Crystallization-Study of GENESIS(3)
Message Ten
Jacob's Prophesying with Blessing (1)
Scripture Reading: Gen. 49:1-15
I. Jacob's twelve sons eventually became the twelve tribes ofIsrael, a type of the church as God's house, the Israel of God,composed of all the believers—Gal. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb.3:5-6:
A. Jacob's maturity in life, the zenith of his life, issued in the overflow of life, his prophesying with blessing for the building upof God's house—Prov. 4:18; Gen. 47:7, 10; 48:14-16; 49:1-28;47:31; Heb. 11:21; cf. 1 Cor. 14:4b, 31.
B. Whatever was spoken prophetically by Jacob concerning hissons is a type, a picture, of the church and should be applied tothe church and to the spiritual experience of the believers, aswell as to the sons of Israel—cf. 10:6.
II. The prophecy concerning Reuben is a warning concerningthe defilement of fleshly lust, and the prophecy concerningSimeon and Levi is a warning concerning the destructionof the natural disposition—Gen. 49:3-7:
A. Although Reuben had the preeminence of the birthright, becauseof his defilement he lost the birthright and became indanger of dying or of being greatly decreased; this should bea solemn warning to us—vv. 3-4; cf. Eph. 5:5; Matt. 1:2; Deut.33:6; 1 Cor. 6:17-20; 1 Thes. 4:3-8; 1 Cor. 9:27; Phil. 1:20; Rom.6:12-14; 8:2; 12:2; 16:20; 2 Tim. 2:22.
B. Because of their cruelty according to their disposition, Simeonand Levi received no blessing from Jacob (Gen. 49:5-6; 34:25-30;cf. Deut. 22:6-7); rather, Jacob exercised his judgment over themto scatter them among the children of Israel (Gen. 49:7) so thatthey would not be able to behave cruelly according to their disposition(Josh. 19:1, 9; 21:1-3, 41):
1. Later, Levi used his disposition in a renewed, transformedway to slay the worshippers of the golden calf; our naturaldisposition can be useful if three conditions are met:consecration, using our natural disposition against ournatural desire, and using it in a renewed and transformedway—Exo. 32:26-28.
2. Because of his absoluteness, desperation, and faithfulnesstoward God, Levi received the blessing of the priesthoodwith the Urim and the Thummim—Deut. 33:8-9; Exo.32:26-28.
III. The prophecy concerning Judah portrays Christ in thefour Gospels (the contents of the gospel), the prophecy concerningZebulun portrays the shipping out of the gospelin the Acts (borne by the wind of the Holy Spirit), and theprophecy concerning Issachar portrays the practice ofthe church life in the Epistles (for God's building)—Gen.49:8-15:
A. The prophecy concerning Judah portrays the good news ofChrist—the victory of Christ (vv. 8-9), the kingdom of Christ(v. 10), and the enjoyment and rest in Christ (vv. 11-12); thesethree truths are a summary of the New Testament:
1. Judah, likened poetically to a young lion, is a type of Christas the ultimate Overcomer—v. 9; Rev. 5:5:
a. In His victory Christ is typified as a young lion overcomingthe enemies and couching in satisfaction afterenjoying the prey (Gen. 49:9a); this is a picture of thevictory of Christ over His enemies in His crucifixion(Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14) and of His satisfaction and rest inHis ascension as the issue of His victory (Eph. 4:8).
b. Christ is also the producing lioness, bringing forth manyovercomers as His "lion cubs"—Gen. 49:9b; cf. Prov. 28:1;Rev. 22:5.
c. That no one dares to rouse Judah up (Gen. 49:9b) signifies that Christ's terrifying power in His resurrectionand ascension has subdued everything (Matt. 28:18; Phil.2:9; Eph. 1:21-23).
2. In His authority and kingship Christ comes as the PeaceBringer, the One to whom all the nations will submit andobey—Gen. 49:10; Eph. 2:14-15:
a. The scepter, a symbol of the kingdom (Psa. 45:6; Heb.1:8), denotes the kingly authority of Christ; that the scepterwill never depart from Judah means that the kingshipwill never depart from Christ (2 Sam. 7:12-13; Dan.2:44-45; 7:13-14; Rev. 11:15; 22:1, 3); we must be underthe ruling of Christ to reign for Christ over Satan, sin,and death (Col. 2:19; Rom. 5:17).
b. Shiloh, meaning "peace bringer," refers to Christ in Hissecond coming as the Prince of Peace, who will bringpeace to the whole earth—Isa. 9:6-7; 2:4; Rom. 14:17; Col.3:15; Matt. 14:22-33; cf. Job 3:25-26; Prov. 3:25-26.
