Right, Amen, so Genesis 49 part 2, we're very nearly there and there's a bit to get through
though in part 2 here. So far in this chapter, if you remember Jacob, he's been prophesying
of what's to come for each of the tribes of Israel and I just remind you that verse
1 said, and Jacob called unto his sons and said, gather yourselves together that
I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Okay, that's the
key point here in the last days, this being the last days for each individual
tribe, which varies depending on the tribe. Okay, most of the tribes ended long
before Christ's first coming, however the tribe of Judah continued all the way
into the millennial reign and beyond. Okay, so there's, you know, differing
ends here, different timelines here. We looked at the first six tribes, Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, and Judah being really a prophecy of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we looked into that in depth last week. Zebulun and Issachar focusing
on the lesson we can get from the prophecy of the end of Issachar, we
looked at that in depth as well. Now, basically how you're going to serve
someone or something in life, it may as well be the Lord and we saw that
from verse 14, it said, Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two
burdens and he saw that rest was good and the land that it was pleasant and
bowed his shoulder to bear and became a servant unto tribute. Then we go
into where we're starting now for verse 16. So we've done the first six,
we're going to look at the next six. Verse 16 says, Dan shall judge his
people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
an adder in the path that biteth the horse's heels so that his rider shall
fall backward. I'd like to pray. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for this
chapter of the Bible, Lord, and the things we can learn from it, Lord, and
although some of these prophecies are cryptic, help me to just preach them
clearly and accurately and boldly, Lord, and Lord, just fill me with your
spirit as I preach, just fill the room with your spirit, please, Lord, help
everyone to just really have attentive ears and be able to take in
what your word's saying here, Lord, and in Jesus' name, for all of this. Amen.
Okay, turn to Revelation chapter 7, obviously keep a finger here in
Genesis 49. Dan is an interesting tribe, okay, where the tribe doesn't appear
in the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 2 to 8, interestingly, chapters 2 to 8,
neither here as we're going to see in Revelation 7, as one of the 144,000 in heaven,
ready to return during God's wrath as witnesses. So it's interesting how we
don't see Dan figured here, we don't see Dan mentioned in 1 Chronicles and
the genealogies from chapters 2 to 8. Revelation 7, where you are, it says in
verse 1, and after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners
of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not
blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel
ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a
loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth
and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we
have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the
number of them which were sealed, and there were sealed and hundred and
forty and four thousand, of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the
tribe of Judah was sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Reuben was sealed 12,000. Of the
tribe of Gad was sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Asa or Assa, this is talking
about Asher, as we see it in the Old Testament, was sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of
Nephthalim, or we would call it Laftali, was sealed 12,000. Of the
tribe of Manasseh, or Manasseh, was sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Simeon
was sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Levi was sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of
Issachar was sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Zebulon, or Zebulon, was sealed
12,000. Of the tribe of Joseph, and this for me is Ephraim here,
obviously, where we've already seen Manasseh mentioned, was sealed 12,000. Of the
tribe of Benjamin was sealed 12,000. Where's Dan? Dan's not there. Now just to
make it clear, okay, turn over to Revelation 14, while you're in
Revelation. These 144,000 aren't the Jews, okay, miraculously receiving
irresistible grace. If you ever heard these clowns come out with this stuff,
remember a pastor from an old church ended up being a false prophet anyway,
coming out with this. Well, all I know is there's 144,000 are gonna get
saved at the end, and it's like, where do you even start, right? Well, that's not what
it's talking about here, okay, and obviously these are of 12 different
tribes as well. These are in heaven, ready to return as witnesses after the
rapture, and that's what the error they make, is they think these guys must be
on the earth already. No, these are, these are waiting to return. Revelation
14, it says in verse 1, And I looked, and a lower lamb stood on the Mount
Zion. And this is where they're like, look, see, he must be standing there, you know, at
this point, you know, on the earth in Mount Zion. And with him and 144,000
is the father's name written in their foreheads. But this is a heavenly city,
spoken of in Hebrews 12-22, which says, But ye have come unto Mount Zion, and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and unto an innumerable
company of angels. So if you keep reading where you are in Revelation 14,
let's look what's going on. I heard a voice from heaven is the voice of many
waters, and is the voice of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of
harpers harping with their harps, and they sung as it were a new song
before the throne. Notice how they're singing before the throne, they're in heaven,
and before the four beasts, the four beasts are in heaven, and the elders that we've
seen described earlier in a chapter or two earlier, the elders that surround
the throne, the 24 there in heaven, and no man could learn that song but
the 144,000 which were redeemed from the earth. So these 144,000
are in heaven at this point, okay? These are they which were not defiled with
