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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter XLIX].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC01048.HTM">Previous</A>]
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<A NAME="Page258"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XLIX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter is a prophecy; the likest to it we have yet met with
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was that of Noah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:25-27"><I>ch.</I> ix. 25</A>,
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&c. Jacob is here upon his death-bed,
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making his will. He put it off till now, because dying men's
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words are apt to make deep impressions, and to be remembered
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long: what he said here, he could not say when he would, but as
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the Spirit gave him utterance, who chose this time, that divine
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strength might be perfected in his weakness. The twelve sons
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of Jacob were, in their day, men of renown, but the twelve tribes
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of Israel, which descended and were denominated from them,
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were much more renowned; we find their names upon the gates
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of the New Jerusalem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+21:12">Rev. xxi. 12</A>.
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In the prospect of this their
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dying father says something remarkable of each son, or of the
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tribe that bore his name. Here is,
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I. The preface,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. The prediction concerning each tribe,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:3-28">ver. 3-28</A>.
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III. The charge
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repeated concerning his burial,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:29-32">ver. 29-32</A>.
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IV. His death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:33">ver. 33</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge49_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge49_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge49_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge49_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jacob's Prophecy Concerning His Sons.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1689.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Jacob called unto his sons,
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and said, Gather yourselves
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<A NAME="Page259"> </A>
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together, that I may tell you <I>that</I> which
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shall befal you in the last days.
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2 Gather yourselves together, and hear,
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ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto
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Israel your father.
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3 Reuben, thou
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<I>art</I> my firstborn, my might, and the
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beginning of my strength, the excellency
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of dignity, and the excellency of
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power:
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4 Unstable as water, thou
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shalt not excel; because thou wentest
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up to thy father's bed; then defiledst
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thou <I>it:</I> he went up to my couch.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is, I. The preface to the prophecy, in
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which,
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1. The congregation is called together
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Gather yourselves together;</I> let them
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all be sent for from their several employments,
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to see their father die, and to hear his
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dying words. It was a comfort to Jacob,
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now that he was dying, to see all his children
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about him, and none missing, though he had
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sometimes thought himself bereaved. It was
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of use to them to attend him in his last moments,
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that they might learn of him how to
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die, as well as how to live: what he said to
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each he said in the hearing of all the rest;
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for we may profit by the reproofs, counsels,
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and comforts, that are principally intended
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for others. His calling upon them once and
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again to gather together intimated both a
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precept to them to unite in love, (to keep together,
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not to mingle with the Egyptians, not
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to forsake the assembling of themselves together,)
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and a prediction that they should not
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be separated from each other, as Abraham's
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sons and Isaac's were, but should be incorporated,
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and all make one people.
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2. A general
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idea is given of the intended discourse
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>That I may tell you that which shall
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befal you</I> (not your persons, but your posterity)
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<I>in the latter days;</I> this prediction would
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be of use to those that came after them, for
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the confirming of their faith and the guiding
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of their way, on their return to Canaan, and
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their settlement there. We cannot tell our
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children what shall befal them or their families
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in this world; but we can tell them, from
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the word of God, what will befal them in the
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last day of all, according as they conduct
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themselves in this world.
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3. Attention is
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demanded
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>Hearken to Israel your
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father;</I> let Israel, that has prevailed with
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God, prevail with you." Note, Children
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must diligently hearken to what their godly
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parents say, particularly when they are dying.
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<I>Hear, you children, the instruction of a father,</I>
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which carries with it both authority and
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affection,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+4:1">Prov. iv. 1</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. The prophecy concerning Reuben. He
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begins with him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>),
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for he was the firstborn;
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but by committing uncleanness with
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his father's wife, to the great reproach of the
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family to which he ought to have been an
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ornament, he forfeited the prerogatives of the
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birthright; and his dying father here solemnly
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degrades him, though he does not
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disown nor disinherit him: he shall have all
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the privileges of a son, but not of a firstborn.
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We have reason to think Reuben had repented
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of his sin, and it was pardoned; yet
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it was a necessary piece of justice, in detestation
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of the villany, and for warning to others,
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to put this mark of disgrace upon him. Now
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according to the method of degrading,
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1. Jacob here puts upon him the ornaments of
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the birthright
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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that he and all his brethren
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might see what he had forfeited, and, in
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that, might see the evil of the sin: as the
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firstborn, he was his father's joy, almost his
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pride, being <I>the beginning of his strength.</I>
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How welcome he was to his parents his name
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bespeaks, <I>Reuben, See a son.</I> To him belonged
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the excellency of dignity above his
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brethren, and some power over them. Christ
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Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren,
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and to him, of right, belong the most excellent
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power and dignity: his church also,
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through him, is a church of firstborn.
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2. He then strips him of these ornaments
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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lifts him up, that he may cast him down, by
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that one word, "<I>Thou shalt not excel;</I> a
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being thou shalt have as a tribe, but not an
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excellency." No judge, prophet, nor prince,
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is found of that tribe, nor any person of renown
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except Dathan and Abiram, who were
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noted for their impious rebellion against
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Moses. That tribe, as not aiming to excel,
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meanly chose a settlement on the other side
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Jordan. Reuben himself seems to have lost
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all that influence upon his brethren to which
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his birthright entitled him; for <I>when he spoke
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unto them they would not hear,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+42:22"><I>ch.</I> xlii. 22</A>.
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Those that have not understanding and spirit
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to support the honours and privileges of their
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birth will soon lose them, and retain only
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the name of them. The character fastened
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upon Reuben, for which he is laid under this
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mark of infamy, is that he was <I>unstable as
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water.</I>
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(1.) His virtue was unstable; he had
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not the government of himself and his own
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appetites: sometimes he would be very regular
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and orderly, but at other times he deviated
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into the wildest courses. Note, Instability
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is the ruin of men's excellency.
