Jacob's Blessing, Part 2

Genesis chapter 49, as we make our way through Jacob's blessing, as he begins to bless his sons. I remember the words of Jesus in John 14, 15, 16, and 17. On the eve of his crucifixion, he would give those last words to his disciples, to encourage them, to help them to understand that this wasn't the end. Oh, tomorrow, that is the day of the crucifixion, they would think it was over, but he wanted to assure them that this was not the end, but it was really truly only the beginning of a great life that God would use them.

And so he would give them encouraging words, he would talk about their ministry through the Spirit of God, as the Spirit of God would energize their life and bring to remembrance the things that they had learned on that night and throughout his ministry. And the Spirit of God would enable them to carry on the work of the ministry into what is commonly called the church age today, the age in which we're living. Last words are great words by those saints who love the Lord, who are committed to him and share them with their family, with their friends.

That's what Jacob's doing in Genesis 49. He's giving his last words, his last words to his sons. And they are words of a blessing, they are words of prophecy, for they take these boys from that day all the way into the future, a long projected prophecy, something that would go way beyond anything they could ever imagine. But the Lord God would give Jacob a glimpse of the reigning rule of Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's a beautiful picture of what the nation of Israel is going to go through. It's a beautiful prophecy of the nation as well as for the world.

And it's an opportunity for us to be able to hear and listen. He began by giving that prophecy to Reuben. He told Reuben that he was a man of many privileges. He was the first son.

He was the one who had the place of prominence. He was the one who was supposed to take over the leadership of the family. But there was a problem in Reuben's life. And we talked about that problem last week. For Jacob says he was unstable as water. He was uncontrolled. He was undisciplined in his character. And because he was, it would lead Reuben to lie down with Bilhah and to file his father's bed. And yet Jacob was honest with his son that his son might understand why he would lose the place of preeminence, why he would not excel.

We told you last week that there was no prominent individual that ever came out of the tribe of Reuben. It's amazing. But it goes to show us that the consequences of sin will detract from the prominence of God's servant. And it's a good reminder to all of us, isn't it? That we as a people of God, that if we want to lead in the church of God, if we want to be effective leaders, we have to have a clean heart. We have to be men and women of integrity. And Reuben's problem was not the act, but was the inner spirit of the man.

It's more important to be able to rule your inner man than it is to rule people. What goes on inside of you, that's where the fiercest battle takes place. And I would challenge every one of us to make sure that as we stand before God, that our hearts are right before Him, and that as we begin to lead the people of God, that our hearts are right. That is your strongest warfare. What goes on inside of your life, and because of what happened inside of Reuben's life, it cost him preeminence. It cost him the opportunity to lead the family.

It cost him the opportunity to receive the inheritance of the firstborn. How about you? What's happening on your inside? What's going on in there? Your thought life, when you're alone, all by yourself, what takes place in your life? That's important, isn't it? So we learn a lot from this man, Reuben, and how Jacob would confront him on his deathbed concerning his future. And so he goes on to Simeon and Levi, and he tells them that they would be cursed by their anger. Here are guys who, for all practical purposes, should be next in line to receive the inheritance of the firstborn, because the firstborn was disqualified.

But Simeon and Levi, they were lumped together. Why? Because together they led in the slaughter there at Shechem, as they would destroy those men, plunder the city, steal from the village in Shechem. And the Bible tells us that these men would be scattered abroad. Simeon would be scattered in Jacob, and Levi would be scattered in Israel. And sure enough, they were. You read Joshua chapter 19, verse 1, verse number 9, that Simeon's tribe was absorbed in Judah's tribe. And Levi, his tribe was scattered all over the place.

But something happened with Levi and his people. What was that? In Exodus 32, they would repent. When Moses would come down off of Mount Sinai and see the nation of Israel worshiping the golden calf, he would say, who is on the Lord's side? And the whole tribe of Levi said, we are. We are. We're for God. We're going to do what God says.

And they would repent of their ways, and God would bless them in a supernatural kind of way. And they became the priestly tribe. And although they didn't have a particular land inheritance, they were the people that would lead the nation of Israel into a closer walk with God, because they were on the Lord's side. And that's important, isn't it? Why? Because you see, God relents with those who repent. So important. That's the way God's heart is towards you and towards me. If we turn from our sin to follow Him, God rewards, doesn't He?

He rewards the repentant spirit. I love Jacob, because you know, Jacob speaks the truth. You know, it's easy on your deathbed to say nice things to everybody, right? I mean, you want to be remembered as a nice guy, right? You don't remember it as a bad guy. So Jacob could have just said all these nice things about it. But remember, he was speaking the words of God. He was given a prophecy about the future, and God would use the lips of this man to proclaim the history of Israel. But Jacob would speak the truth.

