G
E N E S I S
CHAP. XLIX.
This chapter is a prophecy; the likest to it we
have yet met with was that of Noah, ch. ix. 25, &c. Jacob is here
upon his death-bed, making his will. He put it off till now, because dying
men's words are apt to make deep impressions, and to be remembered long: what
he said here, he could not say when he would, but as the Spirit gave him
utterance, who chose this time, that divine strength might be perfected in his
weakness. The twelve sons of Jacob were, in their day, men of renown, but the
twelve tribes of Israel, which descended and were denominated from them, were
much more renowned; we find their names upon the gates of the New Jerusalem,
Rev. xxi. 12. In the prospect of this their dying father says something
remarkable of each son, or of the tribe that bore his name. Here is, I. The
preface, ver. 1, 2. II. The prediction concerning each tribe, ver. 3-28. III.
The charge repeated concerning his burial, ver. 29-32. IV. His death, ver. 33.
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Jacob's
Prophecy Concerning His Sons.
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B. C. 1689.
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1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and
said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that
which shall befal you in the last days. 2 Gather yourselves
together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your
father. 3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the
beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of
power: 4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou
wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to
my couch.
Here is, I. The
preface to the prophecy, in which, 1. The congregation is called together (v.
2): Gather yourselves together; let them all be sent for from their
several employments, to see their father die, and to hear his dying words. It
was a comfort to Jacob, now that he was dying, to see all his children about
him, and none missing, though he had sometimes thought himself bereaved. It
was of use to them to attend him in his last moments, that they might learn of
him how to die, as well as how to live: what he said to each he said in the
hearing of all the rest; for we may profit by the reproofs, counsels, and
comforts, that are principally intended for others. His calling upon them once
and again to gather together intimated both a precept to them to unite in
love, (to keep together, not to mingle with the Egyptians, not to forsake the
assembling of themselves together,) and a prediction that they should not be
separated from each other, as Abraham's sons and Isaac's were, but should be
incorporated, and all make one people. 2. A general idea is given of the
intended discourse (v. 1): That I may tell you that which shall
befal you (not your persons, but your posterity) in the latter days;
this prediction would be of use to those that came after them, for the
confirming of their faith and the guiding of their way, on their return to
Canaan, and their settlement there. We cannot tell our children what shall
befal them or their families in this world; but we can tell them, from the
word of God, what will befal them in the last day of all, according as they
conduct themselves in this world. 3. Attention is demanded (v. 2):
"Hearken to Israel your father; let Israel, that has prevailed
with God, prevail with you." Note, Children must diligently hearken to
what their godly parents say, particularly when they are dying. Hear, you
children, the instruction of a father, which carries with it both
authority and affection, Prov. iv. 1.
II. The prophecy
concerning Reuben. He begins with him (v. 3, 4), for he was the
firstborn; but by committing uncleanness with his father's wife, to the great
reproach of the family to which he ought to have been an ornament, he
forfeited the prerogatives of the birthright; and his dying father here
solemnly degrades him, though he does not disown nor disinherit him: he shall
have all the privileges of a son, but not of a firstborn. We have reason to
think Reuben had repented of his sin, and it was pardoned; yet it was a
necessary piece of justice, in detestation of the villany, and for warning to
others, to put this mark of disgrace upon him. Now according to the method of
degrading, 1. Jacob here puts upon him the ornaments of the birthright (v.
