WEBVTT 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:24.000 Do you ever look around and wonder why things are the way they are? 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:26.239 How they got that way? 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:33.759 What quirks of history brought things together as we see them? 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:44.320 Like, why is the west door of the church kitchen taller than the east door of the church kitchen? 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:47.039 Don't go look now. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:52.799 Or why is the light fixture above the nursery so much like the light fixture in the foyer? 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:55.520 Don't go look now. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:58.479 Just ask Vic later, he'll tell you. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:06.640 Growing up, growing up, there was a white bookshelf in the farmhouse that I grew up in. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:07.599 You can see it there. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.319 I asked my dad for a picture of it this week. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.599 And in my lifetime, it served as an entertainment center. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:17.200 A family portrait display seems to be its service now. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:18.640 A junk drawer. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.400 We kept batteries, board games, iPod docs. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:24.079 Remember iPod docs? 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:26.719 Spare shoelaces. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.079 All manner of things lived in the white bookshelf. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:39.040 And I don't know when the revelation first came to me, but one day my dad told me that there was more to the white bookshelf than met the eye. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:45.439 Because one day I learned that my forebears built that bookshelf to do more than just solve a storage need. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.159 They built the white bookshelf because the ceiling above it was sagging. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:59.920 And in my estimation, that day, that bookshelf suddenly became so much more than an entertainment center and family portrait display and shelf for the iPod dock. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:04.480 It became a load-bearing wall underneath my bedroom. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.919 My dad told me this week that it was that way when it was built. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:20.319 There was some problem in the original building, and they put that bookshelf in to solve the issue, and then he said it literally supports the entire upstairs of the house. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:23.520 And that bookshelf is made for a sturdy wall. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:26.080 It's probably been there for a hundred years now. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:32.319 And just that story I just told you explains the way things are. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:34.400 Why is there a white bookshelf there? 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:35.280 Why can't we move it? 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:35.919 Why is it white? 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.319 Well, mom likes the color white, I think. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:45.199 Genesis 48 and 49 gives Israel a similar sort of revelation. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:55.520 Jacob's final words to his sons and grandsons explain so many things about the nations his nation, his descendants would inherit. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:03:01.199 Its tribes, its difficulties, its kings, and even its hope. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:09.759 So I want to show you this morning how the thing that explains the way Israel is is the promises of God. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:16.240 And the promises of God are a load-bearing wall in Jacob's faith and Israel's history. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:20.800 And God's promises explain the way things are for us too. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:26.319 Like a bookshelf that holds up half the house, Jacob built Israel around the promises of God. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:35.280 And his dying speeches to his sons teach us that God's promises are sturdy enough to bear the weight of life and death. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:40.479 So if you haven't already turned there, turn with me again to the book of Genesis, chapter 48. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:48.400 We'll look at this first chapter together to see a blind grandfather who blesses a future he won't see. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:50.879 Jacob has arrived in Egypt. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:58.080 He found Joseph alive according to God's promises, and he's settled in the land of Goshen to the east of Egypt. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:02.000 He's 147 years old, Jacob, at this point. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:07.759 And he just made his son Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan, not in Egypt. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:11.360 And then sometime after that, we see verse 1 of chapter 48. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.879 Jacob takes a turn for the worst and calls his son to him. 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:21.920 So Joseph went to visit his dying father, along with his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:26.720 These boys are full-grown men, probably somewhere in their twenties. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:32.160 So when Jacob hears that Joseph has come, notice how verse 2 switches to Israel? 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.759 It says that Israel summoned his strength. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:44.240 Israel summoned his strength in verse 2, not to go to war, but as he dies, to pass on God's words to his son. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:47.199 That's what happens in verses 3 and on. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:58.800 He tells Joseph, as Jason already read for us, about God's appearance to him at Luz, where God Almighty confirmed the birthright that Isaac passed to Jacob in the promises of Abraham. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:03.519 Jacob would be the one to carry on to be fruitful and multiply. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:10.879 Jacob would be the father of a great nation, and Jacob's offspring would possess Canaan for an everlasting possession. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:14.079 Those are the promises of God in verses 3 and 4. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:26.560 All those things were promised to Abraham and were also promised to Jacob, and Jacob then, on his deathbed, adopts Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own, just like Reuben and Simeon are his own. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:30.000 So these would be the tribal names of Joseph's descendants. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:34.800 That's the rest of Joseph's kids would be called by either Ephraim or Manasseh. