Looking to the Future
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
God’s blessings are always of such a nature in this world that they require faith in order to obtain. The blessings of God most often and most gloriously come in the form of promise. Promises are great if we have the faith to believe them, but useless if we do not.
Many who seek God’s blessings do not seek these promises by faith, but only the immediate blessings that can be obtained now. These blessings are immature and misused by such people, not realizing the nature in which God blesses his people, and they are quickly disappointed with the blessings of God. Just like a bite out of a green strawberry, the blessings of God taste like bitterness when judged too early. Likewise, the curses of God are easily forgotten and ignored as myths and scary stories to detract from the desires of a very real present.
In our text today, we read of curses and blessings that will not even begin to take shape for 400 years. In those years of slavery, God’s word must not be rejected because of the lack of blessing, but more firmly embraced because of the assurance of a future reality. To look to God for his blessings is to look to the future with faith.
Jacob’s Sons in the Days to Come
Jacob’s Sons in the Days to Come
This poetic speech includes summaries of the character of the different sons of Jacob and the blessings and curses that will come upon them as a result.
Character Sketches
Character Sketches
Reuben: The Mighty yet Unstable
Simeon and Levi: The Violent and Cursed
Judah: The Kingly Lion
Issachar: The Oppressed Donkey. Few positive things are said about this tribe in the rest of the the OT. They display cowardice and a willingness to submit to Canaanite tribes rather than abolish them.
Dan: The Judge
Naphtali: The Fertile Doe
Joseph: The Fruitful and Faithful Tree
Benjamin: The Hungry Wolf
Blessings
Blessings
Judah: The Scepter shall not Depart. 40% of this poem is detailing the blessings to the houses of Judah and Joseph, each will take preeminence in Israel and yet in this prophetic poem Jacob reveals that it will be Judah who will rule his brothers.
An unrivaled warrior as a lion. The Lion was a symbol of Kingship in the ANE and throughout history.
(Verse 10) A Kingly scepter in his hand and between his feet, both kingly positions.
“Until tribute is brought” or, as the more ancient versions and translations put it, “Until the one to whom it belongs comes.” This referring to the Davidic dynasty and ultimately to the coming of the Christ, which is the historical interpretation both in the Church and in ancient Jewish traditions.
The end of this Kingdom will be the obedience of the nations. That is, the nations would be blessed by the presence of God and would come to know and follow God through Israel’s true King.
Verse 11-12 has the language of prosperity and fruitfulness. Tying a foal to a vine, a colt to choicest vine, and washing your clothes in wine are all things only an extremely wealthy person would do (Mr Deeds and and the punch fountain). Milk and wine are both the product of a fruitful and prosperous land which the King here has so abundantly that they sweeten his appearance.
Zebulun: A haven in the sea
Weirdly put before Issachar, his older brother. This continues throughout the rest of the Scripture.
Zebulun is not a coastal tribe. However, Deut 33:18-19 seems to imply that Zebulun and Issachar shared a mountain and part of the sea of Galilee. It could also refer to his territory in the days of Solomon, which extended to the Mediterranean.
Dan: Will Judge until God Saves
Though small, Dan is dangerous. Samson would come from this tribe.
Gad: Reclaiming what was lost
A tribe exposed to attacks from Ammorites, Moabites, and Assyrians that become tough warriors to fight back.
Asher: Rich Food
Fertile lands.
Naphtali: Beautiful fawns (or words)
Who knows what this means. It could be that Naphtali is swift to deliver messages, but the meaning behind this imagery is unknown.
Joseph: The help of the Almighty and the blessings of your Father
Fruitful in spreading the blessings of God. Successful although persecuted.
Fruitful with the blessings of a heavenly nature. (The everlasting hills vs 26).
Fruitful with the blessings of his father.
Benjamin: Prey and Spoil
Loses
Loses
Reuben: The preeminence of the first born lost because of his sexual immorality and his immoral pursuit of power.
