The history of God's earthly people has very solemn considerations for the saints of this day, for instead of learning from Israel's failures, and avoiding the grave departure that marked that nation, we find the church involved in yet greater ruin, having departed from a more wonderful place than that given to Israel. But it is very comforting to know that God knew all about these departures long before they happened, and in the Scriptures they were faithfully recorded long before they took place. Does not this show the great mercy and grace of our God, who cares for His people, with the full knowledge of what they would prove themselves in their responsible course. He points out their failures most faithfully, recording the details that men would have hidden; but He will not allow others to speak against them. If a Balaam would curse them, he is compelled to bless; if Satan would harm Job, God would speak of him as "My servant Job — none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil; and still holdeth fast his integrity." Again, in Romans 8 we read of the saints, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect: it is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?
Our souls may well rejoice in the grace and love of God, which sets us before His face, accepted in the Beloved, and in the sure knowledge that in the day of presentation we shall be before Him, holy, without blame, and in love. The knowledge of these things should however exercise our hearts to seek to be here for the pleasure of God, to learn His mind, and to seek His glory.
When Jacob neared the end of his earthly sojourn, he called his sons together to tell them what should befall them at the end of the days. Here we have recorded through the lips of Jacob, and by the pen of Moses, God's own unfolding, by the Spirit, of the sad history of Israel. Sad history indeed, yet it concludes with blessing from the Lord Himself. They were the sons of JACOB; they took character from their poor father, the supplanter, whose chequered history is so well known; nevertheless Jacob speaks in the conscious dignity that God had given him, as he says, "Hearken unto ISRAEL your father." Jacob's own history portends that of his progeny. At the beginning it was marked by deceit and sorrow; at the end it was graced by dignity and honour. Balaam, speaking the word put by God into his mouth speaks of Israel and his generation thus, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." His early history may be dreadful; but his last end is rich and abiding blessing from the Lord.
Reuben displays the natural strength, excellency, dignity and power of Jacob; which manifest themselves in the instability and corruption of the nation. Do not these moral features stand out prominently at the commencement of Israel's history as a nation? The forty years of the desert proved how unstable they were; yea, they praised on entering the wilderness, and almost immediately fell to murmuring; they were never to be trusted. See too the corruption that brought on God's judgment at the foot of Sinai, and in the matter of Baal-Peor. Nor do these features cease to mark the nation in the progress of its history, but they are the prominent features at the beginning.
Simeon and Levi. — Cruelty, anger, self-will and rage mark these violent sons of Jacob. At the recollection of them Jacob recoils, saying, "O my soul come not into their secret. … I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." Do not these features mark the nation in the times of the Judges? The last words of the Book of Judges are "Every man did what was right in his own eyes." It was a time of lawlessness, self-will and lack of restraint. Who could have told that the words of Jacob, which appeared only to curse, would prove for blessing? So it was for Levi! This tribe was scattered in Israel for Levitical blessing, while Simeon was evidently scattered for lack of pasture (see 1 Chr. 4:39, 42).
Judah. — A new phase of Israel's history opens with the sceptre coming to the house of Judah, in the person of David; and with this there is the assurance that the sceptre will not depart from Judah until Shiloh come; the Man of Peace, the Messiah. The public corruption and violence, that had hitherto marked the nation, no longer appear; there is restraint with the lawgiver. Israel submits to Judah, for "Thy father's children will bow down to thee;" and "Thy brethren will praise thee." The enemy no longer preys on poor lawless Israel, for Judah's hand is upon his neck; and with the majesty, dignity and strength of the lion, none dares to bestir him. Were not these exactly the prevailing conditions in the days of David and Solomon? But Messiah was in view, who would not only have the obedience of Israel, but also of "Peoples," the Gentiles. We know the result of His first coming: but His rejection by Israel and the Gentiles will not set aside God's purposes for the blessing of both under the Sceptre and hand of Messiah. The binding of his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine, may presage the lowly associations of Messiah with Israel at His first coming; the former speaking of His relations with the nation as a whole, the latter with the remnant, the disciples. The washing of His dress in wine, and His garment in the blood of the grapes. is in harmony with Isaiah 63:1-6, where He comes in judgment. The eyes red with wine seems to foretell the deep satisfaction of His earthly joy, when the judgment is past: and the teeth white with milk, the pleasures that are His in the rest of His kingdom.
Zebulun and Issachar. — The former was to dwell at the shore of the seas and of the ships; surely indicating Israel's relations with the Gentiles, the nations of the world, to which the ships go and from which they come. Perhaps this would mark the period following the removal of the sceptre from the land, and especially from the time of Messiah's rejection. Commerce marks the nation, for his side touches Sidon; but if this brings individual prosperity to some, it does not make the nation fat, for Issachar is a bony ass. Crouching between two burdens, he has come under the servitude of the Gentiles; and here he is content to rest. How clearly this marks the Israel we know in these days!
