GENESIS 49
22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.
23 The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, 24 yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), 25 by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.”28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
– Genesis 49:22-32
GENESIS 49 JACOB BLESSES JOSEPH & BENJAMIN & DIES
Charles Spurgeon comments on Joseph’s blessing from Jacob as his being well-watered and provided for in his deep and real relationship with God. “The main point in Joseph’s character was that he was in clear and constant fellowship with God, and therefore God blessed him greatly. He lived to God, and was God’s servant; he lived with God, and was God’s child.” Though Joseph encountered a lot of cruelty, the Lord never left him and use them to strengthen and prepare him for ruling Egypt wisely. Benjamin was blessed with fierceness to devour the prey which we see in Judges 3 in Ehud who was a Benjamite. After blessing all his sons, Jacob requested he be buried to his father’s land and he died.
REFLECTION
- Why did Jacob want to be buried in the cave where his father was buried?