Simeon and Levi: Divided and Scattered. Simeon would inherit land in the midst of Judah’s inheritance (Josh 19:1;9) because Judah’s inheritance was too much for him. Levi would receive no land at all. The conquerors share little of the spoil.
Issachar: Slavery due to his passive approach to their inheritance. They do not pursue the Kingdom of God with any conviction or commitment and are instead content to be slaves in exchange for false peace with the world.
The Kingdom of God is not won by the passive. There are no passive Christians.
In Matt 11:12 Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of Christ coming with violence or force, and so the forceful will take it. The Kingdom of God will be inherited by the meek, but not the passive.
Gad: Raiders because of their location.
A Christian’s Prospect for the Future
A Christian’s Prospect for the Future
In this ancient poem, the main focus is on Joseph and Judah. Joseph is the son with a fruitful heritage of the blessings and promises of God. He is an example of someone who has walked by faith. Judah is the son with a Kingly heritage, a foreshadowing of the coming King of glory, the one to whom the kingship of Israel belongs. In these two brothers we see the promise of Christ, both in his Kingship over his people and the blessing he gives to them through his own faithfulness and despite our unfaithfulness.
The Father’s Blessing to the Son
The Father’s Blessing to the Son
Although this is a series of blessings to all twelve sons, Judah and Joseph are the focus. Both of them point us to Christ in different ways. In each of these boys, God displays the way he would blessed the incarnate second person of the Trinity.
First, he has blessed him with Kingly domain.
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
The imagery of a lion once again gives us that kingly image of a lion, specifically the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Christ is explicitly the King that Jacob prophecies about. His rod of authority is made known through his conquering, a victory won on the cross.
Although the blessing first applies to Judah’s brothers (vs 8 of our text) it ends up being brought to the nations (vs 10). Christ is King both of his people and over all things. His Kingdom is built first of the Jews and then of Gentiles (Romans 3:29).
Second, he is blessed with a fruitful inheritance because of his faithfulness in the midst of suffering.
Christ is blessed with glory, power, honour, and dominion for all eternity. He is blessed with the name that is above all names and with ultimate exaltation in his people.
The fruitfulness of the blessings of Christ is then passed to those in the Kingdom, even the very ones who are one point betrayed him to death on the cross. What we, in our sin, meant for evil God meant for good. Not only for him, but through him to us as well.
The blessings to reconciliation to God through Christ.
The blessing of a new covenant family and citizenship in a the heavenly kingdom.
The blessing of the bounties of the everlasting hills.
Conclusion: Looking to the Future
Conclusion: Looking to the Future
In this most ancient poem, we are reminded of the futuristic nature of our hope in our faith. As Jacob went through his sons he spoke of what the boys had done, who the boys were, and what their future might be. As we focus on the blessings to Judah and Joseph, we must also remember the warnings of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi.
Reuben was power-hungry and controlled by lust. Simeon and Levi were deceptive and violent. All three, in acting on what felt right at a certain moment, lost their inheritance and blessing. Today, one act of passion, one moment of saying what you really think, one inch given to the powers and pleasures of sin can ruin our witness, suck out our joy, and deconstruct our confidence in Christ. We must never let ourselves be taken by the lie that sin isn’t so dangerous now that we are in the faith. We’ve so much to lose.
But we also have so much to gain in Christ, a better King than those of Judah and the son of a greater inheritance than Joseph’s double blessing. A Christian’s joy is to hear the words “well done, good and faithful servant.” These words are to those who through Christ are deserving and by the Holy Spirit are mature enough to accept the rich blessings of God.
We are children of the promises, blessings, covenant, and Kingdom of God. Let us stand on that hope and seek a reward greater than either Joseph or Judah could have imagined. One bought by divine blood. One for those who deny themselves and follow those scarred feet wherever they go. The reward of Christ in Christ; the bounties of the everlasting hills.