Jacob’s prophesying with blessing (v. 28) concerning his twelve sons is a further manifestation of his maturity in the divine life. As a God-constituted person, Jacob was saturated with God; thus, his speaking was God’s speaking and his word was God’s word (cf. 1 Cor. 7:25, 40 and notes).

Jacob’s twelve sons eventually became the twelve tribes of the house of Israel, a type of the church as God’s house, composed of all the believers (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:5-6). Thus, whatever was spoken prophetically by Jacob concerning his sons was a type, a picture, of the church and should be applied to the church and to the spiritual experience of the believers, as well as to the sons of Israel (cf. 1 Cor. 10:6).

Although Reuben had the preeminence of the birthright, because of his defilement he lost the birthright (cf. Eph. 5:5 see note Matt. 1:2^3c) and became in danger of dying or of being greatly decreased (Deut. 33:6). This should be a solemn warning to us.

Because of their cruelty (Gen. 34:25-30) Simeon and Levi received no blessing from Jacob. Rather, Jacob exercised judgment over them to scatter them among the children of Israel (v. 7) so that they would not be able to behave cruelly according to their disposition (Josh. 19:1, 9; 21:1-3, 41). Later, Levi used his disposition in a renewed, transformed way to slay the worshippers of the golden calf (Exo. 32:26-28). Because of his absoluteness, desperation, and faithfulness toward God, Levi received the blessing of the priesthood with God’s Urim and Thummim (Deut. 33:8-9).

Cf. note Num. 35:8¹.

Verses 8-12 contain three wonderful seeds of the three main truths in the New Testament regarding Christ, which are the contents of the gospel: the seed of Christ’s victory (vv. 8-9), the seed of Christ’s kingdom (v. 10), and the seed of the rest in the enjoyment of the riches of Christ’s life (vv. 11-12). These three truths are a summary of the New Testament.

Judah, likened poetically to a young lion here, is a type of Christ as the ultimate Overcomer, the fighting, victorious Lion (Rev. 5:5 and note Rev. 5:5^1a).

The young lion in his freshness and strength is for fighting, for seizing the prey. When a lion goes after some prey, he descends from his dwelling place on the mountain, and after he takes the prey, he brings it up the mountain with him to devour it. After enjoying the prey, the lion couches, i.e., lies down, to rest in satisfaction. This is a picture of the victory of Christ over His enemies in His crucifixion (Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14) and of His satisfaction and rest in His ascension as the issue of His victory (Eph. 4:8 and notes).

A lioness, a female lion, is for producing baby lions. Christ is not only the fighting lion and the resting lion but also the producing lioness, who brought forth many overcomers as His “lion cubs.”

That no one dares to rouse Judah up signifies that Christ’s terrifying power in His resurrection and ascension has subdued everything (Matt. 28:18; Phil. 2:9; Eph. 1:21-22).

Christ’s victory brings in the kingdom. The scepter, a symbol of the kingdom (Psa. 45:6), denotes the kingly authority of Christ. That the scepter will never depart from Judah means that the kingship will never depart from Christ (2 Sam. 7:12-13; Dan. 2:44-45; 7:13-14; Rev. 11:15; 22:1, 3).

Between his feet is a poetic term denoting seed or posterity. This means that kings will always be produced from Judah’s descendants (1 Chron. 5:2). Christ, the King in God’s kingdom, is a descendant of Judah (Heb. 7:14).

Meaning peace bringer; referring to Christ in His second coming as the Prince of Peace, who will bring peace to the whole earth (Isa. 9:6-7; 2:4).

Equivalent to the nations, who will submit to Christ and obey Him at His second coming (Isa. 2:1-3; 11:10).

A foal or a donkey is an animal used for transportation (cf. Matt. 21:5). To tie a donkey indicates that the journey is over and the destination has been reached. The vine in this verse typifies the living Christ, who is full of life (John 15:1, 5). To tie our donkey to the vine signifies to cease from our labor and our striving in our natural life and to rest in Christ, the living One who is the source of life (cf. Matt. 11:28-30). Because Christ has won the victory and has gained the kingdom, He has become the rich vine to us for our enjoyment, rest, and satisfaction.

Garments signify our behavior in our daily living, and wine signifies life (John 2:3). Hence, to wash our garments in wine and our robe in the blood of grapes signifies to soak our behavior, our daily walk, in the enjoyment of the riches of Christ’s life (Matt. 9:17 and note Matt. 9:17¹).

Or, Red. The eyes being red with wine and the teeth being white with milk signifies transformation from death to life by the enjoyment of the rich life of Christ. The teeth function to receive food into the mouth and to help the utterance in speaking. Spiritually, the whiteness of the teeth here indicates the sound, healthy function to take in God’s Word as food and to utter His word so that others may be nourished.

