GENESIS
CHAPTER 49
Jacob blesses his sons and their seed—Reuben, Simeon, and Levi are chastened—Judah shall bear rule until Shiloh (Christ) comes—Joseph is a fruitful bough by a well—His branches (the Nephites and the Lamanites) to run over the wall—The Shepherd and Stone of Israel (Christ) shall bless Joseph temporally and spiritually—Jacob chooses to be buried with his fathers in Canaan—He yields up the ghost and is gathered to his people.
[ Of note is that when George Washington was sworn in a the president of the united states of america he felt that he should do so with his hand on the holy bible because in his opinion it was acts of God that enabled them to overtake the army's of Britain. The bible was opened at random and the page that it was opened to happened to be Gen 49; and George Washington would have had his hand on verses 22-26 as he was being sworn in. ]
1 AND Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearken which means to "listen" and "obey". ] unto Israel your father.
3 ¶ Reuben, thou art my firstborn, [ He is Jacob's firstborn but to Leah the one he was tricked into marrying. He should have received the double portion and the birthright blessings but he slept with Zilpah (Gen 35:22) one of his Dad's concubines - which did not please Jacob so Reuben was cut off from what would have been his by birthright. ] 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; b [ He is a lot like boiling water, it becomes reckless and dangerous - as a result Reuben looses his right to become the preeminent tribe. ] because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
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, [ Simeon and Levi; these two straight up massacre a city to take revenge for their sister (Gen 34:25-31). ] 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. [ Jacob curses their anger and says they will be scattered in the new nation. ]
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: [ Whelp - any of the young male or female of various carnivorous mammals. So we have Judah described here as a Lion, which is the symbol or standard of the tribe of Judah. Like a lion he will defeat his enemies, rule the people and have plenty of wine. ] 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 [ A rod or staff which represented authority. The governance of the house of Israel. ] shall not depart from Judah, [ Jacob’s prophecies that the scepter will not depart from Judah. We will see this later fulfilled with David when he prevails over Ish-bosheth and becomes king of all Israel. At that time the Lord makes a covenant with David, promising that a descendant of David will be on the throne forever (2 Sa 7:6). ] nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;
[ So the governance of Israel will be with the Jews until Christ came. Juda did not think that they were rebellious when they rejected Christ. Why? Because they were following the narrative of their leaders. They really thought that they were doing God's work by rejecting Christ. The Father of lies had deceived them, and that same author is trying to deceive us today. How is he doing that? Right is wrong and wrong is right. That the only thing that matters is love, and that anything done under the banner of love is of God and is morally correct and acceptable. They preach that the only thing that is really un-aceptable is intolerance. We can point our figures at the Jews and say how blind they were, how they had strayed so far from the truth. However; if we look at our society today we are every bit as blind as they were. ] 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:
13 ¶ Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; [ He’ll live by the sea and run successful sea ports. ] and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
14 ¶ Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: [ Like a strong donkey: comfortable submitting to forced labor. ]
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.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, [ Like a serpent: he’ll judge
the other tribes, but also be an obstacle to passersby. ] an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
19 ¶ Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. [ While he may be raided, he’ll raid them right back. No one is going to get the better of him. ]
20 ¶ Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
[ Asher will eat like a King with produce rich food. ]
21 ¶ Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. [ Like a doe: he makes beautiful words. ]
22 ¶ Joseph is a fruitful bough, < [ Like a fruitful bough: he gets all the uber blessings. ] even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: [ See 1 Nephi 7:2. Think about this George Washington's hand is over this verse while he is being sworn in. The bible was opened at random and it fell to this page. Here we have it talking about the tribe of Joseph at a time when the United States bas just won it's freedom from England. England's monarchy hated the fact that these people who left their country would have the odasity to break away from them and form their own nation. ]
24 But his bow [ Joseph's. The tribe of Joseph who founded america. ] abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; [ It was a miracle that the United States won the war at all. It was only by divine intervention that it happened. The armies of George Washington lost almost ever battle up to the battles at the end, the one's that mattered the most. Therefore the armies of England were defeated with the power of God. ] (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) [ Meaning that from this victory would come forth the stone of Israel, or revelation from God. Christ declared to Peter that upon this rock, or stone will I bring forth my word. Or eventually the world will come to know God as he reveals his truth in this case through the tribe of Joseph coming forth from the United States. When this nation over the sea is formed that Joseph will go forth from this nation will be the shepherd that will go out and gather Israel back together. ]
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. [ Like a wolf: he eats in the morning and divides spoil at sunset. ]
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.