The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the coming of the one to whom it belongs (lit. "until Shiloh comes"),
    the one whom all nations will honor (Genesis 49:10).

While it is unclear whether every blessing found in the Bible by a servant of God is prophetic, this one does seem to be so. Jacob, the final patriarch to receive the Abrahamic Covenant, which carries the Messianic promise ("All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your seed" Genesis 28:14), blesses Judah with the prophecy of an unceasing lineage of rulers until the final Ruler comes whom all nations will honor. Through Judah would come David and a lineage of kings until the monarchy is overthrown by the Babylonians. It would be over four centuries before the Messiah, Jesus Christ, of the line of David, would come. 

Concerning the above passage, Genesis 49:10, Ellicott's commentary notes,

The passage has always been regarded as Messianic, not merely by Christians, but by the Jews, all whose ancient writers, including the Talmud, explain the name Shiloh, or Sheloh, of the Messiah. 

Both Christians and Jews see this passage as predictive of the coming Messiah. Allusions to it may be found in passages like Ezekiel 21:27 and Galatians 3:19. 

This verse is significant because it confirms to us that even from the earliest days there was an expectation of a Messiah. This would be the Seed through whom all peoples on earth would be blessed. This is Paul's argument in Galatians 3:8 and 3:16.

What was simply expectation by the Patriarchs is fulfillment for us. They did not receive the promise of Messiah in their day in order that they might enjoy something greater than simply a Ruler, namely, a Redeemer, who woud accomplish the forgiveness of sins, and so they would be made perfect together with us in Jesus. So in Hebrews we read,

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect (Hebrews 11:39-40).

Praise God!

Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? (Genesis 50:19).

Joseph's brothers fear that Joseph will take revenge on them for what they did to him; however, Joseph acknowledges that the role of Judge is God's alone. He will not judge his brothers. Instead, he assures them that he will provide for them and their children (cf. Genesis 50:21). Joseph exemplifies what Paul taught:

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17-21).

Friends, let us take this to heart, for it is easy to declare ourselves the arm of God's justice when we feel wronged. When God commands us to defend the defenseless and to save the perishing, He does not mean that we exact revenge or punish those who treat us unfairly. This is not overcoming evil with good. Rather, it means that we, first of all, do not ourselves act unjustly lest we be found to be hypocrites in our judgment of others. Second, it means that we do not base our actions or reactions on the principle of reciprocation, namely, to do to them as they have done to us, for then we would not be found to be any better than they. Third, it means that we continue to trust and obey God's Word in everything, so that not temporal circumstances but God's eternal purposes direct our attitude and actions. God does not say to do good only to those who do good to us. He commands us to do good to all peoples, regardless of whether they do good to us or not. Just as it is God's prerogative to judge, it is our responsibility to bless.

And clearly, if we truly understand God's grace toward us, we would never condemn others, no matter what they've done.

Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father’s bed;Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch (Genesis 49:3-4).

Reuben was Jacob's firstborn. Normally, he would have received the double inheritance and authority over his brothers, but he lost this because he defiled his father's bed by sleeping with his father's concubine Bilhah (Genesis 35:22). But who then would receive the blessing and birthright of the firstborn? Simeon, the second son? No. Levi, the third son? No. Judah, the fourth son and the one through whom would come King David and the Messiah? No.

It was Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob:

The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright, and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph) (2 Chronicles 5:1-2).

This was probably done because Joseph was so wrongly treated by his brothers. He was also used by God to save Israel from famine and to give the people a favorable haven in Egypt.

As a result, Joseph's descendants, namely Ephraim and Manasseh, would receive two portions in the Promised Land while his brothers all received only one. And even though, as the text above suggests, Judah became the strongest of the tribes and a ruler would come from him, the sons of Joseph would exercise leadership over their brothers by birthright. Thus, in the future, when the nation splits into the Northern and Southern kingdoms, while Judah led the Southern Kingdom, Ephraim led the Northern Kingdom. The capital of the Southern kingdom would be in Jerusalem, in the territory of Judah. The capital of the Northern kingdom would be in Samaria, in the territory of Ephraim.

While simply a historical tidbit, hopefully understanding this will give some context to the major movements in Israel's history.

As Jacob prepares to bless his sons prior to his "promotion to glory", he says, "Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come." (Gen. 49:1)

The KJV (among others) clarifies these days as the last or latter days.  This could and most likely means that some of the prophetic blessings are still to come.  I never really viewed these blessings as another one of God's ways of revealing (somewhat cryptically) the final days.

