Genesis 49:21, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 18 We now add Naphtali’s blessing to the mix. This verse may be familiar to some of you. It is sometimes quoted as a description of God’s freeing power through Christ. I am taking a similar view, however we will be looking at the verse within the historical context as […]
Genesis 49:20, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 17 Much like his brother Gad, Asher’s blessing is one verse and spoken entirely in the third person. As I looked closer a comparison of the two blessings become apparent. Whereas Gad illustrates the idea of delayed gratification, Asher’s blessing alludes to the idea of enjoying life in the here […]
Genesis 49:19, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 16 We continue our study with Jacob’s blessing to his seventh son, Gad. Gad’s blessing is one verse, spoken entirely in the third person. It indicates a prevailing through struggle. Let’s take a look at the man and the tribe to see if we can derive some meaning for the […]
Genesis 49:18, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 15 Jacob now speaks out a short plea to God. How do we correlate his expression to what we have been learning? Let’s take a look as we hear the Moot Men grapple with this text. Download Session 176.MP3 – Right click on this link and choose “Save […]
Genesis 49:16-17, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 14 Today we focus our attention on Jacob’s blessing to his son Dan. As previously done, we will first look at Dan’s birth context. We will then examine the text itself to discover that Dan is likened to a small serpent with a big bite. Finally we will attempt to […]
Genesis 49:14-15, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 13 We continue our study as we look at Issachar’s blessing, Jacob’s 9th son, Leah’s 5th son. The text opens with the words, “Issachar is a strong donkey.” I’m attempting to imagine what it would have been like to have been in Issachar’s sandals. He was standing, hearing the words […]
Genesis 49:14-15, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 12 As we have now looked at five of the twelve blessings, we have discovered that some of what Jacob is sayings is relatively easy to correlate to what we know. On the other hand much of what he is saying is cloaked in symbolic language and therefore difficult to […]
Genesis 49:13, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 11 Today we look at Jacob’s blessing to his 10th son, Zebulun. The blessing is unique in that it contains prophetic language centered on the sea, ships and commerce. This is quite surprising given that this boy comes from an agrarian nomadic upbringing. What does this all mean both for […]
Genesis 49:8-12, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 10 We have been looking at Jacob’s blessing to his fourth son, Judah. Today we will complete this portion by examining verses 10-12 of Genesis 49. This text has been widely debated. Today I will throw my interpretation into the ring with the others. I will explain my method and […]
Genesis 49:19, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 16 We continue our study with Jacob’s blessing to his seventh son, Gad. Gad’s blessing is one verse, spoken entirely in the third person. It indicates a prevailing through struggle. Let’s take a look at the man and the tribe to see if we can derive some meaning for the […]
Genesis 49:8-12, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 8 In today’s study we move to “the blessing of Judah.” Jacob’s tone now changes and thus raises some interesting questions we plan to explore over the next few weeks. Today we look at Judah’s birth context, his name given at birth and how this relates to his three older […]
Last time we analyzed Jacob’s words to Simeon and Levi, referencing the background as described in the slaughter at Shechem, Genesis chapter 34. This week we look at the two along with their older brother Reuben, who were all born into a world characterized by what I’m calling a “deficit framework of thinking.” This framework […]
Genesis 49:5-7, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 6 As we turn our focus to Jacob’s words directed to Simeon and Levi it is obvious that the two are grouped as recipients of one utterance. The background of this is Genesis 34 where Simeon and Levi masterminded and led the massive slaughter at Shechem. Today, we will take […]
Genesis 49:3-4, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 5 We are analyzing Jacob’s blessing to his eldest son Reuben. We are attempting to understand these words in context to the bigger scope as the words themselves seem to indicate. My attempt this morning is to try to do just that. It’s not yet clear to me how to […]
Genesis 49:3-4, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 4 The sons are gathered around their dad’s bed. All present are keenly aware of the significance of what is about to occur. A frail but stately Jacob looks up to meet his eldest son’s eyes. Reuben braces himself to receive what dad is about to say. Jacob breaks the […]
Genesis 49:1-2, Jacob’s Blessings, Part 3 As you are aware, this chapter has been known as Jacob’s blessings to his twelve sons. However on first reading it is clear that some of what Jacob says is far from what we recognize as blessing. Before we analyze the blessings it would be helpful for us to […]
Genesis 48-49 Part 2 Much of our daily interaction is transactional in nature. The giving and receiving of information, the exchange of dollars for services or goods are just two examples of this common reality. However, what we see here in Jacob’s blessing is transformational. It is transformational in the sense that something real and […]
Today we begin the last leg of our One Man’s Journey study. Our focus will be on Genesis 48:15-16. Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh, his two grandsons. But as we look at this first of twelve blessings we are reminded of the journey this man has been walking now for so many years. How has […]
Genesis 48:8-22, Snapshot #10 Our focus today is on verse 20 as Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh, his two grandsons. This verse has been quoted world wide for quite some time, at every Sabbath gathering as the father places his hand on his son and states, “May G-d make you like Ephraim and […]
Genesis 48:1-7, Snapshot #9 Jacob’s life is ending. When Joseph received the news he decisively acts by bringing his two sons to visit grandpa one last time. His action sets in motion four other distinct characteristics which are indicative of this occasion, that being, an impending death. From this setting we will derive […]