Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.” Genesis 49:1
Much of what Jacob says doesn’t sound like blessing! Imagine these sons gathering around Jacob in his last hours. What would you expect the old man to say? “The Lord bless you and keep you, my son. May peace be with you all your days.”
Put yourself in Reuben’s shoes and listen to what Jacob said to him: “Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence.” Then Jacob raises an old sin from the past, when Reuben slept with Jacob’s concubine: “You went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it” (49:4).
Or listen in with Simeon and Levi. Jacob brings up the infamous sin for which these brothers were especially responsible, the atrocity of the attack on the men of Shechem that made the name of Jacob stink (34:30). Jacob says that “weapons of violence are their swords” (49:5) and says, “cursed be their anger, for it is fierce and their wrath, for it is cruel!” (49:7).
What in the world is going on? How is this a blessing? It seems more like a bitter old man dredging up the past. Hasn’t Jacob heard of forgiveness?
Are these brothers really blessed? Yes, they are. God’s grace had changed these men, and they are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with a blessing that was suitable to him. When the New Jerusalem, the blessed city of God, is revealed in the book of Revelation, John saw that the names of the twelve sons of Jacob were inscribed on the gates (Rev. 21:12). Their names are written in heaven. They are blessed.
There is something for us to learn here about what blessing looks like and what it means to bring blessing into the life of another person. Blessing includes elements of warning, challenging, encouraging, and honoring.
Do you have an opportunity to bless someone soon? What might you include?
