Jesus Christ In The Midst Of Jacob's Prophecy

Genesis 49:1-28

Topic-Jesus Christ in the midst of Jacob’s prophecy

In these passage of scriptures of Genesis 49:1-28, we see Jacob lying in his sickbed in his final hours before his death calling all of his 12 sons together so he could prophecy to each of one them, and to tell them how their tribe would fare in the nation of Israel, especially in the promise land of Caanan.

Now, one of the things that you will notice about each prophecy that Jacob gives to each of his 12 sons is that some of the tribes of Israel would be strong, and some of them would be weak. Some of the tribes would be large, and some of them would be small. But yet through it all, all 12 tribes regardless of the characteristics that Jacob had prophecy that they would become in the future, all 12 tribes would still make up one nation called Israel, and they would all enter into the promise land in Caanan.

And when you think about it, it is the same way in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have some Christians who are strong, and you have some Christians who are weak. You have some Christians who have more than others in money, talents, knowledge, gifts, and understanding, and you have some Christian who may not be aas fortunate or blessed as others. But through it all, regardless of our background, we as Christians are still one in Christ Jesus, and we if trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will all have heaven as our eternal home.

Now as we look at each of the 12 sons to whom Jacob had prophesied to, you will noticed that not all of them had the same prophecy, and not all the tribes was gifted to be the same. For example, God had called, anointed and sanctified all the males of the tribe of Levi to the priests for the nation of Israel. God had called, anointed and sanctified the tribe of Judah to be the strongest tribe of all of Israel when it came to fighting in wars, and providing leadership for the nation Israel. God had called, and anointed the tribe of Joseph to be the most fruitful, and the largest tribe of Israel. In matter of fact, God had blessed each tribe with a uniquness that set them apart from one another, but yet they all made up as one nation, the nation of Israel

Likewise, God did not bless us all to have the same gift or talent to work in the church. We all have an uniqueness about ourselves, but as believers in Christ, we all are one body in Christ.

Another thing that you can notice about the 12 sons of Jacob, is that all of them did not have the same mother. Some had Rachel has their mother. Some had Leah as their mother. Some had Bilhah has their mother, and some had Zilpah has their mother. But they all had the same father, Jacob.

Likewise in the body of Christ, some of us came from the south, and some of us came from the north. Some of us came from the west, and some of us came from the east. But we all still have something in common if we all believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; we all have God as our heavenly Father.

Now all of the 12 sons of Jacob had some issues, faults and shortcomings, but yet God was able to band them together to make them one nation.

Likewise, all of us in the church have issues, faults, and shortcomings, but God still has us together as one body in Christ, and still able to use us for his glory.

Now with each prophecy that Jacob gave to the 12 sons of Israel, there are some lessons we can be learned because each of the 12 sons of Jacob had some strengths and each of them had some weaknesses.

To Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, to whom Jacob had lot’s of promise, to whom Jacob had hoped to be the family ‘s leader when he dies ; Jacob prophecies to him that his tribe would be weak, unstable, and would never excel at anything because of Reuben himself had a unforbidden sexual encounter with Bilhah, who was one of Jacob’s cocubine, and the handmaid to Rachel. And the lesson that we can learn from this Rueben situation is that we must not allow ourselves to get caught up in situations that will mess up our future because you will reap what you sow, for the scripture does say , “Thou shalt not commit adultery”(Exodus 20:14) and to “Flee from fornication”(I Corinthians 6:18)

To Simeon and Levi, Jacob prophesies to them that their tribes would be scattered all over the nation of Israel in the promise land because in anger, they killed a town of men in a town called Shechem because the prince of the town had raped their sister, Dianah. And the lesson that we can learn from Simeon and Levi situation is that when you allow your anger go unchecked, it can cause a lot of headaches for you and can mess up your future because the bible does say to us in Psalm 37:8, “Cease from anger and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.”