women, for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever
he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto
God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth was found no guile, for they are
without fault before the throne of God. Definitely not Harvey Weinstein,
Spielberg, Rothschild, and whoever else, right? Okay? And the rest of their ilk,
okay? That's not these people are virgins, in their mouth was found no guile,
he said in verse 6, And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having
the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation and kindred and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice,
Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come, and
worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains
and waters. So this is the wrath of God about to start, but what happens
after the tribulation before God's wrath? Well jump forward to verse 14, And I looked
and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the
Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand
saw a sharp sickle, and another angel came out of the temple, crying with
a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle a reap, for the
time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe, and he
that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth
was reaped. So that's the rapture, and that was 144,000 ready to return
from heaven with the everlasting gospel, to basically be witnesses during the
wrath of God. So, with that in mind, why was Dan not represented here? Okay, we just
read through them, there was no Dan there, no tribe of Dan. Perhaps, you know,
calling a tribe Joseph instead of Ephraim kind of makes the point that Joseph
could have been merged into one as well, so he's definitely admitted, it's not
just, oh well, someone had to go because we had kind of had to work out 12, or
Joseph could have just been the one, could have been Manasseh and Ephraim, but
in fact, no, he separated Manasseh and Ephraim, and even called Ephraim Joseph,
so Dan is definitely missing there, didn't have to be. Well, back in
Genesis 49, it says in verse 16, Dan shall judge his people as one of the
tribes of Israel. Now, I believe that rather than the interpretation that this
verse is referring to Samson, and some people I think maybe, you know, that
rings a bell, I'm sure I've heard people preach that before, who was of the tribe
of Dan, okay, Samson was of, he was a Danite. It's more likely that Dan
became a snare and a judgement for God's people, that's what I think it's
talking about here. Verse 17, after having said, Dan shall judge his people, as one
of the tribes of Israel says, Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the
path that by to the horse heels, so his riders shall fall backward. Because
there were judges out of various tribes, okay, most of the tribes ended up
with judges or people at least who, you know, rose to some sort of prominence, and
where this is talking about the last days of each tribe, Samson was a long
time before that, okay, in the book of Judges, a long time before the end of
the tribe of Dan. With the tribe being represented during David's reign, you
have to turn it, but 1 Chronicles 27, 22 says of Dan, as a real the son of
Jeroham, these were the prince of the tribes of Israel, so when they had a
representative, a prince, a leader from each tribe, and this is now much
further forward, we're going forward a few hundred years into David's reign, and
then a few hundred years later, sorry that was a few hundred years later,
this does seem to be though the last mention of them other than the
region itself, okay, so you might have heard the saying from Dan to be a
sheba, that's just talking about from basically the northernmost point to
the southernmost point, north to south, so what happened, okay, how did he
judge his people? Well turn to Judges chapter 18, it was by being a serpent,
okay, a hindrance, a snare along the way, that I think those verses go hand in
hand, so in Judges 18, the Danites invade Laish, and they settle
there, okay, it says in Judges 18 and verse 29, and they called the name of
the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born unto Israel,
the name of the city was Laish at the first, and the children of Dan set up
the graven image, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and
his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of
the land, that's a long time, okay, him and his sons after him as well, and
they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made all the time the
house of God was in Shiloh, so you've got the house of God in Shiloh down
south, and the Danites with their graven image and their unqualified
priest up north, if you remember the story, they just grabbed this guy, he's not
even qualified to be a priest, make him into their own priest, and then continue
through his line, even though he's not even in the priestly line anyway, to
have their own version, their own priest, turn to Amos chapter 8, and this
continued, and when the kingdom split under Rehoboam, you're turning to Amos 8,
Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves in Dan for people to come to
worship, so this is just continued with Dan being this sort of false religion,
this place of idolatry, and this is referred to in Amos 8, when Amos is
prophesying of the famine of the word of God to come, and like I preach, you
know, a few chapters back, probably a dual fulfillment here as well, but he
said in verse 11 of Amos 8, Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I
will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for
water, but of hearing the words of the Lord, and they shall wander from sea
to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro, to seek
the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair
virgins and young men faint for thirst, they that swear by the sin of Samaria
and say, Thy God, O Dan, liveth, and the manner of Beersheba liveth, even they
shall fall and never rise up again. So with the other golden calf, you know,
set up it seemed in Beersheba, but notice how it seems that the Danites
were given entirely over to idolatry. It said, They that swear by the sin of
Samaria and say, Thy God, O Dan, liveth. Okay, so it seems that by
then it's their God. It's like the Danites' God they're talking about.
