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Destiny’s Children, Part 1
Sermon 17
March 7th, 2010
Some of the words that people say on their deathbeds are truly amazing. Leonardo da Vinci, as he was dying said, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” P.T. Barnum reportedly asked, “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?” John Quincy Adams, “This is the last of earth! I am content.” Some believers have made some wonderful deathbed statements, though certainly not all believers have the opportunity to speak for God on their deathbeds. The early American evangelist, George Whitefield, spoke no final words, a friend having said to him, “Mr. Whitefield, you have borne so many living testimonies to so many thousands that your Master wants no dying testimony of you.” But some believers do speak dying words of testimony and when they do it’s often encouraging, and even glorious! D.L. Moody’s last words were, “I see earth receding; heaven is approaching. God is calling me. This is my triumph. This is my coronation day. It is glorious. God is calling and I must go. Mama, you have been a good wife…no pain…no valley…it is bliss.”
Not all Biblical saints had a chance to share a testimony as they left this world, though some did. There are no last words for Adam or Noah, or even Abraham or his son, Isaac. Yet suddenly in Genesis 49 when Jacob dies, he shares an extensive testimony as well as profound revelation.
All in all we have three deathbed scenes for Jacob. In the first (Gen. 47:28-31), Jacob meets with his favored son Joseph and extracts from him a promise that he will not be buried in Egypt but will have his body taken back to Canaan to be entombed there. In the second (Genesis 48:1-22), Jacob meets with Joseph and his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. He then blesses this particular branch of the family. Now in this third scene, Genesis 49, the old Patriarch calls all of his sons to him and pronounces a blessing which is at the same time a prophecy of the future history of those tribes which were to descend from them. Turn to Genesis 49:1-7 (p. 38).
It’s a fundamental principle in God’s economy that the actions of individuals will affect the lives of their descendants. This pattern is clear in the patriarchal narratives, the deeds and dispositions of the patriarchs were passed on in one way or another to their children and children’s children.
In Genesis 49 we have one of the last great sayings in Genesis. Jacob, by faith and under divine inspiration, looks forward to the ultimate conquest by his family of the land of Canaan, and then beyond to a more glorious age, as he distributes blessings to his sons.
The material here is on the difficult side of interpretation. No doubt that’s why most studies and preachers skip over it. We must be careful to speak clearly when God’s Word is clear, yet honestly admit there are parts where the best that we can do is speculate. What Jacob says about five of his sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, and Joseph is fairly clear. Because this is so extensive and there are great spiritual nuggets here, we’re going to focus on half of Jacob’s prophecy today completing it next Sunday. We’ll primarily focus on the major characters, mentioning the others in passing. What we have here is the destiny of Jacob’s sons as given to him by the inspiration of the Spirit. If you are taking notes, let me suggest that…
1. Only God knows and can reveal the future. “Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel” (Gen. 49:1-2). There are a couple of firsts here. This is not only the first deathbed testimony in Genesis, it’s also the first literal prophecy spoken by any human being. While Genesis 3:15 has prophecy about the seed of the woman who would ultimately crush the head of Satan, it was spoken to Satan by God. Genesis 15 contains another great prophecy of the coming bondage and eventual deliverance of the Jews in Egypt but those too are God’s words. There are some small words of blessing which have overtones of prophecy in Isaac’s blessing of Jacob and Esau. But with that possible exception, the words of Jacob in Genesis 49 are the first predictive prophecy by a human being in the Bible.
Both Christians and non-Christians are fascinated with prophecy. To be interested in prophecy is good, since much of the Bible is prophetic, but the purpose of Bible prophecy is not to speculate on various details, such as the identity of the Antichrist or the date of Armageddon. The purpose of prophecy is to motivate us to purity and holy zeal for the things of the Lord in light of His soon coming.
As we come to Jacob's prophecies regarding his sons, we need to ask, "What’s the point? What’s the purpose of these prophecies for these men?"