Dan. — No matter how low the people of God may sink in failure, His purposes will not be set aside: even as the apostle Paul wrote to the saints at Rome. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Therefore Dan's place in ultimate blessing is assured in the words, "Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel." Jacob is about to tell of Dan's terrible future as an instrument of Satan, but he can find comfort in the sure knowledge that blessing will come for Dan in the end. From Revelation 7, where Dan is omitted in the sealing from the tribes, it would seem that God has come in in government for the part played by Dan at that time; but in the last chapter of Ezekiel we have confirmation of Jacob's confidence in God, for Dan's portion in the land, in the coming day, is clearly reserved for him. Dan's portion is the first mentioned, chiefly perhaps because he occupies the most northerly part of the land. But if Dan's portion is assured, it is in spite of his part in the dread troubles of Israel, after the church is gone; for this appears to be the part of Israel's history represented by him. Poor Israel has yet to pass through its worst troubles and distresses, when under Antichrist, the instrument of Satan, the state of things delineated in verse 17 comes to pass. "Dan shall be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, that bitten the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward." Does not this speak of a diabolical and treacherous part played by the tribe of Dan? Idolatry was connected with Dan very early: when Jeroboam set up his golden calves at Dan and Bethel. Therefore it would appear that Dan prophetically points to the time of the end, when Satan's power is manifest in the land, when the abomination of desolation is set up in the temple, which causes the fierce judgment of God to be poured out upon the apostate people. With the light of this before him, Jacob, in the spirit of the godly remnant of that time says. "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord." That salvation will surely come, even if it means through judgment: "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Gad. — If poor Israel has been overcome and trodden down; through the salvation, for which Jacob waited, he shall overcome at the last. This shall come at the end of the "Tribulation;" even as we read in Isaiah 11:13-14, "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them."
Asher. — Following upon the triumphs foretold in Gad, Asher bespeaks the prosperity that follows. "His bread shall be fat." Israel enters the land with all its blessing from the Lord, to enjoy that which is spoken of in Isaiah 25 when "Jehovah of hosts makes unto all peoples a, feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow — He will swallow up death in victory. And — will wipe away tears from off all faces … Like Jacob, waiting for God's salvation, Israel will then say, according to this chapter. "Behold, this is our God: we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is Jehovah, we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Responding to the salvation and blessing of the Lord, Israel provides Him with "Royal dainties." Does not the Lord tell Israel of the royal dainties in which He finds pleasure in Numbers 28? There He says, "Command the children of Israel and say unto them, My offering, My bread or My sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour, unto me." Then follows the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sacrifices. During the millennium the sacrifices will have their true place, as Ezekiel 45 points out; not as in former times, when they offered the lame and the sick; or when their ways were so distressing to the Lord; but under the new covenant their hearts and minds will be truly affected by the thoughts of the Lord.
Naphtali. — Liberated from the bondage under which he served the Gentiles, Israel is like a hind let loose; and his free spirit finds expression in the goodly words in which he praises Jehovah. Look at the goodly words of Isaiah 12. "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation." Here he uses the words that were sung by Israel, on the wilderness side of the Red Sea, after God had saved them from the oppression and bondage of Egypt. Israel returns, as it were, to his first love, to the goodly words that marked him at the beginning. It is the same tale in Isaiah 26 and in many of the Psalms; praises for the Lord, from His redeemed people, in the time of their deliverance from the hand of the enemy.
Joseph. — Now we have the scope and character of the blessings into which Israel are brought in the millennium; and the history of Him through whom the blessing is brought to God's earthly people. Who can fail to see in the opening words of Jacob, concerning his beloved son, the features which marked the Lord Jesus Christ? Down here, in Manhood, the Lord Jesus was indeed the fruitful vine, who gave constant pleasure to His God and Father; but whose branches ran over the wall of Judaism for the blessing of the Gentiles. At Sychar's well, this is most blessedly seen, where divine blessing flows to the poor woman, and also to the Samaritans who recognised in Him the Saviour of the world. And have not His branches gone over all the barriers of the ordinances of Judaism to reach us in this day? And will not His blessing reach the nations of the earth in the coming day? He surely and fully answers to the description given of Joseph in these opening words: He is the true Joseph.
