September 18, 2006

• Genesis 49 Part 2

  We have covered Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun and Issachar yesterday. Today we will begin with Dan.

  DAN: Remember that in Chapter 46, all the sons had their siblings listed, except Dan, who just had a general name for his offspring given “Hushim”, but the individual children aren’t listed.

  It is if the Holy Spirit knew that Dan would bring grief to the Nation Israel and did not focus much on him.  Here is what Jacob says about Dan Genesis 49: 15-17  Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider shall fall backward.

  A viper is a snake, a serpent, and we know of one who will bite the heel of our savior, but our savior will crush his head.

  To give you an idea of how much God did not respect the tribe of Dan, all you have to do is go over to Revelation 7 and look at the list of the tribes included in the sealing of the 144,000. There is NO MENTION of Dan, but Levi is included. Many of the Rabbis of old thought that from the tribe of Dan that the antichrist would come.

  Deuteronomy 33:22 And of Dan he said: “Dan is a lion’s whelp; he shall leap from Bashan.”
  It is as if Moses was saying he was a wimp, a cub. It would be through the tribe of Dan that the worst of paganism and idols came.

  Genesis 37:2 Dan was one of the sons of Bilhah, and Joseph came back from the flock and gave a bad report about them to Jacob. From the tribe of Dan came Samson, one of the judges, who flirted with obedience to God, but ultimately turned around and obeyed God.

  Dan’s tribe occupied the area west of Benjamin, Ephriam on the north and Judah and the Philistines on the south. Right after they settled in the area the Amorites and Philistines tried to drive them out. We see the kind of trouble they had when we read Samson. (Judges 13-16). The tribe ultimately migrated to an area further north to a city called “Laish” (Judges 18:14-27) and renamed the city Dan.

  The next verse is exciting, kind of like a pause, a breath of fresh air before the rest of the blessings are pronounced. I suspect it came after the mention of Judah, and contemplating the destruction of the antichrist (for Dan is not seen in Revelation), that Jacob gives a one line of praise.

  Verse 18: “I have waited for your salvation, O LORD! Here we see a bit of the heart of Jacob. And how easily we can say the same thing as we wait for the end of our tribulation, of our challenges here on earth. I think it is awesome that God gave the people in the Old Testament glimpses of Jesus to come, and His salvation. And to think that this happened thousands of years before Jesus was born or walked on the earth.

  GAD Genesis 49:19 Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, but he shall triumph at last.”

  Deuteronomy 33:20-21 And of Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad; he dwells as a lion, and tears the arm and the crown of his head. he provided the first part for himself, because a lawgiver’s portion was reserved there. he came with the heads of the people; he administered the justice of the LORD, and His judgments with Israel.

  Gad was one of the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid. His name means fortune. His territory was east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea and part of Gilead. Not much is known about his tribe, but we can infer from Jacob’s prophesy that there were a lot of attacks on his territory. They became great warriors 1 Chronicles 12:8 Some Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.

  Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 Manasseh chose to not settle in the Promised Land but stay on the other bank of the River Jordan. Because of this decision, Gad was one of the first tribes to go into captivity.

  I wonder if we got the phrase “Gad about” because of the wanderings of this tribe.

  ASHER Genesis 49:20 Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties.

  Deuteronomy 33:24-25  And of Asher he said: Asher is most blessed of sons; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. Your sandals shall be iron and bronze: as your days, so shall your strength be.

  He settled in Northern Palestine, Tyre and Sidon. Joshua 29:24-31 The tribe of Asher grew from 41,500 (Numbers 1:41) to 53,400 (Numbers 26:46). The Judge Deborah called the tribes to action, but Asher did not come. He was working for the Canaanites in the ports. Deborah did not speak highly of him. (Judges 5:17). Asher produced no judge or have a tribal leader listed in Chronicles. He did give troops to Gideon and David, and some people from his tribe came to Jerusalem to keep Hezekiah’s Passover (2 Chronicles 30:11) The most well known from Asher’s tribe was Anna who spoke over Jesus.

  NAPTHALI Genesis 49:21 Napthali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words. A hind let loose might be a reference to the energy that Napthali brought to battle.

  Deuteronomy 33:23 And of Napthali he said: “O Napthali, satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD, possess the west and the south.

  Deborah in Judges 4 & 5 praises Napthali for their fighting.

