Lesson 25 - Jacob's Blessing:
 The Life of Faith
 Read Genesis 48-49 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.48

Our self-centered technological world seeks instant gratification and immediate results. The good life shown on television is measured by what we have and use now. The elderly are usually considered unneeded rather than examples of how to live fully for the long run. But for those with eyes to see, Jacob can teach us valuable lessons about the satisfaction of persevering in the life of faith. This study views his final days as he evaluates the past and peers into the future.

As Jacob neared the end of his life, he made a wonderful commitment to Joseph, who had been his favorite son so many years ago. Jacob adopted Joseph’s two oldest sons, and gave them each an equal portion of inheritance as Joseph’s equal. It’s a picture of how we are adopted by God and given an inheritance the same as Jesus Christ – see Romans 8:14-19.

When Jacob blessed Joseph’s children, he blessed the younger with more than the elder son. Perhaps this scene reminded Jacob of his own blessing from his father, Isaac, and he wanted to be sure which son was which, so he asked. God does not bless us according to who we are by this world’s standards or ideas. He blesses us by who we are in Him – and so it can truly be that the least is the greatest – see Luke 9:48.


In chapter 49 we read Jacob’s blessings for his sons. Please note again that his oldest three sons, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, were passed over for the greatest blessing, and Judah was the one to receive the blessing that would be the greatest – for from him would come the greatest kings of Israel, and also Jesus the promised-one of God. Reuben’s tribe never produced a single leader for the nation of Israel, and both the tribes of Simeon and Levi would not inherit land in the Promised Land. Levi, however, received a different gift later because of repentance and faithfulness. They became the priestly tribe for Israel, and Moses and Aaron were great men from this tribe.

An important first-mention in the Bible is in chapter 48 verses 15-16 where God is first named as Redeemer, Deliverer, or Savior. Jacob had wandered through many places in his life, but he had come to the place where he understood what it meant to be delivered by God’s hand and redeemed by His hand. Hebrews 11:21 calls this blessing of Jacob’s sons the greatest act of faith in Jacob’s life, for Jacob finally understood how God had led him, and now saw also how God would lead his sons and their children and descendants.

*In what specific areas are you having to trust God for your future?