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Men do not thrive because they do not fix.
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(2.) His honour consequently was unstable;
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it departed from him, vanished into smoke,
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and became as water spilt upon the ground.
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Note, Those that throw away their virtue
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must not expect to save their reputation.
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Jacob charges him particularly with the sin
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for which he was thus disgraced: <I>Thou wentest
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up to thy father's bed.</I> It was forty years
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ago that he had been guilty of this sin, yet
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now it is remembered against him. Note,
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As time will not of itself wear off the guilt of
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any sin from the conscience, so there are
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some sins whose stains it will not wipe off
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from the good name, especially seventh-commandment
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sins. Reuben's sin left an indelible
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mark of infamy upon his family, a dishonour
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that was a wound not to be healed
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<A NAME="Page260"> </A>
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without a scar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:32,33">Prov. vi. 32, 33</A>.
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Let us
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never do evil, and then we need not fear being
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told of it.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge49_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge49_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge49_7"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 Simeon and Levi <I>are</I> brethren;
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instruments of cruelty <I>are in</I> their habitations.
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6 O my soul, come not
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thou into their secret; unto their assembly,
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mine honour, be not thou
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united: for in their anger they slew a
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man, and in their selfwill they digged
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down a wall.
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7 Cursed <I>be</I> their anger,
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for <I>it was</I> fierce; and their wrath, for
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it was cruel: I will divide them in
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Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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These were next in age to Reuben, and
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they also had been a grief and shame to
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Jacob, when they treacherously and barbarously
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destroyed the Shechemites, which
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he here remembers against them. Children
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should be afraid of incurring their parents'
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just displeasure, lest they fare the worse for
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it long afterwards, and, when they would
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inherit the blessing, be rejected. Observe,
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1. The character of Simeon and Levi: they were
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brethren in disposition; but, unlike their
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father, they were passionate and revengeful,
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fierce and uncontrollable; their swords, which
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should have been only weapons of defence,
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were (as the margin reads it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
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<I>weapons of violence,</I> to do wrong to
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others, not to save themselves from wrong. Note, It is
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no new thing for the temper of children to
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differ very much from that of their parents.
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We need not think this strange: it was so in
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Jacob's family. It is not in the power of
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parents, no, not by education, to form the
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dispositions of their children; Jacob bred
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his sons to every thing that was mild and
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quiet, and yet they proved to be thus furious.
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2. A proof of this is the murder of the Shechemites,
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which Jacob deeply resented at the
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time
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+34:30"><I>ch.</I> xxxiv. 30</A>)
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and still continued to
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resent. They slew a man, Shechem himself,
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and many others; and, to effect that,
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they digged down a wall, broke the houses,
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to plunder them, and murder the inhabitants.
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Note, The best governors cannot always restrain
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those under their charge from committing
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the worst villanies. And when two
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in a family are mischievous they commonly
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make one another so much the worse, and
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it were wisdom to part them. Simeon and
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Levi, it is probable, were most active in the
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wrong done to Joseph, to which some think
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Jacob has here some reference; for in their
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anger they would have slain <I>that man.</I> Observe
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what a mischievous thing self-will is
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in young people: Simeon and Levi would
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not be advised by their aged and experienced
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father; no, they would be governed by their
|
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own passion rather than by his prudence.
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Young people would better consult their own
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interests if they would less indulge their
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own will.
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3. Jacob's protestation against
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this barbarous act of theirs: <I>O my soul, come
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not thou into their secret.</I> Hereby he professes
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not only his abhorrence of such practices
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in general, but his innocence particularly
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in that matter. Perhaps he had been
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suspected as, under-hand, aiding and abetting;
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he therefore thus solemnly expresses
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his detestation of the fact, that he might not
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die under that suspicion. Note, Our soul
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is our honour; by its powers and faculties
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we are distinguished from, and dignified
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above, the beasts that perish. Note, further,
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We ought, from our hearts, to detest
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and abhor all society and confederacy with
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bloody and mischievous men. We must not
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be ambitious of coming into their secret, or
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knowing the depths of Satan.
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4. His abhorrence
|
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of those brutish lusts that led them
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to this wickedness: <I>Cursed be their anger.</I>
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He does not curse their persons, but their
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lusts. Note,
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(1.) Anger is the cause and original
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of a great deal of sin, and exposes us
|
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to the curse of God, and his judgment,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:22">Matt. v. 22</A>.
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(2.) We ought always, in the expressions
|
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of our zeal, carefully to distinguish
|
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between the sinner and the sin, so as not to
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love nor bless the sin for the sake of the
|
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person, nor to hate nor curse the person
|
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for the sake of the sin.
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5. A token of displeasure
|
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which he foretels their posterity
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should lie under for this: <I>I will divide them.</I>
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The Levites were scattered throughout all the
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tribes, and Simeon's lot lay not together,
|
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and was so strait that many of the tribe were
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forced to disperse themselves in quest of
|
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settlements and subsistence. This curse
|
|
was afterwards turned into a blessing to the
|
|
Levites; but the Simeonites, for Zimri's sin
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+25:14">Num. xxv. 14</A>),
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had it bound on. Note,
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Shameful dispersions are the just punishment
|
|
of sinful unions and confederacies.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_8"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ge49_9"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ge49_10"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ge49_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge49_12"> </A>
|
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Judah, thou <I>art he</I> whom thy
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brethren shall praise: thy hand <I>shall
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be</I> in the neck of thine enemies; thy
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father's children shall bow down before
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thee.
