The Legacy of Jacob - Moriel Ministries

Feature Article – Continued
the way Jesus asks for mercy on the Jews
(Gen. 37:26). They said, “Let His blood be on
us and our children” (Mt. 27:25), and Jesus
says, “Father, forgive them” (Lk. 23:34).
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes, (Genesis 49:10a)
Over and over the Talmudic literature tells
us that “Shiloh” is the Messiah; Judaism understands
it that way.
“Thus says the LORD, ‘Write this man
down childless, A man who will not
prosper in his days; For no man of his
descendants will prosper Sitting on the
throne of David Or ruling again in Judah.’”
(Jeremiah 22:30)
King David was from which tribe Judah.
In Samuel it is promised to David that he
shall never lack somebody to be on the throne
of David (2 Sam. 7:16). Judaism has a big
problem explaining how God is keeping this
promise today. (Anglo-Israelism actually tries
to say the throne of David is the royal throne
of Great Britain and the monarchy. This came
about when there was a Jewish prime minister;
that is when this whole thing got going in
the last century.) There was always some kind
of Davidic line, even when it got interrupted
during the Captivity. The Hasmoneans, who
were the descendants of the Maccabees tried
to make the High Priest John Hyricanus the
king. But the king needed to be a descendant
of David, priests the descendants of Aaron.
The last person who by any claim could be
a descendant of David had to end in the reign
of Herod the Great. Herod’s mother was a
Moabitess and he was some kind of convert
to Judaism, but culturally he was basically a
Roman rather than a Jew.
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah…until
Shiloh comes.” Well, the scepter
did depart from Judah—Shiloh had to come.
The Messiah had to come before the end of
the Davidic lineage.
God promised David he would always
have a descendant on the throne. Is there one
No, unless in the heavenlies Jesus is reigning
on the throne of David as the New Testament
says (Heb. 8:12; 12:2). Either Shiloh—the
Messiah—has come and is reigning on the
throne of David spiritually (and He will reign
again in the Millennium), or else the Bible
is wrong and God has broken His promise.
This is one of the passages where the Talmudic
literature and the rabbinic commentaries
go to great length to get around. They have a
big problem, but we know there is a Lion of
Judah, and He is on the throne of David right
now, and the house of David will be restored
to Jerusalem and Jesus will reign there.
The Tribes
Reuben, in Genesis 39:3-4 is the firstborn of
Leah, but he gets last preference; the favored
place goes to Joseph, the priestly privilege to
Levi, the kingly right to Judah. He is “uncontrollable
as water” which undoubtedly relates
to his sin with Bilhah (Gen. 35:22). This is
exactly what happened. The firstborn did not
get the kingship, the favor, or the priestly lineage.
“The first shall be last” (Mt. 19:30).
Simeon and Levi are the second and third
sons of Leah. They killed repentant men near
Shechem (Gen. 34), so they got no inheritance.
The Levites were given none and the Simeonites
were swallowed up by Judah: “I will disperse
them in Jacob” (Gen. 49:7). Historically,
that is what happened. It was literally and actually
fulfilled just as predicted. The problem
was that they killed men after the men repented.
(When we find Christians holding grudges
and not forgiving people who have genuinely
repented, that is going to hurt them more
than it is the people they are not forgiving.)
Judah is the fourth of Leah. Judah received
praise and “Yehuda” has to do with that. He
had birthrights and exceptional dignity, holding
the kingship and the line of David before
the scepter departed when Shiloh came. (This
is referenced in Ezekiel 21:27.)
Then there is Zebulon, the fifth by Leah,
who “will dwell as the seashore” (Gen. 49:13).
Jacob mentions the Sidonians, and in Judges
5 we see this later being fulfilled in the Song
of Deborah in the struggle against Sisera.
Issachar is the sixth son of Leah and he is
a “chamor”—a donkey: “a strong donkey”
(Gen. 49:14). He is strong and stubborn, but
submits to the yoke: “He bowed his shoulder
to bear burdens” (Gen. 49:15). He is too lazy
not to. He submitted to Canaanite invaders
rather than fight; that was Issachar.