But Israel sorely grieved Him: He was a Man of sorrows. and acquainted with grief. How often do we find Him as the mark of their hostility, reviled, persecuted, buffeted and reproached; all the outcome of the bitter hatred of their hearts towards Him and His Father. These deep sorrows brought untold suffering to the rejected Messiah, who was crucified and slain. Not all their hatred and hostility could weaken His purpose and resolve to carry through to the end the work that had been given Him to do and although He was crucified in weakness, He lives in power. He came forth from the great conflict of good and evil with His weapons unweakened in His hands. In resurrection, He is manifestly the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead. Thus were the arms of His hands made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; even as we read in Psalm 80 "Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of Man whom thou hast made strong for thyself."
Having come forth in resurrection, "From thence is the shepherd the stone of Israel." The Lord Jesus was indeed the Good Shepherd while here, to give His life for the sheep; but now as risen from the dead He comes forward as Israel's Shepherd, for their deliverance; even as we further read in Psalm 80 "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest JOSEPH like a flock; thou that sittest (between) the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy strength, and come to our deliverance." The Lord Jesus will indeed manifest Himself in the coming day as Israel's Shepherd, and deliver him from all the power of the enemy. Again, He is the stone of Israel. He was the rejected stone on earth, for which the builders of Judaism had no place in their schemes; but in the church now, God's building, He is the chief corner stone; and in the coming day He will have His true place among His earthly people, as the stone of Israel (see Zech. 3:9; Zech. 4:7). Messiah will come forth in all the might and blessing of the God of Israel; yea with the blessing of the Almighty.
Here we have the wide range of blessings that come to Israel through the true Joseph, in the millennium. There are the blessings of the heaven above, which superficially might speak of the sunshine and rain so essential for earthly prosperity. But surely there is something deeper! In Revelation 21 we are privileged to view the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. "Her shining (was) like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like Jasper stone; having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names inscribed, which are those of the TWELVE TRIBES OF (the) SONS OF ISRAEL." Do we not have here the heavenly light streaming down for the blessing of the sons of Israel? This is truly "The blessings of heaven from above." There are the blessings of the deep that lieth under; the precious things that come from the bed of the oceans to enrich God's earthly people. The twelve gates of which we have read were "Twelve pearls; each one of the gates, respectively, was of one pearl." From whence come the pearls? Are they included in the blessings of the deep THAT LIETH UNDER? Is there peculiar blessing for God's earthly people as being in touch with heaven through those who have been brought up from such depths to reflect the divine light in that radiant scene? And is there not for the true Joseph Himself the wonderful answer to all His sorrows, in having the church to be the vessel for the reflection of His glory in the coming day? The blessings of the breast and of the womb speak naturally of the increase of Israel as a nation on the earth, and of the increase in prosperity among his cattle and sheep. So that heavenly blessing is coming to Israel in the coming day, but coming to him on the earth; earthly blessing is fully assured; and even the very depths of the sea are made to yield their quota for the blessing of God's dear people, in that day. Well might Jacob say, "The blessings of thy father surpass the blessings of my ancestors, unto the bounds of the everlasting hills." The richest and fullest blessings that can be afforded to men on earth, will yet come to poor distressed Israel, through the Christ they refused and slew; nor shall any nation or evil force be able to remove them from the possession given by God in that day, for the blessing extends to the bounds of the everlasting hills. Right until the end of the millennium will Israel have this favoured place. This is what men have sought to bring in by their own power and wisdom; by setting their own nation at the top and by seeking to subjugate all others; but here we are assured that these things will he brought in by Him, upon whose head all the blessings shall rest; yea they crown the head of Him that was separated from His brethren. The closing words regarding Joseph, and of course of the true Joseph, speak of His moral worth. He was a true Nazarite; separate from His brethren. There was no other like Christ. Every other man had dishonoured God on earth; but how blessedly the Lord Jesus honoured His Father's Name on earth, and brought glory to Him. Therefore all that belongs to Christ in the coming day; and all that comes to His heavenly saints, and to His earthly people, is the result of His rejection, but also because of the moral excellency of the Person of God's beloved Son.
Benjamin. — If universal and abiding blessing is brought in by the true Joseph, it is necessary that there should be power to subjugate all evil. This is set forth in Benjamin. The peace prevailing in the millennium is introduced and maintained by the rod of Messiah's power. Israel's enemies are torn to pieces, never more to rear their heads, as is predicted by Balaam, "There cometh a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and he shall cut in pieces the corners of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult." So also will he divide the spoil and devour the prey, for says Balaam, "And Edom shall be a possession, and Seir a possession, — they his enemies; but Israel shall do valiantly. And one out of Jacob shall have dominion and will destroy out of the city what remaineth." The power to destroy all who seek to do evil during the Millennium, belongs to the throne of Jerusalem, so that no evil may intervene to set aside the blessing that has been brought in through the goodness of God.
Wm. C. Reid.