Genesis 49
Title: Destined for Greatness
This may be similar to how things are in your home.
If you were in our house, chances are you’d see a few items sitting on our kitchen window sill.
One might be a screw, another a bracket, or a random piece of plastic.
If you asked Kelly or I what one is, we’d say, “That’s a screw.”
If you asked us, “What’s it go to?” We’d say, “We don’t know.”
If you asked “Well, why’s it there?” We’d say, “We’re keeping it there until we figure out what it goes to.”
And what we’ve learned is that, if we want to find out what it goes to, all we have to do is throw it away.
Within days, we’ll be like, “Oh, that was the screw for the attachment to the vacuum!”
or “It’s the pad to the bottom of the blender we rarely use.”
But, by then it’s been thrown away.
I’ve actually said, “I’m throwing out this piece of plastic. I guess we’ll find out what it goes to tomorrow.”
I’ve wondered, what would happen if I act like I’m throwing it away?
Would it trick some kitchen window sill random piece fairy into revealing what the thingamabob goes to?
Similar to the unknown purpose of the stuff on our window sill, people live without understanding their
purpose.
They lose sight of where they came from or to whom they belong.
And without understanding their purpose, they have no idea of their destiny.
This morning, we’re learning from the Life of Joseph of how someone was - Destined for Greatness
Before you start thinking crazy, this isn’t one of those sermons that uses God’s Word to tell you that you’re
destined for greatness no matter where your life is headed.
This sermon is about how the children of Israel were destined for greatness.
It’s especially how one of his sons and his tribe would be destined for greatness.
(And it might not be the one you’re thinking of.)
And it certainly should give us hope for how we can be destined for greatness.
But that greatness is only our destiny as much as we are in-line with God’s plan of redemption.
Because that’s what this whole story is about, what this whole Bile is about, what this whole universe is
about.
Here’s a curious thing about us and how we’re similar to that piece of whatchamacallit on my window sill.
You can’t understand what you’re here for until you know the answer to the bigger question.
And that question is “What are WE here for?”
You can’t know what greatness you’re here for until you know what greatness WE’RE all here for.
And in light of that, you can be destined for greatness
We learn about this from the solemn moment for Jacob and his sons as his life is coming to an end.
1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to
you in days to come… 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he
blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.
The assembling of Jacob’s sons at his deathbed was for Him to tell them what would come of them.
And they’re also explaining what would become of them as the 12 tribes of Israel in the Promised Land.
These are predictions and promises and blessings.
Many of the predictions are based on their past actions.
And the statements about their future have to do with their settling in the Promised Land as tribes.
But there is one son who’s prophecies stretch to the ascension of Isreal’s eternal king, Jesus.
All of Jacob’s prophecies are attributed to the sovereign control of God and the faith of the man that spoke
them to his sons.
Or as the Bible Knowledge Commentary tells us -
“Jacob, in faith and as God’s covenantal instrument, looked forward to the conquest and settlement of Israel
in the land of Canaan, and then beyond to a more glorious age.”
So, let’s read through what Jacob has to say to his twelve Sons.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable 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;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide 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 before you.
9 Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a servant 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 viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I wait for your salvation, O LORD.
19 “Raiders shall raid Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 “Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
23 The archers bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet his bow remained unmoved;
his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 by the God of your father who will help you,
by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.
May they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening dividing the spoil.”
As I said, Jacob is declaring the destiny of his sons & the future tribes of Israel.
JACOB DECLARES THE DESTINY OF HIS SONS & THE FUTURE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.
So, let’s look at the 3 oldest sons that definitely didn’t live up to the expectations for their positions
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable 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!
Reuben’s predictions start very dignified as they recognize his prominent position as eldest.
But they take a nosedive half-way through as Jacob recalls Reuben’s insulting, repugnant affair with Jacob’s
concubine, Bilhah.
Notice that Jacob speaks to Reuben in first person.
But he switches and speaks of him to his brothers in 3 rd person when speaking of his failures.
The Old Testament Commentary says,
“It would be hard to find a more withering contrast between a man and his calling”
In other words, Reuben did not become anything like the man that his first-born status called him to be.
He describes him as being as unstable as water.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary states, “he had the ungoverned impulse of boiling water”
As you read of the tribe of Reuben in the book of Judges, it’s impact is inconsequential.
And it’s marked by indecision about doing the right thing.
And it desentigrates more quickly than the other tribes.
Lead –Simeon and Levi get grouped together because that’s how their fateful action took place in Shechem.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
Back in Ch. 34, they took vengeance on the men of an entire town when their sister was defiled.
Verse 7 speak of the consequence for their descendants.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
The intention of their scattered allotment will be so that the rest of Israel will not follow their violent ways.
in the Promised Land, Simeon will receive cities that are interspersed the land of the tribe of Judah.
