Let's pray for God's blessing on our understanding of his word, please. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you again for gathering us here together this day, that in your sovereign decree and providence of all the places we could have been born and died. You made us born here. You brought us the gospel and you've brought us here into this building at this time right now to hear the words of eternal life. We are indeed the most blessed people in all the world. Help us realize that this morning as we listen to what Your Word says. In Christ's name, Amen. Please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 49. Genesis 49. This morning's sermon will cover the whole chapter. And I've done something this morning I've never done before. You have a 10-point outline in your bulletin. But that does not mean it will take as long as a 10-point sermon would normally take. Genesis chapter 49. This is God's Word. And Jacob called his sons and said, Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel, your father. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength. the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, you shall not excel. Because you went up to your father's bed, then you defiled it, he went up to my couch. Simeon and Levi are brothers. Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council. Let not my honor be united to their assembly. For in their anger, they slew a man. And in their self-will, they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger. for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of the people, binding his donkey to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine. He washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk. Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea. He shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall adjoin Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between two burdens. He saw that rest was good and that the land was pleasant. He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden and became a band of slaves. Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path that bites the horse's heels so that its rider shall fall backward. I have waited For your salvation, O Lord. God, a troop, shall tramp upon him, and he shall triumph at last. Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. Naphtali is a deer let loose. He uses beautiful words. Joseph is a fruitful bow, a fruitful bow by a well. His branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him, and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong. By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, from there is the shepherd the stone of Israel. By the God of your father, who will help you, and by the Almighty, who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb, the blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors. Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills they shall be on the head of Joseph. and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them, he blessed each one according to his own blessing. Then he charged them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 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 as a possession for a burial place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife. And there I buried Leah. The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth. And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. May God bless the reading of his infallible word. Part of the reason that we as human beings have a nagging sense of anxiety is that we are bound by time and we do not know the specific details of our earthly future. For the most part, this is probably for our good. God has promised the repentant believer in Jesus Christ a wonderful and marvelous future with him in the new heavens and the new earth. But in the meantime, we do not know exactly what will happen to us in this life. Can you imagine if you were able to know the exact moment and circumstances of your own death? Would you even want to know that? That would probably not be a good thing. It would make doing our duty today very difficult, indeed. What a distraction it would be to know the exact day and the exact circumstances of your death. But here we have a very unusual event in the history of the people of God thus far. Jacob is dying. He is moments away from being gathered to his people. And as he is dying, he suddenly takes on the role of a prophet. And as all of his sons are gathered around his deathbed, he turns to each one of them and makes prophetic predictions, judgments, and even character assessments of each one of them. While the end of the passage calls these blessings, for some of Jacob's sons, these don't really sound much like blessings, do they? When you look at the details of what is said. Now, I want you to try to imagine if you can, how much of an impression these words would have had on each one of these young men before their father. This is extraordinary stuff. It is something that no one here will ever experience. Divinely inspired prophetic words given to you concerning the rest of your life and your descendants' lives. There can be no doubt that each of these men were listening in rapt attention to every word Jacob said to them in this chapter that's recorded for us in Genesis 49. And these words would have stuck to them. And these words were definitional to who they were for the rest of their lives. And as I'm gonna try to show you this morning, everything Jacob said, every detail of what he said did come to pass in the future of each one of those tribes, of each one of those young men. And so let's look at point number one. Reuben, let's look at Reuben first. Look at verses one through three there in Genesis 49 again. Jacob called his sons and said, gather together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Gather together in here, you sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel, your father. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might in the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Okay, stop there. Now those words must have raised Reuben's spirits. Initially, at least, but the other shoe's coming. Look at verse four. Unstable as water, you shall not excel. Because you went up to your father's bed, then you defiled it. He went up to my couch. Okay, stop there. Reuben, although he was the firstborn, the firstborn to Jacob, the firstborn of Leah, he turned out to be a very weak and a very unstable individual. Remember his foolish words to Jacob? A long time ago when he said he would let Jacob kill his two sons if anything was to happen to Benjamin. Very foolish thing that he said. Not very sensitive either. And of course, Reuben, unfortunately, sadly, was obviously controlled by lust. That ruined him. Reuben had an affair with one of his father's wives, Bilhah. And Jacob, of course, never forgot this and it did not bode well for Reuben's future. And I want to point out to you the rest, throughout the rest of the entire history of Israel, the tribe of Reuben never produced a leader of any kind in Israel. The tribe of Reuben created an unauthorized place of worship in the book of Joshua. They failed to answer the call to arms in Judges chapter five. And basically the tribe of Reuben never excelled at anything throughout the rest of Israel's history. And I want to say to you, it's a pretty heavy price to pay for something as foolish as uncontrolled sexual lust. Like all sin, it promises fulfillment, but it only brings about death, shame, and dishonor. Reuben personified this. How humiliating and disheartening it must have been for these to be the last words his father would say to him in this world. Do you think Reuben remembered this? This was a dagger to his heart. He personified what the Proverbs speak to constantly. Proverbs 6, 32. Listen carefully to the word of God. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. Maybe Reuben thought, oh, bygones are bygones. That's water under the bridge. That's so a long time ago. but it was not wiped away. He committed that great sin and it followed him. And his father's final words were, you will not excel because you went up to your father's bed. Then you defiled it. And that's it for Reuben. It's not worth it. Sexual lust is not worth it. Point number two, Simeon and Levi. Look at verses five, six, and seven. Simeon and Levi are brothers. Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council. Let not my honor be united to their assembly. For in their anger, they slew a man. And in their self-will, they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." OK, stop there. Simeon and Levi, as you may remember, were the ones who murdered every man in the city of Shechem as an act of vengeance against the prince of Shechem's violation of their sister, Dinah. They are described by their father here in his dying words as cruel, and their anger and wrath are pronounced cursed by their dad, by Jacob. So far, Jacob hasn't had a whole lot of flattering things to say, has he? Uncontrolled anger is a terrible vice. It is one that many, many people struggle with. I'd like to give you a couple of proverbs Proverbs 16, 32, he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. Think about that. The person who has self-control, the person who refuses to allow their anger to govern their behavior, they are in the eyes of God better than someone who is smart enough and strong enough and skilled enough in war to take a city. In God's mind, the man or the woman who has self-control, control over their spirit, they're better than the mighty. They're better than the one who takes a city. Simeon and Levi took a city. They killed everybody in it. But if they had had self-control, they would have been better in the eyes of God than being mighty like that. Proverbs 25, 28, whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls. Think about that. Young man, older man, young woman, older woman, who doesn't have control over their own spirit. They're like a city that has no wall around it. Think about that. In ancient times, if your city did not have a wall around it, what would happen? Every enemy that came against you would defeat you. A person who doesn't have self-control, it's like a defenseless city. Every temptation that comes to them, they lose. Every time something's about to make them angry, they give into it. Every time something irritating happens, they blow a gasket. They break something. They punch something. The person who has no control over their heart, over themselves, is like a person who built a house without a roof. Every drop of rain gets in. A person who does not have self-control loses every battle they fight. Notice the end of verse 7 there in Genesis 49. Jacob says, I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. Now listen to this. Henry Morris pointed out, quote, Simeon was given an inheritance within the inheritance of the children of Judah. So Simeon lived inside of the realm of Judah, but some of the sons of Simeon were captured and dwelled in