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9 Judah <I>is</I> a lion's whelp:
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from the prey, my son, thou art gone
|
|
up: he stooped down, he couched as
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|
a lion, and as an old lion; who shall
|
|
rouse him up?
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|
10 The sceptre shall
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|
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver
|
|
from between his feet, until Shiloh
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come; and unto him <I>shall</I> the gathering
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|
of the people <I>be.</I>
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11 Binding his
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foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt
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|
unto the choice vine; he washed his
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garments in wine, and his clothes in
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the blood of grapes:
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12 His eyes
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<I>shall be</I> red with wine, and his teeth
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|
white with milk.
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|
</FONT></P>
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<P>
|
|
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|
Glorious things are here said of Judah.
|
|
The mention of the crimes of the three elder
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page261"> </A>
|
|
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|
of his sons had not so put the dying patriarch
|
|
out of humour but that he had a blessing
|
|
ready for Judah, to whom blessings
|
|
belonged. Judah's name signifies <I>praise,</I> in
|
|
allusion to which he says, <I>Thou art he whom
|
|
thy brethren shall praise,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
God was
|
|
praised for him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:35"><I>ch.</I> xxix. 35</A>),
|
|
praised by
|
|
him, and praised in him; and therefore his
|
|
brethren shall praise him. Note, Those that
|
|
are to God for a praise shall be the praise
|
|
of their brethren. It is prophesied that,
|
|
|
|
1. The tribe of Judah should be victorious and
|
|
successful in war: <I>Thy hand shall be in the
|
|
neck of thy enemies.</I> This was fulfilled in
|
|
David,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:40">Ps. xviii. 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. It should be superior
|
|
to the rest of the tribes; not only in itself
|
|
more numerous and illustrious, but having
|
|
a dominion over them: <I>Thy father's children
|
|
shall bow down before thee.</I> Judah was the
|
|
<I>lawgiver,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+60:7">Ps. lx. 7</A>.
|
|
That tribe led the van
|
|
through the wilderness, and in the conquest
|
|
of Canaan,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+1:2">Judg. i. 2</A>.
|
|
The prerogatives
|
|
of the birthright which Reuben had forfeited,
|
|
the excellency of dignity and power,
|
|
were thus conferred upon Judah. Observe,
|
|
"Thy brethren shall bow down before thee,
|
|
and yet shall praise thee, reckoning themselves
|
|
happy in having so wise and bold a
|
|
commander." Note, Honour and power
|
|
are then a blessing to those that have them
|
|
when they are not grudged and envied, but
|
|
praised and applauded, and cheerfully submitted
|
|
to.
|
|
|
|
3. It should be a strong and
|
|
courageous tribe, and so qualified for command
|
|
and conquest: <I>Judah is a lion's whelp,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
The lion is the king of beasts, the
|
|
terror of the forest when he roars; when he
|
|
seizes his prey, none can resist him; when he
|
|
goes up from the prey, none dare pursue him
|
|
to revenge it. By this it is foretold that the
|
|
tribe of Judah should become very formidable,
|
|
and should not only obtain great victories,
|
|
but should peaceably and quietly enjoy
|
|
what was obtained by those victories--that
|
|
they should make war, not for the sake of
|
|
war, but for the sake of peace. Judah is
|
|
compared, not to a lion <I>rampant,</I> always tearing,
|
|
always raging, always ranging; but to
|
|
a lion <I>couchant,</I> enjoying the satisfaction of
|
|
his power and success, without creating vexation
|
|
to others: this is to be truly great.
|
|
|
|
4. It should be the royal tribe, and the tribe
|
|
from which Messiah the Prince should come:
|
|
<I>The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, till
|
|
Shiloh come,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
Jacob here foresees and
|
|
foretels,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That the sceptre should come
|
|
into the tribe of Judah, which was fulfilled in
|
|
David, on whose family the crown was entailed.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That Shiloh should be of this tribe--his
|
|
seed, that promised seed, in whom the
|
|
earth should be blessed: <I>that peaceable and
|
|
prosperous one,</I> or <I>the Saviour,</I> so others
|
|
translate it, he shall come of Judah. Thus
|
|
dying Jacob, at a great distance, saw Christ's
|
|
day, and it was his comfort and support on
|
|
his death-bed. (3.) That after the coming
|
|
of the sceptre into the tribe of Judah it should
|
|
continue in that tribe, at least a government
|
|
of their own, till the coming of the Messiah,
|
|
in whom, as the king of the church, and the
|
|
great high priest, it was fit that both the
|
|
priesthood and the royalty should determine.
|
|
Till the captivity, all along from David's
|
|
time, the sceptre was in Judah, and subsequently
|
|
the governors of Judea were of that
|
|
tribe, or of the Levites that adhered to it
|
|
(which was equivalent), till Judea became
|
|
a province of the Roman empire, just at the
|
|
time of our Saviour's birth, and was at that
|
|
time taxed as one of the provinces,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:1">Luke ii. 1</A>.
|
|
And at the time of his death the
|
|
Jews expressly owned, <I>We have no king
|
|
but Cæsar.</I> Hence it is undeniably inferred
|
|
against the Jews that our Lord Jesus is
|
|
he that should come, and that we are to
|
|
look for no other; for he came exactly at
|
|
the time appointed. Many excellent pens
|
|
have been admirable well employed in explaining
|
|
and illustrating this famous prophecy
|
|
of Christ.
