Genesis 39-50. The Lion of Judah.
To see all the diagrams and maps that I have included with this article, go to:
http://public.iwork.com/document/?a=p38279198&d=Lesson_9_-_Genesis_39-50_-_The_Lion_of_Judah.pages
These chapters are entirely dominated by the continuing story of the life of Joseph that begins in Genesis 37. It is quite detailed at times and is one of the most dramatic and touching narratives in the Bible. Again, one must ask why this account is here.
Blessing On the Life of Joseph
Blessing With Purpose
All this - including the slavery bequeathed to him by his brothers - was directed from behind the scenes by the Lord Himself. Not even Joseph recognized this until much later. But once his brothers appeared in Egypt and Joseph realized he was able to help his family endure the famine and save their lives, that is when he began to understand the direction of his life and the purpose of all events that led to what eventually happened. As Joseph so aptly said to his brothers in 45:5-8, "...do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt."
From the time he was cast into slavery until his father appeared in Egypt was approximately 22-23 years. These years would have easily allowed some of the events that took place in Chapter 38 with Judah and his family. But it is more likely that these events had already begun before the story of Joseph started inGenesis 37. Though many lives were saved, it was ONE LIFE in particular that Joseph was born to save. The Lord guided Joseph into Egypt, bestowed upon him natural, human charisma and leadership, and enabled him to wrap a protective cocoon around Jacob and his family of 70 in the land of Goshen. Nestled in that repose in Egypt was the Redeemer, also protected and nourished by Egypt.
As Jacob left Egypt, God appeared to him in a vision (Genesis 46:2-4). God confirmed to him that His hand was guiding him and that He was going to fulfill the promise of multiplying Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's seed in Egypt. He assured him that He would one day bring him back to Canaan as promised in Genesis15:13-16. This was the beginning of the oath that God swore to Abraham.
The Redeemer Protected
So this account of Joseph's life is primarily about the Seed of the Redeemer over whom God hovered. We know Joseph is not in the Redeemer's line. Judah carried that Seed, and he lateraled it to Perez in Genesis 38. In Genesis 46:12 is a brief flash of light that identifies the Heir of Abraham (Perez) and what he had been doing the last 23 years or so of Joseph's life since he had been sold into slavery. The fact that Perez had two sons, Hezron and Hamul, when he came out of Canaan with Jacob and was included in the 66 people (Genesis 46:26) who arrived in Egypt with Jacob means that at least some of the events of Genesis 38 had to have taken place some time before Joseph was sold to the Midianites inGenesis 37. God was bringing a famine of mammoth proportion that He would use to drive His Redeemer down into the heart of Egypt for protection and sustenance. Not only that, but God sent His Seed into the very bosom of anti-Christ and heathenism. This would seem like a most unlikely place to pasture the world's Redeemer in the land where Satan surrounded Him. But the Lord had a plan to keep His enemies far away.
Joseph had clearly demonstrated his own trust and obedience in the God of his fathers in Genesis 39:9 by refusing Potiphar's wife. A look at Genesis 50:24,25 demonstrates that Joseph held firmly to the promise God made to his father's Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, "‘Soon I will die,' Joseph told his brothers, ‘but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.'Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, ‘When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.'" Therefore, he knew the need for God's people to be separate from the nations who did not worship God. Joseph devised a plan to keep them separate and protected in the midst of the nation Satan held in his snare. That strategy is in Genesis 46:31-47:4.