some of the lands of the Edomites and the Amalekites lands outside of Israel. In the days of the divided kingdom, many of the Simeonites left Israel to join Judah. Apparently they were eventually either mostly assimilated by Judah or scattered outside of Israel altogether. And little is heard of them after the days of King Asa. Simeon and Levi, because of that gross sin they committed, Jacob prophesied, I will scatter you from Israel. And that's exactly what happened to both of them. And thus, the tribes of Simeon and Levi were scattered. They lost their identity. They were scattered to the pagan nations and into other tribes of Israel. And this is what their posterity reaped for the anger and cruel vengeance perpetrated by Simeon and Levi. Remember, God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generations of those that hate him. Now, we all sin, right? We all commit sin. Some of you might be thinking, well, if that's true, to pronounce all my descendants cursed for certain sins I've committed in life, then is anyone in this room, would anyone in this room have gotten a blessing from Jacob? But I want to point out something to you. Not all sins are equal in the sight of God. Our shorter catechism asks the question, are all transgressions of the law equally heinous? The answer is some sins in themselves and by reason of several aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others. Now all sin is serious in one sense, in the sense that it separates us from God and puts us under divine judgment and condemnation. But some sins are more serious, they're more heinous than others. Some sins are greater than others. Do you remember what Jesus said to Pilate when they had that private conversation in the praetorium? Remember Pilate gets kind of scared and he brings him back in and says, who are you? Where are you from? Do you not realize I have the power to have you crucified? And Jesus says to him, You could have no power at all against me. This is John 19, 11. You could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. Some sins are more serious. Some sins are greater in the sight of God than others. Numerous passages from the Psalms could be cited to this effect as well. What Reuben, Simeon, and Levi had done was serious enough to have judgment pronounced not just on them, but on the future of their tribe in Israel. Reuben committed incest and adultery. That's real serious. Simeon and Levi were mass murderers. That's really serious. That's very heinous. And so far we've seen pronouncements of judgment on the first three. You have to wonder if the guys standing there left were wondering if they were going to hear anything good either. Look at point number three there in your outline. and the coming of Shiloh. Look at verses eight and nine. Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise. Your hands shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey. My son, you have gone up. He bows down. He lies down as a lion and as a lion who shall rouse him. Okay, stop there. Judah would indeed. become the strongest and the most dominant of all the tribes of Israel, primarily in the person of King David. And remember, have you, did you notice all the references to lion in what I just read to you? Look at verses, verse nine, again, Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey. My son, you have gone up. He bows down. He lies down as a lion and as a lion who shall rouse him. What is one of the titles that's given to Jesus in the book of revelation? the lion of the tribe of Judah. The lion of the tribe of Judah in Revelation 5.5. Certainly we see a reference to that lion from Judah here in Jacob's prophecy to his son Judah. But it gets a little better. Look at verses 10 through 12 here. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of the people. binding his donkey to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine. He washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk." Okay, stop there. It seems clear from the context and the use of male personal pronouns that Shiloh is a person. The word Shiloh is from the Hebrew word for peace, which is Shalom. And yet there's this who's going to come from the tribe of Judah named Shiloh. Any guesses as to who this is? Of course! It is very reasonable that during this final prophetic announcement to all the sons of Jacob and the heads of the future tribes of Israel that the promised seed of the woman whom God promised Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden would take center stage. Remember, All the prophecies, all the things that God has said leading up to Genesis 49 about the coming of the seed of the woman and how all the families of the earth would be blessed through this individual, this person, this seed of the woman that would come. Genesis 3 15, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. This Shiloh peace bringer, will bring peace where there was once war between sinners and their God. God has reiterated that all the way through the scarlet thread of redemption, all the way through the Old Testament. This person would come from the loins of these people. In Genesis 12, God told Abraham, Abraham, in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. God told Isaac in Genesis 22, in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 26 in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 28 in your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And that's why the new Testament begins with verse one, Matthew one, one, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Also