Most of them didn’t live long enough to see them fulfilled. For example, in verse 8 Judah is predicted to become the leader, with his father's sons bowing down to him. Yet during his lifetime, Judah and his brothers continued to bow down before Joseph. So why did Jacob reveal these things to his sons?
The text gives us some clues. Look at vs. 28, “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.” These blessings were appropriate to each man. Verse 1 states these blessings were predictions of what would befall each son in the future, which implies that the fulfillment would be beyond their lifetimes. From these clues we can draw some broad purposes for Jacob's words to his sons.
First, these words showed Jacob's sons that God was going to build their families into tribes and those tribes into a nation. Furthermore, from the tribe of Judah a ruler would come to whom all the nations would submit (vs. 10). Jacob is raising their vision from their current circumstances—a bunch of families trying to survive in Egypt—to show them God's plan for history and how they and their families fit into that plan.
A second effect of these prophecies on Jacob's sons was to show them that their character affected their own and their descendants' destinies. These prophecies were based in part on Jacob's observations of each of his sons over their lifetimes. He knew the strengths and weaknesses of each. Each prophecy takes into account the uniqueness of each son.
The prophecies concerning Reuben, Simeon, and Levi are linked to sins which they had not conquered. Judah's name meant "praise," and Jacob predicts that his brothers will praise him. Zebulun means "dwelling," and he will dwell toward the sea. Issachar means "wages"; the prophecy concerning him has to do with his labor. Dan means "judge"; he will judge his people. Gad sounds like a Hebrew word for troop, or raiders. Four of the six Hebrew words of verse 19 are puns on his name. Remember, for the Hebrews, names were significant. They often were given as prophecies or hopes for the child's future.
In conjunction with Jacob's observations of each of his sons, the Holy Spirit gives him prophetic insight into the direction that each son's character would lead each tribe descended from him. Character affects destiny, not only for us, but for our descendants.
Maybe you’re sitting here thinking, “Scott, that sounds kind of fatalistic! If God has determined a plan for each man and his descendants, then what can anybody do to thwart it?” Later, we’ll see that with Levi, when a man and his family turn to the Lord, even a seeming curse can be turned into a blessing. Jacob predicts that Levi would be scattered in Israel, and that proved true. But Levi's descendants were scattered as priests who were channels for God's truth to be disseminated among the nation of Israel. It was the same with each of these sons and their prophecies. While God's overall plan was fixed, each individual also had the opportunity to turn to the Lord and be used of Him in blessing the nations.
This is a powerful example of the tension between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. God's plan is irrevocable, but He gives you and me moral responsibility so that we can choose to participate in His plan or turn against it. Within these broad prophecies, Jacob is encouraging his sons and their children after them to follow in the Lord's ways.
These prophecies remind us of something that we too often forget: God has a plan for history. I realize that's obvious. But we lose sight of that truth far too easily in the daily routine and pressures of life. Even as the Lord's people, it's easy to fall into the daily schedule of going to work, taking care of the kids, and dealing with all the hassles of life so that we lose sight of God's great purpose for history and how we fit into it. And we become spiritually dull, so that we miss opportunities to further God's plan.
We read about war or strife in some far corner of the world and we shrug our shoulders, when we ought to pray for God's purpose to be done in those places. We hear of missionaries who lack support and we think, "That's too bad." But it never occurs to us that God may want us to cut back on our own spending habits and invest in His work around the world. A neighbor shares a problem and we say, "I'm sorry to hear that." But we don't speak up to tell him or her about the Lord Jesus, who wants to transfer him from the kingdom of darkness to His own kingdom of light where there is forgiveness of sins and hope for eternity.
These prophecies of Jacob remind us that while we may not understand all the details of the plan, God does have a plan. He’s moving history ahead right on schedule toward the grand climax when Jesus Christ shall reign supreme, when every knee shall bow to the Lion of the tribe of Judah. You and I need to live each day in light of God's great plan for history.