More than that, God moved Pharaoh to open his hand and lavish the best of everything he had on Jacob's family while they were there in Egypt, Genesis 47:5-12. In this incubator of protection from Satan and with Satan's own people supplying them nourishment, the promises to Abraham flourished and grew exponentially. The nation of Israel grew from 70 to probably somewhere between 2,000,000 - 3,000,000 people. How the nation of Israel grew so proportionately in 215 years can be explained. There are many articles on the Internet that deal with this problem and possible explanations, such as the Chart of The Old Kingdom found at http://www.specialtyinterests.net/chart_old_kingdom.html. But we also have the testimony of the Scriptures themselves in Genesis 47:27, 48:1-4, and Exodus 1:1-12. Though Abraham's Seed may have been easy to follow starting with the birth of Isaac, the multiplication of the Redeemer's blood line was so profuse in Egypt that once again (as it had in Genesis 4 and 5) it probably quietly disappeared from Satan's sight even though he was allowed one more glimpse of Him in Chapter 49 just before He disappeared beneath the waters for about 200 years before the Exodus from Egypt and the return to Canaan began. In fact, it was more like several hundred years before He bobbed to the surface again for positive identification in David's line with the announcement of the Davidic Covenant in II Samuel 7.
The Pre-Introduction of Moses
Another interesting piece of information that will become important later in Israel's history is introduced inGenesis 46:11. Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. One of Kohath's sons was Amram, and Amram was the father of Moses, perhaps the greatest of the prophets of Israel and the one with whom the next installment of the Covenant of Redemption would be made. Similar to Joseph, Moses came into the Pharaoh's family - through adoption by Pharaoh's daughter - and became the younger brother to her son who became Pharaoh. Like overlapping waves flowing to the shore, God worked His will and guided Satan's hands as he moved his pieces on the chess board and brought up each Protector and Deliverer of the Seed of the woman into the power positions of Egypt for preservation of the Redeemer. As Joseph soon faded from sight and memory, Mose surfed into position.
The Blessings on Jacobs Sons and Joseph's Double Blessing
Although there are many lines developing in this narrative of Joseph, the central figure in this part of Joseph's life story, just as it was in the early part of his life in Genesis 38, is in Genesis 49 where Jacob dispensed his blessings on his sons. Jacob had twelve original sons from his wives and their maidservants. Not all of these sons, however, became the twelve tribes of Israel. Levi, for example, did not. In the map presented at the top of this lesson, the son Levi was not given any land as a tribe. That is because the Levites became the priests of Israel. Instead of being given land, they were given cities in each of the twelve tribes that did have land. Because the Levite's duties were to be the priests of Israel, they were cared for and sustained by the other tribes and from the sacrifices brought to them by the people. The other son that did not become one of the twelve tribes of Israel was Joseph. Instead, Jacob claimed Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, born of the daughter of an Egyptian priest, for his own sons and richly blessed them in these verses. These two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, became two of the twelve tribes of Israel. From the blessing Jacob gave Joseph in Genesis 49:22-26, it appears that Jacob may have given to Joseph a double portion blessing because of the role he played in saving Jacob's family and because his brothers had sold him in slavery. This merely reflected the double blessings that Joseph had enjoyed all of his life from God's Providence. So a look at the map reveals the following names who make up the twelve tribes of Israel. Most of the map space in land is taken up by the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, which seems to accord with the generous blessing given to Joseph by his father.
Toward the end of the account of Joseph's story in Genesis 49:8-12 is the heart of this section of Scripture in the blessing/prophecy given by Jacob to his son, Judah. The royal family tribe of Israel belonged to Judah. Israel later chose Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their first king instead of someone from Judah. David, from the tribe of Judah, replaced Saul by God's command and crushed Israel's enemies, thus portraying some of the prophecy given in 49:8-12. David's family ruled Israel and later the Southern Kingdom of Judah for hundreds of years. But this prophecy is ultimately about David's last descendant, David's Greater Son, and the Great King of Judah's royal line that will rule the earth and universe.
This prophecy explains why the strange story of Genesis 38 was introduced where it was right after Joseph was sent to Egypt to become the protector and preserver of the Redeemer's line in Judah's family. Each son of Jacob receives a word from his father that predicts, condemns, or praises him and hints at his future. The map at the beginning of this lesson appears there because it may be helpful in understanding the words spoken to each son. This map will appear again when the land is distributed to the twelve tribes in Joshua.