You know, I've found that there are a lot of parents that don't speak the truth with their children. They don't confront them on their sin. Or they not only not confront them, they might even begin to cover their sin, not even talk about their sin, not even challenge them to get right with God. Oh, that's bad parenting. That's terrible parenting. That's the worst kind of parenting. If anybody should tell their children the truth, it should be their parents, right? I mean, we're the ones who love our kids.

And I have found that there are a lot of parents that just don't do that, that their children in their eyes are better than what they really truly are. Listen, if you love your children, speak the truth to them. That is so important. Listen, if your child's in sin, I don't care how old they are or how young they are, they need to be confronted on that sin, right? They need to be exposed to the Word of God to understand what the truth of God is. And even though they might not agree with it, you need to tell them the truth, that they might understand the error of their way.

That's your responsibility. Oh, God's Word needs to be such the highest priority in our lives that we love God's Word more than we love our children. We love God's Word more than we love our wife. We love God's Word more than we love anything else because God's Word is a revelation of God Himself. And we are true to the Word of God. And the world needs people who are true to the Word of God, that won't compromise their stand, who live for the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we need to be, right? And so Jacob speaks the truth.

He speaks the truth to his boys. And you think that, man, these guys would be destroyed. But the Bible tells us in Genesis 49, we read it last week, that this is the blessing of God upon these boys' lives. You see, blessing comes through confrontation. When you confront your children with the truth and tell them exactly what God's Word says, you bless their lives. You bless them. So that's what Jacob would do. So my hat's off to Jacob for speaking the truth to his boys. And then we come to the fourth son, Judah.

This is where we were in today, just with Judah. I'm not going to go any further because this prophecy is magnificent. Judah was not the one who covered his sin. Judah was the one who confessed his sin. We talked to last week that Judah had heard about Reuben and Simeon and Levi, and he's next in line. He's probably thinking, wow, man, dad's out with the hatchets today, man. He's cutting everybody up. What's he going to say about me? We told you last week, remember, that Reuben's sin was recorded in one verse of Scripture in the Bible, just one.

And Judah's sin with his daughter-in-law Tamar was the whole chapter in Genesis chapter 38, a whole chapter. And remember, in Genesis 37, we began the life of Joseph. And from Genesis 37 all the way to the end of Genesis, it's all about Joseph, except for chapter 38. But God puts it there because God wants you to understand something about him. And so he puts the details of what happens. We saw how nasty it was when Judah, after he lost his wife and he reneged on his commitment to Tamar, that she poses a prostitute, and he went into the city and he would sleep with her.

She would conceive and she would bear a child and he would be caught in a sin. He'd be caught in a lie and he was exposed. And Judah thinking, you know, what am I going to do? And Jacob says on his deathbed, Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your brothers shall praise you. Remember, the names of these young men is very significant because it's almost as if there's a play on words again for Judah as there was for Reuben and for Simeon and for Levi. So you come to Judah. Judah's name means praise, praise.

Go back with me if you would for a moment to Genesis chapter 29. Do you remember the scene surrounding the birth of Judah? Just to refresh your memory, I think it's very important. Remember we had gone through the long detail about how Laban tricked Jacob and how Jacob would receive Leah and not Rachel after those seven years. And so Laban ended up giving Rachel to Jacob, but he had to work another seven years. And so he had Leah and Rachel as his wives. And listen to what it says in verse number 31.

Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved. Unloved by who? By her husband. She was the one who was set aside. Remember that? She was the one who was rejected. Oh, she had that one night with Jacob in bed on the wedding night, but he woke up the next day. He had the wrong one. Unbelievable. He had the wrong one. Can you imagine going to bed on your wedding night and waking up realizing you married the wrong one? What a disaster. Of course, some of you think 10 years later you married the wrong one. But I mean, and that's a tragedy.

But to think of it on the night of your wedding the next day. She was rejected. She was unloved by Jacob because Jacob wanted Rachel. It says, And God opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben. For she said, Because the Lord has seen my affliction, surely now my husband will love me. It didn't happen. Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, he has therefore given me this son also. So she named him Simeon.

She conceived again and bore a son and said, Now this time my husband will become attached to me because I have borne him three sons, therefore his name was Levi. He'll attach himself to me, but he did not. He didn't. She tried so desperately to receive her husband's affection. She didn't get it. Read on. She conceived again and bore a son and said, This time I will praise the Lord. Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing. She came to a realization of something. You know, my job is to praise the Lord.

That's what it's to do. My job is to focus on God above. She comes to the point where she's been focusing on her husband for these, well, you know, if she has one every nine months, you know, that's nine times three is 27 months. So at least for 27 months she's been focusing in on just the one guy, Jacob. Jacob consumes her thought life. Finally she realizes, You know, my life is consumed with my husband.