The prophecy concerning Judah portrays the contents of the gospel (see note Gen. 49:8^1a). Jacob’s prophecy concerning Zebulun is a picture of the preaching of the gospel. Zebulun was part of Galilee, the place where the Lord Jesus began His ministry of the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:12-23; 28:7, 10, 16-20). It was a shore for ships, a seaport. In ancient times the ships sailed from the seaport with their cargoes by the power of the wind. This portrays the sending out of the glad tidings of the gospel by the Galilean preachers under the power of the Holy Spirit as the heavenly wind (Acts 1:8; 2:2-41). See note Psa. 68:27^3c.

The mentioning of Sidon, a Gentile seaport, indicates that the gospel would reach the Gentile world and spread to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8; 13:46-47).

The strong donkey signifies the natural man; to couch is to rest in satisfaction; and the sheepfolds signify the denominations and various religions based on the law (cf. John 10:1-9, 16 and notes). The poetry in this verse portrays the genuine church life as the issue of the preaching of the gospel, in which our natural man rests in satisfaction between (outside) the religious sheepfolds.

In Moses’ blessing in Deut. 33:18b, Issachar was to rejoice for his tents. There the tents signify the local churches as the expressions of the unique Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4a), in which the believers rejoice in the enjoyment of Christ’s riches (Phil. 4:4; 1 Thes. 5:16).

The land typifies Christ as the green pasture (John 10:9 and note John 10:9²) enjoyed by the believers in the church life.

A task-worker does work assigned by his master. This signifies the members of the Body of Christ, whose service in the Body is assigned by the Head (1 Cor. 12:4-6, 18, 28; Eph. 2:10; 4:11-12). Such service eventually becomes a tribute offered to the Master for His satisfaction (cf. Rom. 15:16).

The second group of Jacob’s sons portray the gospel, signified by Judah and fulfilled in the four Gospels; the preaching of the gospel, signified by Zebulun and fulfilled in Acts; and the church life, signified by Issachar and fulfilled in the remaining books of the New Testament. The consummation of Jacob’s prophecy concerning Judah, Zebulun, and Issachar is seen in Deut. 33:19, which says that the peoples, the nations, will be called to the mountain, signifying the kingdom of God (Dan. 2:35), where they will offer sacrifices of righteousness and enjoy the abundance of the seas (the church composed mainly of Gentile believers — see note Matt. 13:1^1a) and the hidden treasures of the sand (the kingdom hidden in the earth — Matt. 13:44). This shows that the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and the church life as the issue of the gospel result in the enjoyment of the church life and the kingdom life (cf. Rom. 14:17 and note Rom. 14:17^1a).

The Hebrew word also means scepters. This prophecy with blessing indicates that Jacob was concerned that Dan would be cut off because of his apostasy (v. 17; Deut. 13:5-18). Jacob’s word here means that Dan not only would remain as a tribe but also would be a scepter, an authority. In 1 Chronicles chs. 2—9 and in Rev. 7 Dan is omitted in the record of God’s holy people (cf. Rev. 3:5), but he will still be a tribe in the millennium because of his father’s blessing (Ezek. 48:1). See note Rev. 7:6^1a, par. 2.

In Deut. 33:22 Dan is likened to a young lion leaping from Bashan. As a young lion, Dan fought in order to gain more land (Josh. 19:47; Judg. 18:27-29), the land signifying Christ (see note Deut. 8:7¹). After his success in his victory Dan became a serpent, a viper, acting individualistically and independently in his pride to set up an idol and a divisive center of worship and to ordain a hired priest in the city of Dan during the time that the house of God was in Shiloh (Judg. 18:30-31; cf. Deut. 12:5 and note Deut. 12:5¹). As a serpent Dan bit the horse’s heels so that its rider fell backward, signifying that the apostasy brought in by Dan became a great stumbling block to the nation of Israel. Throughout the history of the church many spiritual people have followed Dan’s example, thereby frustrating God’s people from going on in His ordained way. A further fulfillment of Jacob’s prophecy concerning Dan is seen in 1 Kings 12:26-31 (see notes there).

Jacob anticipated a salvation from the stumbling block that eventually resulted from the apostasy of the tribe of Dan.

Gad’s victory in this verse, corresponding to his victory in Deut. 33:20, signifies the recovery of the victory of Christ lost by Dan because of his apostasy. According to Deut. 33:20-21, Gad was enlarged because of his victory; he provided the first part of the good land (the land east of the Jordan) for himself, but before enjoying his portion, he went with his brothers and fought with them to gain their portion of the land west of the Jordan (Num. 32:1-32), thus executing Jehovah’s righteousness and His judgments in Israel. Dan’s failure was because he was individualistic and cared only for himself, whereas Gad’s success was because he was corporate and took care of the need of his brothers. In New Testament terms, to follow Gad’s example we need to have the corporate sense of the Body and care for the members of the Body for the accomplishing of God’s will, which is to have the Body life (Rom. 12:1-21).

Following some ancient versions; the Hebrew text reads, From Asher.