|
|
|
|
5. It should be a very fruitful
|
|
tribe, especially that it should abound
|
|
with milk for babes, and wine to make glad
|
|
the heart of strong men
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>)--vines
|
|
so common in the hedge-rows and so strong
|
|
that they should tie their asses to them, and
|
|
so fruitful that they should load their asses
|
|
from them--wine as plentiful as water, so
|
|
that the men of that tribe should be very
|
|
healthful and lively, their eyes brisk and
|
|
sparkling, their teeth white. Much of what
|
|
is here said concerning Judah is to be applied
|
|
to our Lord Jesus.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He is the
|
|
ruler of all his father's children, and the
|
|
conqueror of all his father's enemies; and
|
|
he it is that is the praise of all the saints.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He is <I>the lion of the tribe of Judah,</I> as he
|
|
is called with reference to this prophecy
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+5:5">Rev. v. 5</A>),
|
|
who, having spoiled principalities and
|
|
powers, went up a conqueror, and couched
|
|
so as none can stir him up, when he sat
|
|
down on the right hand of the Father.
|
|
|
|
(3.) To him belongs the sceptre; he is the <I>lawgiver,</I>
|
|
and <I>to him shall the gathering of the
|
|
people be,</I> as the desire of all nations
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+2:7">Hag. ii. 7</A>),
|
|
who, being lifted up from the earth,
|
|
should draw all men unto him
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:32">John xii. 32</A>),
|
|
and in whom the children of God that
|
|
are scattered abroad should meet as the
|
|
centre of their unity,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+11:52">John xi. 52</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) In
|
|
him there is plenty of all that which is
|
|
nourishing and refreshing to the soul, and
|
|
which maintains and cheers the divine life
|
|
in it; in him we may have wine and milk,
|
|
the riches of Judah's tribe, without money
|
|
and without price,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:1">Isa. lv. 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven
|
|
of the sea; and he <I>shall be</I> for a
|
|
haven of ships; and his border <I>shall
|
|
be</I> unto Zidon.
|
|
14 Issachar <I>is</I> a strong
|
|
ass couching down between two burdens:
|
|
15 And he saw that rest <I>was</I>
|
|
good, and the land that <I>it was</I> pleasant;
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page262"> </A>
|
|
|
|
and bowed his shoulder to bear, and
|
|
became a servant unto tribute.
|
|
16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of
|
|
the tribes of Israel.
|
|
17 Dan shall be
|
|
a serpent by the way, an adder in the
|
|
path, that biteth the horse heels, so
|
|
that his rider shall fall backward.
|
|
18 I have waited for thy salvation, O
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
19 Gad, a troop shall overcome
|
|
him: but he shall overcome at
|
|
the last.
|
|
20 Out of Asher his bread
|
|
<I>shall be</I> fat, and he shall yield royal
|
|
dainties.
|
|
21 Naphtali <I>is</I> a hind let
|
|
loose: he giveth goodly words.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here we have Jacob's prophecy concerning
|
|
six of his sons.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Concerning Zebulun
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
that his
|
|
posterity should have their lot upon the seacoast,
|
|
and should be merchants, and mariners,
|
|
and traders at sea. This was fulfilled
|
|
when, two or three hundred years after, the
|
|
land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the
|
|
<I>border of Zebulun went up towards the sea,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+19:11">Josh. xix. 11</A>.
|
|
Had they chosen their lot
|
|
themselves, or Joshua appointed it, we might
|
|
have supposed it done with design to make
|
|
Jacob's words good; but, being done by lot,
|
|
it appears that it was divinely disposed, and
|
|
Jacob divinely inspired. Note, The lot of
|
|
God's providence exactly agrees with the
|
|
plan of God's counsel, like a true copy with
|
|
the original. If prophecy says, <I>Zebulun shall
|
|
be a haven of ships,</I> Providence will so plant
|
|
him. Note,
|
|
|
|
1. God appoints the bounds of
|
|
our habitation.
|
|
|
|
2. It is our wisdom and
|
|
duty to accommodate ourselves to our lot
|
|
and to improve it. If Zebulun dwell at the
|
|
haven of the sea, let him be for a haven of
|
|
ships.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Concerning Issachar,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. That the men of that tribe should be strong
|
|
and industrious, fit for labour and inclined
|
|
to labour, particularly the toil of husbandry,
|
|
like the ass, that patiently carries his burden,
|
|
and, by using himself to it, makes it the
|
|
easier. Issachar submitted to two burdens,
|
|
tillage and tribute. It was a tribe that took
|
|
pains, and, thriving thereby, was called upon
|
|
for rents and taxes.
|
|
|
|
2. That they should be
|
|
encouraged in their labour by the goodness
|
|
of the land that should fall to their lot.
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>He saw that rest</I> at home <I>was good.</I> Note,
|
|
The labour of the husbandman is really rest,
|
|
in comparison with that of soldiers and
|
|
seamen, whose hurries and perils are such
|
|
that those who tarry at home in the most
|
|
constant service have no reason to envy
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>He saw that the land was pleasant,</I>
|
|
yielding not only pleasant prospects to charm
|
|
the eye of the curious, but pleasant fruits to
|
|
recompense his toils. Many are the pleasures
|
|
of a country life, abundantly sufficient
|
|
to balance the inconveniences of it, if we can
|
|
but persuade ourselves to think so, Issachar,
|
|
in prospect of advantage, <I>bowed his shoulders
|
|
to bear:</I> let us, with an eye of faith, see the
|
|
heavenly rest to be good, and that land of
|
|
promise to be pleasant; and this will make
|
|
our present services easy, and encourage us
|
|
to bow our shoulder to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Concerning Dan,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
|
|
What
|
|
is said concerning Dan has reference either,
|
|
|
|
1. To that tribe in general, that though Dan
|
|
was one of the sons of the concubines yet he
|
|
should be a tribe governed by judges of his
|
|
own as well as other tribes, and should, by
|
|
art, and policy, and surprise, gain advantages
|
|
against his enemies, like a serpent suddenly
|
|
biting the heel of the traveller. Note, In
|
|
God's spiritual Israel there is no distinction
|
|
made of <I>bond or free,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+3:11">Col. iii. 11</A>.
