Genesis 49
May 14, 2023
Happy Mothers Day!
Benjamin:
Gen 49:27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil.”
Ravenous wolf implies a violent spirit, devouring and tearing like a wild wolf, eating his fill and only then dividing up whatever remains.
Reminiscent of Numbers 23:24 when Balaam blessed Israel…
Num 23:24 Look, a people rises like a lioness, And lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.”
The tribe of Benjamin was historically very fierce and warlike.
Judges 19 & 20 show their fierceness and battle prowess. Unfortunately this account shows their fierceness being put to use in rebellion while stubbornly protecting wickedness.
Judges 19 backstory,
Judges 20:13-16 description…
Judges 19 recap, 2Sam 5- (Jebusites driven out by David)
Jdg 20:13 Now therefore, deliver up the men, the perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel.
Jdg 20:14 Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel.
Jdg 20:15 And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men.
Jdg 20:16 Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss.
Jdg 20:17 Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.
1Chron 8:40, Sons of Ulam, mighty men of valor- archers.
1Ch 12:1 Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still a fugitive from Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, helpers in the war,
1Ch 12:2 armed with bows, using both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows with the bow. They were of Benjamin, Saul’s brethren.
2Chron 14:8, 17:17 “Mighty men of valor…”
Benjamins’ inheritance was North of Jerusalem, with their entire southern border adjoining Judah.
Ephraim was to the north, Dan to the west, West Manasseh to their northeast, and the Jordan River to the East with Rueben and Gad on their eastern border across the Jordan.
Due to their location, they were afforded security and safety for the most part. Being bordered by 6 tribes and a wild river provided quite a natural buffer for them.
Interestingly, Mount Zion where Jerusalem was built was in Judah’s territory, but Mount Moriah (where Abraham sacrificed Isaac and Father God sacrificed Jesus) was just a short distance away from the city limits in Benjamin’s territory.
When the kingdom divided into North and South (Israel and Judah), Benjamin remained loyal to the Lord and did not defect to the North. They didn’t get lost…..
Ezekiel 48 and Zechariah 14 mention Benjamin having a portion and inheritance during the Millennial Reign.
Interesting note: “Benjamin’s Gate” mentioned in Zech 14:10 alludes to a literal gate from Benjamin’s territory into the Holy District as outlined in Eze 48 during the Millennial Reign of Christ, which will ultimately fulfill Moses blessing in Duet 33:
Deu 33:12 Of Benjamin he said: “The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders.”
Notable Mention;
King Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin.
Ehud who delivered Israel in Judges 3 was also a Benjamite.
Queen Esther’s uncle Mordecai was of the line of Benjamin and obviously Queen Esther was also.
And of course, the apostle Paul (Saul) was of the tribe of Benjamin.
And Benjamin is sealed in Revelation 7…
Judah:
This is the final tribe we’ll look at, even though it’s out of order!
Gen 49:8 “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.
Gen 49:9 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?
Gen 49:10 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.
Gen 49:11 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.
Gen 49:12 His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.
Gen 49:8 “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.
Reminiscent of Psalms 18:40; A Psalm of David.
Psalm 18:39 For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
Psa 18:40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies, So that I destroyed those who hated me.
Psa 18:41 They cried out, but there was none to save; Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.
Psa 18:42 Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind; I cast them out like dirt in the streets.
Very similar to Isaac’s blessing on Jacob in Gen 27:28-29
Gen 27:29 Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you,
Gen 49:9 Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down (crouches, lays down) as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
Judah was the strongest tribe by almost 19% (18.98% in Numbers 1 census, 18.79% in Numbers 26 census).
Mention of Tribal forefathers, tribes, geographical lands:
Levi/Levites: 331
Joseph: Man, Tribe, hereditary lands: 224
Ephraim: 176
Benjamin: 166
Manasseh: 147
Reuben: 74
Gad: 72
Dan: 72
Simeon: 50
Naphtali: 50
Issachar: 44
Asher: 43
“Judah ”: In reference to the man, the tribe, the hereditary lands, is mentioned by name 817 times!
God depicts Judah as a lion resting in his den after a kill, who nobody dared wake up or mess with. While this was true at times in history, it will be completely fulfilled during the Millennium when the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is on the throne!
Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”
Rev 5:3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
Rev 5:4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
Rev 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
Gen 49:10 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.
God chose to place the scepter and lawgiver in Judah.
The term “scepter” refers to authority and rulership (Remember Queen Esther as she approached King Ahasuerus on his throne?) The right to administer capital punishment is intrinsic to rulership. The prophecy here in Genesis 49:10 was that the right to self-govern through capital punishment would not be removed until Shiloh came.
Even during their 70-year Babylonian captivity (606-537 BC) the tribes retained their tribal identity and authority to govern themselves according to their customs (Mosaic Law). They maintained their own logistics, judges, tribunals, etc, as well as the ability to administer capital punishment.
The term “Shiloh” was understood by the early rabbis and Talmudic authorities as referring to the Messiah.
The Hebrew word shiloh means “whose it is,” so we read vs 10 as;
The scepter will not depart from Judah nor a law giver from between his feet until He comes to whom it belongs; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
Heb 1:8 But to the Son He says: “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER; A SCEPTER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE SCEPTER OF YOUR KINGDOM. Heb 1:9 YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS MORE THAN YOUR COMPANIONS.”