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:39.120 And so if you ever wondered, why is there no tribe of Joseph? 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:40.560 That's your answer. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:41.360 Right there. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:42.319 This moment. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:50.720 Because of the promises of God. 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:52.720 Explains the way things are. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:58.319 And then in verse 7, this dying man remembers the woman he loved. 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:00.319 Talks about Rachel again, right? 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:01.759 Joseph's mother. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:08.399 And Rachel's husband then blesses her even in death by giving her another son by adoption. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:09.759 It's beautiful. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:11.279 So compelling. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:17.680 It's an amazing memory, honestly, for a 147-year-old man about to die. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.519 I've met some 80-year-olds in this room, and Jacob remembers lots of stuff. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.000 147-year-old man about to die. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:28.959 He's so aged, in fact, that like his father Isaac, his eyes have grown dim. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.800 Verse 10 says that his eyes were so dim he could not see. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.720 And so he asked Joseph, who those young men over your shoulder are. 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:42.079 We might be inclined to think that he doesn't recognize his grandsons or doesn't know them. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:43.279 But that's not true. 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:47.279 It's his eyes that are failing, not his memory, because he just adopted them. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:53.680 When they come to them, he he kisses them and he braces them. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:58.480 And verse 11 says, I never expected to see your face. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:03.839 But behold, God has let me see your offspring too. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:10.480 Jacob, Israel, at this point in his life, has known his grandsons for 17 years. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:15.519 Seventeen years he's known Ephraim and Manasseh. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:18.800 And he's still grateful. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:26.319 He's still grateful and in awe of the God who shepherded him beyond his wildest dreams. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:30.720 Such wonder is not lost on Joseph either, because he he bows himself low. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.319 Verse 12 says, He removed them from Jacob's knees. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:36.319 Don't picture infants, right? 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:45.839 Jacob is sitting up on his bed, and the boys are in front of him, and Joseph clears them out of the way to make room for a very solemn posture of intense reverence. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:50.879 He bows himself with his nose to the ground, the text says, his face to the ground. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:08:18.160 And so the prince of all of Egypt, Joseph, with access to riches and power and all that a man can possess at that time, bows himself low before a dying, blind, nearly landless old man to receive the blessing of the promises of God Almighty, or else should I. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:27.439 Because these covenant blessings are sturdier than all the riches of Egypt. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:42.480 Imagine, imagine if you're a former Egyptian slave and you hear this story of how Joseph sat at the pinnacle of all Egypt and he bowed himself low before Jacob. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:53.679 To hear that your forefathers chose Canaan and all of its hardships over all of the riches of Egypt. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.919 God's promises explain the way things are, right? 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.919 And Jacob has something he wants to say. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:04.559 These are his last words, nearly. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.519 In Israel, he wants to bless the boys. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:11.360 He wants to pass his family's greatest treasure on to his grandsons. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:16.639 And so verse 13 says that Joseph is very careful to present them in birth order. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:19.440 But then Jacob crosses his arms. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:23.120 And I love verse 15 if you look at it. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:31.360 It says that with his hands on top of Ephraim and Manasseh's heads, Jacob blesses Joseph. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:34.399 He blesses Joseph. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.600 There's no rivalry here. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:39.679 There's no selfishness. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.879 Ephraim's not stealing anything from Manasseh. 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.799 So this is nothing like when Jacob was a boy and he stole Esau's birthright. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:54.080 This time, Jacob, that great schemer, is working with his cards flat on the table and his heart wide open. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:59.039 And Jacob blesses Joseph by blessing Joseph's sons. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:03.039 It's so above board. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:08.639 And notice how the how that blind grandfather describes God in three ways. 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:15.279 He calls him, the poetry makes it seem like it's one God described three times. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:23.679 The God before whom his fathers walked, is the God who has been Jacob's shepherd all of his life. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.320 His life full of evil days. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:36.320 And the angel, his shepherd is the angel who has been redeeming him from all evil all along. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:39.440 Think about the evil Jacob has seen. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:40.960 Jacob, not Joseph. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.919 He saw the hatred in Esau's eyes when he fled. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.320 He saw the deceit in Laban. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:54.799 He saw violence in his sons, Simeon and in Levi, as they slew all of Shechem. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.559 He's seen the treachery in Reuben. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:04.159 He's held Joseph's bloody coat in his hands. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:10.559 And he's seen this angel redeem him from all evil as he's reconciled to Esau. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:15.039 And now God has let him see not just Joseph but his grandsons. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:19.120 And not only that, but see them receive the blessing of their inheritance. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:30.159 Jacob says that the God before whom Abraham and Isaac walked has been his shepherd all of his life and has redeemed him from all of the evil that he has seen. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.120 And this is the first time God ever gets called a shepherd in your Bible. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:36.559 Period. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.399 And so all of those beautiful pictures we love from here out. 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:46.240 Psalm 23, John chapter 10, they stem from this moment. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:53.840 When Jacob calls God a shepherd, the one who leads him and redeems him. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.279 Redeemers are our family. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:59.440 It's a family relationship in the ancient world. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:03.840 They're the ones are the ones who come to your rescue in your most helpless distress. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:08.559 When nobody else comes through, when you can't save yourself, that's when you need a redeemer. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:11.200 And so Jacob was lost. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:17.200 He was lost first in trouble and then in grief with nobody to come to his aid. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:19.120 Who could bring Joseph back? 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:21.840 Only God. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:27.120 The God who redeemed him time and time again. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:36.799 These verbs, before whom my fathers walked, switch to the God who has been my shepherd. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:38.159 You notice that? 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.480 Jacob starts by talking about what Abraham and Isaac did. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.840 And then when he turns to his own life, it's not about him. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:49.120 It's about what God has done for him. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:58.480 One commentator says, if Abraham and Isaac walked before God, God has walked before Jacob. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:06.799 Because Jacob realizes God's out front, leading him like a shepherd. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:14.799 Like a good shepherd should, dim-eyed Jacob can see with eyes of faith how God has brought all of this about. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:16.000 All of this stuff. 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:17.120 God worked together. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:19.039 God sent Joseph. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:20.799 All of these things. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:27.759 And he acknowledges the depth and the beauty and the richness and even the surprise of God's blessings towards him. 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:33.600 And then he extends all of those same blessings to Joseph's sons. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:36.720 And he just says, bless the boys. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:38.320 Bless the boys. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:40.000 And he gives three descriptions of that blessing. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:44.480 He wants his name to be carried on, the name of Abraham and Isaac. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:46.320 That means include them. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:47.840 Include them in my blessings. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:49.600 Include them in my family. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:52.480 And let them grow into a multitude. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:58.480 So if you're, if you look at it, all Jacob asks is he asks God to keep his promise. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:05.679 He just asks God to keep his promise to Abraham, his promise for offspring numbered like the stars of heaven. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:18.159 And in that way, Jacob connects Abraham's promise to a God who does something, a God who shepherds, and a God who redeems from all evil. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.679 Two more things to notice. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.559 Jacob crossed his hands to bless the younger brother. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:28.799 And he did it on purpose. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:30.399 Did you notice that? 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:32.720 Joseph thought it was a mistake. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:38.720 See how Joseph worked really hard to switch them on his end so that he presented them to his father the way his dad would reach. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:43.519 And then his dad crossed his hands, and so Joseph thought his dad was thinking what he thought and trying to. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:49.440 They were doing the thing where you're trying to go past somebody in a hallway and you both go left and then you both go right. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:57.360 But Moses makes it crystal clear to us that Jacob did it on purpose when he says, No, I know, my son. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:58.320 I know. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.679 And the text never tells us why. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:04.159 Just dying to find out why. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:06.879 Maybe just how he knew. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.919 How did Jacob know that Ephraim would be greater? 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:11.360 It doesn't say. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.399 He knows they both will be great. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:18.240 What's crazy though is that he's right. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:19.919 He's right. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:25.279 Ephraim does become greater for a time numerically and eventually politically in Israel. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:37.120 If you're an Israelite in the wilderness, this explains why Joshua, the son of Nun, an Ephraimite, is the one who will lead you into the promised land. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:42.879 Because Ephraim receives pride of place in Jacob's heart. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:44.960 And we don't know. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:46.159 At least I don't know. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:46.799 Maybe you do. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.519 We don't know how Jacob knew that. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:52.559 So we're left to wonder a little bit. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:57.279 And I think that's really fitting for this text. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:04.240 Because Jacob is also trusting God beyond what he can see. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:06.480 Beyond what he can see. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:09.360 He never thought to see Joseph again. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.399 He never thought to see Joseph's sons. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:22.000 And now sitting here on his deathbed, trusting his shepherd with eyes of faith, dim-eyed Jacob can bless a future he will not live to see. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.720 And in verse 21, he makes another promise. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:31.440 He promises Joseph. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.840 He promises Joseph that God will be with him. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:42.480 God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:48.480 Over and over again in our study this summer, we've seen that God was with Joseph. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:50.879 He's with Joseph when he's in Potiphar's house. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:52.720 He's with Joseph when he's in the pit. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:53.679 All these things. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:55.600 God was with Joseph. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:00.559 But here, now, somebody besides the narrator sees it too. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:08.640 And it's a blind man named Jacob who sees that God is already with his son Joseph. 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:19.119 The blessing of Abraham that had already shepherded Jacob's life had already started shepherding and redeeming Joseph's life too. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:23.279 And therefore he just trusts. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:25.119 He believes. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:34.400 He trusts that God would continue to be with Joseph all the days of Joseph's life, even as God was with Jacob all the years of Jacob's life. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:39.599 And so Jacob makes it clear to Joseph God will not leave you here in Egypt. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:44.880 He knows that Joseph has been promised the land of Canaan, too. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:51.359 Imagine hearing that promise retold around a campfire in the Red Sea. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:55.119 Or on the other side of the Red Sea, forgive me, in the wilderness. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:00.160 That the God, the same God who either you saw or your parents saw, split the Red Sea. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:04.559 The God who sends manna every day except for one day, that God. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:11.440 That God promised 500 years ago that we would make it. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:14.640 That we'd make it home. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:18.000 That's the force of this moment. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:28.400 And for you guys, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead has promised to give you everlasting life. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:34.240 Doesn't it? 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:36.960 At least it should. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:40.400 Because that's what explains the way things are. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:46.240 And Jacob's faith teaches us that you can count on those promises. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:48.960 Even when you can't see how they'll be fulfilled. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:55.839 They're sturdy enough to bear the weight of life and death, even when our eyes cannot see exactly how they're gonna unfold. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:59.119 So there are lots of things we can't see, right? 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:00.480 If you think about it. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.960 You will never know when death will come for you or for those you love. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:10.240 You cannot predict how your life will unfold. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:12.799 You can try. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:14.559 Try all you want to to plan. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:20.799 You can't really foresee how other people will react to you with what you say. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:29.359 But even when we can't see, even when we can't see, God's promises are still true. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:36.160 And we know we know that we have an inheritance in Christ. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.039 And we can walk by faith in that promise. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:46.880 And trust me, guys, walking by faith in that promise is a sturdier way to live than simply leaning on our own understandings. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.519 I've tried that, it doesn't work very well. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:50.960 I still do it. 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:54.559 I don't remember how Stephen prayed it, but he prayed it perfectly, didn't he? 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:57.599 It's better. 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:02.160 It's better to let God's promises bear the weight of life and death. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:04.400 To plan your future that way. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:08.319 Then chapter 49 comes. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:16.319 Jacob summons all of his other sons to himself to tell them that what will happen to them in the days to come. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:20.799 I don't see in this moment an obvious revelation from God. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:26.400 No new vision in the night, no dreams to interpret like Joseph received. 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:32.319 But as we go through these sons, and we won't make a sermon out of all 12 of them, I promise. 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:41.200 As we go through each of them, I hope we can see that Jacob's words here explain so much of what will eventually come to describe the nation of Israel. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:46.799 And everything he says is in some way built around the promises of God. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.079 Because Jacob knows. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:54.880 He knows that his sons will be the tribal heads of a great nation. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:58.079 This is the promise he went down to Egypt with in chapter 46. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:20:59.119 We saw it last week. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:03.440 God said to Jacob, I am God, the God of your father. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:10.319 Don't be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:12.559 It all comes from that. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:13.839 It all flows from that. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:23.759 So then when Jacob removes Reuben from the firstborn's preeminence, and he scatters Simon and Levi to keep their violence in check, that's verse 3 to 7 or so. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:26.400 He's doing several things all at once. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:32.880 He's telling the nation that will come from them that Reuben will no longer have firstborn preeminence any longer. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:34.400 Because of his sin. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.640 And Reuben defiled Jacob's bed with Jacob's concubine. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.240 It's been 14 chapters since that happened. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:46.160 14 chapters since Reuben's sins. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:50.000 And the consequences of that are still here. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:59.839 And they're going to continue on because no prophet, no judge, no king every king. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:02.319 From the tribe of Reuben. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:06.240 So he's lost his place because of his sin. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:12.240 His father knows there will be a nation, and he says, not Reuben. 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:14.000 But notice. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.240 Notice he's still a son. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:20.079 His dad didn't disown him for his sin. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.839 His dad just said, You're not fit to lead. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:33.519 Jacob knows that his sons will be a nation, and in faith, he's beginning to prepare them for that. 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:36.160 Because he believes it's true. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.599 So that's what you see in Simeon and Levi again in verses 5 to 7. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:40.799 These were violent men. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:46.079 These brothers slaughtered the men of Shechem underhandedly and in vengeance. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:52.400 And like a father separating his children when they can't get along, he spreads them out. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:54.799 He scatters them in Israel. 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:57.039 He says, Don't let them live too close together. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:00.400 And in so doing, he denounces their violent ways. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:02.319 And that's what happens. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:09.599 These two tribes are scattered not to regions, but to cities among the territories of the other tribes. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:19.279 Simeon will eventually all but disappear within the nation, within the tribe of Judah, scattered almost to the point of irrelevance because of his sin. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:25.519 But the Levites, we know the Levites, right? 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:29.839 The Levites, they would be redeemed as priests. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:44.240 And so God turns the tribe of Levi from a disgraced and scattered tribe into a tribe with an everlasting priesthood when he honors their zeal for his commandments at the golden calf moment. 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:48.640 And after the golden calf, one tribe came to Moses' side to clean up. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:50.079 It was Levi. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:52.799 And then eventually Phineas is. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:54.400 Go look up Phineas this week. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:55.680 He's amazing. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:02.400 But I hope you see that God's decrees are so often much more nuanced than we realized. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:08.880 Much like God redeemed Jacob the schemer. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:12.319 Who'd been kicked out of his family almost. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:20.880 He redeems Levi's fierce anger into zeal. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:22.799 Into zeal. 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:27.680 Don't assume you know what God is going to exactly do. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:33.599 But you can always trust that his promises are good and that he will do what's right. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:39.440 God's promise to Jacob was that his sons would be a nation. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:40.720 A nation. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:44.640 So this wandering patriarch, this sojourner, he's far from his home. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:49.599 He's the head of his household, and he believes that his sons will be tribal heads. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:56.240 And so he trusts that God's promises are sturdy enough to be ready for, to prepare for. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:59.759 And so he removes preeminence from his unstable firstborn. 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:03.680 He publicly curses the anger of his second and third sons. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:07.279 And if you look at towards the end of the chapter, look at verse 28. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:11.599 At the end of all of this, and those three are the hardest. 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:16.720 At the end of all of this, Moses writes, All these are the 12 tribes of Israel in verse 28. 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:22.799 This is what their father said to them as he blessed them. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:28.400 Blessing each with the blessings suitable to him. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:35.279 Amen. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:40.880 And then in verse 9, 8. 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:45.119 In verse 8, he turns his face to Judah. 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:57.680 In verse 8, things change because Jacob has zero control, really, over the way Judah's brothers will respond to him. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:04.640 As patriarch, he has some influence over the details of Reuben Simon and Levi's place. 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:13.759 His word carries weight there, but he can't say with any certainty of his own insight that Judah will be successful in warfare. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:22.160 And then Jacob tells his sons it's not only his desire that Judah would become their leader, but that it will surely happen. 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:23.359 It will happen. 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:29.440 In verse 10, he says that neither scepter nor staff shall depart from Judah. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:32.799 And so that's a kingly picture. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:35.839 A ruler's staff is the idea. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:40.079 It's like a father leaving one of his older children in charge in his absence. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:42.480 While I'm gone, he's in charge. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:46.079 And Jacob is making his mind known that Judah is to lead. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:50.799 And he knew that the promise that Canaan would be an everlasting possession. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:55.039 And that the nations would be blessed through Abraham's sons. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:27:03.839 And in chapter 35, God told Jacob that, quote, kings shall come from your own body. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:10.079 And so Jacob knows that this nation that's going to go on forever is going to need a king. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:20.720 And so he looked upon God's promises and he structured a nation yet to come by saying to them, Let all of your kings be like him. 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:24.880 Let all of your kings be like Judah. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:26.799 And it comes true, right? 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:32.240 At least in the time of the tribes, Judah becomes the tribe to go up first at the head of the column. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:38.480 Later the tribe of Judah bears sons like David and Hezekiah and Josiah and Zerubel. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:41.200 And of course, Jesus. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:42.160 Right? 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:54.000 But if you look closely at verse 10, Judah will be the king until all the obedience of the peoples comes to him and remains with him. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:03.359 The Abrahamic blessing to the nations will be mediated through the lion cub of the tribe of Judah. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:07.039 He's believing in the everlasting nation. 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:09.680 And he's believing that they'll have a king. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:16.319 And he sees a Messiah ahead who will fulfill all of Abraham's promises. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:30.960 And when that happens, because it does happen, it's still coming, when that happens, Judah's son and Israel's king, if you look at verses 11 and 12, will dwell in such richness of joy that he's not afraid to tie up his donkey to the grapes. 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:35.039 For he knows he has enough grapes, even if the donkey destroys that grapevine. 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:45.200 So he's promising that the Messiah in the fullness of glory is so rich with joy that he can afford to wash his clothes in wine rather than water. 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:50.000 Almost with bright eyes and a sparkle to his smile. 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:58.400 It's this metaphor to say not only will you have a king, but your king will have such immense prosperity and there will be such peace. 00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:03.759 And that's what the Messiah from the line of Judah will bring to the whole world. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.440 All of that for Judah. 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:10.240 All of that and more. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:15.359 For the son who disgraced himself with a cult prostitute. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:20.559 Tamar turned out to be more righteous than Judah. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:22.319 All of that. 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:30.000 All of that for the son whose firstborn sons were so unrighteous that God struck them dead in chapter 38. 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:33.920 All of that for the son who sold Joseph into slavery. 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:40.079 All of this for the son who laid down his own life for Benjamin's sake. 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:44.400 That's a king, Jacob says. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:52.799 The son who sold Joseph has been redeemed into the sacrificial leader who offers himself for Benjamin. 00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:57.279 That's the heritage of your salvation, too. 00:29:57.839 --> 00:29:58.400 Right? 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:03.680 Kings who lay down their lives for their people. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:05.599 Amen. 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:07.039 Amen. 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:13.200 Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:15.279 Verses 12 to 21. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:20.799 They all receive a blessing that eventually bears fruit in their in their geographical inheritance. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:25.039 They all, it all shows up in how they're apportioned later. 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:28.400 But there's a pattern that's easy to miss, I think. 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:36.720 Because Jacob ascribes to all of these, all of these sons of his things that are necessary for the functioning of a nation. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.279 Because he believes they will become a nation. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:44.720 So to Zebulun, he ascribes trade and effective commerce, maybe even a coastal trade. 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:50.960 To Issachur, he gives pleasant pasture land and maybe hard forced labor, even. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:57.440 He recognizes that nations need justice too, and Dan's name means judge or even vindication. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:04.799 That's the name Rachel gave him when he was born to her handmaiden when she said, God has judged me and heard my voice and given me a son. 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:07.599 So she named him Vindication. 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:11.200 And so Jacob honors her naming of his boy. 00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:14.799 Dan represents the judges in some ways. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.039 His fulfillment is complicated. 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:19.759 His dad calls him a snake after all. 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:21.519 That's not ideal. 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:29.519 And eventually the Danites will be a source of great idolatry for all of Israel, both in judges and the time of the kings. 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:36.240 So Dan's complicated, but to Gad, he assigns a place on the edges that endures raiders and yet stands firm. 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:40.559 Nations have borders, and somebody will have to be there. 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:45.920 And so Gad will raid at the heels of those who raided him. 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:54.319 And eventually, Gad's sons are excellent soldiers and military men and skillful warriors in David's time. 00:31:54.640 --> 00:32:04.960 Asher receives the blessing of agricultural success, rich food from the good farmland, or the tribe would eventually settle west of Galilee. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:08.400 Naphtali is hard to translate. 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:13.920 But it could be fertility, it could be the promise of freedom. 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:16.960 Almost like it'd be a sovereign nation. 00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:18.799 It'd be their own kingdom. 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:23.759 And eventually the kingdom of Naphtali would have a natural beauty to it. 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:30.000