DBG - January 19 - Genesis 47-50

In this chapter Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons.

vs. 1 – This is a continuation from the previous chapter as Jacob at 147 years old prepares for his soon departure from this life.  Joseph takes his two sons so that their grandfather can bless them.  Manasseh, the firstborn, is 25 and Ephraim is 24.

vs. 2 – I have not commented on it previously, but it is interesting how Jacob is sometimes called Jacob and sometimes Israel.  In this verse he is called by both names. 

vs. 3 – Luz means “almond tree”

vs. 3-4 – Jacob recounts his encounters with God at Bethel, which is also called Luz, in 28:10-19 and 35:6-13

vs. 5-7 – Jacob in a sense adopts Manasseh and Ephraim, making them equals to Joseph and his brothers.  Part of his rationale for this was that it effectively increased the number of sons of his favorite wife Rachel, who died before she could bear more than two sons. Joseph’s two sons will be the fathers of two of the twelve tribes of Israel.

vs. 8-10 – Jacob’s eyesight had largely failed at this point, which is not surprising since his father Isaac had such problems the latter part of his life.  He is unable to tell the two sons apart by sight.

vs. 11 – What a blessing, that God had honored the prayer of Jacob to see his lost son again!  What a further blessing that was multiplied by God in that he also saw that son’s sons!  God so often pours out from His grace far more than we ask.

vs. 13-14 – Joseph positioned his sons so that Manasseh, the firstborn, would be at Isaac’s right hand and Ephraim on his left.  In the Biblical world the right-hand side was the place of greatest honor.  But God providentially and prophetically moves so that Isaac first places his right hand on the Ephraim and then his left on Manasseh.  Joseph had bowed himself to the ground and did not see this at first.

vs. 15-16 – Jacob’s blessing is that the promises made through Abraham, Isaac, and himself.  He calls them his own sons.

vs. 17-18 – Joseph sees the mix up and protests that Manasseh should have had the higher honor in the blessing.

vs. 19-20 – Jacob refuses to change his blessing and prophecies that, though both boys would found mighty tribes, Ephraim’s would be greater than his older brother.  The record of history in Scripture bears this out, especially in the Divided Kingdom period after Solomon’s death where Ephraim was the leading tribe in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

vs. 21-22 – The final blessing was reserved for Joseph.  God would continue to be with him, and he would return from Egypt to the Promised Land.  This occurs briefly when they go to bury Jacob and then permanently when his remains are interned there in Joshua 24:32.  He grants him a specific piece of land; the only land he truly held deed to.  This was at Shechem where he purchased a field in 33:19 and then gained more area after his sons slaughtered the inhabitants of Shechem in 34:26-29

In this chapter Jacob gathers his sons together and pronounces prophetic blessings on each.

vs. 3-4 – Rueben, firstborn, had forfeited his birthright by his sin in 35:22.  His tribe would never be great.

vs. 5-7 – Simeon and Levi are dealt with together.  They had linked themselves in their attack on Shechem in 34:26-31.  The tribe of Levi had no tract of territory for their own, but were dispersed in cities throughout the Promised Land.  The tribe of Simeon had settlements dispersed through southern Judah and at times sought out new territories (see I Chronicles 4:38-43).

vs. 8-12 – Judah is here prophesied to not only be a strong tribe but the one that one rule of the others.  We find in vs. 10 a prophesy of the Messiah coming from this tribe, calling him Shiloh, meaning “peaceful one”.  They will be a prosperous people.  We see later this it the tribe of David and Christ.

vs. 13 – Zebulon had its territory in the northern Promised Land, west of the Sea of Galilee.  It had territory that bordered the Phoenicians in Sidon.

vs. 14-15 – Issachar had a territory southwest of the Sea of Galilee.  They were prosperous but not powerful.

vs. 16-18 – Dan would produce one Judge in Samson in Judges 13:24-25.  Their history will be full of treachery and idolatry (see Judges 18:27 and Joshua 19:47).  It is in light of their sinfulness that Jacob cries out for salvation.

vs. 19 – Gad had its territory on the east side of Jordan where they were constantly attacked by other peoples.

vs. 20 – Asher had its territory in the fertile coastal plains in the far northwestern area of the Promised Land.

vs. 21 – Naphtali had its territory north and east of the Sea of Galilee.  They were a prosperous people given more to diplomacy than to warfare.

vs. 22-26 – Joseph is rarely counted as a tribe himself (see Revelation 7 for the exception).  Jacob’s blessing essentially acknowledges what God had already done in Joseph’s life, highlighting the prosperity and power he had acquired in Egypt.  He was the greatest of all the descendants of Abraham until this point.

vs. 27 – Benjamin would be a tribe of warriors, like a wolf always on the hunt.

vs. 29-32 – Jacob’s final request is that he be buried in the family tomb in the cave of Machpelah.

