Genesis 49 - Jacob's Blessing of his Sons | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to Genesis 49 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.In Genesis 49 Jacob is 147 years old, and is on his death bed. He now proceeds to prophecy and bless his twelve sons. Some of the blessings don’t seem very good for them, but are accurate as our knowledge of history shows.The most profound of all the blessings is for Judah, his fourth son. Judah is told that the sceptre will not depart from Judah and that he will rule over his brothers. Later of course King David comes from the tribe of Judah, but of his lineage, Jesus is to come. Jesus is the king of kings, with an eternal kingdom, and the sceptre never departs from him. Before Jesus every knee bows and every tongue will confess. What we have here is a blessing, but also a prophecy about Christ.The other prophecies/blessings are also instructive. The prophecy about Dan biting the riders heel, talks about him being one who pulls others down. Later in the national history of Israel, Dan was one of the locations of Jeroboam's two golden calves. These calves pulled the other ten tribes of Israel down into idolatry and away from God’s plan.Another son Reuben found that his sins were to follow him. It speaks of the consequences of our choices. Even though we may be washed in Christ’s blood, there is an effect in this world on what we choose. If a prisoner finds Christ in jail, his soul is now free, but his body remains imprisoned. It is this type of consequence we see here.