1. Unpredictably Faithful
Genesis 49 – The Story of Joseph and Judah

2. God’s Faithfulness to His Promise
Abrahamic Promise
1. Land
2. Birth

3. God’s Faithfulness to His Promise
Abrahamic Promise
1. Land
2. Birth – Abraham > Isaac > Jacob > ?
3. Blessing

4. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come (lit., ‘the end of days’).”
Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning . . .”

5. Genesis is written in “hindsight”
Beginning Present End
(Genesis) (Israel in Wilderness)

6. Genesis is written in “hindsight”
Genesis Genesis 49
Beginning Present End
(Genesis) (Israel in Wilderness)

7. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Jacob blesses each of his 12 sons from his four wives.
Reuben Judah Dan Naphtali
Simeon Zebulun Gad Joseph
Levi Issachar Asher Benjamin

8. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Jacob blesses each of his 12 sons from his four wives.
Reuben Judah Dan Naphtali
Simeon Zebulun Gad Joseph
Levi Issachar Asher Benjamin

9. Genesis 37-50 - The Story of Joseph
Son of Rachel, and Jacob’s beloved
Joseph’s dreams – “you will bow down to me”
Jealous brothers (cf., Reuben & Judah)

10. Genesis 37-50 - The Story of Joseph
In Potiphar’s house
In prison
Before Pharaoh

11. Genesis 37-50 - The Story of Joseph
Before his brothers (Genesis 45)
4 “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” 

12. Genesis 37-50 - The Story of Joseph
Before his brothers (Genesis 45)
6 “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God.”

13. Genesis 37-50 - The Story of Joseph
Summary on Joseph (cf., nation of Israel)
Experiences wrongful humiliation
Experiences exaltation
Exemplifies faith in God’s goodness
Discerns what is good and bad (cf., Tree of Knowledge)
Brings blessing to Israel and the nations

14. Genesis 38 – The Story of Judah
Judah is the fourth child of Jacob’s wife Leah
Sells Joseph for 20 shekels of silver (ch. 37)
Offers his life to protect Benjamin (chs )
Marries an unnamed Canaanite woman
Their three sons are Er, Onan, and Shelah
Er marries Tamar and dies; Onan does the same

15. Genesis 38 – The Story of Judah
Judah’s problem – What to do about descendants?
Tamar’s solution – If not Shelah, then Judah himself
“She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” (38:26)
The “seed” of Judah and Tamar: Zerah and Perez

16. Genesis 38 – The Story of Judah
Matthew 1
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron . . .

17. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Genesis 49 is a poetic blessing of Jacob’s 12 sons
It describes what will happen to their offspring in the “end” (it is eschatological)

18. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Sons of Leah
Reuben – excluded from blessing
Simeon – excluded from blessing
Levi – excluded from blessing
Judah - ?
And what about Joseph?

19. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Joseph
22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,     a fruitful bough by a spring . . .

20. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Joseph
24 His bow remained unmoved;     his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob     (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

21. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Joseph
25 by the God of your father who will help you,     by the Almighty who will bless you     with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,     blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

22. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Joseph
26 The blessings of your father     are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents     May they be on the head of Joseph,     and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.”

23. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Judah
8 “Your brothers will praise you, Judah.     Your hand will be at the throat of your enemies, and your father’s children will bow down to you.
Joseph’s story is a type (example) of Judah’s future.

24. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Judah
9 Judah is a lion cub.     My son, you have gone up from the prey. Crouching like a lion, he lies down, Like a lioness, who would dare rouse him?

25. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Judah
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,     nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until the one comes, who owns them both,     and to him will belong the allegiance of nations.

26. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Judah
11 Binding his donkey to the vine     and his mare’s foal to its thick tendrils, he will wash his garments in wine     and his robe in the juice of grapes.

27. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Blessing on Judah
12 His eyes are darker than wine     and his teeth whiter than milk.”

28. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
The message of the Joseph story:
Wisdom is trusting God’s goodness in the midst of suffering
Joseph
Israel
Jesus Us

29. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
The message of the Judah story:
God fulfills his promise through unlikely people
Judah and Tamar
Israel
Samaritans and Gentiles
Us (including people we don’t naturally respect or value)

30. Genesis 49 – Jacob Blesses His Sons
Where is there suffering in your life?
How can you trust God in the midst of this suffering to bring about his good purposes?
Who are the people you think are too unworthy for God to use for his good purposes?
How can you trust that God can and perhaps will use these people?