“You are a lion’s cub, O Judah,” Jacob said of his son in Genesis 49:9. He saw in Judah the power and potential of a young lion. And he was right too, because Judah became a powerful leader.

It was Judah in Judges 1 who took the lead in attacking the Canaanites and Perizzites “and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek” (4). And in verse 8, “The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and took it,” and in verse 9, they defeated the Canaanites “in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills,” and in “Hebron” too (10). Nowhere, it seems, was safe from the mighty growing lion cub of Judah, but understandably so, for “The Lord was with the men of Judah” (19). 

Jacob then continues in Genesis 49:9, “from the prey, my son, you are gone up,” picturing a lion now in its prime easily overcoming its prey, returning to its lair “up” in the mountains, confident in its formidable strength, and fearless of any enemies trying to steal its prey. And such was the tribe of Judah, gaining in confidence and strength with each victory, so that “Like a lion” (9) in its full grown majesty it calmly “crouches” over its prey, unafraid while it eats and “lies down” to rest afterwards.  

And “like a lioness (9), who dares to rouse him?” – a lioness being known for its ferociousness when defending its cubs. So Jacob foresaw all this in his son, that one day the nation of Judah would arise and become so powerful that “During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25), as calm and at peace as a lion that has no challengers.

Jacob then tells his son Judah in Genesis 49:10, “The sceptre will not depart from Judah.” A “sceptre” was a rod or long staff symbolizing royal authority, like the gold sceptre king Xerxes held out to Queen Esther to approve her approaching him (Esther 5:2). Royal authority, therefore, was predicted by Jacob to never leave Judah, for God not only “chose Judah to be the ruler” (1 Chronicles 28:4), he also had Nathan the prophet tell king David from the tribe of Judah in 2 Samuel 7:16, that “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever,” exactly as Jacob predicted.

Judah the lion cub would grow to be a mighty lion, picturing a fearless and formidable ruler whose royal authority and dynasty would never end. So “Who was this mighty lion of Judah?”….(next blog)

1 Chronicles 5:2 describes Judah as “the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him.” He did not get the firstborn rights of Reuben because Jacob gave them “to the sons of Joseph son of Israel” (1) – but in Genesis 49:8, Jacob predicted that his sons would acknowledge Judah’s leadership and authority over the family – or as Jacob phrased it, “your father’s sons will bow down to you.” 

And clearly God intended it to be that way, because when “the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place” in Numbers 10:12, it was “Judah who went first under their standard” (14). Judah was God’s choice to lead the way. 

And after Joshua died, Judges 1:1-2, “the people of Israel asked, ‘Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?’ And the Lord said, ‘Judah shall go up; behold I have given the land into his hand.’” So Judah was God’s choice to lead them into battle too.

Jacob also predicted back in Genesis 49:8 that Judah would have his “hand on the neck of your enemies.” Which was perfectly fulfilled in the life of king David of Judah, who sang of it in Psalm 18:32, “It is God who arms me with strength,” and in verses 37-40: “I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them so they couldn’t rise. You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes” (also in 2 Samuel 22:40-41).

This was when Israel became a power to be reckoned with, led by the Jewish kings David and Solomon. And it was God who meant this to happen, because it was he who chose David to be Israel’s king, 1 Samuel 16:12, “and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power,” making it very clear he was God’s choice of leader, verse 13.

Is it any coincidence, then, that people who have no interest in – or respect for God – hate Jews? Maybe they think Jews are awful people, as even Christians have thought through the ages, but it was God who chose Judah, and God who created a line of descendants from Judah that led to king David, and from king David a line of descendants that led to Jesus, who would inherit “the throne of his father David, and reign over the house of Jacob forever,” Luke 1:31-33. And it’s all been God’s doing, which began with his choice of Judah, and Jacob’s description of him in Genesis 49, when he called “Judah: a lion’s cub”….(next blog) 

In Genesis 49:8-12 Jacob says some amazing things about Judah, his fourth son by Leah, which is surprising because Judah was a mess.