My life needs to be consumed with my God. Ladies, let me tell you something. That's where your life needs to be, consumed with God, not your husband, not your children. Now I will praise the Lord. Listen, there's nothing greater than praising God. Listen, there's nothing that will escort you into the divine presence of God than praise. Did you know that? I will enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. God wants you to praise him. And God was getting Leah's attention. Leah, you need to focus on me, not Jacob and not even your boys, because your boys are not going to get you to win your husband.

And what you want, your husband can't even give you, but I can give you because I am God. And she finally realized it.

She got to a point where she would say, Okay, I realize I got it now, Lord. I'm going to name him praise because now I will begin to praise my God. Let me tell you something.

If you feel like God's presence is untouchable to you, you need to begin to live a life of praise to God because there's nothing that escorts you into his divine presence other than praising him, to focus on him, to sing praises to his name, to thank him for all that he has done. And we need to be a people of praise, not only because it escorts us into the divine presence, but it encompasses us with divine protection. There's something that encompasses us with divine protection. It's the praise of God.

Listen to Psalm 18, verse number three. I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. Listen, the next time you find yourself in the midst of turmoil, tragedy and difficulty, you praise God and God will save you. He'll save you from your enemies. We need to be a people of praise, right? Thanking him, looking to him, and not only that, praise is that which elevates us to the divine perspective. It helps us see God for who he truly really is. And that's where Leah was.

She was protected. Her perspective had changed and she felt the presence of God in her life unlike at any other time. And that's what she needed. You want peace? You want to live a life of rest, of easiness, inwardly? Give thanksgiving to God. Praise his name for who he is and what he's done. All that to let you know about Judah. Why? Because one day we will all praise the lion from the tribe of Judah. And our whole life one day will be consumed with praising God. Because that's what I'm going to do when I get to heaven.

But enough of that, let's go back to Genesis chapter 49, pick up where we left off last week. Judah, your brothers shall praise you. This had to be great news for Judah. Your hands shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's son shall bow down to you. I mean, in his younger years, there wasn't much to praise God about for Judah. But in his older years, oh my, the man changed. He was the one who would convince his brothers not not to kill Joseph, but to sell Joseph. Still not a good thing, but at least it's better than killing the man.

So he convinced his brother he should be praised for that. He was the one who was willingly willing to offer his life as a substitute for Benjamin. Because he knew how much Benjamin meant to his father Jacob. And he put his own life down as a surety to his father and to Joseph. This man learned to sacrifice his life and to give it away on behalf of other people. That man should be praised for that. The Bible tells us that this man was the one who led his brothers into their confession in Genesis chapter 44, as they would begin to confess their sins to Joseph.

He was the one who led them toward repentance. He should be praised for that, right? Sure he should. Why? Because those who cover the transgressions shall never prosper, but those who confess and forsake them find mercy and compassion from God. He would find that. And you notice that that Jacob never mentions his his sin with Tamar.

Does he even bring it up? It's not part of what happens here. Because that's the way God is. I love what the prophet Isaiah said. Isaiah 43 verse number 25. I even I am the one who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake. God forgives sins for his sake more so than for your sake. Isn't that amazing? We think he's going to forgive sins for our sake because he doesn't want us to burn in hell. But he forgives sins for his sake because it's all about his glory, right? He's going to receive the glory.

He's going to he's going to receive the praise. And it goes on to say, and I will not remember your sins. And Judah's that example of that. Sins weren't brought up again about with Tamar. They were no longer remembered. And Jacob would move past that and talk about how his brothers were going to praise him. Caleb. Caleb was from the tribe of Judah. What's the Bible say about Caleb? He was the one who followed the Lord fully. Read Joshua chapter 14, Joshua chapter 15. And that tribe would house the kings of Israel.

David, Solomon, Asa, Uzziah, Josiah, Hezekiah. The great kings, but the ultimate king would come from that tribe. The king of kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. But more about that in a minute. So this man should be praised because of what he did and how God was going to use him in a mighty way. But not only that, not only was this man going to be praised, he was going to become powerful. Listen to what it says. It says, your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. That's a conquering term.

When it talks about standing on one's neck, it's, it's, it's, it's a term that meant that you were the victorious warrior. You were the conqueror. And that's the, that's the tribe of Judah. That's fantastic. It goes on to say this. Judah is a, is a lion's whelp. Verse number nine, 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. It speaks of, again, of the power of the lion. The lion is the king of beasts, right? Speaks of the strength and the power of the king of Judah, the all-powerful one.