3), that he and all his brethren might see what he had forfeited, and, in
that, might see the evil of the sin: as the firstborn, he was his father's
joy, almost his pride, being the beginning of his strength. How welcome
he was to his parents his name bespeaks, Reuben, See a son. To him
belonged the excellency of dignity above his brethren, and some power over
them. Christ Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren, and to him, of right,
belong the most excellent power and dignity: his church also, through him, is
a church of firstborn. 2. He then strips him of these ornaments (v. 4),
lifts him up, that he may cast him down, by that one word, "Thou shalt
not excel; a being thou shalt have as a tribe, but not an
excellency." No judge, prophet, nor prince, is found of that tribe, nor
any person of renown except Dathan and Abiram, who were noted for their
impious rebellion against Moses. That tribe, as not aiming to excel, meanly
chose a settlement on the other side Jordan. Reuben himself seems to have lost
all that influence upon his brethren to which his birthright entitled him; for
when he spoke unto them they would not hear, ch. xlii. 22. Those
that have not understanding and spirit to support the honours and privileges
of their birth will soon lose them, and retain only the name of them. The
character fastened upon Reuben, for which he is laid under this mark of
infamy, is that he was unstable as water. (1.) His virtue was unstable;
he had not the government of himself and his own appetites: sometimes he would
be very regular and orderly, but at other times he deviated into the wildest
courses. Note, Instability is the ruin of men's excellency. Men do not thrive
because they do not fix. (2.) His honour consequently was unstable; it
departed from him, vanished into smoke, and became as water spilt upon the
ground. Note, Those that throw away their virtue must not expect to save their
reputation. Jacob charges him particularly with the sin for which he was thus
disgraced: Thou wentest up to thy father's bed. It was forty years ago
that he had been guilty of this sin, yet now it is remembered against him.
Note, As time will not of itself wear off the guilt of any sin from the
conscience, so there are some sins whose stains it will not wipe off from the
good name, especially seventh-commandment sins. Reuben's sin left an indelible
mark of infamy upon his family, a dishonour that was a wound not to be healed without
a scar, Prov. vi. 32, 33. Let us never do evil, and then we need not fear
being told of it.
5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are
in their habitations. 6 O my soul, come not thou into their
secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their
anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for
it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
These were next
in age to Reuben, and they also had been a grief and shame to Jacob, when they
treacherously and barbarously destroyed the Shechemites, which he here
remembers against them. Children should be afraid of incurring their parents'
just displeasure, lest they fare the worse for it long afterwards, and, when
they would inherit the blessing, be rejected. Observe, 1. The character of
Simeon and Levi: they were brethren in disposition; but, unlike their father,
they were passionate and revengeful, fierce and uncontrollable; their swords,
which should have been only weapons of defence, were (as the margin reads it, v.
5) weapons of violence, to do wrong to others, not to save themselves
from wrong. Note, It is no new thing for the temper of children to differ very
much from that of their parents. We need not think this strange: it was so in
Jacob's family. It is not in the power of parents, no, not by education, to
form the dispositions of their children; Jacob bred his sons to every thing
that was mild and quiet, and yet they proved to be thus furious. 2. A proof of
this is the murder of the Shechemites, which Jacob deeply resented at the time
(ch. xxxiv. 30) and still continued to resent. They slew a man, Shechem
himself, and many others; and, to effect that, they digged down a wall, broke
the houses, to plunder them, and murder the inhabitants. Note, The best
governors cannot always restrain those under their charge from committing the
worst villanies. And when two in a family are mischievous they commonly make
one another so much the worse, and it were wisdom to part them. Simeon and
Levi, it is probable, were most active in the wrong done to Joseph, to which
some think Jacob has here some reference; for in their anger they would have
slain that man. Observe what a mischievous thing self-will is in young
people: Simeon and Levi would not be advised by their aged and experienced
father; no, they would be governed by their own passion rather than by his
prudence. Young people would better consult their own interests if they would
less indulge their own will. 3. Jacob's protestation against this barbarous
act of theirs: O my soul, come not thou into their secret. Hereby he
professes not only his abhorrence of such practices in general, but his
innocence particularly in that matter. Perhaps he had been suspected as,
under-hand, aiding and abetting; he therefore thus solemnly expresses his
detestation of the fact, that he might not die under that suspicion. Note, Our
soul is our honour; by its powers and faculties we are distinguished from, and
dignified above, the beasts that perish. Note, further, We ought, from our
hearts, to detest and abhor all society and confederacy with bloody and
mischievous men. We must not be ambitious of coming into their secret, or
knowing the depths of Satan. 4. His abhorrence of those brutish lusts that led
them to this wickedness: Cursed be their anger. He does not curse their
persons, but their lusts. Note, (1.) Anger is the cause and original of a
great deal of sin, and exposes us to the curse of God, and his judgment, Matt.