And this is in relation to one of these golden calves. So it
seems that the Danites ceased to be recognized as a tribe. It's likely
that there was no remnant of believers amongst them by the end. That's what
I believe. They just ceased to be recognized. They ended up no longer
existing as a tribe. They were given over fully to idolatry. And it does
make you wonder if maybe those 12,000 from each tribe being taken was there
for post Micah's image being set up in Judges 18, maybe? I don't know. But
maybe they were taken during the heyday of Solomon's reign, perhaps,
because that was post that time. And that was obviously a time, you know, of
course, which even pictures a millennial reign as well. But regardless,
okay, it's not just the Danites that fell, okay? So it said here in verse 14
where you are, they that swear by the sin of Samaria and say, Thy God, O Dan,
liveth, and a man of Beersheba liveth, even they shall fall and never
rise up again. So where Genesis 49 said, Dan shall judge his people as one of the
tribes of Israel, Dan shall be a serpent by the way and add her in the path
that biteth the horse hill so that his riders shall fall backward, Dan
basically presented an option, okay? Presented a choice which, like I've said
before, is just a big part of our Christian lives, isn't it? Okay, choice a
big part. Turn to Deuteronomy 30. We're constantly being presented with choices
in life, okay? You're being presented with choices all the way through
life from first thing in the morning, okay? You know, open your eyes and
read the Word of God or watch, you know, some video on YouTube of some guy
trying to shoot a pass to somewhere in the US. Anyone see that one?
But, you know, it's like, there's just these constant choices. Do I get on with the
Word of God or do I start looking and looking through this stuff and go
through it down a YouTube black hole or whatever else, some other social
media or something else, get on with my day in other ways. There's a choice
when you wake up, the choices are everywhere. There's that choice with
salvation, isn't there? Revelation 22, 17 says, and the Spirit and the bride
say, Come, let him that hearers say, Come, let him that is the first
coming, whosoever will, whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
There's just choices all the time, okay? Choices throughout life and the
choices continue after salvation. Do you want to serve God a mammon? You get
that choice, don't you? You get to choose. Constantly, there are crossroads or at
least forks in the roads, aren't there? It's like, do I choose this or do I
choose that? And so often the choice isn't that complicated. A lot of the
time we just make it complicated, don't we? So often the choice is, choose God,
right? Do you want to trust the word of God or the words of man? And we get that
choice a lot in various areas as well. People trying to get you to do
this, advise you to do that, tell you to do this, explain this to you, or what
does the word of God say? You know, in circumstances, people, situations,
they all present a choice in life. Do you trust God or the whisperer? You
know, in various areas, various ways. People trying to turn your head, pull you
out. Do you do the right thing or keep your mouth shut? Do you follow God
and his word or the fakes, the holier the nows or their fake standards? It's just
all these choices constantly being presented to you. Choice, choice, choice.
Who do I trust? In Deuteronomy 30, God presents this truth through Moses. He
said, see, I have set before thee this day life and good and death and evil.
God wants us to make the right choices. In that I command thee this day to love
the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and his
statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply. And the Lord
thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if
thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shall be drawn away and
worship other gods and serve them, I denounce unto you this day that ye
shall surely perish, that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land
whither thou passeth over Jordan, to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth
to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live,
that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, that
mayest cleave unto him. For he is thy life and the length of thy days, that
thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord swear unto thy fathers, to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. God wants us to choose him.
