Israel Blesses Four Older Sons

Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.

“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

“Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. 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, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine. He has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. (Genesis 49: 1 to 12)

Israel was not only an adventurer, but also a visionary. During his final hours, he envisioned the future of all his twelve sons. Starting from the four older sons; Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, whom he had with his first wife Leah. Just like he envisioned, Reuben's descendants had lost the preeminence and superiority among Israel's other tribes. Simeon's descendants eventually lost their territory and were absorbed into the territory of Judah. So would Levi's descendants that served in the holy temple without their own territory. He also envisioned the greatest vision for men that the Messiah would come from the descendent of Judah by saying scepter and the ruler's staff should not depart from Judah until tribute came. And he will overcome the enemies and be praised and bow down by all God's children.

Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Yet, when he was old, he couldn't even tell them apart because his eyes were losing sight. However, for Jacob, when he was near the end of his life, not only he could tell his sons apart, but also envisioned their futures. This was all because Jacob not only cared about God's blessings, he also cared about the visions given by God. The Bible describes Jacob's reaction when he dreamed of the ladder leading to heaven as below.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. (Genesis 28: 16 to 18)

Not only for his own dream, when he heard about Joseph's dreams, even though Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, Jacob kept the saying in mind. Now, why is the vision from God so important? In the Bible, it is described as below.

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29: 18)

So, as described in the Bible, God gave his promise as below.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2: 28 29)

The dreams and visions are all from God's Spirit. God wants us to have them so that we could know God's Spirit as Jacob and Joseph. By accepting God's Spirit will make us a spiritual person. The Bible describes a spiritual person as below.

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (First Corinthians 2: 13 to 16)

So, if we have the mind of Christ then we will have the Spirit of God. If we have the Spirit of God then not only we could know a person's thoughts but also know the heavenly things freely given by God. Not only worldly matters but also heavenly matters. What a gift and blessing. Emmanuel.

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