The last two chapters of Deuteronomy contain Moses’ final blessings and prophecies for the 12 tribes of Israel then a description of his death, a passage he didn’t write. There are no curses here. God, through Moshe, is uplifting the people.
The last two chapters of Deuteronomy contain Moses’ final blessings and prophecies for the 12 tribes of Israel then a description of his death, a passage he didn’t write. There are no curses here. God, through Moshe, is uplifting the people.
Many people who read Genesis 49 believe that the prophesies Israel gave to his 12 sons were only about their or their immediate descendants. This is not the case. These prophesies encompass our prophetic future and those of our descendants all the way to the very end of time.
Today’s talk focuses on the prophesies given to Israel’s first four sons, culminating with his fourth son, Yehudah (Judah). All 4 of these sons were sons of Leah, the daughter of Laban as well, which gives us an additional insight as well.
Yosef’s (Joseph) scheme to discover how his brothers really felt about Benjamin (and by extension, himself) came to a head. The “revealer of what is concealed” forced his brothers to reveal their own secrets, not only to him but to their father.
This chapter about a scandalous encounter between Yehudah (Judah) and his daughter-in-law Tamar seems out of place in the account of Yosef’s slavery in Mitsraim (Egypt). Yet the twins in this chapter — Perets (Perez) and Zerah — share a link to Messiah with Yosef (Joseph).
Rachel envied her sister, Leah, and Leah hated Rachel because Ya’akov (Jacob) loved her. The names of the his 12 sons reflect this tug of war between the sisters and contain prophecies to be fulfilled hundreds of years later.
Ya’akov (Jacob) is sent away to find a wife and finds God first at the bottom of a ladder to Heaven. Then he finds Rachel and ends up with her sister and two slave women. There seems to be something prophetic about Rachel.
Saul, the ruler of Israel, can’t wait seven days for Samuel to arrive to perform a sacrifice, and Saul’s family loses rulership. Meanwhile, God had started establishing Judah in rulership in Troy then Athens, Rome and London.