Choose to obey, choose to cleave to him. The Dionites present a choice, and
don't get me wrong, I'm sure that they sounded holy. I don't think it was
always an easy choice for everyone. I'm sure that they had their fake priest
and maybe he appeared to be priestly, he appeared to be holy. Sometimes the
differences are subtle with the choices. And sometimes the choices aren't
just straightforward. Sometimes they're a bit more subtle, sometimes you've got to
put a bit of effort into the choice. But God wants us to choose his voice,
not man's voice. He wants us to choose him and you can only do
that if you know his voice. You can't choose God, you can't choose the right
way if you don't know what the Word of God says. You can't choose life if you
don't know how the Word of God, and I'm not talking about salvation here, just
choosing just to avoid all those pitfalls if you don't know how the
Word of God tells you to do that. You don't know how God's telling you to do
that, and it always comes back to reading the Word of God, reading the
Word of God, being in the Word of God, being a doer of the Word of God,
listening to the Word of God. Verse 16 said, Dan shall judge his people as
one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the
path that biteth the horse hill so that his rider shall fall backward. So
basically, for me, Dan basically became an option, he became a judge almost
if people basically chose to go that way, chose to go to the idolatry, and
that comes in various different ways, or choose the Lord. But what he did
do is, he was an adder in the path, he bit the horse's hills, and the rider shall
fall backward. When that happens, people ended up falling, or you could say
people ended up backsliding into idolatry, and once they're taken in that
it's hard to get back. Okay, then he said in verse 18, I've waited for thy
salvation, O Lord. And Jacob chose life, didn't he? Jacob chose to serve the Lord.
Lamentations 3 26 says, it is good that a man should both hope and
quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. And for me, you could apply that to
both eternal salvation and the physical salvation that we often need at various
times in our life, okay? We need that salvation of the Lord, we need
that help, we need that saving from circumstances, from situations, from
difficulties by the Lord, but we also obviously need that eternal
salvation as well. Maybe Jacob's remind us not to have our heads turned in
life, he gave that description of Dan and being that option,
presenting that choice, he said, I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.
Then it says in verse 19, Gad, a troop shall overcome him, but he shall
overcome at the last. So I believe this is probably referring to the
initial conquering by the Syrians, okay? Turn to 2 Kings chapter 10, we just
read, Gad, a troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last. So
2 Kings 10, we're going to look, it's in the days of Elisha and
Jehu, when Jehu punished the house of Ahab, if you remember, the
prophets of Baal, he did that, you know, where he got them all together
and then slaughtered them, but then things went downhill after that. Said in
verse 31, but Jehu, in 2 Kings 10, verse 31, but Jehu took no heed to walk
in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart, for he departed
not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. In those days the
Lord began to cut Israel short, and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of
Israel. So Hazael being the king of Syria at this point now, it said in
verse 33, from Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the
Reubenites and the Manasites, from Arawah, which is by the river Arnon, even
Gilead and Bashan. So although we don't hear much about the Gadites
after this, they seem to at least revive somewhat, because a few generations
later, when the king of Syria, oh sorry, of Assyria invades, he carries away the
Gadites. So perhaps the prophecies of their recovery from that first
overcoming, they were described in 1 Chronicles 12a, and you could turn
if you want, but I'm only going to read the one verse, as, and of the
Gadites they separated themselves unto David into the hold to the
wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle
shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as
swift as the rose upon the mountain. So we've seen this prophecy that he
will overcome at the last, and perhaps there's a message there that if you can
handle your shield, or buckler being the big shield, we would, nowadays
that's our shield of faith, if you're quick to get right, remember he's like,
he's like a swift as the rose upon the mountains, you could come back
from all sorts of adversity, they definitely came back to the point of
being carried away much later, having already been beaten by the king of
Syria, so maybe that's what it's talking about, but that's about as
much as I can get info on Gad there. It said, Gad a troop shall overcome him,
but he shall overcome at the last. Then verse 20 is, out of Asher his bread
shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. So we don't know much of
Asher, other than that the land the tribe inherited was apparently
particularly fertile where it was, which is perhaps why in Moses' prophecies
of the more imminent days of each tribe,
he says in Deuteronomy 33 in verse 24 of Asher, he said,
let Asher be blessed with children, let him be acceptable to his brethren, let
him dip his foot in oil. So Asher was perhaps producing some good
produce in his last days, maybe that's what was going on there,
it's a very fertile land, he's got some good produce coming out of there,
we just read about him dipping his foot in oil, so maybe
they're producing some good oil, etc there.
It said, out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
So towards the end of his days they were still producing some good
crops, some good stuff there. Verse 21, Naphtali is a hind let
loose, he giveth goodly words. Now a hind is a
female deer, okay. How was the tribe let loose? It said,
Naphtali is a hind let loose, he giveth goodly words.
