GENESIS 49:1-4. JACOB’S FINAL BLESSING TO HIS SONS

FINAL BLESSING

Before dying, Jacob gathered all of his sons to bless each one. In biblical culture, the father’s last blessing is very important, and it is considered part of the inheritance that a father leaves to his sons.

Jacob’s blessing did not consist on wishing good things for his sons. The biblical blessing is not based on “good wishes”, but on a prophetic view point. It is based on how the father sees each of his sons’ characters, using his prophetic eyes. In other words, the “father’s blessing” has prophetic words that reflect what the father sees with spiritual eyes of his sons.

The interesting thing about Jacob’s final blessing is that his words were not only directed towards his sons, but it was also projected to the descendents after them.

Jacob had a revelation of what would happen “in days to come”. The Hebrew text says: Acharit HaYamim, which literally means: the last days.

(Genesis 49:1-2) Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. (2) “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.

Jacob’s words to his sons were not just a blessing, but a prophecy.

ALL CHOSEN

In that time, Jacob understood that the selection process was over. God was not going to choose one of his sons and reject the rest. Starting in that moment, everyone would be part of the nation that God was forming to bless all the families on Earth, just as he had promised Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 12:1-3; Gen. 26:3-4).

BLESSINGS

Next we will see the blessings that Jacob gave to each one of his sons…

1.  REUBEN

The final blessing to Reuben was the following:

(Gen. 49:3-4) Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. (4) 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!

This might seem like a strange blessing, since these are strong words. But let’s remember that this final blessing is a prophecy.

Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. As such, he deserved the leadership of the family and the double portion, which were part of the rights of the firstborn (Deut. 21:17). However, in his last words, Jacob said to Reuben that he had lost his right as a firstborn, because of the sin that he had committed.

(Gen. 35:22) While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

In the book of Chronicles, where Israel’s sons’ chronology is presented, it is explained who in Israel’s family got those birthrights:

(1 Cro. 5:1) The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son;

* Unstable, will not have preeminence

 Jacob describes Reuben as “unstable as water” (heb. Pachaz c’Mayim, lit. ebullition or boiling as water). Reuben was a man who got carried away by his emotions, instead of being guided by principles. Someone like that cannot be a good leader. If he could not stop himself from sleeping with his father’s concubine, he would hardly stop himself in other things.

Not only did Reuben lose Israel’s leadership, but so did his descendents. In all of this nation’s history, not one stood out from that tribe.

The bible also mentions some descendents that lost control and rebelled against their authority: Dathan, Abiram, and On. They joined Korah to rebel against Moses and Aaron, their spiritual authorities (Num. 16:1-3). The consequence of that sin was the death of many people of the tribe of Reuben (Num. 16:31-34).

When they left Egypt, the census said that the tribe of Reuben had 46,500 men (Num. 1:20). After the 40 years in Egypt, their population was smaller, instead of growing. The second census counted 43,730 Reubenites (Num. 26:7).

In Moses’ final blessing, he prayed in favor of the tribe of Reuben, saying:

(Deu. 33:6) “Let Reuben live, and not die, and let not his men be few.” (KJV)

Jacob knew that Reuben had not been a leader among his brothers. That is why it was not convenient for him to stay as the authority of his family; and neither were his descendents caring towards the other tribes. When the Israelites arrived to the Promised Land, the tribe of Reuben chose to stay on the other side of the Jordan river, in what today is the country Jordan (Num. 32), accompanied by the tribe of Gad. They asked to stay thinking about their livestock, not about their children (Num. 32:1-5). Moses confronted them for asking such a thing, but they insisted and promised that their warriors would fight to conquer the Land, and then come back to the place they had chosen in the Jordan Valley (Num. 32:16-19).

That was the same decision that Lot had taken, who abandoned the Promised Land in search of “better pastures” (Gen. 13:10-13). We know of the negative consequences from Lot’s decision, who almost died in Sodom (Gen. 29). Reuben’s descendents didn’t do so well either, since being outside of the Promised Land they were left vulnerable to attacks from their enemies.

During the times of the judges, the Reubenites again ignored their fellow tribes when they were in need. In the beginning, the tribe of Reuben had promised they would help, but they later they did nothing to help (Judg. 5:15-16). Just as their ancestor, the Reubenites proved to be “unstable”.

A firstborn so unstable and so unworried about his brothers’ wellbeing did not deserve to have the family’s authority. Being a firstborn was not only a right, but above all, a responsibility, and one which Reuben was not ready to receive – neither him nor his descendents.