Genesis 49
You remember Esau sold his birthright to Jacob. When Joseph heard that his father Jacob was sick, he went and took his two sons with him. At that time a father used to give a double portion to the oldest son. Reuben was Jacob’s oldest son, but he had sinned against his father, and lost this birthright. Jacob gave the blessing of the firstborn to Joseph and told him God’s promise, “I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thy seed, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.” And he told him that he was to have two portions. Jacob said, “Thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.” So in Israel we hear of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh rather than of Joseph.
When Jacob wished to bless the two boys, Joseph brought Manasseh, his older son, toward Jacob’s right hand, and Ephraim, the younger, toward Jacob’s left hand; but Jacob laid his right hand upon the head of Joseph’s younger son Ephraim, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, and he blessed them. Joseph did not like this. He wanted his father to change it, but Jacob said, No, the younger son should be greater than his older brother (Heb. 11:2121By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. (Hebrews 11:21)). God chose the younger. “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:27-2927But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:27‑29)) Thus Jacob blessed Joseph, and made him greater than his brothers.
Then Jacob called all his sons together and told each one the things to come. He also blessed them, but in the blessing the sins of the past were remembered of Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Jacob now saw that their sins were really against God and he condemned them. We may cover up our former sins, but “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)).
You remember how Judah asked Joseph to take him as a slave, instead of Benjamin, because of the silver cup. Judah got his reward; Jacob said to him, “Judah, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise,” and “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (“the one who gives peace”), come, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”
The King of Israel would be of the tribe of Judah. King David was of Judah. The King of Kings, “Shiloh”, the Lord Jesus is of Judah, sent by His Father to this world to die, now seated in heaven.
Jacob spoke of what Joseph had suffered, then he blessed him. And at the end he said, “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren” (Gen. 49:2626The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. (Genesis 49:26)).
After Jacob had blessed his sons, he told them to bury him in the cave in Canaan where his fathers were buried. Then, he died. Joseph fell upon his father’s face and wept, and kissed him. Joseph told the physicians to embalm the body. Embalming would keep the dead body for hundreds of years. In this matter the Egyptians were very clever. They did not know what we know of resurrection, therefore they kept those bodies. We Christians know that God will raise the dead. “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.”
In Egypt they mourned for Jacob seventy days. Then Joseph and a very great company went to Canaan. There again they mourned for Jacob, and buried him in the cave. They did not know what we know now. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ is already risen. We know that the body is “sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-4442So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:42‑44)).
Jacob’s story is finished. We have seen how he was at first in wickedness and distress, yet at the end he was glorious and faithful. He experienced much distress in his life, yet God led him on into peace. We read that God is the mighty God of Jacob. In the Psalms we many times come across verses which speak of the “God of Jacob”. What a comfort to those of us who are hopeless at heart, because most of us are as hopeless as Jacob, yet God was not ashamed of being called the God of Jacob. How kind God is!