At the end the family is united – called to his death bed
Joseph brought his children to be blessed
Joseph must have been so thrilled enduring such hardship and difficult
The family is gathered in and he is united with them
Jacob makes 12 prophecies – what will become of the tribes
Example of funeral and a saint dying well in the Lord
Jacob is dying well in the Lord
Blessing God
Blessing his family (v28)
Not looking at all 12
To look at some tonight and then look at Judah at the Communion Service
Look at the grace of God to this family
No family member was written off
Example of Judah, Reuben & Simeon
Jacob never disowned any of his children
All are included in the family of God
Last words of Jacob
Inspired by the Holy Spirit / prophetic words
Jacob was given foresight
First slide: genealogy of the 12 tribes of Israel
Second slide: pictures for the tribes of Israel
Reuben: a fist with turbulent waters
Simeon & Levi: men of the sword
Judah: a lion and sceptre (these speak of Christ)
Zebulun: a ship
Issachar: a donkey
Dan: judges and the snake
Gad: foot overcoming the sword
Asher: provision of royal dainties
Naphtali: a deer
Joseph: a bow and fruitful vine
Benjamin: ravenous as a wolf
Overview:
Grace: Reuben, Simeon & Levi
Blessing through pain
God’s Grace
Reuben (v3-4)
Should have all the rights of the firstborn
He squandered them and became unstable
He defiled his father’s bed
1 Chronicles 5:1-2 – "Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler, although the birthright was Joseph’s"
He slept with Bilhah and lost the birthright blessing
He was too unstable to become leader
He never excelled – no prophet, priest or king came from the tribe of Reuben
Quote from Spurgeon
A great lack of self-cotnrol
We must pray that our heart is fixed in Christ, not unstable
We must pray to sow to the Spirit
Simeon & Levi (v5-7)
Their sins are identified by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount
Murder and anger – Simeon & Levi
Adultery and lust – Reuben
We sin the serious of sin – they lose the blessing
The history of Simeon
Emerging after Egypt as the third strongest tribe
After the wandering in the wilderness, the numbers had reduced by 63% and they had become the weakest tribe
They had to share part of Judah’s land
Anger and violence always has consequences – Prov 21:7
The tribe of Levi
They never had a piece of land – a type of judgment?
The Lord was their portion
They became a priestly tribe
Grace mixed with judgment
As Christians we do not inherit from our parents – we are a new creation
Though we are shaped by our culture and past
We are to remind ourselves that we are new in Jesus Christ
Blessings through pain
Joseph (v22-26)
When there are blessings and conversions, often their is pain
When revival comes, there are often difficulties
Satan attacks
Wonderful words
The blessing was to come through his sons – the tribes called Ephraim and Manasseh
Reading v22-24a
A man strong in the Lord
He blessed Potiphar, he blessed the prison keeper, he blessed Pharaoh, he blessed the Egyptians
He tested his brothers to ensure their repentance
He inherits the best part of Egypt – Goshen
Manasseh a split tribe, Ephraim
Yet there was blessing
Ephraim became head of the 10 tribes – Israel
Reading v24b-25a
Wonderful titles
God of grace
The Almighty God
The Shepherd
The Stone of Israel
Reading v25b-26
Great blessings in his life
Even though you may have known great pain
Example of spiritual blessings
We are blessed in Christ
Joseph received the blessings of the firstborn because God was with Him