And this will lead to the tribe of Simeon disappearing into obscurity.
The Levites won’t be given territory at all in the Promised land other than cities.
As the tribe of priests, they will be spread among the twelve tribes of Israel, owning 48 cities.
Jacob’s statement v. 18 sums up what’s required for these prophecies to be fulfilled.
18 I wait for your salvation, O LORD.
Keep in mind that the expectation is that the descendants of these men would one day leave Egypt.
Their descendants would travel back to the land of Canaan and evict the entrenched peoples there and take
over the Promised Land.
Jacob is predicting success and the continuance of each tribe.
And they did continue and succeed in settling in Canaan again.
For these prophesies to be fulfilled would require the Lord to provide salvation and deliverance.
We’re going to focus in on the predictions for two of the sons’.
I think you’ll see that, while one received the double-inheritance-blessing of the birthright, the other is more
blessed because through his line, the redeemer would come.
And ultimately, the purpose of Israel was and still is to usher in the kingdom of God’s salvation through His
Savior, Jesus.
And I think that from the shift in focus, you can learn to
1. LET GOD DEFINE WHO THE TRUE HERO IS.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall…
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.
May they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
This verse is statement of what Joseph is to his brothers in providing like a strong tree bearing fruit and
spreading its influence.
And certainly, the double inheritance of Joseph’s descendants will be at least doubling the fruitfulness of his
brothers’ descendants.
Looking at the kind of the map that you’d find in the back of your Bible we can see the territory allotment of
the tribes of Israel
You can see how much much of the Promised Land will be allotted to Ephraim, Manasseh.
It appears to be at least a quarter of the land area.
What’s valuable to note is how the story is leaving Joseph behind at this point.
We’ve still got one more chapter to go.
But strangely, even with Joseph as the recipient of the covenanted birthright.
He will no longer be a central character.
This is surprising because Isaac & Jacob receiving the birthright meant that they were Patriarchs of God’s
redemptive story.
But not Joseph.
Why?
Because a new promise will be given that expands the understanding of the Messiah.
And the promise to usher in the Savior will override any importance of the birthright inheritance.
Even with the huge foreshadowing of Jesus that Joseph lived out with his life, takes a backseat to being the
one that will usher in the coming king.
A person in the New Testament that had a similar experience is John the Baptist.
He played a crucial role of being the forerunner of the Messiah.
His role was predicted in Old Testament prophecy.
And he was respected and feared by kings and high priests.
But when it came time for him to step into the background was when the Messiah stepped on the stage.
He’s response to His followers concern about this, is an example for a secondary hero.
Or, he’d be what we typically call a “side-kick.”
Speaking of Jesus, He said, “He must increase. I must decrease.”
This was the only response he should give because the TRUE HERO had stepped onto the scene.
Like John the Baptist, I think our greatest temptations are to elevate ourselves to “hero status.”
The truth is that we are no more than sidekicks to the true HERO, Jesus Christ.
How well does your greatest hero compare to the perfection of Jesus Christ?
I can tell you what your answer should be -“No where close.”
Well, I think you’ll see what I mean by the “true hero” as we turn to Jacob’s words about Judah.
But this doesn’t make Judah the true hero either.
As I said, the true hero is the Savior that will come from Judah’s family.
So, from Jacob’s words to Judah, I hope you’re encouraged to -
2. LET JESUS RECEIVE ALL YOUR WORSHIP & OBEDIENCE.
8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
We’ve seen Judah develop as the leader of his family.
And this is a long way from Ch. 38 which we chose not to address in the scope of this study.
But suffice it to say that Judah showed himself to be lacking in generosity, self-control, and integrity.
But over the last few chapters we’ve seen Judah come a long way from how he behaved in Ch. 38.
While Jacob’s sons are highly dependent on Joseph, Judah is described as highly respected by his brothers.
But always keep in mind that his privileged role is an act of grace on God’s part as they always are.
the next verses are where Christ comes into the picture.
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Once the crown of the nation of Israel settled on the head of King David, it didn’t depart from his line.
This is what God promised King David would be the case.
And King David was a member of the tribe of Judah.
The picture is that the kings of Judah’s tribe are only holding His scepter until Christ comes for it.
This is what’s meant that The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his
feet, until tribute comes to him
ESV footnote -“By a slight re-vocalization’ of the term for “tribute” means
“until he comes to whom [the scepter] belongs”
With Christ’s coming, the ruler’s staff will not depart from the Savior’s HAND because He is the eternal king.
The great empire of King David would give way to the Kingdom of the King of the universe.
This is reflected in the statement that would’ve been shocking to its hearers -that the one that would come
from Judah’s tribe would reign over or have the obedience of the peoples.