|
|
Dan shall
|
|
be incorporated by as good a charter as any
|
|
of the other tribes. Note, also, Some, like
|
|
Dan, may excel in the subtlety of the serpent,
|
|
as others, like Judah, in the courage
|
|
of the lion; and both may do good service
|
|
to the cause of God against the Canaanites.
|
|
Or it may refer,
|
|
|
|
2. To Samson, who was of
|
|
that tribe, and judged Israel, that is, delivered
|
|
them out of the hands of the Philistines, not
|
|
as the other judges, by fighting them in the
|
|
field, but by the vexations and annoyances
|
|
he gave them underhand: when he pulled
|
|
the house down under the Philistines that
|
|
were upon the roof of it, he made the horse
|
|
throw his rider.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Thus was Jacob going on with his discourse;
|
|
but now, being almost spent with
|
|
speaking, and ready to faint and die away,
|
|
he relieves himself with those words which
|
|
come in as a parenthesis
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
<I>I have
|
|
waited for thy salvation, O Lord!</I> as those
|
|
that are fainting are helped by taking a
|
|
spoonful of a cordial, or smelling at a bottle
|
|
of spirits; or, if he must break off here,
|
|
and his breath will not serve him to finish
|
|
what he intended, with these words he pours
|
|
out his soul into the bosom of his God, and
|
|
even breathes it out. Note, The pious ejaculations
|
|
of a warm and lively devotion, though
|
|
sometimes they may be incoherent, are not
|
|
therefore to be censured as impertinent; that
|
|
may be uttered affectionately which does
|
|
not come in methodically. It is no absurdity,
|
|
when we are speaking to men, to lift up our
|
|
hearts to God. The salvation he waited for
|
|
was <I>Christ,</I> the promised seed, whom he had
|
|
spoken of,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
Now that he was going to
|
|
be gathered to his people, he breathes after
|
|
him to whom the gathering of the people
|
|
shall be. The salvation he waited for was
|
|
also <I>heaven,</I> the better country, which he
|
|
declared plainly that he sought
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:13,14">Heb. xi. 13, 14</A>),
|
|
and continued seeking, now that he was
|
|
in Egypt. Now that he is going to enjoy
|
|
the salvation he comforts himself with this,
|
|
that he had waited for the salvation. Note,
|
|
It is the character of a living saint that he
|
|
waits for the salvation of the Lord. Christ,
|
|
as our way to heaven, is to be waited on;
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page263"> </A>
|
|
|
|
and heaven, as our rest in Christ, is to be
|
|
waited for. Again, It is the comfort of a dying
|
|
saint thus to have waited for the salvation of
|
|
the Lord; for then he shall have what he has
|
|
been waiting for: long-looked-for will come.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Concerning Gad,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
He alludes
|
|
to his name, which signifies a <I>troop,</I> foresees
|
|
the character of that tribe, that it should be
|
|
a warlike tribe, and so we find
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+12:8">1 Chron. xii. 8</A>);
|
|
the <I>Gadites were men of war fit for the
|
|
battle.</I> He foresees that the situation of that
|
|
tribe on the other side Jordan would expose
|
|
it to the incursions of its neighbours, the
|
|
Moabites and Ammonites; and, that they
|
|
might not be proud of their strength and
|
|
valour, he foretels that the troops of their
|
|
enemies should, in many skirmishes, overcome
|
|
them; yet, that they might not be discouraged
|
|
by their defeats, he assures them
|
|
that they should <I>overcome at the last,</I> which
|
|
was fulfilled when, in Saul's time and David's,
|
|
the Moabites and Ammonites were
|
|
wholly subdued: see
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+5:18-22">1 Chron. v. 18</A>,
|
|
&c.
|
|
Note, The cause of God and his people,
|
|
though it may seem for a time to be baffled
|
|
and run down, will yet be victorious at
|
|
last. <I>Vincimur in prælio, sed non in bello--We
|
|
are foiled in a battle, but not in a campaign.</I>
|
|
Grace in the soul is often foiled in
|
|
its conflicts, troops of corruption overcome
|
|
it, but the cause is God's, and grace will in
|
|
the issue come off conqueror, yea, <I>more than
|
|
conqueror,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:37">Rom. viii. 37</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. Concerning Asher
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
that it should
|
|
be a very rich tribe, replenished not only
|
|
with bread for necessity, but with fatness,
|
|
with <I>dainties, royal dainties</I> (for the king
|
|
himself is <I>served of the field,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:9">Eccl. v. 9</A>),
|
|
and
|
|
these exported out of Asher to other tribes,
|
|
perhaps to other lands. Note, The God of
|
|
nature has provided for us not only necessaries
|
|
but dainties, that we might call him a
|
|
bountiful benefactor; yet, whereas all places
|
|
are competently furnished with necessaries,
|
|
only some places afford dainties. Corn is
|
|
more common than spices. Were the supports
|
|
of luxury as universal as the supports
|
|
of life, the world would be worse than it is,
|
|
and that it needs not be.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Concerning Naphtali
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
a tribe
|
|
that carries struggles in its name; it signifies
|
|
<I>wrestling,</I> and the blessing entailed upon it
|
|
signifies prevailing; it is <I>a hind let loose.</I>
|
|
Though we find not this prediction so fully
|
|
answered in the event as some of the rest,
|
|
yet, no doubt, it proved true that those of
|
|
this tribe were,
|
|
|
|
1. As the loving hind (for
|
|
that is her epithet,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+5:19">Prov. v. 19</A>),
|
|
friendly and
|
|
obliging to one another and to other tribes;
|
|
their converse remarkably kind and endearing.