Lit., fat. Both Jacob’s prophecy in this verse and Moses’ blessing in Deut. 33:24-25 show the sufficiency of Asher, coming after the recovery with Gad (v. 19). Asher was blessed with rich food, with the rich provision of life. His dipping his foot in oil (Deut. 33:24) signifies the enjoyment of the bountiful supply of the Spirit for the daily walk (Phil. 1:19; Gal. 3:5). The issue of such a rich provision is the enjoyment of absolute rest with peace, strength, security, and sufficiency.

The hind typifies the resurrected Christ (see title of Psa. 22 and note). The beautiful words are uttered by Christ and by those who experience Christ in His resurrection (Luke 4:22; John 7:46; Matt. 28:16, 18-20; Acts 2:32-36). According to Deut. 33:23, Naphtali is satisfied with favor (the Old Testament equivalent of New Testament grace) and is full of the blessing of Jehovah (referring to the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies — Eph. 1:3). Furthermore, Naphtali will possess the sea (the Gentile world — see note 11 in Matt. 13) and the south (the land of Israel), signifying that those who experience the resurrected Christ will possess the whole earth through their proclaiming of Christ (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8; Rom. 15:19). See note Psa. 68:27^4d.

Joseph as a fruitful bough typifies Christ as the branch (Isa. 11:1) for the branching out of God through His believers as His branches (John 15:1, 5). In this verse the fountain signifies God, the source of fruitfulness (Psa. 36:9; Jer. 2:13), and the branches’ running over the wall signifies that Christ’s believers as His branches spread Christ over every restriction, magnifying Him in all circumstances (Phil. 1:20; 4:22; Philem. 1:10).

Or, strong. Verses 23-24 refer to Joseph’s suffering at the hands of his brothers (Gen. 37:18-31). Joseph overcame in his sufferings (cf. Rom. 8:36-37) because he was strengthened by God, the Mighty One of Jacob and the All-sufficient One, in whom he trusted (cf. 2 Tim. 2:1; Phil. 4:13).

Heb. Shaddai. See note Gen. 17:1^2a.

The blessings bestowed on Joseph, as seen in vv. 25-26 and Deut. 33:13-16, encompass all time, from ancient times to eternity (v. 26; Deut. 33:15), and all space, from heaven to earth, including the deep under the earth (v. 25b; Deut. 33:13-14, 16a). Time plus space equals the universe. As the one universally blessed by his father, Joseph typifies Christ, the appointed Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:16), and His believers, Christ’s partners who participate in His inheritance (1 Cor. 3:21-22; Rom. 8:17; Heb. 1:9, 1:14; 3:14 and note). The universal blessing on Joseph will consummate in the new heaven and new earth, in which everything will be a blessing to Christ and His believers (Rev. 21:1, 4-5; 22:3, 5).

Heb. nazir; translated Nazarite in Judg. 13:5, 7; 16:17. Here Joseph typifies Christ as the Nazarite, the One who was separated from the common people to live wholly for God (see note Num. 6:2^2b). The universal blessing is bestowed on the crown of the head of such a Nazarite (cf. Deut. 33:16b).

Lit., tearing. As a tearing wolf, Benjamin is a type of Christ, who destroys the enemy by tearing him to pieces (Eph. 4:8; 2 Cor. 10:5).

Moses’ blessing in Deut. 33:12 says that Benjamin will dwell securely beside Jehovah and that Jehovah will dwell between Benjamin’s shoulders. Jerusalem with God’s temple, God’s dwelling place, was located in the territory of Benjamin (Judg. 1:21). Thus, the blessing of Jacob’s twelve sons ends with God’s dwelling place, which ultimately consummates in the New Jerusalem as the mutual dwelling of God and His redeemed for eternity (Rev. 21, Rev. 22). This is the greatest blessing to God’s people.

Gen. 49:1-28 is an abstract of the entire Bible and a summary of the history of God’s people, as seen in the twelve sons of Jacob, the nation of Israel, and the church. It is also a portrait of the personal history of every believer. Jacob’s first four sons — Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah — were sinners, indicating that the history of God’s people begins with sinners. However, two of these sinners, Levi and Judah, were transformed to become priests and kings. Out of the kingship with Judah a kingly salvation was produced, which was preached as the gospel in the Gentile world by Zebulun and which issued in the church life with Issachar. But the apostasy came in through Dan, followed by the recovery with Gad, which issued in the sufficiency of the riches of Christ with Asher and in the resurrection with Naphtali. Finally, the history of God’s people concludes with Joseph and Benjamin, who typify Christ as the One who is altogether victorious and perfect, without defect. According to Jacob’s prophecy and Moses’ word, Joseph brought in God’s boundless, universal blessing (vv. 22-26; Deut. 33:13-16), and Benjamin, God’s eternal dwelling place (Deut. 33:12). Thus, the conclusion of Gen. 49 corresponds with the conclusion of the entire Bible — the universal blessing in the new heaven and the new earth, in which is God’s eternal dwelling, the New Jerusalem, as the issue and goal of God’s universal blessing (cf. Eph. 1:3; 2:22).

See note Gen. 47:30¹.