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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.