Jesus, the son of David, Jesus, the son of Isaac, the son of Jacob, the son of Judah, Shiloh is coming, the one who will bring peace, the seed of a woman who will crush the head of the serpent. And he's called Shiloh in verse 10 of chapter 49. And later on in Israel's history, Isaiah would prophesy that one of his titles would also be the Prince of Shalom, the Prince of Peace. Also the prophet Micah, remember his prophecy? When he said, you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting, and this one shall be peace. Notice again at the beginning of verse 10, you see verse 10 there in Genesis 49, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. Now that was fulfilled in exacting detail in the history of Israel. Once the tribe of Judah under King David attained leadership over the nation, the scepter, or the position of leadership, never departed from Judah until after Jesus, Shiloh, came. Remember your Old Testament history. Even after the civil war between Solomon's son, Rehoboam, and Solomon's taskmaster, Jeroboam, when that civil war happened and the kingdom was permanently divided, How is the Southern Kingdom referred to throughout the rest of 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles? It's referred to as Judah. It's the dominant tribe. The scepter would not depart from Judah until Shiloh, Christ came. Even when the Southern Kingdom was in captivity in Babylon, can anyone guess what tribe? The greatest man in the captivity, Daniel. Where was he from? Judah. He was the greatest of the surviving Israelites. After the captivity, when several groups of Israelites returned to the promised land, although there were a few Benjamites, a few Levites, and some stragglers from the northern tribes, Judah was essentially from that moment forward synonymous with Israel as a whole. Henry Morris pointed out, quote, since then, even the genealogies have been lost so that the tribal distinctives have all been fused and blurred among the Jews as a whole. This did not happen, however, that is the scepter did not pass from Judah until Shiloh came, Jesus came, just as Jacob had predicted. This fact incidentally confirms that the Messiah did come and that he must've come sometime before AD 70, since the scepter passed from Judah about that time. To this very day, we do not speak of Israelites any longer, do we? What do we call them? Jews. Where does that word come from? Judah. Judah. Fourthly, Zebulun and Issachar. Look at verse 13, Zebulun. Very short prophecies were made to these two. Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea. He shall become a haven for ships and his border shall adjoin Sidon. And if you look in Joshua chapter 19 at the land allotments and the settlement of the land of Israel, you see Zebulun's tribe would be up there towards the sea, just like Jacob said. Look at verse 14, Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between two burdens. He saw that rest was good and that the land was pleasant. He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden and became a band of slaves. And indeed, Issachar's tribe would settle in a place that had rich lands and notoriously rich crops as well. Now, point five, Dan and the serpent. And this is, I think, the most disturbing of all the prophecies that are made here. Listen carefully to this one, verse 16 and 17. Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path that bites the horse's heels so that its rider shall fall backward. Okay, now think about this. Later on in the history of Israel, in Judges chapter 18, listen closely to this, Judges 18, 30 and 31 says, then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the lamb. So they set up for themselves Micah's carved image, which he made all that time the house of God was in Shiloh. Now think about that. You remember that strange story in the book of judges where Micah has this idol and then what tribe is it that sets it up and officially begins to worship it? Dan. The tribe of Dan, the Danites and their cult, they're the ones that did this. The Danites introduced idolatry into the land of Israel. And it was also in Dan that Jeroboam would establish Baal worship from Dan to Beersheba. Remember Jeroboam I? The guy that led the revolt against Rehoboam in the south. And then you have the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom after that. Jeroboam was of the tribe of Dan. And he set up Baal worship. And every king that falls into that, for the rest of Israel's history, he sinned just like who? Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. And then this next king came along, and he was bad, and walked in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. So what was Dan's tribe going to be all about? The establishment of idolatry, apostasy from God, idol worship. Dan shall be a serpent. You recognize that word? You know it's the same Hebrew word as Genesis 3.1, Nachash, serpent. Who was it that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? The serpent was more cunning, Nachash. And we're told here, Dan will be a serpent, a Nachash. That word serpent from Hebrew there. Do you remember that? Dan will be a leader, an apostasy from God and the true worship of God in Israel. And another thing I discovered doing my preparation for the sermon When the 144,000 Israelites are named in the book of Revelation, Revelation 7, there's 12,000 from each tribe. One of the tribes is missing. It's Dan. You know who replaces Dan in that list in Revelation 7? Joseph. But remember, Joseph was