Genesis 49

Chapter 49… In many ways this chapter is bittersweet. You have a dying man, with his family gathered together all around him. He is about to prophesy about what will take place in the lives of his 12 sons. These prophecies are one of the Bible’s most vivid picture of the “Reaping and Sowing” principle.

Rather than go through all twelve of these, I will just highlight a few of them…

Case #1: Rueben – Rueben was the first born, called here the “Excellency of Jacob’s power”. Because of choices Rueben made, choices that were shameful and inappropriate, Jacob tells Rueben, “You are unstable as water, you will not excel”. Because Rueben vasilated back and forth between doing right and wrong his life would remain unstable. Jacob uses water as a metaphor to describe Rueben’s character… no form of it’s own, taking on the shape of whatever container it is placed in, impossible to get a grasp on… Not the type of person the Lord wants us to be!

Case #2: Simeon & Levi – They had taken cruel vengeance for the awful things that happened to Tamar. And so, they would reap the consequences… they would be scattered, not having a steady habitation, but dispersed throughout the country… Levi would receive some great blessings later on in their history as a tribe, they would be the line of the priesthood! Though they had this blessing, as a result, they still carried the effects of this prophecy… They never had any land of their own!

Case #3: Joseph – In all of Joseph’s suffering, he had remained faithful to the Lord. As a result, the Lord would be faithful to bless him for all of his days. He would be so fruitful that Jacob describes him as a fruitful vine that has branches reaching up and over the wall. It is a picture of overflowing blessings, the kind the Lord wants to pur into all of our lives! Jacob tells us Joseph will be blessed from the heavens above to the depths beneath, blessings of every kind!

The point of this is to remind us of a simple biblical truth. You will reap what you sow. Your choices will affect your future. They will have consequences. Rueben, Simeon, and Levi all made pour choices, and as a result they had to reap the consequences. Joseph on the other hand remained faithful, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. In the end, he reaped the reward of faithful service to the Lord.

So, the next time you are tempted to make a poor decision, remember Jacob and his sons… ask yourself this question, “am I prepared to reap the consequences of this decision?”