Then there was Dan, the first son of Bilhah, a
snake of poison causing terror (Gen. 49:16-18).
Then there is Gad, the first son of Zilpah,
Leah’s maid. Jewish lineage was not just
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through their wives
Leah and Rachel. The idea was of one having
Levirate marriage or surrogate motherhood.
God was not simply interested in physical
lineage; He was interested in faith for all
descendants of Abraham. Gad is a troop or
military company meaning a mighty military
company that trusts in the Lord.
Asher is the second son of Zilpah relating
to wheat, wine and oil.
Naphtali was the second son of Bilhah and
“gives beautiful (or “godly”) words” (Gen.
49:21), as we see in Judges 5:18 in the character
of “those who love not their lives unto
death” (Rev. 12:11).
Then there is Joseph, the first son of Rachel,
who is “a fruitful bough” (Gen. 49:22)
and, like “Ephraim,” means “doubly fruitful.”
“Joseph” means “God shall add or be added.”
He has the characteristics of Jesus, a bubbling
fountain that is a fountain of life. In verse 22
He is the Living Water; in verse 23 His words
are like arrows; in verse 24 he is the Shepherd;
in verse 25 He is helped by the Father—“El
Shaddai.” And other things associated with
Jesus happen to him. The things that happen
to Joseph are played out in Jesus.
Again, the early church saw Benjamin as
being fulfilled in Paul (Gen. 49:27). Reuben,
Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, as it is
hinted at, did not cross the Jordan. They wanted
God’s blessing here. The tribes existed even
after the ten northern tribes went into captivity.
Application of the Tribes’ Characteristics
Believers come in the characteristics of
those tribes. There are believers who come in
the characteristics of Joseph. Some people are
so much like Jesus they are models for the
rest of us. When we see Christians like that,
their brothers do not like them. One reason
why godly people are not very popular in the
Church is because they are seen as wimps,
which they are not, but when I see someone
more like Jesus than I am, I get convicted.
There are believers like Benjamin: they do
not begin well, but they end well.
There are believers like the Reubenites, the
Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh: they
want a good, comfortable life here and now in
this world; they do not want to cross the Jordan
and go to war, not realizing they are going to
have to cross the Jordan and go to war anyway,
but losing the blessing that they could have
had if they did not want an easy ticket. There
are so many believers who want an easy ticket.
These sons of Jacob teach about us. Jacob
knew his sons. He was able to predict what
they would be like—not just the Jews, but the
other twelve elders, those descended from the
Apostles in Revelation 4.
It is interesting what happens when we put
together the names of these sons in Hebrew.
Dan was left out because Dan worshiped the
golden calf and acted in a judgment that was
not of God, which is made up for because of
Joseph having two sons to make the same
twelve.
“Judge not, lest you be judged” (Mt. 7:1).
“Judah”—“a confessor or praiser of God.”
“Reuben”—“looking at the son.”
“Gad”—“accompany.”
“Asher”—“blessed.”
“Naphtali”—“striving with or wrestling with.”
“Manasseh”—“forgetfulness.”
“Simeon”—“hearing or obeying.”
“Levi”—“clinging to or joining to.”
“Issachar”—“reward.”
“Zebulun”—“the home of the growing place.”
“Joseph”—“shall be added.”
“Benjamin”—“the son of the right hand.”
One of the differences between Hellenistic
hermeneutics and Jewish hermeneutics is
that Hellenistic hermeneutics has “a this or
a that”; in biblical Jewish hermeneutics (not
rabbinic), it can be both. Revelation 14 describes
the character of these people. No matter
what they are in terms of organization and
anthropology, it describes the character and
nature of these people: a company of praisers
of God who are looking at the Son who
are blessed by Him and striving with forgetfulness.
The Jewish people have forgotten
the covenant. They are “hearing and obeying”
in the character of Simeon, clinging to
14 Moriel Quarterly • March 2012