|
|
|
|
2. As the loosened hind, zealous for
|
|
their liberty.
|
|
|
|
3. As the swift hind
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:33">Ps. xviii. 33</A>),
|
|
quick in despatch of business; and perhaps,
|
|
|
|
4. As the trembling, timorous in
|
|
times of public danger. It is rare that those
|
|
that are most amiable to their friends are
|
|
most formidable to their enemies.
|
|
|
|
5. That
|
|
they should be affable and courteous, their
|
|
language refined, and they complaisant, <I>giving
|
|
goodly words.</I> Note, Among God's Israel
|
|
there is to be found a great variety of dispositions,
|
|
contrary to each other, yet all contributing
|
|
to the beauty and strength of the
|
|
body, Judah like a lion, Issachar like an ass,
|
|
Dan like a serpent, Naphtali like a hind. Let
|
|
not those of different tempers and gifts censure
|
|
one another, nor envy one another, any
|
|
more than those of different statures and
|
|
complexions.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_27"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 Joseph <I>is</I> a fruitful bough, <I>even</I> a
|
|
fruitful bough by a well; <I>whose</I> branches
|
|
run over the wall:
|
|
23 The archers
|
|
have sorely grieved him, and shot <I>at
|
|
him,</I> and hated him:
|
|
24 But his bow
|
|
abode in strength, and the arms of his
|
|
hands were made strong by the hands
|
|
of the mighty <I>God</I> of Jacob; (from
|
|
thence <I>is</I> the shepherd, the stone of
|
|
Israel:)
|
|
25 <I>Even</I> by the God of thy
|
|
father, who shall help thee; and by
|
|
the Almighty, who shall bless thee
|
|
with blessings of heaven above, blessings
|
|
of the deep that lieth under,
|
|
blessings of the breasts, and of the
|
|
womb:
|
|
26 The blessings of thy father
|
|
have prevailed above the blessings of
|
|
my progenitors unto the utmost bound
|
|
of the everlasting hills: they shall be
|
|
on the head of Joseph, and on the
|
|
crown of the head of him that was separate
|
|
from his brethren.
|
|
27 Benjamin
|
|
shall ravin <I>as</I> a wolf: in the
|
|
morning he shall devour the prey, and
|
|
at night he shall divide the spoil.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
He closes with the blessings of his best
|
|
beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin; with
|
|
these he will breathe his last.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The blessing of Joseph, which is very
|
|
large and full. He is compared
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
|
|
to <I>a
|
|
fruitful bough,</I> or young tree; for God had
|
|
made him fruitful in the land of his affliction;
|
|
he owned it,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+41:52"><I>ch.</I> xli. 52</A>.
|
|
His two sons
|
|
were as branches of a vine, or other spreading
|
|
plant, <I>running over the wall.</I> Note, God
|
|
can make those fruitful, great comforts to
|
|
themselves and others, who have been looked
|
|
upon as dry and withered. More is recorded
|
|
in the history concerning Joseph than concerning
|
|
any other of Jacob's sons; and
|
|
therefore what Jacob says of him is historical
|
|
as well as prophetical. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The providences of God concerning Joseph,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>.
|
|
These are mentioned to
|
|
the glory of God, and for the encouragement
|
|
of Jacob's faith and hope, that God had
|
|
blessings in store for his seed. Here observe
|
|
(1.) Joseph's straits and troubles,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
Though he now lived at ease and in honour,
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page264"> </A>
|
|
|
|
Jacob reminds him of the difficulties he had
|
|
formerly waded through. He had had many
|
|
enemies, here called <I>archers,</I> being skilful to
|
|
do mischief, masters of their art of persecution.
|
|
They hated him: there persecution
|
|
begins. They shot their poisonous darts at
|
|
him, and thus they sorely grieved him. His
|
|
brethren, in his father's house, were very
|
|
spiteful towards him, mocked him, stripped
|
|
him, threatened him, sold him, thought they
|
|
had been the death of him. His mistress, in
|
|
the house of Potiphar, sorely grieved him,
|
|
and shot at him, when she impudently assaulted
|
|
his chastity (temptations are fiery
|
|
darts, thorns in the flesh, sorely grievous to
|
|
gracious souls); when she prevailed not in
|
|
this, she hated him, and shot at him by her
|
|
false accusations, arrows against which there
|
|
is little fence but the hold God has in the
|
|
consciences of the worst of men. Doubtless
|
|
he had enemies in the court of Pharaoh, that
|
|
envied his preferment, and sought to undermine
|
|
him.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Joseph's strength and support
|
|
under all these troubles
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
<I>His bow
|
|
abode in strength,</I> that is, his faith did not
|
|
fail, but he kept his ground, and came off a
|
|
conqueror. The <I>arms of his hands were made
|
|
strong,</I> that is, his other graces did their part,
|
|
his wisdom, courage, and patience, which are
|
|
better than weapons of war. In short, he
|
|
maintained both his integrity and his comfort
|
|
through all his trials; he bore all his
|
|
burdens with an invincible resolution, and
|
|
did not sink under them, nor do any thing
|
|
unbecoming him.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The spring and fountain
|
|
of this strength; it was <I>by the hands of
|
|
the mighty God,</I> who was therefore able to
|
|
strengthen him, and <I>the God of Jacob,</I> a God
|
|
in covenant with him, and therefore engaged
|
|
to help him. All our strength for the resisting
|
|
of temptations, and the bearing of afflictions,
|
|
comes from God: his grace is sufficient,
|
|
and his strength is perfected in our weakness.
