? Well, all I know is that I want to live to that people compliment me when they are about to die... not rebuke me!
6 comments:
Pastor Lee, I saw that quote on the back of Josh's shirts one time.
Out of all the comments made by Jacob, Joseph's was the longest one and the best one. Out of all the studies about Joseph, it seemed like he was perfect in every way! Even though he wasn't perfect, MAYBE God didn't want to show the sins that Joseph made (the sins were probably small and always repented) because God wanted us to look at Joseph and say that Joseph is the perfect young Godly person and that we should look up to him. Either that, or God just completly forgot his sins because of Joseph repenting so much.
I think hearing something negative about myself from my dad right before he died would make work as hard as I possibly could to change or get rid of the problem. I think that Reuben must have felt horrible because he was the oldest and usually the older siblings are supposed to set an example for the younger ones, but being told by your father that you won't excel must have been heart-breaking.
I know Kervin doesn't set examples for me. When he is talking about his sons is he predicting there future or does he already know. If my dad said I wouldn't excel in life I would try to prove him wrong. When Jacob is talking about simon and levi that must be hard hearing that they killed a man.
Wow its almost 11:10 and this is all that have been on today??? I want to cry!(jk but this is weak least amount ever.) :( I am so excited we are doing the super bowl again Pastor Lee this is going to be fun!!! And i have also seen that quote on josh's shirt!anyways...
Well this is a sad passage if you think hard about it because Jacob told all of his sons what they really were like and died right after. I think it would be sad no matter what is said to you by the person, if they were to die after telling you that and you knowing that was the last thing they said to you ever... I agree with Kervin that the oldest should be setting an example and i know I would feel awful if my dad died after telling me all these things that Jacob told reuben. So set an example so you wont have to be lied about! we should be talked good about so no lies ever have to be made by anyone. bye everyone and I hoped this made sense and that more ppl will be on!!!
Ugh, just finished some homework i had forgot about.
Verrrryyy tired! ):
So this is kind of funny to me. Not because Jacob dies, but because of whats going on here.
I can just picture everyone standing around Joseph, wanting to hear all of the great things he has to say about them before he dies, and some of them becoming very dissapointed in what they hear.
We always want people speak good of us, and to tell of how great we are, when if we really think deeply about it; most of the time they have no reason to.
Think of the person who knows you best and what they would say about just who you really are like that.
I know that i wouldnt have a pefect report by any means, but i know that i try and can ost definitely work harder to obey God and strive for one.
I should base my life on what i am truly wanting and aiming for in my heart and being sure that it is pleasing God, so that others who see my outer actions & wants, notice Godly and good things of me.
Sorry im always so late! Time management isnt something i can control too well lately.
):
Have a good day tomorrow everyone (:
its fridayyy!
This was a shocking build up to the story. I cannot imagine hearing those words coming from my father, especially as his last words to me. It can sometimes be hard to hear the truth from people and ever more so from those you love. Yet at times is becomes vital to do so, in hopes that your loved ones with turn from their deviant ways. What this chapter shows us is that Joseph lived such a great life he did not have to bear the judgment of his father on his death bed. We must also live a life as Joseph did and understand that we will be judged before the Lord.
What is important to remember is that when people are critical of you it is not always because they want to be cruel. They are often offering useful advice that would be wise to take. I struggle with listening to the advice of my elders. I hope that I can go to my Father in heaven and not be judged as Ruben, Simeon and Levi were.
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