But this lesson concerns the details spoken about Judah only. Jacob spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about the Redeemer who would come from Judah. Otherwise, there was no way he could have known the significance of what he was saying. This is the clearest note in all of Genesis about the man that will come from Eve in Genesis 3 and be the Seed of Abraham in Genesis 15. The information given about Him and His work in Genesis 12-22 was full of hope and broad in its scope. The effects of the Redeemer's coming were going to be universal. But this is more pointed and descriptive. It is also more personal. It narrows down from the breadth of His renewing work to some of the details and to the nature of the Redeemer Himself. The final state He will bring in is much more defined. In the space of 200 years from Abraham in Genesis 12 to Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49, a portrait of the Seed of the woman was being filled in with more and more details and color. It the fullest and clearest portrait we have of Christ to date in the history of redemption.
In the scheme of all of Genesis and Bible history, 200 years seems like a brief time. But the unveiling of this information starting in Genesis 12 and ending in Genesis 49 would be the equivalent of time from the Louisiana Purchase until the flooding of New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. It is a long time for so little revelation about the hope of the world. Time and God's program seems to pass painfully slow with humans, but God is eternal. A thousand years is a day, and a day is a thousand years. Time, to God and His creature Satan, is irrelevant. The wheels of judgment on Satan were turning slowly, but they were turning. Jacob speaks his blessing on Judah:
Genesis 49:8-12
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father's sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion's cub, O Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
and the obedience of the nations is his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.
Analysis of Judah's Blessing
First, one notes in this blessing that his brothers will praise Judah (49:8). Up to this point, there hasn't been much of anything to praise about Judah, but this is not about him. It is about those who will come from him, like King David, and the One who will follow in David's line and claim the praise of the whole world. All the earth will worship and praise Him as the Deliverer from sin and corruption. In Genesis 29:35, Judah's mother, Leah, spoke prophetically, no doubt without knowledge again, at Judah's birth with these words, "This time I will praise the Lord." So Judah's future was hinted at from the beginning.
Secondly, Jacob continues with Judah's triumph and total subjugation of his enemies. His hand will be in their necks. He will seize them with ease and dominate them all. It is an apt picture of one who rules and is in absolute and total control, humiliating those who defy Him. This lordship will cause his own to submit and bow before Him (49:8).
Thirdly, the image is lengthened when Judah is compared to a lion, a young powerful lion, who is recognized as the king of his domain, powerful, confident, courageous, strong, walking about and sleeping without fear or concern. He reposes in his own strength with nothing to make Him anxious. The kingly metaphor is extended even further with the picture of a king resting on a throne, holding and leaning on a scepter, the symbol of his authority, between his legs as he rules from his place of sovereignty without apprehension that his dominion will be threatened (49:9, 10a)
Fourthly, in verses 10-12, the final two great events in all of history, RENEWAL and RETRIBUTIONwill take place. Jacob says the tribe of Judah's kingly rule (through David's greatest Son) will one day come to a dramatic climax. THE KING is coming from Judah, the king to whom true obedience belongs, theOBEDIENCE OF THE NATIONS. This is the final coming of the King of the Earth in which the world will be restored to the original state found in Eden and described in Revelation 22:3-5.