Heb 1:10 And: “YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS.
Heb 1:11 THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY WILL ALL GROW OLD LIKE A GARMENT;
Heb 1:12 LIKE A CLOAK YOU WILL FOLD THEM UP, AND THEY WILL BE CHANGED. BUT YOU ARE THE SAME, AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT FAIL.”
In Psalms 60:7 and 108:8 we’re told:
Psa 60:7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver.
Psa 108:8 Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver.
History:
In A.D. 6-7, King Herod’s son and successor, Herod Archelaus (the second son of Herod the Great), was dethroned and banished to Vienna, a city in Gaul.
The older son, Herod Antipater, had been murdered earlier by Herod the Great, along with other family members. (It’s been said that it was safer to be a dog or a pig in Herod’s household than a family member!)
After the death of Herod the Great (4 B.C.?), Archelaus had been placed over Judea as “Entharch” (governor) by Caesar Augustus. He was rejected by the Jews and despised, and was subsequently removed in A.D. 6-7.
He was replaced by a Roman procurator named Caponius in 7AD.
The first thing Caponius did was to eliminate the legal authority of the Sanhedrin to administer capital cases. This was normal Roman policy (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 2:8. Also, The Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin, folio 24.)
With the removal of their right to administer capital punishment, The scepter had, indeed, been officially removed from Judah.
The Jews understood the significance of this event and took to the streets of Jerusalem in sackcloth and ashes wailing because the Word of the Lord had been broken. They cried “The Scepter has departed from Judah, but Shiloh has not come!”
But Shiloh had come!
While the Jews wept in the streets of Jerusalem, a boy named Jesus was growing up in a carpenters shop in Nazareth. He would have been about 9 or 10 years old at the time.
The Maggi knew Him. “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?”
Anna knew Jesus when she saw him as an infant in the Temple. (Luke 2:36, BTW, she was of the tribe of Asher, so pretty sure they weren’t lost either…)
Simeon also knew who Jesus was as an infant in the Temple in Luke 2.
Mary knew, Gabriel had told her!
Elizabeth knew, she had also been told.
The shepherds in the field knew, and spread the Good News everywhere.
Shiloh had indeed come, and it was NOT a secret!
He would present Himself as the Meshiach Nagid, Messiah the King (the one to whom it belongs…), on the very scheduled day which had been predicted by the Angel Gabriel to Daniel five centuries earlier (Dan 9:24-27).
One might think that when the Word of God appeared to have been broken, they might have connected the dots concerning what had been told them about the Savior being born in Bethlehem.
Shiloh was there, they just didn’t recognize Him!
Continuing the blessing:
Gen 49:11 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.
Vineyards will be so numerous and common they’ll be used as hitching posts. Wine will be as common as washing water for clothes.
Gen 49:12 His eyes are darker (sparkling, flashing, brilliant- think healthy not drunk!) than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.
This passage promises incredible wealth and prosperity! Again, when they were faithful to the Lord, they had great blessings.
This will ultimately be fulfilled in the Millennium…
Deut 33:7
And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of
Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him;
and be thou an help to him from his enemies.
Notable Mention:
He Intercedes for Joseph’s life when brethren were about to kill him by suggesting they sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites (Gen 37:26,27).
He has incest with Tamar, his daughter-in-law (Gen 38:12-26).
They led first in Israel’s journeys through the wilderness (Num 10:14)
They were Commissioned by God to lead in the conquest of the promised land (Judg 1:1-3; 4-21)
Their inheritance was determined before the conquest of the land as a result of Caleb’s faithfulness and trust in the Lord in Numbers 13 & 14.
They were the first to settle in their inheritance.
They made David king of Israel (2 Sam 2:1-11; 5:4,5).
They were loyal to the house of David at the time of the revolt of the ten tribes (1 Kgs 12:20);
Notable persons:
Caleb
Othniel, the first Judge (Judges 3:7-11), Caleb’s son-in-law
Elimelech- Naomi’s husband from the book of Ruth
Boaz
Perez
King David
King Solomon, along with the rest of the Kings of Judah
Jeremiah the Prophet as well as the prophets Amos, Habakkuk, Isaiah, Joel, Micah, Obadiah, Zechariah, and Zephaniah
The Prophet Daniel (Jesus called him a prophet in Matt 24…)
Hannaniah, Azariah, Mishael
Joseph the step-father of Jesus
Mary the mother of Jesus
Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, and hence John the Baptist…
And most important of all, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, King of the Jews, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!
Gen 49:28 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.
Heb 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
Gen 49:29 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,
Gen 49:30 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.
Gen 49:31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.
Gen 49:32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.”
Gen 49:33 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.
Gen 50:22-26…..
Gen 50:22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
Gen 50:23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees. Just to put this into perspective, Joseph lived in Egypt for 73 years after Jacob and family came to Egypt…
Gen 50:24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Gen 50:25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
Gen 50:26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
Genesis, A historical AND prophetic truth to be remembered!
2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pe 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
2Pe 1:4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2Pe 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
2Pe 1:6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
2Pe 1:7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
2Pe 1:8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
2Pe 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
2Pe 1:11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.
2Pe 1:13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,
2Pe 1:14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
2Pe 1:15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.
2Pe 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
2Pe 1:17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
2Pe 1:18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
2Pe 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
2Pe 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
2Pe 1:21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
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