Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons (Part 1)

Review:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT
¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷ God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

 I believe this lesson gives parents and teachers a lot to think about.  You do not have to agree with everything I am saying, but please share with me your reason for disagreeing.

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons (Part 1)

Genesis 48:21-49:2 NLT
²¹ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors. ²² And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of the land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
^49:1 Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.
² “Come and listen, you sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel, your father.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 48:21-49:7 NLT
²¹ Then Jacob said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors. 

Jacob was reminding Joseph that God will be with him.

Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT (A promise to Joshua)
⁶ So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT (The promise to Joshua repeated to all believers.)

⁵ … For God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”
⁶ So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?”

Jacob was also telling Joseph something that would happen approximately 440 years from this point in time.

• Jacob had matured into a man of faith.

Jacob knew and believed the promise God had made with this father and grandfather.  He remembered and believed his dream at bethel when God had said to him, “The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.” 

• Jacob reminded Joseph of the covenant God had made with him (Jacob), his father (Isaac), and his grandfather (Abraham). 

These words would certainly have been encouraging to Joseph.

²² And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of the land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

The same verse in different translations:

Genesis 48:22 New International Version
²² And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Genesis 48:22 Common English Bible
²² I’m giving you one portion more than to your brothers, a portion that I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Genesis 48:22 English Standard Version
²² Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.” 

Jacob’s history does not record any conquest of Amorite land.

This is the only mention of Jacob taking land from the Amorites with his sword and bow.

This verse may be unclear to us.  That’s o.k.

 

What do we know from scripture?  Let’s focus on what we do understand.

Joseph was going to receive something “beyond what Jacob gave to his brothers”.

1. 1. 1. Technically, there is no tribe of Joseph (although the phrase is used in Numbers 13:11, Numbers 36:5, and Revelation 7:8). Instead, Joseph received a “double blessing” when his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, each had one of the twelve tribes of Judah named after them.

1. 1. 2. Jacob did purchase property from the children of Hamor (Genesis 33:19) but that was not by conquest.

Genesis 33:18-19 NLT
¹⁸ Later, having traveled all the way from Paddan-aram, Jacob arrived safely at the town of Shechem, in the land of Canaan. There he set up camp outside the town. ¹⁹ Jacob bought the plot of land where he camped from the family of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver. ²⁰ And there he built an altar and named it El-Elohe-Israel. (“God, the God of Israel.”) 

1. 3. Jacob gave Joseph a plot of land near Shechem.

John 4:4-6 NLT
⁴ He had to go through Samaria on the way. ⁵ Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar (near Shechem), near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there …

Joseph was buried at Shechem.

1. 4. Joseph’s bones were buried at Shechem.

Joshua 24:32 NLT
³² The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought along with them when they left Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the plot of land Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor for 100 pieces of silver. This land was located in the territory allotted to the descendants of Joseph. 

• Joseph received a special blessing from his father Jacob.

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
^49:1 Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.

• Jacob tells each of his sons what will happen to them in the days to come.

Descriptions of his sons included phrases such as:

Unruly
In their anger they murdered men.
Crippled oxen just for sport.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down – who dares to rouse him.
A sturdy donkey.
 A poisonous viper along the path.
A ravenous wolf devouring his enemies. 

Jacob’s words portrayed the future history of each son, seemingly based on their character up to that time.

“Jacob’s words” might be better stated as God’s prophecy.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT)

Jacob was God’s spokesman.

I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.

Jacob knew his sons.

Proverbs 20:11 NLT
¹¹ Even children are known by the way they act,
    whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right.

Matthew 7:15-20 NLT
The Tree and Its Fruit
¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Predictable outcomes for the behaviors of individuals (and nations).

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 NLT
²⁶ “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! ²⁷ You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 NLT
¹⁵ “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. ¹⁶ For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.
¹⁷ “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, ¹⁸ then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.
¹⁹ “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰ You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Psalm 37:22 NLT
²² Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
but those he curses will die.

• Choices have consequences.

Jacob’s words were not limited to the future history of his sons, his words also portrayed, to some degree, the future of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Consequences of parental disobedience.

Children are not punished for the sins of their parents (Deuteronomy 24:16 ¹⁶ “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.) but the children would feel the impact of their parent’s sins as a natural consequence of the parent’s disobedience.  Children reared in such an environment would be influenced to practice similar sins, thus experience punishment for their sins.  The effect of a disobedient generation would take several generations to reverse.

Children are not punished for the sins of their parents, but their lives are affected by the sins of their parents.

Exodus 20:5-6 NLT
⁵ You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. ⁶ But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

Exodus 34:6-7 NLT
⁶ The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,
“Yahweh! The Lord!
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
⁷ I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected—
even children in the third and fourth generations.”

Numbers 14:18 NLT
¹⁸ ‘The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’

Jeremiah 32:18 NLT
¹⁸ You show unfailing love to thousands, but you also bring the consequences of one generation’s sin upon the next. You are the great and powerful God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

A parent tends to greatly influence a child’s belief system, from religion to personal values and habits.

• Parents play a major role in determining a child’s success or failure in life.

Verses we use all the time show that we believe that parents do play a major role in determining a child’s success or failure in life.

Proverbs 22:6 NLT
⁶ Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NLT
⁴ “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵ And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. ⁶ And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. ⁷ Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

Psalm 78:4, 6, 7 NLT
⁴ We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
⁶ so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children.
⁷ So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.

Luke 6:40 NLT
⁴⁰ Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

Matthew 10:24 NLT
²⁴ “Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. 

2 Timothy 1:5 NLT
⁵ I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.

• Scripture tells parents to direct their children on to the right path. 

² “Come and listen, you sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel, your father. 

This is a two-way street.

The parent (Jacob) gives good honest counsel.

The children (sons of Jacob) need to listen and learn.

Proverbs 1:8-9 NLT
⁸ My child, listen when your father corrects you.
Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
⁹ What you learn from them will crown you with grace
and be a chain of honor around your neck.

Ephesians 6:1-3 NLT
Children and Parents
¹Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. ² “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: ³ If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” 

• Scripture tells children to honor their parents.