Genesis chapter 49, this is God's word. Then Jacob called his sons and said, gather around and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. Come together and listen, sons of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, and the first fruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power, Turbulent as water, you will not excel because you got into your father's bed and you defiled it. He got into my bed. Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their knives are vicious weapons. May I never enter their council. May I never join their assembly. for in their anger they kill men, and on a whim they hamstring oxen. Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel. I will disperse them throughout Jacob, and scatter them throughout Israel. Judah, your brothers will praise you, Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down to you. Judah is a young lion. My son, you return from the kill. He crouches, he lies down like a lion or a lioness. Who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet. until he whose right it is comes, and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him. He ties his donkey to a vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. Zebulun will live by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships, and his territory will be next to Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the saddlebags. He saw that his resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load and became a forced laborer. Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan will be a snake by the road, a viper beside the path that bites the horse's heels so that its rider falls backward. I wait for your salvation, Lord. Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. Asher's food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies. Naphtali is a dough set free that bears beautiful fawns. Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring. Its branches climb over the wall. The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him. Yet his bow remained steady and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob. By the name of the shepherd, the rock of Israel, by the God of your father, who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts and the womb. The blessings of your Father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the ancient hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers. Benjamin is a wolf. He tears his prey. In the morning, he devours the prey, and in the evening, he divides the plunder. These are the tribes of Israel, 12 in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing. Then he commanded them. I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite. The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as a burial property. Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there. The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites. When Jacob had finished giving charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people. And Joseph, leaning over his father's face, wept and kissed him. He commanded his servants who were physicians to embalm his father, so they embalmed Israel. They took 40 days to complete this, for embalming takes that long. And the Egyptians mourned for him 70 days. When the days of mourning were over, Joseph said to Pharaoh's household, if I've found favor with you, please tell Pharaoh that my father made me take an oath, saying, I'm about to die. You must bury me there in the tomb that I made for myself in the land of Canaan. Now, let me go and bury my father. Then I will return. So Pharaoh said, go and bury your father in keeping with your oath. And Joseph went to bury his father, and all Pharaoh's servants, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt went with him, along with all Joseph's family, his brothers, and his father's family. Only their dependents, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. Horses and chariots went up with him. It was a very impressive procession. When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wept loudly. And Joseph mourned seven days for his father. When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, this is a solemn mourning on the part of the Egyptians. Therefore, the place is named Abel Mizraim. It is across the Jordan. So Jacob's sons did for him what he had commanded them. They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased as burial property from Ephron the Hethite. After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him to bury his father. May God add his blessing to this reading from his holy and inspired word. Jacob said, come and let me tell you what is going to happen to you. Wow. I mean, how should he know? Is it possible for a person to know the future? Sometimes, if God tells them, sometimes a person can know the future just based on what's going on right now in the present. Or based even sometimes on things that have happened in the past. I don't wonder if the sun's coming up tomorrow. I've had enough experience to feel fairly confident that we're going to have another sunrise. In fact, I'd go so far as to say in the short term so that you can all verify this, the sun will set tonight. Okay? Now I know that not because I'm some mystic who sees these things. The sun will go down around 830, I predict. Okay. That's not mystical. You could say, well, that's science. Well, yeah. But, of course, if we all get blown up between now and then, it could make a difference. Say, well, no, the sun would still go down. Well, not if the planet was in a million pieces. The sun would just stay right where