Judging from the last verse of Genesis 49, Jacob is hours from dying. Yet, he would not die until he had pronounced the last inspired sentence of admonition to his sons. As Spurgeon noted about Jacob, “He was immortal till his work was done.”
The prophecies of this chapter can be divided into two parts: the first part containing admonitions for the six sons of Leah, the second containing admonitions for the other six sons – four sons of the concubines and the two sons of Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin). In the first section the dominant prophecy is focused on Judah, from whom the Messiah was to come. In the second, the dominant prophecy concerns Joseph.
2. Sinful choices are costly and may remove people from potential positions of leadership. “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it” (vss. 3-4). We could easily just write over these two verses – “Sin has consequences.” For Adam and Eve, it was disobeying God on just one point. Because this episode from Reuben’s life is so briefly mentioned in Genesis 35:22, it apparently was a one time fling – but oh the far reaching ripple effect of this one sinful choice. It cost Reuben the family leadership and later his family would not have what should have been theirs, the monarchy.
I heard Erwin Lutzer once say that “adultery is like burning down a magnificent cathedral to fry yourself an egg.” Camelot is the classic story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable. Theirs was a happy kingdom until Arthur’s leading knight, Sir Lancelot, fell passionately in love with Arthur's queen, Guinevere. Lancelot and Guinevere's unbridled passion, which seemed to promise fulfillment to the lovers, resulted in the ruin of that happy kingdom. But that’s not just a story, that plot has been played over and over in millions of homes, too many of them Christian homes. The initial happiness and potential for lifelong joy is shipwrecked on the rocks of uncontrolled passion. Many a young man or woman has jettisoned their future and then had to carry a needless burden for just a few moments of unbridled passion.
Young people, mark it down! True love waits! Even if there is no child, the guilt for violating God’s standard of purity carries a heavy toll. Uncontrolled lust leads to ruin.
I like Reuben. He’s always been one of my favorites. I appreciate that he at least tried to save Joseph. Let me make three observations from Jacob's words to Reuben.
a) Great potential can be destroyed by uncontrolled passion. Jacob begins by building up the great potential which Reuben enjoyed as the firstborn, only to yank the rug out from under him by bringing up an incident from over 40 years before, the time when Reuben had committed adultery with Jacob's concubine, Bilhah. Reuben, as the firstborn, should have received a double portion of the inheritance and been the leader among his brothers. He, above all his brothers, should have been the one to defend his father's honor, not defile it. But his one act of indulgence robbed
him of his privileges as the firstborn. Like King David after him, he paid a terrible price for a night of pleasure. It’s a story that’s been repeated too often. All the potential in the world won't benefit you if you don't develop self-control, especially in the area of sexual temptation.
The picture Jacob paints is of water that floods its banks and goes wildly out of control. Apparently, Reuben had never checked his lust, but just let it rush recklessly from one situation to the next. Who knows how many times he had glanced furtively at Bilhah? Perhaps she noticed and liked the attention, so she flirted with him. Besides, Reuben was angry at his dad for the favoritism he’d shown to Joseph and Benjamin. Perhaps going to bed with Bilhah was Reuben's way of getting back at his father.
Some of you have tremendous potential in the Lord. But you've got a habit of flowing downstream with lustful thoughts. You surf sites that you know that you shouldn’t. You watch movies and programs that you know are not spiritually healthy. Often no one else knows and no one has gotten hurt—yet. But, great gifts are worthless without godly character. If you’re not learning to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ, it's a matter of time before your great potential is ruined by reckless lust.
b) Position and power aren't gained by greedy grabbing. Position, power and illicit sex are often intertwined. Rape, sex – is often more about power and conquest than it is about sensuality and pleasure. It seems that this was Reuben's motive behind his sin with Bilhah. It appears to have been both vindictive and a grab for power over his father and his father's favorite sons. I'm basing that on two factors.