Judah’s list of ‘accomplishments’ up to this point included joining in the looting of the city of Shechem after his brothers Simeon and Levi had killed all the men (34:25-29), marrying a Canaanite woman (38:12) against family tradition (24:3, 28:6), producing a child so awful that God killed him (38:7), sleeping with his daughter-in-law, thinking she was a prostitute (38:12-16), and getting his brothers to sell Joseph to some passing merchants (37:26-28). He was also in on the lie his brothers told their Dad about Joseph being eaten by an animal (37:31-34).

There is nothing in Judah’s sorry life that merited Jacob telling him in Genesis 49:8, “Judah, your brothers will praise you.” But – there had been signs of Judah taking the lead among his brothers, because it was he who tackled his Dad on the touchy subject of Joseph demanding to see Benjamin. Judah was blunt too: “If you send Benjamin along with us, yes (Dad), we’ll go down to Egypt and buy food for you. But if you won’t send him, no, we won’t go down, because the man (Joseph) said to us ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you’” (43:4-5).

And when Jacob did get a little touchy (6), it was Judah again who pushed his Dad to “Send the boy with me and we’ll go at once, so we can all live and not die, and I guarantee his safety. If I don’t bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame all my life. As it is (hint, hint), if we had not delayed, we could have gone to Egypt and returned twice already” (8-10). 

Blunt words by Judah, but Jacob relented, despite moaning, “I am bereaved, I am bereaved” (14). Jacob played the victim card, but Judah was having none of it. So off they went to Egypt with Benjamin. But all did not go well for them, because Joseph arranged for his personal silver cup to be hidden in Benjamin’s sack, and now they all had to appear before Joseph, accused of stealing (44:2-15). But it was Judah again, who spoke up boldly to Joseph – non stop for sixteen verses too (44:18-34) – and so convincing was he in his plea that Joseph could contain himself no longer (45:1-2). 

Judah was not afraid to speak to power, and he succeeded in saving their lives. No wonder (49:8) his “brothers praised him.” It was the start of “Judah: God’s choice of leader”….(next blog) 

Simeon and Levi were so incensed at their sister Dinah being treated like a prostitute, their anger transformed them into monsters. They murdered every man in the city of the rapist, looted the entire city, “seized flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else in the city and out in the fields. They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses,” Genesis 34:28-29. 

Risks and consequences weren’t even considered. Did it even cross the boys’ minds that they’d only just settled in Canaan, on a plot of land just recently bought by Jacob for “a hundred pieces of silver” from the very group of people they’d just murdered (33:18-19)? No wonder Jacob was scared, because if the Canaanites and Perizzites banded together in a revenge attack against them, their whole family would be wiped out (34:30). 

And what about Dinah? Not only had she lost her virginity, she’d also lost the man who loved her, and possibly her chances of anyone else wanting to marry her in the future too. And what about the guilt and horror she must have felt, hearing that her brothers had ruined the lives of an entire city of people because of what had happened to her?

Is there anything that can be salvaged from this awful situation, then? Well, it’s an obvious (and highly memorable) reminder of the shortsightedness of anger, and the damage it can do if allowed free rein. And that becomes really useful to know when living in an angry age like ours, where people are incensed at the lives of their family and friends being ruined by rapacious corporations, insensitive governments at all levels, Big Pharma lies about the safety and efficacy of experimental gene therapy jabs, the sexualization of children, the cost of housing destroying the dreams of the young, the fear of challenging the prevailing narratives, people saying whatever they like on social media destroying people’s lives and reputations – all of which can make us who have to live in such times, very, very angry. 