They were like most of the others carried away by Tiglath-Pileser
of the Assyrians, so Naphtali were carried away as well as one of those
northern kingdom, part of that northern kingdom. However, if you turn to
Matthew chapter 4, turn to Matthew chapter 4,
I believe that some of the remnants survived to some degree,
okay. Possibly along with the tribe of Zebulun, who were described in verse 13
as Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for an haven
of ships, and his border shall be unto Zidon. Now both of these
regions are where the Lord Jesus Christ spent much of his ministry.
Matthew chapter 4 says in verse 12, Now when Jesus had heard that John was
cast into prison, he departed into Galilee,
and leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea
coast in the borders of Zebulun and Nephthalim. Now why is it
referring to the old land, the old borders, when it's now
Galilee? And by the way, that's Zebulun and
Nephthalim. It said in verse 14 that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zebulun, the land of
Nephthalim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in
the region in shadow of death, light is sprung up. So perhaps a remnant
let loose of Nephthalim, we just read that he's a hind let loose,
which became Galilee, obviously there, where many of the 12 came from, maybe
survived to this point. Maybe there's a remnant
that survived, he giveth goodly words, many of the 12, you know, you know, sort
of of Jesus's 12, the disciples there,
they did come from that region as well. It said, Nephthaliah is a hind let loose,
he giveth goodly words, and like we saw there, Jesus
Christ clearly, or at least sorry, in Matthew 4, the author there, the Holy
Ghost, clearly quotes it being in the borders of Zebulun and Nephthalim,
and these are two that we don't really see a negative like them just
going out or anything else, they seem to, maybe there was some sort of
remnant that survived and carried on. He said, Nephthaliah is a hind let
loose, he giveth goodly words. Now look at verse 22,
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well,
whose branches run over the wall. So having read Revelation 7, okay, we did
see that Ephraim was referred to as Joseph, although I do believe that they
both feature together a lot, both Ephraim and Manasseh,
as we're going to see, and are likely being prophesied of together here. I
think probably both together. It said, Joseph is a fruitful bough, even
a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall.
The archers have sorely grieved him and shot at him and hated him,
but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands
were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, from thence is
the shepherd the stone of Israel. Even by the God of thy father, who shall
help thee, and by the almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven
above, blessings of the deep that lie thunder,
blessings of the breast, and of the womb,
the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my
progenitors, and to the utmost bound of the
everlasting hills. There shall be on the head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of him that was separate
from his brethren. So what we see with Ephraim and Manasseh is
they're often being a remnant, joining with Judah during the times of
revival, okay. Go to 2 Chronicles 15,
2 Chronicles 15, where we see them gathering with King Asa
when he goes to work after being inspired by the prophet Oded. So
King Asa starts doing some good stuff, he's inspired,
the prophet Oded comes to prophesy to him,
and it's said in 2 Chronicles 15 and verse 8,
2 Chronicles 15, 8, and when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of
Oded the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominable idols out
of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken
from Mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord that was before the
porch of the Lord. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin
and the strangers with him out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon,
for they felt him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that the Lord
his God was with him. And then we're going to, so firstly we
see there, we see some coming from Ephraim and Manasseh, look at 2
Chronicles 30 and verse 18, so chapter 30 now in
2 Chronicles verse 18, they get involved with
Hezekiah's re-institution of the Passover,
where it says for a multitude of the people, this is 2 Chronicles
30 and verse 18, for a multitude of the people, even many of
Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun
had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the Passover otherwise than it
was written, but Hezekiah prayed for them
saying the good Lord pardon everyone. Then in 2 Chronicles 31,
over the page of verse 1, they continue to get right with God, it says
now when all this was finished, all Israel were present,
that were present went out to the cities of Judah and break the images
and pieces and cut down the groves and threw down the high place in the
altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they
had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned
every man to his possession into their own cities. And then in 2 Chronicles
34, they get involved with Josiah, so we're just seeing them constantly
getting involved with Judah, with that southern kingdom,
doing the right thing. It says in 2 Chronicles 34, verse 1,
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. He reigned in Jerusalem
one of 30 years. And he did that which was right in the
sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of David his father and declined
neither to the right hand nor to the left.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to
seek after the God of David his father, so this is when he's about 16
here, and in the 12th year he began to
purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, around 20 years old now,
and the groves and the carved images and the molten images.
And they break down the altars of Baalim and his presence and the images
that were on high above them. He cut down the groves and the carved images
and the molten images. He break in peace and made dust of
them and strode it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed under them.