Following the above event and concomitant with it, Jacob climaxes his statement about Judah's Lion with an unforgettable picture in a few short sentences that describes what the Seed of the woman will do in his ultimate closing act with all those who do not submit to his Lordship and eternal kingdom as described above at the obedience of the nations. It is a scene of justice, terror, vengeance, and wrath. The Lion of Judah approaches a vineyard and ties up his colt to one of the thick vines that has long been in production. He climbs into a vat deep with grapes gathered from the vineyard. His stamping activity on the head of the grapes in the vat is so intense that the juice from the grapes splashes high about him and soaks his garments entirely as if he is washing them in the juice. What is being described is detailed in the last verse, "his eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk." Eyes that are dark is a description of one whose eyes are nearly shut from frowning, and his face is grimaced. His forehead is furrowed, and his eyebrows are pinched and low, covering the eyes, making the eyes look inky. This is a picture of intense anger. But it is intensified even further with teeth that are as white as milk. How does one know his teeth are as whiter than milk? Usually one cannot see another's teeth unless he is smiling. In this case, he is not smiling. His teeth are clenched together and his lips are peeled back like a canine in wrath. Against his countenance and eyes of dark red, his gritting teeth stand out in contrast. The King of the earth is coming like a lion. He is going to unleash judgment and retribution on His enemies and the serpent. The obedience of the nations WILL be His.
Genesis Concludes
In the final chapter of Genesis, both Jacob and Joseph die. Joseph buries his father in an elaborate funeral in Canaan. Upon his return, Joseph's brothers are again smitten with their guilt from many years before and fear of reprisal from Joseph is upon them. But Joseph tells them in 50:19, 20, that he is not their Judge and "‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them." Joseph lived until he was 110 years old and was buried in Egypt.
Genesis begins with God's creation of light and life eternal in His world and upon the earth where He focused His attention. It ends in a dark sarcophagus with these words about Joseph - "in a coffin in Egypt." Not just in a coffin, which is bad enough, but in a coffin in EGYPT, within the rule and captivity of a notorious and historically Godless nation. Something dreadful had happened in the middle of these two posts that stand at the front and back ends of Genesis. But just before the above phrase about the state of things in Egypt, there was powerful assurance from Jacob, who had had the promise of Abraham repeated to him many times, that renewal and restoration was on its way with the Conqueror Son of the first woman, who would crush and rend Satan with the claws and jaws of a Lion who would reproduce the original creation state with everlasting life and obedience to the Creator once again. Even Joseph trusted in this promise. Just before his death (50:24) he said to the children of Israel, "God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
How Long Was It From Abraham to The Exodus?
One final question arises. Over what period of time did these events in Genesis take place? This question surfaces because of a few passages in the Bible that refer to this time period. It is also interesting because it helps us understand when Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph lived, how long Israel was in Egypt, how long they were in bondage, and when the Exodus occurred.
Galatians 3:17 says it was 430 years from the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 until the Law (10 Commandments) were given. Exodus 12:40,41 says virtually the same thing. Genesis 15:13 and Acts 7:6 says it was 400 years. The difference in years is easily accounted for. It depends on what event one uses as his starting point. If one starts with the initial promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, then it is 430 years to the Exodus and the Law (the Law was given in the same year as the Exodus); if he starts at Genesis 21 with Isaac and the beginning of the affliction that will come against him by Ishmael, then it is 400 years. It is a long and detailed discussion that can be rooted out on many web pages on the Internet, but here is a summary of the years and events leading up to the Exodus.
215 years - from the time Abraham received the promise in Genesis 12 until Jacob arrived in Egypt with his family.
17 years - Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years till his death.
54 years - Joseph lived 54 years more after his father's death. Sometime after Joseph's death, the children of Israel began to experience affliction or bondage in Egypt that continually increased in pressure. The estimate is that the bondage of Israel in Egypt is somewhere between 100 and 140 years.
64 years - Moses was born 64 years after the death of Joseph.
80 years - Moses was 80 years old when he delivered Israel out of Egypt and to the giving of the Law
Adding the above numbers, the total number of years is 430. The following two web pages provide an excellent discussion on rectifying these events with the discrepancies the Scriptures seem to present.
http://www.biblecenter.de/bibel/widerspruch/e-wds14.php
http://www.lookinguntojesus.net/ata20031130.htm
http://public.iwork.com/document/?a=p38279198&d=Lesson_9_-_Genesis_39-50_-_The_Lion_of_Judah.pages
These chapters are entirely dominated by the continuing story of the life of Joseph that begins in Genesis 37. It is quite detailed at times and is one of the most dramatic and touching narratives in the Bible. Again, one must ask why this account is here.