Jacob’s prophecy is pointing to the fact that Jesus, as the coming King will reign over all peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
The images of v. 11-12 are of epic abundance and lavish uses of precious resources.
No one would dare to hitch their donkey to the choice vine unless those vines a dime a dozen.
The same can be said for a person who might wash their garments in choice wine.
Setting aside the stains that this would cause, the picture is of wine being as plentiful as wash water.
Parallel to this is the idea of abundance to the point that eyes turn dark from the wine and teeth turn white
from the milk
Derek Kidner writes about this verse, “Every line of these verses speaks of exuberant, intoxicating
abundance... it is the language of excess, with its talk of vines used as hitching-posts and wine as washing-
water. It bids adieu to the pinched regime of thorns and sweat.”
These excesses indicate an earthly paradise that the prophets foretell of being enjoyed in the future
Messianic kingdom.
It’s what we will enjoy in the future kingdom of Christ.
You can imagine how this coming age of the abundance of wine was highlighted at the wedding in Cana.
If you recall, this is where Jesus turns water into wine.
Certainly, the Israelite seeing Jesus turning vats of water into wine would’ve thought of this prophecy by a
Messiah that could make wine so abundant.
The proclamation of the throne of the coming Messiah and the abundance of His kingdom is huge for God’s
people, looking for the coming Savior.
This is why the focus moves from the family of Joseph to the family of Judah even though Joseph received
the birthright.
This is reflected in what’s written in -
* 1 Chronicles 5:1–2 1 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but
because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so
that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; 2 though Judah became strong among his brothers and a
chief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph),
I’m trying to help you to see that, from this point forward, the redemption story of the Old Testament
focused around the tribe of Judah
Again this is because the whole redemptive story the Old Testament is about the coming Savior King.
Ezekiel prophesied against the kings of the line of Judah that didn’t do well in holding the scepter for the
coming king.
* Ezekiel 21:25–27 25 And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of
your final punishment, 26 thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall
not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. 27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will
make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
The OT points toward the coming of Jesus Christ as our Savior King to whom we own our allegiance.
The Gospels give us his life in 4D from the four gospel writers
And the rest of the NT points back to the person and accomplishments of Jesus as our Savior King.
=>Revelation 5:5 & 9 connect Jesus as the lion of the tribe of Judah with the fact that He will rule over a
people that represent all the peoples of the earth.
* Revelation 5:5, 9 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”… And they
sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and
by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation”
Within our modern stories, it’s like our authors can’t help but point to Christ as Joseph did with his life or
that Judah did with what was prophesied about him.
We call them Christ figures.
Let me share with you some characters that we know that their creators drew from biblical concepts.
In The Chronicles of Narnia it’s Aslan, the lion who dies in place of the guilty Edmund and rises again to
defeat evil.
In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien couldn’t put the Christ’s character significance into just one character.
The character Frodo Baggins carries the unbearable weight of the Ring (the embodiment of evil) to its
destruction
All the while, he suffered isolation and scorn.
The character, Gandalf dies confronting the Balrog but returns transformed to lead and bring hope.
The imagery in the character, Aragorn, reflects the awaited rightful King who brings healing to the land.
Superman is written as being sent from above by his father to earth, raised as a man, becomes the savior of
humanity.
His father, Jor-El, even says in the 1978 version, “I have sent them my only son.”
In the 1967 film, Cool Hand Luke suffers unjust punishment, inspires fellow prisoners with hope, dies under
oppressive powers, and is remembered as a redeemer-figure.
Our culture comes so close to putting its finger on the hero that Jesus is.
But, when it comes to salvation, if we don’t’ realize that He’s our everything, we don’t gain anything.
Sadly, most people walking on this earth are the farthest thing from destined for glory.
They’re destined for hell.
And this is because they haven’t learned and embraced that we were made to glorify God.
And the first way that we glorify God is by leaning on the person and work of Jesus for our salvation.
As the old hymn, Rock of Ages, says “Nothing in my hands I bring, only to Your cross I cling.”
Let Jesus Receive All Your Worship & Obedience
Do you agree that Jesus is the final king for all people to obey & worship?
How would you rate your obedience to Jesus as your king?
a. I don’t think He worthy of my obedience.
b. I respect Him, but I’m not a fanatic.
c. I recognize that He’s worthy of my all, but I give about half.
d. I regularly seek His glory & bow to His will for my life.
You were created to follow and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the only being that’s worthy of your worship and obedience.
He’s the only one that’s able to save and reign and rule over the people of the earth
He’s the only one that can do so in the way that is intends for us be led and ruled over.
My greatest hope for you is that you would daily bow your knee to this truth.