And as Jacob begins to give this prophecy, he is taking Judah into the future of the millennial kingdom of God. He is taking Judah in to understand the fact that through him will come this one who will reign supreme. And so he goes to the fact that not only will you be praised and not only will you be powerful, but you will now become the preeminent one. Listen to what it says. Verse number 10, the scepter shall not depart from Judah. Scepter. The kings would hold the scepter. It signified their rule.

It signified their authority. It signified their dominion. The scepter shall not depart from Judah. Judah, you are the kingly line. You are the line where the kings will come from and that scepter, that symbol of rule and authority will not depart from Judah. Next phrase. Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet. Know what that means? That speaks of a child being born from a woman. The ruler will come from the loins of this tribe. The ruler will come from this tribe, Judah, and the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes.

Shiloh. The NIV got this one right. They got it right. Because the literal translation is, and the scepter shall not depart from Judah until, until what? Until he comes to whom it belongs. That's the correct translation. To what belongs? The scepter, the rule, the dominion, the kingship. Now this is important. Simple to understand, right? In theory, what Jeremiah said about King Jeconiah, who from the tribe of Judah, who said these words, there should be no child that will come from your tribe. Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. How can that be? The line of Judah was cursed because of the evil and the errors of King Jeconiah. And God cursed the line. You say, wait a minute, if God curses the line, how can the Messiah come? Oh, that is so good. I'm glad you asked because the Bible is so clear. You see, the rabbi struggled with this for 400 years. They couldn't understand it. If the Messiah is to come, if the lawgiver is to come from, from between the feet, between the feet of some woman of the tribe of Judah and Jeconiah was cursed, that is the line of Judah was cursed by God because it was evil ways.

How on earth will Messiah ever come? How will he ever get here? How will the King ever be born? And so even at the time of Christ, the rabbis are still arguing over how that was going to happen. That's why they never accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah. It's very easy. Prophet Isaiah said, a sign will be given. Here's a sign. A woman shall conceive, a virgin shall conceive and bear a child. And he should be called Emmanuel. You see, there would be a woman in the line of Judah. There would be a woman.

Her name, her name was Mary. She was a descendant of King David through the law, through his son, Nathan. And she would be the descendant. She would be the woman who would bear the Christ child. But who would the man be? Oh, that's easy. It was Joseph. It was Joseph by adoption. Because you see, Joseph was through the line of David through his son Solomon. And when Mary became pregnant because the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, Joseph would adopt that child after he was born and thus giving Jesus Christ the right to the throne of David.

And God said to the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter nine, you know it well, Isaiah nine, verse number six, for a child will be born. That's natural birth. A child will be born. A son will be given. Term for adoption. The son will be given. The child's born, but the son is given. And Joseph would be the one who would adopt the son. The Bible says, and the government will rest on his shoulders.

His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. And there will be no end to the increase of his government or peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on. And forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. It's very simple. God did exactly what he was going to do in a magnificent way, in a way no one could ever imagine, because through that tribe of Judah would come the kingly rule and the scepter would never depart from Judah until the one to whom it belongs shall come.

And who was that? That's the Messiah. But how could he ever get there if the kingly line was cursed by God through Jeremiah because of the evilness of King Jeconiah? God had a marvelous plan, a marvelous plan. The virgin shall conceive and bear a child. That's how. And Joseph, the son of David, he would adopt that child and everything would be right. And a perfect, spotless, sinless Lamb of God will be born just as God had planned. So important as we understand the prophecy given to Judah. It says to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

To who? The one to whom it belongs. Who's that? The one who holds the scepter. Who's that? That's the king of kings and Lord of lords himself. That's who it is. And there will become the obedience of all the peoples Listen, everybody will become obedient to him. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Listen, if you haven't bowed the knee today, you will bow the knee tomorrow. If you don't bow the knee in this life, you will bow the knee in the life to come.

Because the Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Speaks of his praise, his power, his preeminence, and then it speaks of his prosperity. It says this, he tithes his foal to the vine and his donkey's coat to the choice vine. He washes his garments in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are dull from wine and his teeth white from milk. Speaks of his prosperity. When Judah went into the land of Canaan under the direction of Caleb, they had a beautiful, luscious land. It speaks of the prosperity of this land. And the ultimate prosperity comes when the Messiah returns, right?

When everyone will be spiritually healthy and God will rule and reign in all the earth. And Jacob on that day in Genesis 49 would give to us a detailed prophecy of the coming of the Messiah through the line of Judah. God does miraculous things. I wonder today if you have praised that King. Your brothers shall praise thee. And in Revelation 5, he takes the title deed of the earth from his Father in heaven and he begins to take back that which is rightfully his, this earth, and will one day return and rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Let's pray.