it is, because it's not the one that's moving. But you and I sometimes will encounter people who claim to know the future. There are people who claim to know the future based on mystical insight. They claim that they can see the future. They see what's coming. Ford right now is running commercials advertising their Explorer, I think it is, that has a camera in the front that sees what's coming at an intersection. And so the little girl is amazing her brother by looking at the thing on daddy's dashboard and saying, I see a large dog coming in front of us. And then here comes the dog, and the little brother in the back seat is just amazed. But you see, she's just watching what's on the monitor. How did this happen? Was Jacob even right or was this presumptuous speech on his part? Jacob was speaking by the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit was giving him insight into what was coming. just as surely as God had spoken to Pharaoh through a dream and then revealed the meaning of the dream to Joseph. So that the seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine were told ahead of time. Because let me tell you, who knows what's coming? For sure, God. God knows. God isn't hedging his bets, he's not saying, well, if everything goes as planned, it's all gonna go as planned. And you and I, as we live through that, can do so with confidence if we're in right relationship with God, because we know that whatever is happening, A, God is not caught off guard, and B, God is working out his plan. That is gonna be vital to understanding how Joseph responds to what happened with his brothers. You remember he's already told them, don't feel badly about what happened. Because God is the one who sent me down here to save lives, including yours. This is all for the good. Now, that does not mean that everything everybody does is good. People do evil things, and God sees those things as evil, and God will deal with those things. But in the midst of it all, God is still sovereignly working out his plan. God isn't saying, oh, okay, wait, I can fix that. Oh, wow, okay, just, all right, I'll fix that too. God is sovereignly working out his plan. Our salvation was accomplished, not just with God knowing ahead of time what was going to happen, but with God orchestrating the events. Jesus, knowing this, described what was going to happen. And he prayed in the garden, Father, if there's any other way, please let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done." Your will be done, Father. Why? Because it was God's will that He should die on the cross to save us. That was God's plan. In the book of Exodus we're going to see God delivering his people and the final intervention before God brings them out is the Passover. And God instructs His people that first Passover to kill a lamb, to take the blood from the lamb, put it in a bowl, take a little branch of hyssop, which is kind of like a natural paintbrush, dip it in the blood, and mark the top and the two sides of the door. These slaves in Egypt were making the sign of the cross in the blood of the Lamb on the door of their homes. Now, the Romans hadn't come along yet. Crucifixion was not a thing yet. But God had ordained that His Son who is the Lamb of God would die on a cross in order that we might be spared the wrath of God. God knew what He was up to. God was working out the plan in detail. And so what we see Israel or Jacob doing here when he talks to his sons is not just predicting, because I know what you guys are like, and I'm guessing this is what's going to happen to you. This is prophecy. This is a father sharing what the Holy Spirit has shared with him. There are things in this that are not very positive. I love the fact that it says at the end, he gave each one a blessing. A blessing suitable to them. Okay? His oldest son, Reuben, You are my firstborn, my strength, and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power. You will not excel. I mean, if you're hearing that, if you're Reuben, and you're hearing that, you're liking it at first, right? He says, My strength, the first roots of my virility, excelling in prominence. Yeah, that's me. Excelling in power. Yeah. It's true. Turbulent as water, you will not excel. Wow. Why not? He says, because you defiled my bed. Reuben slept with one of his dad's wives. Doesn't mean he took a nap. He had marital relations with a woman that he wasn't married to, which is wrong. And even more heinous, It was his stepmom. That's hideous. Years have gone by. Looks like he got away with it. Hey, maybe dad never found out. No, dad knew. Dad knew and dad did nothing. And now dad says, your future is not good. And the reason your future is not good is because of what you did. You did something thinking you're so powerful, you're such a man, you can do as you please. Let me tell you something, you blew it. You blew it. And because of what you have done, you will not excel. He says, you got into your father's bed and you defiled it. And then he turns to the others and he says, he got into my bed. Do you see that in the text? First he's speaking to his son. And he says, I know what you did. You did this. And then he turns to the others and he's like, can you believe that? Do you understand what he did? Let me tell you something. You may think nobody knows. And there may be lots of people who don't know. But God knows. God absolutely knows. So, that's it for Reuben. Nothing else said to him. You will not excel, because you got into your father's bed and you defiled it. Verse five. Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their knives are vicious weapons. May I never enter their council, may I never join their assembly, for in their anger they kill men, and on a whim they hamstring oxen. Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel. Will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel who's speaking. I Mean this guy's about to die Not only is he about to die he knows he's about to die So when he says I will disperse them and scatter them who's speaking God Jacob is delivering a message to these boys men to these men From God. God is saying, I will disperse them. I will scatter them. You know what's astounding? Even though that happens, God used them. The tribe of Levi is, those are the priests. I don't understand, I mean, I thought on the one hand it's saying these guys were bad and they're violent and cruel and they love to use their knives. And now you're saying they're gonna be used by God. Yes, in fact, they're gonna use their knives, at least the Levites are. They're gonna be offering sacrifices over and over and over. Which, by the way, for anybody who's paying attention, is a reminder continually that we deserve death. Some of you I know think, you know, Pastor Wood really needs to get off that thing about all of us deserving hell. You know, I mean, he's always talking about that. He always somehow seems to find a way to work back the fact we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and we deserve hell. I got it, Pastor Wood. Well, I want to remind you And the reason is because we need to know that if we start waltzing around like most of the foolish people on the planet, thinking that somehow we're basically good. You know? I mean, I know some people are a little rough on the outside, but if you peel back that exterior, I think you'll find a good heart inside. No, you won't. You'll find a heart of stone. Okay? I mean, that's. Some of the stupidest mistakes made by well-intending politicians and policy makers are based on the fact they don't understand the nature of man. You know why communism? Well, there are many reasons why communism doesn't work. But one of the biggest problems with communism is it's based on a totally false view of man. You and I need to understand, if we're gonna live intelligently in this world, we need to understand and remember what God says about us. And that is, this is not the way it's supposed to be. This is not the long-term plan. This is a temporary manifestation of how desperately we need God's grace. But the fact of the matter is, Man was created in innocence and used freedom to choose evil resulting in death. And now all of us are born bent in the wrong direction. Little kids don't become sinners when they're old enough. Little kids are sinners and they manifest it as soon as possible. It's built into us. We inherited it from Adam and Eve You really believe that stuff, you know, I do So The Levites are gonna be the priests and they're gonna be scattered and They're gonna use their knives to kill animals and offer sacrifices But verse 8 Judah your brothers will praise you and Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies, your father's sons will bow down to you. The scepter, verse 10, will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes. And the obedience of the peoples belongs to him. Guess who's gonna come from the tribe of Judah? Jesus. And guess who's going to take the throne and rule and reign forever and ever? Jesus. How'd Jacob know that? Jacob didn't know the details. He just said what God told him to say because God knew that. He simply said what God told him to say. I've had situations where I simply said what God told me to say not knowing the impact. Not knowing how it would be fulfilled. Just saying what God told me to say. I warned a man years ago that if he tried to prevent the church from doing what God says, God would smite him. I've never said anything like that to anybody in my life. That's what God told me to say, so I said it. And the man said, well, we don't have anything else to talk about, and hung up the phone and called several people in my church and said that that new young pastor they'd hired down there in Atlanta had said God was gonna smite him. And the man died. All of a sudden, my deacons took me seriously. Well, how did I know that? I didn't know he was about to die. I just knew God said he was going to smite him if he didn't turn from the path that he was on. And he didn't turn from that path. He persisted in it and God smote him. Is that clear? Oh, Pastor Whit, I don't want to mess with you. I'm not the guy. All I did was say what God said. Is that clear? God said he was gonna do it and God did it. I didn't smite anybody. I asked Carrie Nation, the famous temperance speaker in the 1800s, how is it that you pray and these saloons catch fire? She said, well, sometimes I put matches to my prayers. I didn't do that, you understand? God fulfilled his word You don't need to fear people. You need to fear God and God is the one who is saying this is what's gonna happen out of the tribe of Judah There's gonna come a ruler and he is the one God was speaking through Jacob of Jesus who amazingly would be a descendant of Jacob through the line of Judah. But it blows my mind that God would come that way. I got an email from somebody, I'm going to guess now it's been close to 10 years ago. One of our radio listeners was upset because I had made the statement that even Mary needed a Savior. That Jesus came to save sinners and that included his own mom. And this guy was very upset and he wrote to me and he said, don't you understand that in order for Jesus to be sinless, his mother had to be sinless. And I wrote back