Blessing On the Life of Joseph
- In Chapter 37, Joseph was sent into slavery in Egypt. That God had a dramatic purpose for him instantly became evident. When he got there, he immediately experienced the blessing of God on his life. He could do wrong In his relationship with three key people:
- Potiphar
- The keeper of the prison under whose care Joseph was placed
- The Pharaoh
Blessing With Purpose
All this - including the slavery bequeathed to him by his brothers - was directed from behind the scenes by the Lord Himself. Not even Joseph recognized this until much later. But once his brothers appeared in Egypt and Joseph realized he was able to help his family endure the famine and save their lives, that is when he began to understand the direction of his life and the purpose of all events that led to what eventually happened. As Joseph so aptly said to his brothers in 45:5-8, "...do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt."
From the time he was cast into slavery until his father appeared in Egypt was approximately 22-23 years. These years would have easily allowed some of the events that took place in Chapter 38 with Judah and his family. But it is more likely that these events had already begun before the story of Joseph started inGenesis 37. Though many lives were saved, it was ONE LIFE in particular that Joseph was born to save. The Lord guided Joseph into Egypt, bestowed upon him natural, human charisma and leadership, and enabled him to wrap a protective cocoon around Jacob and his family of 70 in the land of Goshen. Nestled in that repose in Egypt was the Redeemer, also protected and nourished by Egypt.
As Jacob left Egypt, God appeared to him in a vision (Genesis 46:2-4). God confirmed to him that His hand was guiding him and that He was going to fulfill the promise of multiplying Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's seed in Egypt. He assured him that He would one day bring him back to Canaan as promised in Genesis15:13-16. This was the beginning of the oath that God swore to Abraham.
The Redeemer Protected
So this account of Joseph's life is primarily about the Seed of the Redeemer over whom God hovered. We know Joseph is not in the Redeemer's line. Judah carried that Seed, and he lateraled it to Perez in Genesis 38. In Genesis 46:12 is a brief flash of light that identifies the Heir of Abraham (Perez) and what he had been doing the last 23 years or so of Joseph's life since he had been sold into slavery. The fact that Perez had two sons, Hezron and Hamul, when he came out of Canaan with Jacob and was included in the 66 people (Genesis 46:26) who arrived in Egypt with Jacob means that at least some of the events of Genesis 38 had to have taken place some time before Joseph was sold to the Midianites inGenesis 37. God was bringing a famine of mammoth proportion that He would use to drive His Redeemer down into the heart of Egypt for protection and sustenance. Not only that, but God sent His Seed into the very bosom of anti-Christ and heathenism. This would seem like a most unlikely place to pasture the world's Redeemer in the land where Satan surrounded Him. But the Lord had a plan to keep His enemies far away.
Joseph had clearly demonstrated his own trust and obedience in the God of his fathers in Genesis 39:9 by refusing Potiphar's wife. A look at Genesis 50:24,25 demonstrates that Joseph held firmly to the promise God made to his father's Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, "‘Soon I will die,' Joseph told his brothers, ‘but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.'Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, ‘When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.'" Therefore, he knew the need for God's people to be separate from the nations who did not worship God. Joseph devised a plan to keep them separate and protected in the midst of the nation Satan held in his snare. That strategy is in Genesis 46:31-47:4.