In this chapter we have the funerals for Jacob and Joseph.

vs. 2 – Embalming was not and would not be common among the Hebrew people.  Joseph ordering that Jacob be embalmed was in part to afford his father the highest honors that nation could offer, but practically also to prepare him for the final journey to Machpelah.

vs. 3 – The embalming process took 40 days, and a period of public morning lasted another 30. 

vs. 4-6 – Pharaoh grants Joseph leave that he may go with his family and bury Jacob.

vs. 7-9 – 17 years before Jacob had left for Egypt in a large caravan with his family.  Now he returns home with greater honors and a greater retinue.

vs. 10-11 – This location is lost to history.  Atad means “thorn bush”.  The phrase “beyond Jordan” is subjected.  From Egypt, this would be on the eastern side.  But Moses could have written this before his death when in the territory of Moab in Deuteronomy 32, in which case it would be the western side.  The public mourning made such an impact on the locals that they named the place Abelmizraim, meaning “meadow of the Egyptians”.

vs. 12-14 – Joseph and his brethren are not wrong in returning to Egypt here. It was not God’s timing for them to take possession of the Promised Land just yet.

vs. 15-18 – Joseph’s brothers fear that with Jacob gone that Joseph may take revenge against them. 

vs. 19-21 – Here are some of the most beautiful words in Scripture.  Joseph recognized that all had happened according to God’s will and held no grudges.  We will do well to put the words in vs. 20 into our memories that we have it ready to recall when needed: “ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good”.

vs. 22 – Joseph lived another 54 years after the death of his father.

vs. 24-25 –Joseph had faith that one day, when God’s timing called for it, the descendants of Jacob would return to the Promised Land.  He makes his family promise that when that day comes they will take and bury his body there.

The scope of the Book of Genesis is astounding.  We have seen Creation, the Flood, and the establishment of the nation of Israel.  While these views are grand, it is also amazing to note the great decline in the book.  We begin with a perfect world untainted by sin in chapter 1.  Mankind falls in sin in chapter 3.  Wickedness is so rampant that God destroys the world in a Flood in chapters 7 and 8, sparing only Noah and his family.  In chapter 12, Abraham is called to the Father of Israel, a witness of the true God in a pagan world.  We read of the trials and triumph of him and his family through the rest of the book.  But then, and such an anticlimactic ending, the final scene is the temporary tomb of Joseph in Egypt.  This is the price of sin the process of its deadly work.  We see the truths of verses played out before time and time again:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” – Romans 5:12

“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” – James 1:15

But, in spite of the deadly terror of sin, there is also seeds of hope to be found:

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23

Christ is the seed of the woman in 3:15.  He is the Shiloh of 49:10.  He is the lamb God provides, as pictured when Abraham offered Isaac.  Yes, there is plenty of darkness, death, and despair in Genesis, but there is also the glow of hope on its horizon.

Our hymn today is primarily based on Isaiah 53, but its second line strikes that wonderful note of “Shiloh” from 49:10.  The earliest printing I see is in 1790 and I have not found any author to attribute this work to.  Perhaps that is fitting since it is all about lifting up the name of Christ!

Who hath our report believed,
Shiloh come, is not received,
Not received by his own;
Promis'd Branch from root of Jesse,
David's offspring sent to bless ye,
Comes too meekly to be known.

Like a tender plant that's growing
Where no water's friendly flowing,
No kind rains refresh the ground:
Drooping, dying we shall view him,
See no charm to draw us to him,
There no beauty will be seen,

Lo! Messiah unrespected,
Man of grief, despis'd, rejected,
Wounds his form disfig'ring,
Marr'd his visage more than any,
For he bears the sins of many,
All our sorrows carrying.

No deceit his mouth had spoken,
Blameless, he no laws had broken;
Yet was number'd with the worst:
For, because the LORD wou'd grieve him,
We, who saw it, did believe him
For his own offences curst.

But while him our thoughts accused
He for us alone was bruised,
Stricken, smitten for our guilt:
With his stripes our wounds are cured,
By his pains our peace assured,
Purchas'd with the blood he spilt.

Love amazing so to mind us!
Shepherd come from heaven to find us
Silly sheep all gone astray!
Lost, undone by our transgressions;
Worse than stript of all possessions,
Debtors without hope to pay.

Fear our portion, slaves in spirit,
He redeem'd us by his merit,
To a glorious liberty:
Dearly first his goodness bought us,
Truth and love then sweetly taught us;
Truth and love have made us free.

Blessed be the pow'r who gave us,
Freely gave his Son to save us;
Bless'd the Son, who freely came:
Honour, blessing, adoration,
Ever from the whole creation
Be to GOD, and to the Lamb.