And understandably so; God is very, very angry too (Romans 1:18-32). And like Jacob in his summary of Simeon and Levi in Genesis 49:7, God makes sure there are consequences for those doing the damage (Romans 2:6, 8-9). But to us he says, “Be angry, yes, but don’t sin” (Ephesians 4:26). Don’t do a Simeon or Levi; do Romans 12:18-21 instead. On to Jacob and Leah’s fourth son, then – “Judah: not afraid to speak to power”….(next blog) 

Jacob’s hair must have turned prematurely grey from the antics of his first three sons. Reuben tragically lost all his firstborn privileges through a reckless sexual adventure that sealed him in history as an entitled brat who paid dearly for his insolence and stupidity. But Simeon and Levi, Jacob’s second and third sons by his first wife Leah (Genesis 35:23) were even worse. They were devious and deceitful, justifying the cold-blooded murder of an entire city’s male population (34:25). 

But was their violence justified? In their minds it was: “They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem (the son of a Canaanite ruler) had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s (and Leah’s) daughter (Dinah) – a thing that should not be done,” Genesis 34:7. So what Simeon and Levi saw was an immoral offence against their family, and noticeably against “Israel” too (7), so righteous indignation was now mixed with tribal pride.

But a twist in the story occurs when it turns out that Shechem loves Dinah (3) and desperately wants to marry her (4). His love is real too, because in meeting up with Jacob and his sons, he says in verse 12: “Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me.” And being “the most honoured of all his father’s household” (19) Shechem was both genuine and trustworthy. 

But that’s when Jacob’s boys come up with a devious plan, insisting on all the males in Shechem’s town be circumcised if any of them, including Shechem, wish to mix with and marry Israelite girls (13-17). And being honourable people the townsfolk agree (18-24). But “Three days later, while all of them were stiff with pain, Simeon and Levi killed every male,” including Shechem and his father (25-26), justifying it as a revenge killing for treating their sister like a prostitute (31).

Jacob not only blew his top at the risk these idiots had brought on their family (30), he also tore into them in Genesis 49:5-7. “Simeon and Levi, you resort so easily to violence. I will never attend your meetings or be party to your plans, because when you’re angry you become murderous monsters. You’d even cripple oxen just for sport. A curse on your anger, therefore, for it is savage and it makes you viciously cruel.” 

So Jacob did not justify their violence. He focused instead on the anger that had caused it and what it had done to them – a helpful reminder when “Living in an angry age”….(next blog)

Reuben was destined to a life of regret, for stupidly blowing his birthright. His descendants inherited his regret too – as seen in Judges 5:15-16 where twice it’s mentioned that “In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.” Some real soul searching was still going on among his descendants as to what could have been, because instead of them being the honoured chieftains of the Israel clan, they’d been relegated to ordinary status among the tribes, with no special privileges. 

Which was a great tragedy, because Reuben had shown considerable promise as the natural leader among his brothers. It was Reuben who’d stood up to his brothers when they wanted to kill Joseph in Genesis 37:20-21. He’d also wanted “to rescue Joseph from his brothers and take him back to his father” (22), and he was devastated when he found out his brothers had sold Joseph to some passing merchants (29-30). 

So in natural leadership ability, as well as being the firstborn, Reuben might well have played a prominent and memorable role in the history of Israel. But in a fit of absolute lunacy he charmed the mother of two of his brothers into sleeping with him in his father’s bed. 

And Bilhah didn’t refuse him either, so Reuben must’ve been a striking and charming man. But an impetuous man too. In his Dad’s words he was “turbulent as the waters” (49:4). He was like a roaring river oblivious to the damage its power can do. And Reuben did great damage by his arrogant insolence and uncontrolled lust. He humiliated his father, probably wrecked Bilhah’s relationship with Jacob, brought public disgrace to the family name, and put his Dad in a very difficult position as to what to do with him. 

His Dad did not throw him out of the family, but in his final blessing on his sons many years later he told Reuben “you will no longer excel” (4). He transferred Reuben’s firstborn rights to Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh (48:5). Not only did Reuben’s reckless act reduce his own potential to serve his people as their leader, he also reduced the lives of his children as well, since they would not inherit or excel in honour and power in service to Israel either.