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars and cleansed
Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of where?
Manasseh and Ephraim again. The descendants of Joseph, and so did he in
the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even unto Neftali with
their mattocks round about. So although they're eventually carried
away, they seem to keep producing a remnant to the end. That's the point
I'm trying to get across to you, okay, is that we're just constantly seeing
this remnant coming out of what was basically the
offspring of Joseph. And where it's said back in Genesis 49, Joseph
is a fruitful Baal, even a fruitful Baal by a well,
whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him and
shot at him and hated him. Of course you can look back to Joseph's
physical life with this, but maybe just the fact that Manasseh and Ephraim
just keep going and keep surviving through, there's a remnant constantly
being produced. But his bow abode in strength and the
arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob
from thence is a shepherd, the stone of Israel, referring to the Lord Jesus
Christ, even by the God of thy father who
shall help thee, and by the almighty who shall bless thee
with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that thy thunder,
blessings of the breast and of the womb. So you could say that they kept
getting the blessings, they kept seemingly, just kept
producing a remnant of believers. And it said in verse 26, the blessings
of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors
and to the utmost band of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the
head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from
his brethren. Now I'd like you to turn to John chapter 11,
because this seems to culminate in eventually the Lord Jesus Christ
residing in a city within the former territory of Ephraim
here, perhaps amongst a remnant. Look at John
11, it's after he's raised Lazarus from the
dead and the high priest Caiaphas prophesies of killing him, not really
knowing why he's prophesying, what he's prophesying, he seems to be just
prophesying of one having to die, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 53, then from that day forth, this is John 11 53,
they took counsel together for to put him to death.
Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews but went
thence unto a country near to the wilderness into a city
called Ephraim and there continued with his disciples. So perhaps that was
the ultimate final blessing that they received. They
ended up with the Lord Jesus Christ dwelling in a city called Ephraim,
he's there with his disciples. Verse 24 said, but his bow abode in strength
and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of
Jacob. From thence is the shepherd of
stone of Israel, from there. So from there he went out from there
being, I believe, potentially here being
fulfilled by this point in John 11, the city called Ephraim. It said in
verse 26, the blessings of thy father prevailed above the blessings of my
progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him that
was separate from his brethren. Progenitors being forefathers may be
where Joseph's line will succeed above the rest of the
inheritors of the promise barring Judah.
Maybe that's what it's saying here, but
yeah for me that's probably, I think, what it's talking about here. That's
how he fulfills those prophecies, Joseph, and again because it's talking
about the end days, okay, and that's ultimately where we get to, where
eventually Jesus Christ, where if there's a remnant left they're
constantly being blessed with a remnant, with a remnant, and
eventually the Lord Jesus Christ ends up in the city,
which is probably the last of that remnant there.
Now look at Benjamin here, because then this is, this is for me, I don't know,
this is a complicated one, but verse 27 it says,
Benjamin shall raven as a wolf. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at
night he shall divide the spoil. Doesn't sound like the best
blessing that, okay, called a wolf ravening, devouring the
prey, dividing the spoil, and at first it seems strange, doesn't
it, where we've, we've just seen, if you've just been
looking at those passages of 2 Chronicles, we've just seen the
Benjamites amongst Judah and the remnants of those later passages
of 2 Chronicles before the carrying away to Assyria, but in fact they
actually formed part of the southern kingdom for many years before that,
they kind of merged together with, with really Judah, the tribe of Judah
being part of that southern kingdom, and perhaps a tendency for some might
be to think of the incident in Judges 19, okay, some people would look
at this guy, that must be talking about that,
you know, that weird sodomy in Judges 19 would end up taking,
you know, or at least they ended up sticking up for the sodomites
amongst them, and they end up nearly getting wiped out,
but however as we've seen, okay, these particular prophecies were of the
last days for each tribe, okay, each time they're being
fulfilled, and hopefully, you know, you're agreeing with that as you see that,
that's otherwise what the last, why would it be talking about an event,
you know, where they didn't get wiped out, that wasn't the last days for them,
okay, so I suppose, you know, and just to quote you that again, verse 1,
Jacob called unto his sons and said,
Gather yourselves together that I may tell you that which are before you in
the last days. Okay, so it's talking about the last
days, so I suppose we'd have to look at the last days for the tribe of
Benjamin, wouldn't we? Okay, now when we say last days, it can be a period of
time, obviously, up to that end of the tribe of Benjamin. Now, whereas
some of the northern tribes last days, when they,
when they were taken by the Assyrians, that wasn't the case with
Benjamin, okay, who returned from the Babylonian
exile to Jerusalem with Judah, Ezra 1 5 says,
then rose up, this is Ezra 1 5, but you don't have to turn now, I'm just
going to quote the one verse, then rose up the chief of the fathers of
Judah and Benjamin, this is when they're returning from that exile
under the Medo-Persian empire now, and the priests and the Levites,
with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of
law, which is in Jerusalem. So they weren't ended, okay,
when the Assyrians came in, and as we mentioned before, the Levites weren't
either, hence them being scattered later on.