There are many places in Genesis where we should stop and ponder because something unexpected is occurring. For example, in our text today, we read,

But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head. So Joseph lifted it to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. “No, my father,” he said. “This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head" (Genesis 48:17-18).

Ephraim, the younger son, gets put ahead of Manasseh, the older son. And Joseph is angry. but he does not have good reason because it was by God's decree that the younger was placed above the older. Jacob is all too familiar with the younger displacing the older, for he too displaced his older brother, Esau, for the birthright and blessing. Jacob obtained his by deception, but here it is done for Joseph's sons openly. 

The significant point here is that whether by deception or by openness, God's will is done. Even when we come to the last chapter of history, when the world will be ripe again for destruction, we see God working through wicked players to accomplish His purposes:

For God has put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes. They will agree to give their authority to the scarlet beast, and so the words of God will be fulfilled (Revelation 17:17).

God's sovereign working among people does not change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Self-condemned people, who are guilty on the basis of their own free-will, are used by God to achieve His plan of salvation for others, who are righteous on the basis of God's choice and His grace.

Notice that I do not use the comparison of Law and grace, nor works and faith, here. I think we are too caught up in a tradition that understands law as only the Mosaic Law when thinking of it's insufficiency and people's inability to accomplish salvation. If we look carefully at the magnum opus of writings with respect to this issue, namely, the Book of Romans, we'll see that Paul has more than the Law of Moses in mind, just as he has more than the Jews in mind, with respect to people's failure to achieve salvation. 

The Law of Moses is only a signpost, revealing people's core inability to meet God's perfect standard. As Paul writes in Romans 3:20, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." This is true, whether we speak of the Law of Moses or the law of conscience. This is also why Paul often speaks of the "works of the Law" as opposed to just "the law." He wants people to understand that he has all kinds of works in mind, not just those capsulated in the 615 commands of the Law. And that includes the "work of faith." While it sounds like an oxymoron, faith itself can be a work when it is seen as something achievable by people, and not as it really is, a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 12:3).

I'm not talking about just any faith, but specifically saving faith. Anyone can believe, and just as quickly fall out of belief (John 2:23-25). But saving faith is a perfect and enduring faith. Otherwise, it could not save. That is why we read in Hebrews 10:38-39,

Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Those who have received faith from God will not lose their faith, because God keeps them (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Philippians 1:6; 1 Corinthians 1:8-9). God's word, or perhaps better, God's decree, provides the saving faith, through which we are sanctified in Christ. Just as it is written,

So then [saving] faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Have you wondered what this means? Now, you know. If you look back at Romans 10, you will notice that Paul is contrasting saving faith, which comes by God's word, with fickle faith that rarely responds to preaching (Romans 10:14-16). The "word of God" here is not specifically the Bible or Bible preaching but rather God's decree, whereby the Gospel is planted within a person's heart and mouth (Romans 10:8), just as the New Covenant said that it would be:

I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34).

Do you notice that the New Covenant is specifically and entirely a unilateral action by God. It does not require any effort, whether of self-induced works or free-will-based faith here. God PUTS His law in our minds and WRITES it on our hearts. Just as the righteousness of the Law is given to us by God's decree, so also the faith to receive the benefits is also given to us by God's decree. In Romans 10, as he does so often, Paul echoes the complaints of some. These complainers say,

Paul, you say that everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved, but how can they call on the Lord if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard? And how can they hear without a preacher? Isn't this why the Scripture says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things"? (My explanatory version)

Paul begins his response to these complaints by observing,

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:16-17).

In other words, even where there was preaching, people still did not believe. Paul's conclusion? Faith does not come by preaching but by "hearing." Huh? Don't people hear preaching? No, that's not the kind of hearing Paul has in mind. It is the hearing of faith. It is a kind of hearing that comes "by the word of God." In other words, God provides the kind of ears necessary to hear in such a way as to be saved. This echoes Jesus' oft repeated, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear." People hear by God's decree. This is the "word of God" This is why a few verses later, Paul would cite the OT passage that says,

I was found by those who did not seek Me; 
I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me (Romans 10:20; Isaiah 65:1).

In other words, God opened eyes for people to see. God opened ears for people to hear. God provided the faith so that people would believe. 

As Jacob acknowledged God's sovereign action in selecting Ephraim over Manasseh, even before they became a great people, so let us acknowledge that God has also predestined some to believe and be saved.

