It is easy to ask God’s blessing to give us everything we want, how we want it, when we want it, and then wonder why we don’t receive it. When we study the blessings of Israel to his sons we see that our blessings are often a reflection of our choices in regards to how we live our lives… in obedience to God or in obedience to self.
Genesis 49:28 28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.
As Israel prophecied and blessed each of his sons, he revealed a future that was appropriate to each one and how they chose to lead their life and what examples they set for their family. Their blessing was in fact affected by their godliness, or lack of godliness.
Israel’s Prophecy concerning His Sons
1Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.
2“Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;
And listen to Israel your father.
3“Reuben, you are my firstborn;
My might and the beginning of my strength,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4“Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence,
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;
Their swords are implements of violence.
6“Let my soul not enter into their council;
Let not my glory be united with their assembly;
Because in their anger they slew men,
And in their self-will they lamed oxen.
7“Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will disperse them in Jacob,
And scatter them in Israel.
8“Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
9“Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He couches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?
10“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11“He ties his foal to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;
He washes his garments in wine,
And his robes in the blood of grapes.
12“His eyes are dull from wine,
And his teeth white from milk.
13“Zebulun will dwell at the seashore;
And he shall be a haven for ships,
And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
14“Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between the sheepfolds.
15“When he saw that a resting place was good
And that the land was pleasant,
He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,
And became a slave at forced labor.
16“Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17“Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
A horned snake in the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
So that his rider falls backward.
18“For Your salvation I wait, O LORD.
19“As for Gad, raiders shall raid him,
But he will raid at their heels.
20“As for Asher, his food shall be rich,
And he will yield royal dainties.
21“Naphtali is a doe let loose,
He gives beautiful words.
22“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring;
Its branches run over a wall.
23“The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot at him and harassed him;
24But his bow remained firm,
And his arms were agile,
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25From the God of your father who helps you,
And by the Almighty who blesses 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 surpassed the blessings of my ancestors
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
May they be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
27“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And in the evening he divides the spoil.”
28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him. 29Then he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site. 31“There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah— 32the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
As we seek to receive God’s blessing for our lives and the lives of our family, let us remember that God has given us many instructions on how to live such that we love God and love our neighbor. When we make these choices to honor God and obey Him in our lives, rather than just with our words, we will see Him provide to us the blessings appropriate to such a choice to be His faithful servant.
Reflect on the sons of Israel. What behaviors did they exhibit that lead some to good and some to hard blessings? What changes does God speak to your heart that you should make as you reflect on how you are living your life?
Personally, I feel that God continues to press upon me the suffering that many experience by allowing themselves to be ruled by their fierce anger. I have had several recent encounters personally and also keep finding that revealed in scripture, such as with Simeon and Levi in today’s scripture reading. Anger is not always released by the sword, but often by the tongue. I have experienced flurries of anger in the past and now see more clearly how ugly that can truly be and how much it can affect someone’s life. Even if you are “right”, anger is not typically the most helpful response. It can steal your joy and sour your blessings.
Make changes where you need to! Do not be so proud as to insist that you are doing everything right. You only fool yourself and steal from your own blessing and future.
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