  Jesus began His Galilean ministry dwelling in Capernaum by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Napthali as was prophesied by Isaiah.

  JOSEPH Genesis 49:22-26 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; his branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot a him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel). By the God of your father who will help you, and by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. he blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

  Deuteronomy 33:13-17 Blessed of the LORD is his land, with the precious things of heaven, with the dew, with the deep lying beneath, with the precious fruits of the sun, with the precious produce of the months, with the best things of the ancient mountains, with the precious things of the everlasting hills, with the precious things of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers. His glory is like a firstborn bull, and his horns like the horns of the wild ox: together with them he shall push the peoples to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephriam and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

  Notice in the last passage – 10,000′s Ephriam, 1,000′s Manasseh – might be something to look out for in future passages.

  We have discussed Joseph at length, and even here we can see symbols that relate to Jesus. We know that Joseph was a picture of what Jesus would be like when He came to earth. Jesus said that he was the vine and we were the branches. That Joseph received a double portion because of Ephriam and Manasseh.

  BENJAMIN Genesis 49: 27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

  Deuteronomy 33:12 Of Benjamin he said: “The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him, who shelters him all the day long; and he shall dwell between His shoulders.”

  Hey, I want to be like Benjamin, dwelling in safety between His shoulders, beloved of the LORD.

  Men of war will come from his tribe – Ehud, King Saul, Saul of Tarsus are all from the tribe of Benjamin. Many of his tribe were archers and slingers (of stones).

  Benjamin occupied the smallest territory of all the tribes. Jerusalem was near the border of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. They almost disappeared from history in Judges 19-21 when they mistreated a Levite and his concubine. But later in the New Testament, Paul will tell people he was from the tribe of Benjamin.

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  I was listening to a teaching by Chuck Missler and he gave this list that blew my socks off. It reminds me of the list that Pastor Don taught us about the genealogy from Adam to Noah spelling out the Salvation Message. Now read this one which seems to cover a bit of history of Israel, the Messiah, and then on towards Revelation! By the way, Chuck Missler pointed out that there are many different orders that the tribes of Israel are listed in, and it might be interesting to look at the different orders to see what stories they might tell through the meanings of the names of the different sons of Jacob (which is what this list uses).

  REUBEN – Excellency and Dignity – then brought low by sin
  SIMEON & LEVI – Cross, curse, priesthood
  JUDAH – Kingship
  ZEBULUN – Refuge or Haven of Rest
  ISSACHAR – Service
  DAN – Judge
  GAD – Resurrection
  ASHER – Bread of Life
  NAPTHALI – The Prophet, Godly words
  JOSEPH (EPHRIAM & MANASSAH)- Millennial Reign
  BENJAMIN – Terrible Warrior

  It is an interesting sequence because it points to Jesus and the end times as well. Don’t forget that Jesus will come to judge and separate the wheat from the chaff.

  You can also see, as Jon Courson points out the History of Israel in the names.
  
  REUBEN – Early days of the tribe, they were a disappointing people to God, idol worship, spiritual fornication, the golden calf.
  SIMEON & LEVI – Dispersion of the people scattered, Assyrians 722 BC, Babylonians 586 BC
  JUDAH – Gathering and beginning – they were a delivered people. Jesus came, but they rejected Him at this time.
  ZEBULUN – Exiled, they were dispersed and scattered.
  ISSACHAR – Exploited people. They prospered wherever they went, and still refused to recognize Jesus.
  DAN – Future: Poisoned people, for from Dan will come the antichrist. Now that Israel has returned to the land, this is a sign of the beginning of the end times, and at some point the antichrist will come.
  GAD – Persecuted people – the antichrist will turn on people who do not worship him, Armageddon,
  ASHER – 144,000 will be protected, prophets will be raised up to help the Israelites come to christ. Food will be provided and they will be tucked away and protected>
  NAPTHALI – Preaching people – the 144,000 will spread the gospel.
  JOSEPH – Picture of Jesus and his second coming
  BENJAMIN – the Victorious Remnant.

  For those who think Israel’s time is over, I recommend reading Romans 9, 10, and 11. That may make you think about that conclusion.

  I think it is cool to see history and Jesus in things that seem so ordinary. I used to skip over long lists of names, but I suspect there is much more hidden in them if we would take the time to look.

  Have a blessed day!

  Heather

  • 12:03 am
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