and I said, so what about her mother? Never heard from him again. Do you understand that Jesus is the only one Jesus is unique. He is God's only begotten Son. And He offers His life as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And He's going to come through the line of Judah, whose dad was Jacob, who was a deceiver. I'm just amazed. I'm amazed that God, knowing everything about all of us, not just what we have done, but what we will do, God still chooses to save. Blows my mind. I wouldn't do it. You understand? I'm not just saying I wouldn't send my son to die for you, I wouldn't send my son to die for me. And God sent His Son to die for us. And here is another one of the many prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus coming to save us and about His beauty. Verse 13 Zebulun will live by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships. His territory will be next to Sidon How did he know that? God said so God said so I don't know how you'd feel about being Issachar This son of mine Strong donkey of a man. Lying down between the saddlebags. Lying down, that's not what it's, I mean, if you're strong, you're supposed to be standing, carrying the load. No. He says he's going to end up in a position of servitude. Even though he has real strength, he's going to do what it takes to stay where he wants. Interesting picture. And of course, as with the rest of God's Word, true. And then he describes Joseph. And Joseph is to be greatly blessed. Verse 26, the blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors. The bounty of the ancient hills, may they rest on the head of Joseph and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. Joseph was still his father's favorite. And I would say based on everything we know about each of the sons, it's a good choice. And God is the one who spoke through Jacob and pronounced these blessings on each of the children. And so since Benjamin had the same mama, Is he going to be described the way Joseph was? Is he going to get a nice long paragraph? No, he's given a shorter one. Benjamin is a wolf. He tears at his prey. In the morning, he devours the prey. In the evening, he divides the plunder. Benjamin is a man of violence. Just a description given here. This is the reality and you'll see it as you read through the Old Testament and study the history. These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing. And then he commanded them, here's what you're to do for me. Now he's already told Joseph, he's already gotten Joseph to swear that he will do this, that he's going to take him back to the burial place. But he wants to be sure, it's very, very important for the reasons we discussed last time, very important to Jacob that he not have his remains stay there in Egypt because he knows he belongs back in the promised land. The place that God had said would be a permanent inheritance for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. That is the special place set apart by God for those people in perpetuity. That's the plan. There are people who don't believe that anymore. They say, no, no, no. The church has replaced Israel. Israel was pointing to the church. But it would not be a very good picture of the unshakable nature of God's promises to the church, if God's promises to earthly Israel no longer stood. God keeps His promises. And anybody who looks at history has to marvel, if you look with your eyes open, at the fact that Israel came back into that promised land and has taken a wasteland and turned it back into, with God's help, with God's blessing, turned it back into a place of tremendous prosperity. If you look at what is happening in the Middle East and the fact that to this day The eyes of the world are on that little tiny strip of land. If you look at what happened during the six-day war, I remember, I was watching closely. I was listening to what the nations around Israel said prior to the war. I saw what happened during the war and I saw the way that the world responded after that war. Let me tell you something, God has been at work working out His purpose. So not based on my intelligence, but based on God's word, let me tell you something. There's gonna be a whole lot more happening in the Middle East. Keep your eyes open. You're gonna see amazing things. Amazing things. So they promised. When Jacob finished verse 33 giving charges to his sons He drew his feet into his bed took his last breath and was gathered to his people That's a nice way to go That's a nice way to go He says I'm about to die. Come here. I need to tell you some stuff He speaks what God has put in his heart and then he says goodbye He pulls his feet up into bed leans back, takes his last breath, and he's gone. I've known a few people who came close to that in terms of their departure. My mother's mother was one. She told the family that this was going to be the day that the Lord had revealed to her. And she said, before I go, I want to tell you, live for Jesus. Live for Jesus. Let me tell you something. Most of us don't know when we're about to go to be with the Lord. I've known several folks who did, but most of us don't know. But if I could tell you one last time, I would want to tell you live for Jesus. That's all that matters. Everything else goes away. Nothing lasts except your relationship with Him. Possessions mean nothing. Fame means nothing. Live for Jesus. Let's pray. Father, You know all things. The future is yours. Thank you that because of Jesus we can have peace no matter what comes. Help us to trust you and obey you and live for you always. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.