More than that, God moved Pharaoh to open his hand and lavish the best of everything he had on Jacob's family while they were there in Egypt, Genesis 47:5-12. In this incubator of protection from Satan and with Satan's own people supplying them nourishment, the promises to Abraham flourished and grew exponentially. The nation of Israel grew from 70 to probably somewhere between 2,000,000 - 3,000,000 people. How the nation of Israel grew so proportionately in 215 years can be explained. There are many articles on the Internet that deal with this problem and possible explanations, such as the Chart of The Old Kingdom found at http://www.specialtyinterests.net/chart_old_kingdom.html. But we also have the testimony of the Scriptures themselves in Genesis 47:27, 48:1-4, and Exodus 1:1-12. Though Abraham's Seed may have been easy to follow starting with the birth of Isaac, the multiplication of the Redeemer's blood line was so profuse in Egypt that once again (as it had in Genesis 4 and 5) it probably quietly disappeared from Satan's sight even though he was allowed one more glimpse of Him in Chapter 49 just before He disappeared beneath the waters for about 200 years before the Exodus from Egypt and the return to Canaan began. In fact, it was more like several hundred years before He bobbed to the surface again for positive identification in David's line with the announcement of the Davidic Covenant in II Samuel 7.
The Pre-Introduction of Moses
Another interesting piece of information that will become important later in Israel's history is introduced inGenesis 46:11. Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. One of Kohath's sons was Amram, and Amram was the father of Moses, perhaps the greatest of the prophets of Israel and the one with whom the next installment of the Covenant of Redemption would be made. Similar to Joseph, Moses came into the Pharaoh's family - through adoption by Pharaoh's daughter - and became the younger brother to her son who became Pharaoh. Like overlapping waves flowing to the shore, God worked His will and guided Satan's hands as he moved his pieces on the chess board and brought up each Protector and Deliverer of the Seed of the woman into the power positions of Egypt for preservation of the Redeemer. As Joseph soon faded from sight and memory, Mose surfed into position.
The Blessings on Jacobs Sons and Joseph's Double Blessing
Although there are many lines developing in this narrative of Joseph, the central figure in this part of Joseph's life story, just as it was in the early part of his life in Genesis 38, is in Genesis 49 where Jacob dispensed his blessings on his sons. Jacob had twelve original sons from his wives and their maidservants. Not all of these sons, however, became the twelve tribes of Israel. Levi, for example, did not. In the map presented at the top of this lesson, the son Levi was not given any land as a tribe. That is because the Levites became the priests of Israel. Instead of being given land, they were given cities in each of the twelve tribes that did have land. Because the Levite's duties were to be the priests of Israel, they were cared for and sustained by the other tribes and from the sacrifices brought to them by the people. The other son that did not become one of the twelve tribes of Israel was Joseph. Instead, Jacob claimed Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, born of the daughter of an Egyptian priest, for his own sons and richly blessed them in these verses. These two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, became two of the twelve tribes of Israel. From the blessing Jacob gave Joseph in Genesis 49:22-26, it appears that Jacob may have given to Joseph a double portion blessing because of the role he played in saving Jacob's family and because his brothers had sold him in slavery. This merely reflected the double blessings that Joseph had enjoyed all of his life from God's Providence. So a look at the map reveals the following names who make up the twelve tribes of Israel. Most of the map space in land is taken up by the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, which seems to accord with the generous blessing given to Joseph by his father.
- Reuben
- Simeon
- Levi - No land given
- Judah - The Kingly Tribe
- Zebulun
- Issachar
- Dan
- Gad
- Asher
- Naphtali
- Joseph - No land given
- Benjamin
- Ephraim
- Manasseh
Toward the end of the account of Joseph's story in Genesis 49:8-12 is the heart of this section of Scripture in the blessing/prophecy given by Jacob to his son, Judah. The royal family tribe of Israel belonged to Judah. Israel later chose Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their first king instead of someone from Judah. David, from the tribe of Judah, replaced Saul by God's command and crushed Israel's enemies, thus portraying some of the prophecy given in 49:8-12. David's family ruled Israel and later the Southern Kingdom of Judah for hundreds of years. But this prophecy is ultimately about David's last descendant, David's Greater Son, and the Great King of Judah's royal line that will rule the earth and universe.