|
|
|
|
(4.) The state of honour and usefulness to
|
|
which he was subsequently advanced: <I>Thence</I>
|
|
(from this strange method of providence) he
|
|
became the <I>shepherd and stone,</I> the feeder
|
|
and supporter, <I>of</I> God's <I>Israel,</I> Jacob and his
|
|
family. Herein Joseph was a type,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Of Christ; he was shot at and hated, but borne
|
|
up under his sufferings
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:7-9">Isa. l. 7-9</A>),
|
|
and
|
|
was afterwards advanced to be <I>the shepherd
|
|
and stone.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] Of the church in general,
|
|
and particular believers; hell shoots its arrows
|
|
against the saints, but Heaven protects
|
|
and strengthens them, and will crown them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The promises of God to Joseph. See
|
|
how these are connected with the former:
|
|
<I>Even by the God of thy father Jacob, who
|
|
shall help thee,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
Note, Our experiences
|
|
of God's power and goodness in strengthening
|
|
us hitherto are our encouragements still
|
|
to hope for help from him; he that has helped
|
|
us will help: we may build much upon our
|
|
<I>Eben-ezers.</I> See what Joseph may expect
|
|
from <I>the Almighty,</I> even <I>the God of his father.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He shall help thee in difficulties and dangers
|
|
which may yet be before thee, help thy
|
|
seed in their wars. Joshua came from him,
|
|
who commanded in chief in the wars of Canaan.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He shall bless thee; and he only
|
|
blesses indeed. Jacob prays for a blessing
|
|
upon Joseph, but the God of Jacob commands
|
|
the blessing. Observe the blessings
|
|
conferred on Joseph.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Various and abundant
|
|
blessings: <I>Blessings of heaven above</I>
|
|
(rain in its season, and fair weather in its
|
|
season, and the benign influences of the heavenly
|
|
bodies); <I>blessings of the deep that lieth
|
|
under</I> this earth, which, compared with the
|
|
upper world, is but a great deep, with subterraneous
|
|
mines and springs. Spiritual
|
|
blessings are blessings of heaven above, which
|
|
we ought to desire and seek for in the first
|
|
place, and to which we must give the preference;
|
|
while temporal blessings, those of this
|
|
earth, must lie under in our account and
|
|
esteem. <I>Blessings of the womb and the breasts</I>
|
|
are given when children are safely born and
|
|
comfortably nursed. In the word of God,
|
|
by which we are born again, and nourished
|
|
up
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:23,2:2">1 Pet. i. 23; ii. 2</A>),
|
|
there are to the new
|
|
man blessings both of the womb and the
|
|
breasts.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Eminent and transcendent
|
|
blessings, which <I>prevail above the blessings
|
|
of my progenitors,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
His father Isaac
|
|
had but one blessing, and, when he had given
|
|
that to Jacob, he was at a loss for a blessing
|
|
to bestow upon Esau; but Jacob had a blessing
|
|
for each of his twelve sons, and now, at
|
|
the latter end, a copious one for Joseph. The
|
|
great blessing entailed upon that family was
|
|
increase, which did not so immediately and
|
|
so signally follow the blessings which Abraham
|
|
and Isaac gave to their sons as it followed
|
|
the blessing which Jacob gave to his;
|
|
for, soon after his death, they multiplied
|
|
exceedingly.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Durable and extensive
|
|
blessings: <I>Unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting
|
|
hills,</I> including all the productions of
|
|
the most fruitful hills, and lasting as long as
|
|
they last,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:10">Isa. liv. 10</A>.
|
|
Note, the blessings of
|
|
the everlasting God include the riches of the
|
|
everlasting hills, and much more. Well, of
|
|
these blessings it is here said, <I>They shall be,</I>
|
|
so it is a promise, or, <I>Let them be,</I> so it is a
|
|
prayer, <I>on the head of Joseph,</I> to which let
|
|
them be as a crown to adorn it and a helmet
|
|
to protect it. Joseph <I>was separated from his
|
|
brethren</I> (so we read it) for a time; yet, as
|
|
others read it, <I>he was a Nazarite among his
|
|
brethren,</I> better and more excellent than they.
|
|
Note, It is no new thing for the best men to
|
|
meet with the worst usage, for Nazarites
|
|
among their brethren to be cast out and separated
|
|
from their brethren; but the blessing
|
|
of God will make it up to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The blessing of Benjamin
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
He
|
|
<I>shall raven as a wolf;</I> it is plain by this that
|
|
Jacob was guided in what he said by a spirit
|
|
of prophecy, and not by natural affection;
|
|
else he would have spoken with more tenderness
|
|
of his beloved son Benjamin, concerning
|
|
whom he only foresees and foretels this, that
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page265"> </A>
|
|
|
|
his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong
|
|
and daring, and that they should enrich
|
|
themselves with the spoils of their enemies--that
|
|
they should be active and busy in the
|
|
world, and a tribe as much feared by their
|
|
neighbours as any other: <I>In the morning, he
|
|
shall devour the prey,</I> which he seized and
|
|
divided over night. Or, in the first times of
|
|
Israel, they shall be noted for activity, though
|
|
many of them left-handed,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+3:15,20:16">Judg. iii. 15; xx. 16</A>.
|
|
Ehud the second judge, and Saul the
|
|
first king, were of this tribe; and so also in
|
|
the last times Esther and Mordecai, by whom
|
|
the enemies of the Jews were destroyed,
|
|
were of this tribe. The Benjamites ravened
|
|
like wolves when they desperately espoused
|
|
the cause of the men of Gibeah, those men
|
|
of Belial,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+20:14">Judg. xx. 14</A>.