So when was the end of the tribe of Benjamin? Well, that came with the
replacement, that came with the end of the
physical nation, that's when there was no more
tribe of Benjamin, because that physical nation ended. Now turn to Philippians
chapter 3, the last days, okay, were for me,
before and leading up to 70 AD, with the destruction of Jerusalem,
the scattering the end of the physical nation.
So let's see what those remaining of Benjamin were doing then, okay, around
that period, coming up to 70 AD, Philippians 3
and verse 1, Paul says this,
So he just said beware of dogs, we know that's a
euphemism for the sodomites, beware of evil workers, that's false prophets,
beware of the concision, which is another word ultimately,
for the circumcision for what were known as Jews still at this point,
but he then said for we are the circumcision, which worship God in the
spirit and rejoicing Christ Jesus have no confidence in the flesh.
So you could say that Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin,
became part of the eternal tribe of Judah,
I would say the second he got saved. He ceased to be a Benjamite
and became part of the spiritual nation of Judah, did he not?
Romans 2 29 says but he is a Jew which is one inwardly
and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter
whose praise is not a member of God. What was he until that point,
until he became a Jew inwardly? Well verse 4 said,
Do you think he was the only Benjamite
Pharisee persecuting the church? I don't think so, I don't think he was
the one-off Benjamite there who was part of the Pharisees persecuting the
church. Turn to Acts 8, there were a load of
them. Now although as a collective they were
just known as Jews, weren't they, by now as the southern tribe of Judah,
but we'd seen that merging together over many hundreds of years of the
Benjamites with those from the tribe of Judah.
I believe there were likely many Benjamites amongst them, okay, and some
of them, like Paul, knew exactly that he was of the stock of Benjamin,
and this is what they were doing, these Benjamites.
Acts 8 is after the death of Stephen and it says in verse 1
of Acts 8, And Saul was consenting unto his death,
and at that time there was a great persecution against the church,
which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the
regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And
devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation
over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the
church, and triggered to every house, and hailing men
and women committed them to prison. I think that's what Genesis 49, 27
could be prophesying about. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf, in the
morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spore,
with those few amongst them that got saved no longer being Benjamites.
So anyone that got saved was no longer Benjamite, the end of the days
of Benjamin before the scattering, before the end completely of that physical
nation anymore, was ultimately hunting and persecuting
Christians, ravening as a wolf, devouring the prey,
dividing the spoil. And if so, it's just another reminder of what
Saul came from as well, isn't it? Saul, who became the apostle Paul, and
you could say, here's a take-home lesson, whatever your
past is, if you're saved, you can still go on to do amazing
things for God. You could be part of a group of people
being described as ravening as a wolf, devouring the prey, dividing the spoil,
and he goes on to be the greatest New Testament Christian.
He goes on to do amazing things, he goes on to do great things for God,
and as 2 Corinthians 5-17 says, written by Paul, therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature, old things
have passed away, behold all things have become new.
And the apostle Paul went from some pretty horrendous
beginnings, didn't he? I mean, if we met the apostle Paul when he was
Saul, now we'd be like, that is a reprobate,
all day long. I mean, what on earth, right? The guy's just persecuting the church,
he's, you know, he's hailing men and women, he's like, what are God hating,
this and that, and everything else. Well, he did get saved though, didn't he?
And I know some people think it's kind of special circumstances with Saul,
but regardless, he did get saved, okay? Whatever your
past is, point being, lesson to say, whatever your past is, whatever you've
done in the past, whatever, if you're saved,
if you're saved, you can go on to great things, can't you?