This prophecy explains why the strange story of Genesis 38 was introduced where it was right after Joseph was sent to Egypt to become the protector and preserver of the Redeemer's line in Judah's family. Each son of Jacob receives a word from his father that predicts, condemns, or praises him and hints at his future. The map at the beginning of this lesson appears there because it may be helpful in understanding the words spoken to each son. This map will appear again when the land is distributed to the twelve tribes in Joshua.
But this lesson concerns the details spoken about Judah only. Jacob spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about the Redeemer who would come from Judah. Otherwise, there was no way he could have known the significance of what he was saying. This is the clearest note in all of Genesis about the man that will come from Eve in Genesis 3 and be the Seed of Abraham in Genesis 15. The information given about Him and His work in Genesis 12-22 was full of hope and broad in its scope. The effects of the Redeemer's coming were going to be universal. But this is more pointed and descriptive. It is also more personal. It narrows down from the breadth of His renewing work to some of the details and to the nature of the Redeemer Himself. The final state He will bring in is much more defined. In the space of 200 years from Abraham in Genesis 12 to Jacob's prophecy in Genesis 49, a portrait of the Seed of the woman was being filled in with more and more details and color. It the fullest and clearest portrait we have of Christ to date in the history of redemption.
In the scheme of all of Genesis and Bible history, 200 years seems like a brief time. But the unveiling of this information starting in Genesis 12 and ending in Genesis 49 would be the equivalent of time from the Louisiana Purchase until the flooding of New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. It is a long time for so little revelation about the hope of the world. Time and God's program seems to pass painfully slow with humans, but God is eternal. A thousand years is a day, and a day is a thousand years. Time, to God and His creature Satan, is irrelevant. The wheels of judgment on Satan were turning slowly, but they were turning. Jacob speaks his blessing on Judah:
Genesis 49:8-12
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father's sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion's cub, O Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
and the obedience of the nations is his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.
Analysis of Judah's Blessing
First, one notes in this blessing that his brothers will praise Judah (49:8). Up to this point, there hasn't been much of anything to praise about Judah, but this is not about him. It is about those who will come from him, like King David, and the One who will follow in David's line and claim the praise of the whole world. All the earth will worship and praise Him as the Deliverer from sin and corruption. In Genesis 29:35, Judah's mother, Leah, spoke prophetically, no doubt without knowledge again, at Judah's birth with these words, "This time I will praise the Lord." So Judah's future was hinted at from the beginning.
Secondly, Jacob continues with Judah's triumph and total subjugation of his enemies. His hand will be in their necks. He will seize them with ease and dominate them all. It is an apt picture of one who rules and is in absolute and total control, humiliating those who defy Him. This lordship will cause his own to submit and bow before Him (49:8).
Thirdly, the image is lengthened when Judah is compared to a lion, a young powerful lion, who is recognized as the king of his domain, powerful, confident, courageous, strong, walking about and sleeping without fear or concern. He reposes in his own strength with nothing to make Him anxious. The kingly metaphor is extended even further with the picture of a king resting on a throne, holding and leaning on a scepter, the symbol of his authority, between his legs as he rules from his place of sovereignty without apprehension that his dominion will be threatened (49:9, 10a)
Fourthly, in verses 10-12, the final two great events in all of history, RENEWAL and RETRIBUTIONwill take place. Jacob says the tribe of Judah's kingly rule (through David's greatest Son) will one day come to a dramatic climax. THE KING is coming from Judah, the king to whom true obedience belongs, theOBEDIENCE OF THE NATIONS. This is the final coming of the King of the Earth in which the world will be restored to the original state found in Eden and described in Revelation 22:3-5.