replaced by Ephraim and Manasseh. But in that list in Revelation 7, Dan is deleted. Ephraim and Manasseh have 12,000, and so does Joseph. Now, whatever the specific reason for that might be, it may very well have something to do with the fact that Dan led Israel in apostasy from God and into idolatry. Okay. Now I want you to notice verse 18 here. Verse 18 is very special, very important verse here. And before I read it to you, just think, we just had a discussion. about Dan who has the spirit of the Nahash. He is a serpent. He bites like a viper and he's going to bite the heels of horsemen and they're going to fall backwards. And we see in the rest of Israel's history, apostasy and idolatry coming from Dan. And then we have this exclamation in verse 18. Look at it. I have waited for your salvation. Oh Lord. And that's the very first occurrence of the Hebrew word for salvation. Now I'm going to do something I wouldn't normally do, but I want to read that verse to you in Hebrew. See if you recognize anything from this verse in the way that it sounds in Hebrew. Leh-Yah-shuah. Kah-ki-wee-thee-yah-way. You recognize anything in there? Yah-shuah. I have waited for your salvation. I have waited for your Yah-shuah. And we know that Yah-shuah was Jesus' Aramaic name. It's translated in Greek as Yesus and in English as Jesus. Could this be a direct reference to Jesus right here in Jacob's prophecy? Well, I think it certainly is the word Yeshua. What is Jesus's name? What is his Aramaic name? The name that Mary and Joseph and his disciples would have called him Yeshua. What does Yeshua mean in Hebrew? It means salvation. That's what it means, but it was also his proper name and Aramaic. And when Jesus's mother spoke to him or Joseph or his disciples, they would have called him Yeshua. And doesn't it make some sense after prophesying over Dan and how Dan and his descendants would introduce idolatry and apostasy into Israel, that he would suddenly break forth and say, I have waited for your salvation. I have waited for your Yeshua. If you translate that term Yeshua in Hebrew, if you translate it as Jesus in this text, Literally reads in Hebrew for your Jesus. I have waited Oh Yahweh Remember Jesus's words to his Jewish opponents about what it was that Abraham Jacob's grandfather was hoping for remember in John chapter 8 when Jesus was arguing with the Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles remember what he said your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad and I would to say to you that Abraham's grandson, Jacob, rejoiced at the thought of seeing Jesus's day, just like Abraham did, just like Isaac did, just like Joseph and David and all of them did. And I would point out that Isaac and indeed right here, Jacob, they were longing to see Jesus, the seat of the woman. That's what he's talking about here. Shiloh's coming, the bringer of peace, the one who would crush the work of Satan, God's salvation, God's Yeshua. Look at verse 16 and 18. With that in mind, look at verses 16 through 18 again about Dan. Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent, a nakash, by the way, a viper by the path that bites the horse's heel so that its rider shall fall backwards. I have waited for your salvation, O Lord. As a side note, once again, these words had to be rather devastating to Dan. Point seven, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali. Gad, verse 19. Gad, a troop, shall tramp upon him, but he shall triumph at last. And indeed, 1 Chronicles 5 and 1 Chronicles 12 show that indeed, Gad was very valiant in combat, in contrast to Reuben, who ran. Gad was very valiant in combat. Verse 20. Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. Indeed, Asher would indeed be rich. as he dwelt by the rich northern sea coast near Mount Carmel all the way to Tyre and Sidon. He was very wealthy. That tribe was very wealthy in Israel. Verse 21, this is a very interesting one. Naphtali is a deer let loose. He uses beautiful words. He uses beautiful words. Now think about this. The best known descendant of Naphtali was Barak, who along with Deborah, won a great victory over Jabin and Sisera of the Canaanites during the period of the judges." And notice again, the text says, he uses beautiful words. That is probably a reference to the victory song in Judges chapter five, that was sung by Deborah and Barak. Barak, who is a descendant of Naphtali. That beautiful poetic song in Judges chapter five. Okay. Eighthly, Joseph, look at verses 22 to 26. Joseph is a fruitful bow, a fruitful bow by a well, his branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him, and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. By the God of your father who will help you, and by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breast and of the womb, The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers." OK, stop there. How different are Jacob's words to godly Joseph than they have been thus far to some of his other sons? These encouraging words were fulfilled primarily in the tribe of Ephraim. Remember Ephraim, Joseph's second born son, would be greater than Manasseh. Remember the story where they're brought to him and he crosses his hands over and Joseph doesn't like that, but then he realizes this is divinely appointed. This is what God wants. And eventually the Northern kingdom of Israel would be called primarily by its greatest tribe, Ephraim. And when you read the Old Testament historical books, you'll see that the Northern kingdom is referred to primarily by its greatest tribe, Ephraim. And the Southern kingdom is referred to primarily by its greatest tribe, Judah. Jacob prophesies here, and his prophecies here are aimed primarily at Joseph and Judah, the two godliest of his sons. And these prophecies to Joseph were fulfilled in the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, but primarily in Ephraim. Many of Israel's greatest leaders were from those tribes. Listen to these. Joshua, Deborah, and Samuel were all three Ephraimites. All three were from that tribe. Do we know of any leaders from the tribe of Reuben or those other tribes? We don't. Gideon and Jephthah, those two great judges were from the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph's other son. Okay, 9thly this morning, Benjamin verses 27 and 28. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he shall devour the prey and at night he shall divide the spoil. All these are the 12 tribes of Israel and this is what their father spoke to them and he blessed them. He blessed each one according to his own blessing. Okay, stop there. The words to Benjamin are surprisingly rough, and this had to be difficult to say since Benjamin, remember, was the second son of Rachel, the woman that Jacob really loved, the wife he really loved. It is of some note that the first king of Israel, Saul, was a Benjamite, whose character is exactly what this prophecy spells out. You see it there again, look at the second phrase of verse 27. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. Saul started out fairly well, but once his jealousy of David consumed him, he was a ravenous wolf who devoured lives, who murdered priests, who killed people, who tried to kill his own son, Jonathan, threw a spear at him, threw spears at David, who devoured lives and devoured resources from his country in the pursuit of his folly, his desire to murder David. All because of a song. David has slain his tens of thousands and Saul has slain his thousands. And eventually the spirit departed from Saul and Saul chose to engage in occultic practices and eventually committed suicide. Indeed, he would devour the prey and in the night he devoured, divided the spoil. Okay, 10thly and finally this morning, Jacob gathered to his people. Then he charged them and said to them, verse 29, I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 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 as a possession for a burial place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, and there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth, And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people." Okay. Jacob reiterates the same things he told Joseph privately to promise him that he would bury him with Abraham, with Sarah, with Isaac, with Rebecca and with Leah in the cave that Abraham bought for that purpose. And then Jacob pulls his feet up into the bed and takes his final breath. And then that wonderful phrase, for God's people to revel in, he was gathered to his people. He was brought into the realm of the redeemed in the afterlife, where they are with God at perfect peace and perfect rest. So in conclusion this morning, so much of the rest of biblical history was just spelled out for us by Jacob's final prophecies concerning each of his sons. And as it is God's intention that we read the rest of scripture with these things firmly in our minds, what God has told us will happen will most certainly come to pass. And everything he said through Jacob about those men came to pass. It is for this reason that we ourselves who believe in and know Shiloh and who know Yeshua, God's salvation, the Lord Jesus as our living Lord and Savior, We can have unwavering confidence that God's promises that we are forgiven and that we are justified are most certainly true. Those who understand the depth of their sin, their absolute helplessness before God, and those whose hope is in Christ and in Christ alone for their salvation can have the same confidence expressed by the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter one. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Yes, what I shall choose I cannot tell, for I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." The future is a very important thing. That's why we're studying biblical eschatology in our men's study this year. The future is a very important thing, especially our future. And while our temporal and earthly future is not something God has specifically revealed to us. Our eternal future is. If we are repentant and we believe the gospel of Christ, we can have exact, perfect confidence in God's promise. And when it comes to what we know about the future, nothing can be more important than that. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for mapping out the rest of Israel's history, and even mapping out beyond that, the coming of Shiloh and the coming of Yeshua, your salvation, who would undo idolatry, undo apostasy, and bring about your people and bring about the regeneration of the dead sinner and the planting in his heart of your law and of the seed of faith and repentance. would help us to understand this passage as there's so much important material in it. Help us to remember these things to take them to heart and to recognize that everything that was said through Jacob by your spirit came to pass exactly as he said it would because it was you who was speaking through him. May we have the same confidence that what you've promised us will come to pass as well. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.