First, there is the timing of the incident. Reuben committed adultery with Bilhah shortly after the death of Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife and the mother of his favored sons, Joseph and Benjamin. So why then? I think that Reuben was trying to make sure that Jacob didn't take Bilhah, Rachel's maid, and elevate her above Leah, Reuben's mother.
Then, and we find this later in Israel's history, if a son took his father's concubine to bed, it meant that he’d assumed his father's place of power. Absalom did that with his father, King David's concubines, when he rebelled against his father (2 Sam. 16:21-22). Reuben, in taking his father's concubine, was seeking to secure first place for himself. He didn't want to lose his inheritance to Rachel's or Bilhah's sons, yet the very act by which Reuben tried to grab power resulted in his losing it. Position and power, in God's sight, aren't gained by grabbing.
Reuben should have been and wanted to be the leader over his brothers. But you don't become a leader by grabbing for power while at the same time violating God's moral law. True power stems from character and integrity. That's why, when Paul lists the qualifications for leadership in the local church, he never mentions personality, wealth, status or gifts but, rather, godly character qualities (1 Tim. 3:1-13)
And in the home, men, you don't lead spiritually by barking orders and throwing your weight around. You lead by demonstrating the character of Christ who showed His love by laying down His life for us.
c) Uncontrolled lust has uncontrollable consequences. Jacob now makes it clear that this sin, though committed years before, would deprive Reuben and his descendants of their rights as the firstborn. His one sin affected thousands of his descendants for hundreds of years after!
Now you may be thinking, “That's not fair!” We need to burn into our thinking the fact that sin always has consequences and those consequences are never just private. Present actions shape the future. Character flaws and sins we let go unchecked can affect our children and grandchildren after us for many generations. There is no such thing as a harmless sin.
“Turbulent (or unstable) as the waters.” Unfortunately, that describes America. How many people, even Christians, do you know who are truly people of convictions? We tell little white lies. Fudge on our expense reports or income taxes. Our work ethic is questionable at best. There is little difference between our language and a pagan world. We use profanity and obscenity just like they do. Gossip, complaining, spreading of rumors is just as common among Christians as pagans. A friend’s reputation is sullied and not only do we listen; we may even spread the rumor.
God wants His people to have a spiritual backbone. We don’t need anymore Reubens. Do you have a spiritual backbone? Are you a person of Biblical convictions? Reuben's life teaches us that uncontrolled passions can lead to both personal and family ruin.
3. Uncontrolled anger is incompatible with spiritual leadership. “Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel” (vss. 5-7). Probably, the hardest thing to ever do is to correct or disagree with your children, particularly in the public arena. We may think a particular sin is repugnant…until it’s discovered in our own children…and then the very thing that we hated, we find ourselves defending. We go on the defensive if our children have a problem with teachers, preachers or nearly one in authority. Most of us believe in depravity, except when it comes to our own children.
Jacob though reproves and distances himself from his sons’ anger and violent behavior. And this would have been an easy one to rationalize. Simeon and Levi destroyed the city of Shechem in defense of their sister, Dinah’s honor, after she had been date raped (Gen. 34). Like Reuben though, their behavior cost them the potential of being leaders.
There was nothing wrong with being angry at the mistreatment of their sister, but they not only killed the perpetrator, they also executed every other man in the city and enslaved their wives and children. Scottish hymn writer, George Matheson, said, “There are times when I do well to be angry, but I have often mistaken the times.” There are times when it’s proper to be angry, but we need to be very careful not to cross the line into wounded pride.
Their violence is seen in their hamstringing of the oxen. Horses were hamstrung because of their military use, pulling chariots, but oxen were used for peaceful purposes. The hamstringing of these oxen evidenced wanton violence and senseless destruction.