Following the above event and concomitant with it, Jacob climaxes his statement about Judah's Lion with an unforgettable picture in a few short sentences that describes what the Seed of the woman will do in his ultimate closing act with all those who do not submit to his Lordship and eternal kingdom as described above at the obedience of the nations. It is a scene of justice, terror, vengeance, and wrath. The Lion of Judah approaches a vineyard and ties up his colt to one of the thick vines that has long been in production. He climbs into a vat deep with grapes gathered from the vineyard. His stamping activity on the head of the grapes in the vat is so intense that the juice from the grapes splashes high about him and soaks his garments entirely as if he is washing them in the juice. What is being described is detailed in the last verse, "his eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk." Eyes that are dark is a description of one whose eyes are nearly shut from frowning, and his face is grimaced. His forehead is furrowed, and his eyebrows are pinched and low, covering the eyes, making the eyes look inky. This is a picture of intense anger. But it is intensified even further with teeth that are as white as milk. How does one know his teeth are as whiter than milk? Usually one cannot see another's teeth unless he is smiling. In this case, he is not smiling. His teeth are clenched together and his lips are peeled back like a canine in wrath. Against his countenance and eyes of dark red, his gritting teeth stand out in contrast. The King of the earth is coming like a lion. He is going to unleash judgment and retribution on His enemies and the serpent. The obedience of the nations WILL be His.
Genesis Concludes
In the final chapter of Genesis, both Jacob and Joseph die. Joseph buries his father in an elaborate funeral in Canaan. Upon his return, Joseph's brothers are again smitten with their guilt from many years before and fear of reprisal from Joseph is upon them. But Joseph tells them in 50:19, 20, that he is not their Judge and "‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them." Joseph lived until he was 110 years old and was buried in Egypt.
Genesis begins with God's creation of light and life eternal in His world and upon the earth where He focused His attention. It ends in a dark sarcophagus with these words about Joseph - "in a coffin in Egypt." Not just in a coffin, which is bad enough, but in a coffin in EGYPT, within the rule and captivity of a notorious and historically Godless nation. Something dreadful had happened in the middle of these two posts that stand at the front and back ends of Genesis. But just before the above phrase about the state of things in Egypt, there was powerful assurance from Jacob, who had had the promise of Abraham repeated to him many times, that renewal and restoration was on its way with the Conqueror Son of the first woman, who would crush and rend Satan with the claws and jaws of a Lion who would reproduce the original creation state with everlasting life and obedience to the Creator once again. Even Joseph trusted in this promise. Just before his death (50:24) he said to the children of Israel, "God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
How Long Was It From Abraham to The Exodus?
One final question arises. Over what period of time did these events in Genesis take place? This question surfaces because of a few passages in the Bible that refer to this time period. It is also interesting because it helps us understand when Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph lived, how long Israel was in Egypt, how long they were in bondage, and when the Exodus occurred.
Galatians 3:17 says it was 430 years from the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 until the Law (10 Commandments) were given. Exodus 12:40,41 says virtually the same thing. Genesis 15:13 and Acts 7:6 says it was 400 years. The difference in years is easily accounted for. It depends on what event one uses as his starting point. If one starts with the initial promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, then it is 430 years to the Exodus and the Law (the Law was given in the same year as the Exodus); if he starts at Genesis 21 with Isaac and the beginning of the affliction that will come against him by Ishmael, then it is 400 years. It is a long and detailed discussion that can be rooted out on many web pages on the Internet, but here is a summary of the years and events leading up to the Exodus.
215 years - from the time Abraham received the promise in Genesis 12 until Jacob arrived in Egypt with his family.
17 years - Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years till his death.
54 years - Joseph lived 54 years more after his father's death. Sometime after Joseph's death, the children of Israel began to experience affliction or bondage in Egypt that continually increased in pressure. The estimate is that the bondage of Israel in Egypt is somewhere between 100 and 140 years.
64 years - Moses was born 64 years after the death of Joseph.
80 years - Moses was 80 years old when he delivered Israel out of Egypt and to the giving of the Law
Adding the above numbers, the total number of years is 430. The following two web pages provide an excellent discussion on rectifying these events with the discrepancies the Scriptures seem to present.
http://www.biblecenter.de/bibel/widerspruch/e-wds14.php
http://www.lookinguntojesus.net/ata20031130.htm