Okay, verse 28 said, and all these are the 12 tribes of Israel, back in, sorry,
Genesis 49, verse 28, all these are the 12 tribes
of Israel, and this is it that their father spake
unto them and blessed them, every one according to his blessing he blessed them,
and he charged them and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people,
bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field
of Ephron the Hittite, and this being what was mentioned in the summary at the
end of chapter 47, by the way, when we
were there, and we saw that there was this kind of discussion that I think
had just jumped forward to the end of his life.
Verse 30 says, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before
Mamre and the land of Canaan, and Abraham bought with the field, which
Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for possession of a
burying place, there they buried Abraham and Sarah his
wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there
I buried Leah. So it's interesting how things worked out,
didn't it? With Leah being the one that he was buried with,
Rachel being buried in the way to Ephrath,
and here he said that they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, they buried
Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and he eventually is buried with Leah
his first wife, the one that, you know, it seemed like,
you know, that at least she was hated to some degree,
but at least not preferred like her sister was,
but eventually it's her that he's buried with,
and I think, you know, with time obviously that relationship grew,
but said in verse 32, the purchase of the field and of the cave that is there
in was from the children of Heth, and when Jacob had made an end of
commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed and yielded up the
ghost, and was gathered unto his people. So
that was Jacob prophesying until the end. I know we mentioned this before, but
just to say it again, this is Jacob, an old man here,
of a ripe old age, prophesying until the end of his life,
still preaching, still serving God to some degree,
commanding his sons until the end as well, because nowadays
probably it's the opposite, where kind of old people are just getting kind of,
you know, told what to do and shoved in homes or whatever else, and
here he's still, you know, he's still got a leadership position
in that whole kind of, you know, at least in that whole
larger family unit, he's still preaching, he's prophesying, he's still
serving God to the end of his life, and hasn't that
got to be our goal, isn't it, right? And just last, you know, last time
I'm going to make this point, but to keep in the things of God until
the end, right? That should be every one of us,
and that's kind of short term and long term, isn't it?
Well yeah, I'll be coming back to the things of God, I've got a few important
things to do first, I've got to kind of, you know, make sure that I
kind of put a bit of time into my career now for a bit, I'll kind of
cut down church or whatever else. No, just keep serving God,
keep serving God, and your plan should just be to serve God until the end of
your life, and that's what we see Jacob doing
until the ripe old age of 147, I think it is, and he's just
carrying on serving and carrying on serving and
to the point where he's prophesying on his deathbed,
you know, and you could still, you could still find a way of prophecy,
still find a way of preaching, and there's, you know, we want to be able to say
like the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4-7,
I have fought a good fight, I've finished my course, I've kept the faith,
I've kept going, I'm still going to keep doing the things of God
all the way through my life, that's got to be our goal, isn't it?
Yeah, and that's kind of a non-negotiable really, that's how you
should think about it, not like, well I hope I can still
find a way, well we'll see what happens, well it depends what happens in
the future, now how about I'm just going to
serve God because I'm a child of God and God requires, that's his, that's a
reasonable service, isn't it? That's a reasonable service to serve the
Lord, to offer up those spiritual sacrifices unto God,
and that should be our whole life, shouldn't it? Okay, it's a life,
it's a lifelong thing to be serving God and
we see Jacob being a great example of that, prophesying
onto his deathbed until he gathers up his feet
into the bed, yields up the ghost, and was gathered onto his people.
And that was Genesis chapter 49 part 2, Genesis 50 to finish our Bible study
on Genesis, and then we're done and we'll be a
new Bible study and I'll let you know what we're doing
soon enough. And on that we're going to finish in the Word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word, thank you for the lessons that we can
learn out of that great chapter of the Bible with all those
many prophecies of some which are cryptic, Lord, and I hope I've explained
them in the right way, Lord, in a way that is correct and
accurate, Lord, and if not, Lord, just reveal to all of us here, you
know, how you want us to understand that
and, you know, help us to all be like the Bereans, to just search the
scriptures daily, but regardless, just what an amazing
book, Lord, what an amazing Bible we have here and, you know, when
we start checking and cross-referencing and learning we can just unravel so
much and learn so much, Lord, and we pray that as a church you will just
be able to do that in the right way, in an accurate way, in the way that
you'd want it done, Lord, help us to just,
to all here just learn the Word, to unpeel it, to unwrap it,
in the right way, Lord, as you'd want us to.
Please just bless us as we go on with the rest of the week to the end
of the week, Lord, and to return on Sunday to start the week in the
right way in your house, Lord, in Jesus' name,
for all this. Amen.