So Jacob was merciful to his impetuous son, but he also made sure there were consequences to his actions – updated for us by Paul in Galatians 6:7-8. To “Simeon and Levi: justified violence?”….(next blog)

In Genesis 49:1, Jacob gathers his twelve sons together to “tell you what will happen to you in days to come.” And like Jesus describing the seven churches in the book of Revelation, Jacob highlights the strengths and weaknesses of their personalities. 

It seems like a strange thing for Jacob to do, though, having his sons hear about each other so publicly, much of which wasn’t that complimentary either. But here it is in Scripture for us to read, and for millions of people through the ages to read, so is there something jolly useful here, that not only illustrates God’s immense patience with such a crew as Jacob’s sons to fulfill his purpose through, but also – in seeing perhaps a bit of ourselves in the personalities of these twelve sons – realize that God can fulfill his purpose just as well through the likes of us too? 

Take Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, for instance. Reuben had everything going for him. As the firstborn male he was entitled to “excel in honour and power,” Genesis 49:3. In Jacob’s eyes his firstborn son was the amplification of his own vitality and strength (3). And on Jacob’s death (or incapacitation) Reuben would inherit a double portion of his father’s estate, making him a rich landowner, along with the high office and huge privilege of being the new chieftain of the growing clan of Israel, with God personally blessing him too. 

He would also inherit his father’s authority and responsibility as priest and king in their family, so by birthright alone Reuben was destined to become a highly respected influence for good, whose name could well go down in history for the noble service he performed. He had great potential, and great opportunity, therefore, to be a really good man. 

Unfortunately, just like his uncle Esau, Reuben “despised his birthright” (25:29-34), and for the same underlying reason too: Esau was sexually immoral (Hebrews 12:16-17), and so was Reuben, for having sex with Bilhah (Genesis 35:22, 49:4). Bilhah was his mother Rachel’s handmaid, given to Jacob by Rachel when she couldn’t bear children. Bilhah then became the mother of Reuben’s brothers Dan and Naphtali, and was treated by Jacob like a wife, which meant Reuben had sex with the equivalent of his step mother, and in his father’s bed too (Genesis 49:4). 

What on earth made Reuben do such a foolish act, that also led to the loss of everything he was entitled to? His father gave us a clue in verse 4: “Reuben: turbulent as the waters”….(next blog)

Joseph’s brothers weren’t good people. Jealousy had transformed them into monsters with no qualms about killing Joseph, or letting him die a slow death in a waterless cistern, or selling him to strangers as a slave with no glimmer of concern as to what might happen to him. They also lied to their father to cover up their brother’s disappearance, with not a twinge of conscience when their Dad “mourned for his son many days,” Genesis 37:34.

Joseph’s brother Judah, meanwhile, married a Canaanite woman (a cultural ‘no no’, Genesis 24:3), and unsurprisingly produced a son so evil that “the Lord put him to death,” Genesis 38:2 and 7. Judah then unwittingly slept with his dead son’s wife, Tamar, who’d deceived him into thinking she was a prostitute (13-26). And several years earlier, Judah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, had murdered an entire town full of men and stolen everything they could get their hands on (34:25-29).

And in so doing they’d put their own families at risk of a revenge attack, which could have spelled the end of Jacob’s entire family too, and the collapse of God’s promise to save the world through Abraham’s descendants. But none of this crossed the minds of these idiots. They had no grasp at all as to what God had called them for. 

And when famine threatened the lives of their families, the brothers were clueless. “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” Jacob angrily asked them (42:1). Not a spark of initiative in the lot of them. Just gormless, stupid dolts. 

But in how Joseph dealt with them we see Jesus. The first thing Joseph does with these cretins is get their attention. He accuses them of being spies and throws them all in jail. That woke them up – especially Reuben who castigated his brothers for what they’d done to Joseph, and now their own lives were at risk (42:22). Joseph then gets them doing some serious soul searching as to what their motives really are, but it works brilliantly because after having their motives severely tested by Joseph they become totally changed individuals, humbly offering themselves to Joseph as his obedient servants (50:18).