|
|
Blessed Paul was of
|
|
this tribe
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:1,Php+3:5">Rom. xi. 1; Phil. iii. 5</A>);
|
|
and he did,
|
|
in the morning of his day, devour the prey
|
|
as a persecutor, but, in the evening, divided
|
|
the spoil as a preacher. Note, God can serve
|
|
his own purposes by the different tempers of
|
|
men; <I>the deceived and the deceiver are his.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge49_33"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Death of Jacob.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1689.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>28 All these <I>are</I> the twelve tribes
|
|
of Israel: and this <I>is it</I> that their father
|
|
spake unto them, and blessed
|
|
them; every one according to his
|
|
blessing he blessed them.
|
|
29 And he
|
|
charged them, and said unto them, I
|
|
am to be gathered unto my people:
|
|
bury me with my fathers in the cave
|
|
that <I>is</I> in the field of Ephron the
|
|
Hittite,
|
|
30 In the cave that <I>is</I> in the
|
|
field of Machpelah, which <I>is</I> before
|
|
Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which
|
|
Abraham bought with the field of
|
|
Ephron the Hittite for a possession of
|
|
a buryingplace.
|
|
31 There they buried
|
|
Abraham and Sarah his wife; there
|
|
they buried Isaac and Rebekah his
|
|
wife; and there I buried Leah.
|
|
32 The purchase of the field and of the
|
|
cave that <I>is</I> therein <I>was</I> from the
|
|
children of Heth.
|
|
33 And when Jacob
|
|
had made an end of commanding
|
|
his sons, he gathered up his feet into
|
|
the bed, and yielded up the ghost,
|
|
and was gathered unto his people.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is, I. The summing up of the blessings
|
|
of Jacob's sons,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
Though Reuben,
|
|
Simeon, and Levi were put under the marks
|
|
of their father's displeasure, yet he is said to
|
|
<I>bless them every one according to his blessing;</I>
|
|
for none of them were rejected as Esau was.
|
|
Note, Whatever rebukes of God's word or
|
|
providence we are under at any time, yet, as
|
|
long as we have an interest in God's covenant,
|
|
a place and a name among his people,
|
|
and good hopes of a share in the heavenly
|
|
Canaan, we must account ourselves blessed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The solemn charge Jacob gave them
|
|
concerning his burial, which is a repetition
|
|
of what he had before given to Joseph. See
|
|
how he speaks of death, now that he is dying:
|
|
<I>I am to be gathered unto my people,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
Note, It is good to represent death to
|
|
ourselves under the most desirable images,
|
|
that the terror of it may be taken off. Though
|
|
it separates us from our children and our
|
|
people in this world, it gathers us to our
|
|
fathers and to our people in the other world.
|
|
Perhaps Jacob uses this expression concerning
|
|
death as a reason why his sons should
|
|
bury him in Canaan; for, says he, "<I>I am to
|
|
be gathered unto my people,</I> my soul must go
|
|
to <I>the spirits of just men made perfect:</I> and
|
|
therefore bury me with my fathers, Abraham
|
|
and Isaac, and their wives,"
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. His heart was very much upon it, not so
|
|
much from a natural affection to his native
|
|
soil as from a principle of faith in the promise
|
|
of God, that Canaan should be the inheritance
|
|
of his seed in due time. Thus he
|
|
would keep up in his sons a remembrance of
|
|
the promised land, and not only would have
|
|
their acquaintance with it renewed by a journey
|
|
thither on that occasion, but their desire
|
|
towards it and their expectation of it preserved.
|
|
|
|
2. He is very particular in describing
|
|
the place both by the situation of it
|
|
and by the purchase Abraham had made of
|
|
it for a burying-place,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:30,32"><I>v.</I> 30, 32</A>.
|
|
He was
|
|
afraid lest his sons, after seventeen years'
|
|
sojourning in Egypt, had forgotten Canaan,
|
|
and even the burying-place of their ancestors
|
|
there, or lest the Canaanites should dispute
|
|
his title to it; and therefore he specifies it
|
|
thus largely, and the purchase of it, even
|
|
when he lies a-dying, not only to prevent
|
|
mistakes, but to show how mindful he was
|
|
of that country. Note, It is, and should be,
|
|
a great pleasure to dying saints to fix their
|
|
thoughts upon the heavenly Canaan, and the rest
|
|
they hope for there after death.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The death of Jacob,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
When he
|
|
had finished both his blessing and his charge
|
|
(both which are included in the commanding
|
|
of his sons), and so had finished his testimony,
|
|
he addressed himself to his dying
|
|
work.
|
|
|
|
1. He put himself into a posture
|
|
for dying; having before seated himself upon
|
|
the bed-side, to bless his sons (the spirit of
|
|
prophecy bringing fresh oil to his expiring
|
|
lamp,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+10:19">Dan. x. 19</A>),
|
|
when that work was done,
|
|
<I>he gathered up his feet into the bed,</I> that he
|
|
might lie along, not only as one patiently
|
|
submitting to the stroke, but as one cheerfully
|
|
composing himself to rest, now that he
|
|
was weary. <I>I will lay me down, and sleep.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. He freely resigned his spirit into the hand
|
|
of God, the Father of spirits: <I>He yielded up
|
|
the ghost.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. His separated soul went to
|
|
the assembly of the souls of the faithful,
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which, after they are delivered from the burden
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of the flesh, are in joy and felicity: he
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was <I>gathered to his people.</I> Note, If God's people
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be our people, death will gather us to them.</P>
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