v. 22. (2.) We ought always, in the expressions of our zeal, carefully to
distinguish between the sinner and the sin, so as not to love nor bless the
sin for the sake of the person, nor to hate nor curse the person for the sake
of the sin. 5. A token of displeasure which he foretels their posterity should
lie under for this: I will divide them. The Levites were scattered
throughout all the tribes, and Simeon's lot lay not together, and was so
strait that many of the tribe were forced to disperse themselves in quest of
settlements and subsistence. This curse was afterwards turned into a blessing
to the Levites; but the Simeonites, for Zimri's sin (Num. xxv. 14), had it
bound on. Note, Shameful dispersions are the just punishment of sinful unions
and confederacies.
8
Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be
in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before
thee. 9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son,
thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion;
who shall rouse him up? 10 The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall
the gathering of the people be. 11 Binding his foal unto
the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in
wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: 12 His eyes shall
be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
Glorious things
are here said of Judah. The mention of the crimes of the three elder 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 praise,
in allusion to which he says, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise,
v. 8. God was praised for him (ch. xxix. 35), 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: Thy hand shall be in the neck of thy enemies. This was fulfilled
in David, Ps. xviii. 40. 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: Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah was the lawgiver,
Ps. lx. 7. That tribe led the van through the wilderness, and in the conquest
of Canaan, Judg. i. 2. 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: Judah is a lion's whelp, v.
9. 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 rampant, always
tearing, always raging, always ranging; but to a lion couchant,
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: The sceptre shall not
depart from Judah, till Shiloh come, v. 10. 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: that peaceable and prosperous one, or the
Saviour, 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, Luke ii. 1. And at the time of his
death the Jews expressly owned, We have no king but Cæsar. 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 (v. 11, 12)--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 the lion of the
tribe of Judah, as he is called with reference to this prophecy (Rev. v.
5), 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 lawgiver, and to
him shall the gathering of the people be, as the desire of all nations
(Hag. ii. 7), who, being lifted up from the earth, should draw all men unto
him (John xii. 32), and in whom the children of God that are scattered abroad
should meet as the centre of their unity, John xi. 52. (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, Isa. lv. 1.
13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be
for a haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was
pleasant; 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 LORD. 19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he
shall overcome at the last. 20 Out of Asher his bread shall be
fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. 21 Naphtali is a
hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
Here we have
Jacob's prophecy concerning six of his sons.
I. Concerning
Zebulun (v. 13), 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 border of Zebulun went up towards the sea,
Josh. xix. 11. 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, Zebulun
shall be a haven of ships, 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.
II. Concerning
Issachar, v. 14, 15. 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.) He saw that
rest at home was good. 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.) He saw that the land was pleasant, 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, bowed
his shoulders to bear: 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.
III. Concerning
Dan, v. 16, 17. 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 bond or free,
Col. iii. 11. 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.
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 (v. 18), I have waited for thy salvation, O
Lord! 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 Christ, the promised seed, whom he had
spoken of, v. 10. 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 heaven, the better country, which he
declared plainly that he sought (Heb. xi. 13, 14), 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; 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.
IV. Concerning
Gad, v. 19. He alludes to his name, which signifies a troop,
foresees the character of that tribe, that it should be a warlike tribe, and
so we find (1 Chron. xii. 8); the Gadites were men of war fit for the
battle. 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 overcome at the last, which was fulfilled when,
in Saul's time and David's, the Moabites and Ammonites were wholly subdued:
see 1 Chron. v. 18, &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. Vincimur in prælio, sed non in bello--We are foiled in a battle, but
not in a campaign. 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, more than conqueror, Rom. viii. 37.
V. Concerning
Asher (v. 20), that it should be a very rich tribe, replenished not
only with bread for necessity, but with fatness, with dainties, royal
dainties (for the king himself is served of the field, Eccl. v. 9),
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.