And Joseph loves them for it, providing us with a marvellous picture of Jesus loving us despite what our personalities are like, as we see in “The personality types in Jacob’s 12 sons”….(next blog)

In his will before he died, Jacob included a note for his son Joseph to “Please forgive your brothers for all their wrongs against you, and for treating you so badly,” Genesis 50:16-17. 

But that was asking a bit much of Joseph, wasn’t it? His brothers had wanted to kill him. They’d swarmed him as a teenager, stripped off his robe and thrown him into a waterless cistern to die, and only on Judah’s advice did they decide to sell him as a slave to some Ishmaelite merchants for twenty shekels of silver. Then they inflicted years of mourning and distress on their father by telling him that Joseph had been eaten by an animal (Genesis 37).

But didn’t the Father ask a lot of Jesus too? He asked Jesus to become a human and have his fellow Jews hate him so much they’d want to kill him as well. And before they had him killed he was sold too, and for only ten shekels of silver more than Joseph. His fellow Jews also lied about him so he could be cruelly killed by Roman thugs. 

So here was another parallel between Joseph and Jesus. Jesus had horrible things done to him by his fellow Jews as the price the Father asked him to pay, not only for the forgiveness of those who’d caused his brutal death, but for “all the sins of the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter” (Mark 3:28). It was the same for Joseph; he too had horrible things done to him by his brothers, but here was his Dad asking him to overlook what his brothers had done as the price to pay for their forgiveness.

But why did God the Father and Joseph’s father ask this of both their sons? Well, when Joseph’s brothers realized what their Dad had asked of Joseph on their behalf, it created a huge change of heart in them – expressed in a personal plea to Joseph in Genesis 50:17, to “please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” And isn’t that the change of heart we experience on realizing what the Father asked of Jesus on our behalf, to please forgive us as humble, obedient servants of his Father now too? 

And look at Joseph’s response to his brothers’ plea: they made him cry (17). Could that also picture how Jesus responds when it dawns on us why the Father put Jesus through what he did for our forgiveness? Are we “Seeing Jesus’ love in Joseph” too, then?….(next blog)

Imagine being in a family where your Dad makes it obvious that one of your brothers is his favourite. He showers your brother with gifts, turns up to all his school events, talks proudly of just him when people are visiting, and he believes everything the boy says.

Joseph’s brothers were in such a family. No wonder they felt such a deep jealousy toward Joseph – and so deep they even “plotted to kill him,” Genesis 37:18. It was a perfect picture of what would later happen to Jesus, who often talked of his special relationship with the Father and his Father’s love for him (John 5:20), which also created jealousy and resentment in his fellow Jews toward him, to the point they too plotted to kill him (John 5:18).

Both Jesus and Joseph, then, were landed with people who hated them and wanted them dead. Joseph’s brothers even planned a slow and dreadful death for Joseph by throwing him into a cistern with no water (Genesis 37:24), just as Jesus’ fellow Jews demanded the slow and dreadful death of the cross for Jesus. Hate and jealousy had turned ordinary folk into vicious and thoroughly unlovable monsters. 

How on earth, then, did both Jesus and Joseph not hate in return, and instead be able to love the unlovable? Ironically, it was their father’s love that did it – the same love that had caused the hatred toward them in the first place. But now their father’s love would also be the solution. It was a word from Joseph’s father in Genesis 50:16-17, for instance, begging Joseph “to forgive your brothers the sins and wrongs they committed in treating you so badly,” that totally softened Joseph’s heart toward them (19-21). And what the Father inspired in Jesus’ heart toward those who hated him was: “Forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing” (Luke 23:34). 

It was their father’s love that enabled Jesus and Joseph to put aside all the wrongs done to them, and to love those who had fallen victim to satanic resentment and hate against them.

And in a time like now, when it’s becoming easy to hate people in government, corporations and media for their lies, fear-mongering and censoring all but their own narratives, we too have a Father who willingly and happily enables us to love the unlovable so we too can avoid becoming hateful with them. Joseph’s story also tells us that his brothers came round eventually, and begged him so humbly for forgiveness that “They made him cry”….(next blog)