3. Due to His victory and kingship, Christ can be enjoyed byus to be our rest—our perfect peace and full satisfaction—Gen. 49:11-12:
a. To bind our donkey, or our foal, to the vine indicates thatthe journey is over and that the destination has beenreached; the vine in verse 11 typifies the living Christ,who is full of life.
b. To bind our donkey to the vine signifies to cease fromour labor and our striving in our natural life and to restin Christ, the living One who is the source of life (John15:1, 5; Matt. 11:28-30); because Christ has won the victoryand has gained the kingdom, He has become the richvine to us for our enjoyment, rest, and satisfaction.
c. Garments signify our behavior in our daily living, andwine signifies life (Gen. 49:11b; John 2:3); hence, to washour garments in wine and our robe in the blood of grapessignifies to soak our behavior, our daily walk, in theenjoyment of the riches of Christ's life (Matt. 9:17 andfootnote 1).
d. The eyes being red with wine and the teeth being whitewith milk (Gen. 49:12) signifies transformation fromdeath to life by the enjoyment of the rich life of Christ(John 10:10; Judg. 9:13); the whiteness of the teethindicates the sound, healthy function to take in God'sWord as food and to utter His word so that others maybe nourished (Eph. 6:19).
B. The prophecy concerning Zebulun portrays the preaching ofthe gospel—Gen. 49:13:
1. Zebulun, a seaport, was part of Galilee, the place wherethe Lord Jesus began His ministry of the preaching of thegospel of the kingdom—v. 13; Matt. 4:12-23; 28:7, 10, 16-20.
2. Zebulun typifies Christ as the "shore" of the evangelistsfor the transportation and spreading in the preaching ofGod's gospel; after Christ accomplished all the things thatare to be proclaimed as the gospel, on the day of Pentecostat least one hundred twenty gospel "ships," all of whomwere Galileans (Acts 2:7; 13:31), set out from the "shore"to spread the gospel (Deut. 33:18a).
3. We can be the Galilean preachers, the gospel "ships," whosail out from Christ as the "shore" through prayer by thepower of the Holy Spirit as the heavenly wind and withthe riches of Christ in the Word to reach the whole world—Acts 1:8; 2:2-41; 4:31; Psa. 68:1, 11-13, 18-19, 27.
C. The prophecy concerning Issachar portrays the church life—Gen. 49:14:
1. The strong donkey signifies the natural man; to couch isto rest in satisfaction; and the sheepfolds signify the denominationsand various religions based on the law—v. 14;cf. John 10:1-9, 16.
2. The poetry in Genesis 49:14 portrays the genuine churchlife as the issue of the preaching of the gospel, in whichour natural man rests in satisfaction between (outside)the religious sheepfolds; the land typifies Christ as thegreen pasture enjoyed by the believers in the church life—vv. 14-15a; John 10:9.
3. In Moses' blessing in Deuteronomy 33:18b, Issachar was torejoice for his tents; there the tents signify the localchurches as the expressions of the unique Body of Christ(Eph. 4:4a), in which the believers rejoice in the enjoymentof Christ's riches (Phil. 4:4; 1 Thes. 5:16).
4. This enjoyment issues in our willingness to carry out ourservice, which is assigned by Christ as the Head; such servicebecomes a tribute offered to the Master for His satisfaction—Gen. 49:15b; 1 Cor. 12:4-6, 18, 28; Eph. 2:10; 4:11-12;cf. Rom. 15:16.
IV. The consummation concerning Judah (the gospel in thefour Gospels), Zebulun (the preaching of the gospel in theActs), and Issachar (the church life fulfilled in the remainingbooks of the New Testament) is seen in Deuteronomy33:19, which says that the peoples, the nations, will be calledto the mountain, signifying the kingdom of God (Dan. 2:35),where they will offer sacrifices of righteousness and enjoythe abundance of the seas (the church composed mainly ofGentile believers (footnote on Matt. 13:1) and the hiddentreasures of the sand (the kingdom hidden in the earth—v. 44); this shows that the gospel, the preaching of thegospel, and the church life as the issue of the gospel resultin the enjoyment of the church life and the kingdom life(Rom. 14:17).