One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Monday, January 24th - Jacob Blesses His Sons Before He Dies, Jesus Calls Out the False Teaching of the Pharisees
Click Here To LIsten to the Audio Readings
Click Here to Listen to Genesis 48:1-49:33
Jacob and Joseph's Sons
As Jacob is sick and dying, he decides to bless Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. He further states, "They are his sons". By saying this, these two boys would have an equal inheritance as his other 11 sons. By adopting them, Jacob now had 13 sons to bless. "Luz" is another name for "Bethel", where Jacob's received God's covenant. Jacob recounted the blessing given to Abraham in Genesis 17, that he would be fruitful and multiply into many nations.
Jacob then does something unexpected. As he goes to bless the two boys, he crosses his arms and puts his right hand on Ephraim, instead of Manasseh. The right hand was the hand of strength, which is why Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, the seat of power. Does this sound familiar? Jacob who tricked Esau of the birthright, and secured his Father's blessing when he was old and blind, was now pulling the sheet out from under his son Joseph.
When Joseph sees what is going on, he tries to correct his father and move his hands to where they should be. But Jacob knew exactly what he is doing. He was conferring on Ephraim a greater blessing of his strength. Jacob reassured Joseph that Manasseh would be blessed too, and they both would receive a greater blessing than their other brothers. In doing this he was breaking the standard practice.
Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
Then Jacob gathers his 12 sons to bless them. He goes through each son and gives them a specific blessing. Or, for some of them it looked more like a curse.
"Some of what follows are not so much blessings as they are prophecies regarding what God will do with these tribes in the future."
Reuben - The first born and son of his strength. Because of his pride and the adultery he committed with his father's concubine, Bilhah, he did not receive a blessing. As the eldest child Reuben should have been the spiritual leader of his brothers, but he forfeited his leadership through his immoral choices.
"So a man may have great opportunities, and yet lose them. Uncontrolled passions may make him very little who otherwise might have been great.” (Spurgeon)
Simeon and Levi - Both these brothers in their anger avenged the death of their sister by killing all the men in Shechem. Their violence was abhorrent to the Lord. The tribe of Simeon was indeed scattered during the wilderness wanderings in Exodus. Though it started out as the third largest tribe, 63% of the tribe had perished and it became the smallest tribe 35 years later (Guzik)
Judah - Though Judah wasn't the model of upright living (he didn't deal faithfully with his daughter and slept with a prostitute), he did redeem himself by offering himself as a substitute for his brother Benjamin. You can see in the prophecy about Judah a description of Jesus himself. Judah would be a lion, and a scepter would not depart from his rule. We know in Revelation 5:5, when Jesus returns he is called, "The Lion of Judah".
"The leadership prophecy took some 640 years to fulfill in part with the reign of David, first of Judah’s dynasty of kings. The prophecy took some 1600 years to completely fulfill in Jesus." (Guzik)
Jacob now skipped the birth order to two sons born to Leah, with Zebulnn and Issachar (the ninth and tenth born sons.
Zebulun - is noted for his faithfulness to King David by providing 50,000 troups to him in 1 Chronicles 12
Issachar - They were a large tribe, third largest according to book of Numbers, which made them vulnerable to being put into slavery.
Dan - The passage says "Dan shall judge his people". This happened through the person of Samson in the book of Judges, who was from the tribe of Dan.
Gad - This tribe also provided troops to King David. As was prophesied, they would be attacked in the time of Jeremiah, but in the end they triumphed.
Asher - : In Deuteronomy 33:24, Moses again took up this prophecy regarding Asher: Asher is most blessed of sons; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. He shall yield royal dainties: Apparently, the land eventually occupied by Asher was good enough to bring not only necessities, but also luxuries. (Guzik)
Naphtali Naphtali’s portion of land was near the Sea of Galilee, the region where Jesus did much of His teaching and ministry. He uses beautiful words: Because so much of the ministry of Jesus took place in the region of Naphtali, this was fittingly said of him.
Joseph - This was both a description of Joseph’s life and a personal blessing concerning his descendants. In a sense, Joseph’s tribes were already blessed when his sons received their blessing in Genesis 48. (Guzik)
Benjamin - "A ravenous wolf". King Saul was one of Benjamin's descendents, as was the apostle Paul. We see both of them are fierce toward their enemies, that is before of course Saul was renamed Paul.
Jacob's Death - Jacob's last wish was to be buried in the cave a Machpelah, where Abraham and Sarah, Issac and Rebekkah, and Leah were buried. It was bought by Abraham from Ephron the Hittite.
"Though Jacob was now in Egypt, he knew he was not an Egyptian. He was a son of the promise, an heir of God’s covenant with Abraham, and he asked to be buried in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by covenant. This ends the life of the last of the great patriarchs, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet the work and plan of God did not end. It continued through men and generations to come." Guzik
Click Here to Read Matthew 15:29-16:12
Jesus continues to heal many and again feeds 4,000 people with a few fish and loaves. They had leftovers showing the abundance God provides through Jesus.
"In this incident we read nothing about any faith on the part of those who were healed, except for the fact that they came to Jesus for help." (Guzik)
While Jesus was happy to do miracles for the crowds to show compassion to them and point to who he was as the Messiah, he was not so happy when the Pharisees demanded of him a sign. Why? Because he knew even if he did a sign, they would not believe him. So he tells them that the only sign that would be given to them was the sign of Jonah.
We know this to be metaphorical language Jesus is using to point to his resurrection, a sign that still wouldn't convince the Pharisees. Jonah was three days in the belly of a whale just like Jesus was three days in the belly of the earth. Jonah was spit upon the dry land to preach to the Ninevites. Jesus rose from the dead to testify to his disciples that he indeed has risen just as he had told them.
Finally, Jesus warns the disciples about the teaching of the Pharisees. He calls it, "the yeast of the Pharisees", which in those days meant "false teaching". A little bit of yeast works its way through the whole batch of dough. A little bit of heretical teaching can work its way through church. It starts small, but can affect the whole body.
The basic false teaching of the Pharisees was that by works of the law one could be saved. This is a temptation for people today to think that good works can say them. I can't tell you how many people when I asked them if they were going to go to heaven said, "I think so. I mean I am a good person after all." This is the heresy of the Pharisees, "If I am a good enough person and keep the law to its finest detail I will be saved."
Click Here to Read Psalm 20:1-9
"May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed."
God is not against success. He is not against giving us the desires of our heart, as long as they glorify him.
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
This is one of my favorite Proverbs. Another versions says, "Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of all life."
When our heart is pure, pure water flows from it. What do you need to guard your heart from?
"What Now" Study Questions
Jesus repeatedly says to the disciples, 'You of little faith.' (Matthew 16:8) How would Jesus describe your faith?
Jacob blesses his sons... fathers and grandfathers... how can you bestow a blessing on your descendants today?
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