VI. Concerning
Naphtali (v. 21), a tribe that carries struggles in its name; it
signifies wrestling, and the blessing entailed upon it signifies
prevailing; it is a hind let loose. 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, Prov. v. 19), 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 (Ps. xviii. 33), 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, giving goodly
words. 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.
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough
by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 23 The archers
have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, 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 God of Jacob; (from thence is the
shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 25 Even 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 as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the
prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
He closes with
the blessings of his best beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin; with these he
will breathe his last.
I. The blessing
of Joseph, which is very large and full. He is compared (v. 22) to a
fruitful bough, or young tree; for God had made him fruitful in the land
of his affliction; he owned it, ch. xli. 52. His two sons were as
branches of a vine, or other spreading plant, running over the wall.
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,
1. The
providences of God concerning Joseph, v. 23, 24. 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, v. 23. Though he now lived at ease and in honour, Jacob
reminds him of the difficulties he had formerly waded through. He had had many
enemies, here called archers, 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 (v. 24): His bow abode in strength,
that is, his faith did not fail, but he kept his ground, and came off a
conqueror. The arms of his hands were made strong, 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 by the hands of the mighty
God, who was therefore able to strengthen him, and the God of Jacob,
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: Thence (from this strange method of providence) he became the
shepherd and stone, the feeder and supporter, of God's Israel,
Jacob and his family. Herein Joseph was a type, [1.] Of Christ; he was shot at
and hated, but borne up under his sufferings (Isa. l. 7-9), and was afterwards
advanced to be the shepherd and stone. [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.
2. The promises
of God to Joseph. See how these are connected with the former: Even by the
God of thy father Jacob, who shall help thee, v. 25. 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 Eben-ezers. See what Joseph may expect
from the Almighty, even the God of his father. (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: Blessings of heaven above (rain in its season, and fair
weather in its season, and the benign influences of the heavenly bodies); blessings
of the deep that lieth under 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. Blessings
of the womb and the breasts are given when children are safely born and
comfortably nursed. In the word of God, by which we are born again, and
nourished up (1 Pet. i. 23; ii. 2), there are to the new man blessings both of
the womb and the breasts. [2.] Eminent and transcendent blessings, which prevail
above the blessings of my progenitors, v. 26. 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: Unto the
utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, including all the productions of
the most fruitful hills, and lasting as long as they last, Isa. liv. 10. 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, They shall
be, so it is a promise, or, Let them be, so it is a prayer, on
the head of Joseph, to which let them be as a crown to adorn it and a
helmet to protect it. Joseph was separated from his brethren (so we
read it) for a time; yet, as others read it, he was a Nazarite among his
brethren, 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.
II. The blessing
of Benjamin (v. 27): He shall raven as a wolf; 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
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: In the morning, he shall devour
the prey, 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,
Judg. iii. 15; xx. 16. 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, Judg. xx. 14. Blessed Paul was of this tribe (Rom. xi. 1;
Phil. iii. 5); 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; the deceived
and the deceiver are his.
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Death
of Jacob.
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B. C. 1689.
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28 All these are the twelve
tribes of Israel: and this is it 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 is in the field of
Ephron the Hittite, 30 In the cave that is in the field of
Machpelah, which is 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 is therein was 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.
Here is, I. The
summing up of the blessings of Jacob's sons, v. 28. Though Reuben,
Simeon, and Levi were put under the marks of their father's displeasure, yet
he is said to bless them every one according to his blessing; 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.
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
am to be gathered unto my people, v. 29. 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 am to be
gathered unto my people, my soul must go to the spirits of just men
made perfect: and therefore bury me with my fathers, Abraham and Isaac,
and their wives," v. 31. 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, v. 30, 32. 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.
III. The death of
Jacob, v. 33. 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, Dan.
x. 19), when that work was done, he gathered up his feet into the bed,
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
will lay me down, and sleep. 2. He freely resigned his spirit into the
hand of God, the Father of spirits: He yielded up the ghost. 3. His
separated soul went to the assembly of the souls of the faithful, which, after
they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity: he
was gathered to his people. Note, If God's people be our people, death
will gather us to them.
Contents
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