Uncontrolled anger results in senseless destruction of people and property. Think of the families these men ruined by murdering all the fathers. They weren't concerned about anybody's feelings except their own. Most anger stems from selfishness, but that kind of anger doesn't help anybody, not even the person who is angry.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the number one predictor of cardiovascular disease--more important than cholesterol--is mismanaged anger. It also states that anger arousal is toxic to the body and that 90% of anger is unjustified. So, contrary to popular thought, it isn't healthy to vent your anger.
And uncontrolled anger is passed on in a family. Jacob here isn't just talking about his sons, but about their descendants. Anger gets handed down from generation to generation.
It's interesting that Moses was a descendant of Levi. What problem kept Moses from beginning his work at first and then from entering the Promised Land? Anger! He got angry and murdered the Egyptian who was mistreating the Hebrews and had to flee to the desert for 40 years. Then he got angry at the people and struck the rock to bring forth water, when God had told him to speak to the rock. For that sin, God would not allow Moses to enter Canaan. Moses was the son of Levi.
Wonderfully though, we can choose to go a different path. When family members turn to the Lord, a seeming curse can be turned into a blessing. Jacob predicted that Simeon and Levi would be scattered in Israel because of their anger, and they were. But the tribe of Levi turned to the Lord, and their scattering was a great blessing to them and to others, as they became the priestly tribe, who taught God's ways to the others. Moses and Aaron were Levites, the sons of godly parents.
Many other Levites down through Israel's history were greatly used of God: Phinehas, whose godly zeal stemmed a plague (Num. 25); Ezra, who helped restore the nation after the captivity; John the Baptist, who prepared the way of the Lord. Because the Levites turned to the Lord, this seeming curse was turned into a blessing.
Conclusion: As we bring this to a conclusion this morning, let me point out a vital yet often overlooked truth. Both Reuben’s adultery and Simeon and Levi’s murderous rage were God-given traits that had been perverted. Sex is not wrong or sinful WHEN it is part of marital intimacy. God said that sex is good and beautiful in marriage.
Anger is a God-given emotion. There are occasions when we need to be good and angry. The Apostle Paul alludes to this in Ephesians 4:26, “In your anger do not sin.” Anger is appropriate as long as we do not allow it to become sinful anger.
The very areas that these three sons struggled with are the same areas that we see violated every day in American culture and that we also struggle with. In our sex saturated world, most of us have to work to keep our passions in check. Anger is so much a part of our world that when you meet someone who does not struggle with anger, you’re nearly shocked.
None of these sinful behaviors are beyond the reach of God’s power and grace. They can be turned from, they can be repented of.
What is repentance? Repentance means that I own responsibility for my part in what was sinful, unsatisfactory behavior. I accept responsibility for my part in what is and what will be new behavior. Repentance is owning responsibility for what was, accepting responsibility for what is, and acting responsibly now. It’s responsible action. It’s not a matter of punishing ourselves for past mistakes, hating ourselves for past failures, and depressing ourselves with feelings of worthlessness.
Repentance is finishing the unfinished business of my past and choosing to live in new ways that will not repeat old unsatisfactory situations. In the full Biblical meaning of the Word, repentance is a process. It’s a thawing out of rigid sinful lifestyles by the Spirit of God into a flowing, moving, growing, repenting process.
Interestingly, a lost person doesn’t think it strange when people wreck their bodies, destroy their homes, and ruin their lives by running from one sin to another! Yet, let a drunkard become sober, or an immoral person pure, and a lost world thinks he or she has lost their mind!
A Sunday School teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word "repentance." A little boy put up his hand and said, "It is being sorry for your sins." A little girl also raised her hand and said, "It is being sorry enough to quit."
To our knowledge neither Reuben or Simeon repented. Levi’s children did. The reason that we are even reading this story is that one of Levi’s sons, Moses, under the inspiration of the Spirit, recorded it for us.
My friend, think of the impact for eternity that you and your children and children’s children might make, if you too would repent and determine to follow the Lord today! The choice is yours…what will you do?
