Genesis 49:13-28

¹³ “Zebulun will stay at the shore of the sea; he wil become a safe place for ships, and his border shall be with Sidon.

¹⁴ “Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching among the sheepfolds.

¹⁵ He saw that an undeveloped place was good, and that the land was nice, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant there, doing forced labor.

¹⁶ “Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷ Dan will be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls off backward.

¹⁸ I wait for your deliverance, O LORD.

¹⁹ “Raiders will raid Gad, but he will also raid at their heels.

²⁰ “Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies.

²¹ “Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns.

²² “Joseph is a fruitful limb, a fruitful limb by a spring; his branches run over the wall.

²³ The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and hassled him severely,

²⁴ but his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made nimble by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (the Shepherd is from there, the Stone of Israel),

²⁵ by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that crouches below, blessings from the breasts and from the womb.

²⁶ The blessings of your father are more mighty than the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

²⁷ “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.”

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. _______________________

a legacy of justice and grace

The blessing of his sons speaks to the strong spiritual tie that Jacob has to them, but its root goes deeper than that. He speaks of the God who is able to bless even greater than the blessing experienced by his parents. He knows that behind his life and that of his sons is the unmoved mover, who has a plan for the world, and has brought him and his descendants into that plan. For his sons, the things that they do of their own will are written into that plan, but nothing changes it. He sees a destiny produced by God’s grace. But that destiny does not sidestep God’s justice. What his children have done matters, but ultimately it is what God has done that will make the difference. That is why this old man proclaims that he will wait for the LORD’s deliverance.

LORD, we respect your justice, and so seek to only do what you want. But we also marvel at your undying grace, which has promised ultimate deliverance through Christ. We celebrate that grace.