So I had a few things speak to me in this passage. First, Israel was embalmed much like they would embalm Pharoah and his family and so was Joseph, which says a lot about how highly he was thought of. Then, the entire family journeyed to the field and buried their patriarch in their personal cemetary that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah were buried in, and was a sign of their eventual posession of that entire promised land. Rachel died on the journey.

Second, Israel knew his children and what they had done. He brings up some stuff that they apparently had done in their childhood or manhood, and the prophecies eventually came true if you read on. For example, the Levites eventually became priests beginning with Aaron. Jesus can be traced all the way back to Judah's line, and in V. 8-12 he is prophecying about Jesus.

There is a verse in the Bible that speaks about multi-generational sins or habits. That is: the actions of the fathers repeating in their children, grandchildren, and so on. This is especially prevalent in Kings 1, 2, Chronicles 1, 2, and so on. In this passage, I find that the prophecy that Jacob spoke over his grandchildren Manessah and Ephraim happened in his own life. It was spoken to Rebekah, and she saw that it came about, that the younger would be greater than the elder. It just shows that God can use anyone, no matter age, birthright, and in that time, the elder would inherit the greater blessing in every pagan household, even in Jacob's household we see that this happened.

Third, when Joseph had his dreams about his brothers bowing to him, he had no idea what a journey he would go on. He was sold into slavery, bought, accused of a heinous crime and in prison, set free, advised Pharoah, save Israel and Egypt, saved his family, and reconciled with his brothers. I don't see Joseph being bitter, angry, or even unforgiving! His dependence on God has been interesting to study, because if it were ME, I would gripe, complain, and the last thing I would do would be give it to God. The first thing I would do is ask WHY. I don't really see where Joseph did that, even in jail.

And the last thing about this passage that I find interesting is, after Israel died, Joseph's brothers were like "I bet you he's been waiting for dad to die so he can punish us now!!! Interestingly, Joseph never did repay his Brothers for what they had done. He may have given them a few bad moments before they ever knew who he was, but Joseph essentially says to them: "You meant my slavery to be a bad thing, but God made it all good! Because God put me where I am, I can save you all, myself, and I'm going to take care of you and your families!!!!"

I really enjoyed digging back in to the life of Joseph, because he wore his greatness with humility, and that is a very rare quality in this present day and time.

One of our members commented on the matter of Joseph forgiving his brothers. I wanted to take this occasion to provide some perspective on the topic of Christian forgiveness:

Just as a general comment, sometimes it is difficult to discern moral principles from the Old Testament because the text doesn't always come right out and say something is right or wrong. For example, there is no commentary regarding Abraham's lying to Pharaoh with respect to Sarah being his wife. Even more blatant is the situation in the latter part of the Book of Judges where there is clear idolatry and a clear breach of the Law, but the events are presented as if nothing is wrong. How about the frequent instances of polygamy throughout the Old Testament? There are many such examples. The reader is expected  to discern the moral principles from the stories based on their understanding of the character of God and on what has been revealed in other texts. For example, when we read of Solomon multiplying gold and horses, we understand that this is sin, not necessarily because the texts states it as such in the immediate account (cf. 2 Chronicles 9:13-28) but because of what Moses wrote in the Law regarding kings and gold and horses (cf. Deuteronomy 17:16-17).

That said, we must be careful when examining the life of Joseph to make sure that we draw right principles based on other texts of Scripture. On the matter of forgiveness, the Scriptures teach that where Christians are concerned, forgiveness must only be granted where there is repentance. Luke 17:3 says explicitly, "If he repents, forgive him," even seventy times seven if they repent (cf. Matthew 18:22). But if they persist in unrepentance, they are to be treated not as a brother but as an unbeliever (cf. Matthew 18:15-17).

The Scripture is clear that the pattern for forgiveness is God's forgiveness of us (cf. Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 4:32). And God does not forgive where there is no repentance, just as no one is saved if they do not believe. When Jesus taught the parable of the unforgiving servant, the forgiveness there was in the context of repentance (cf. Matthew 18:23-35). As 1 John 1:9 teaches, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Oftentimes, while remembering the emotional and compassionate side of forgiveness we forget the judicial side. There is a reason why the Bible says that God is faithful and justto forgive, and it does not say God is compassionate to forgive. The basis of forgiveness for sin is the blood of Christ (cf. 1 John 1:7; Hebrews 9:22). And the judicial entrance into that forgiveness is repentance and faith (cf. Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 20:21). Therefore, if God's forgiveness of our sins is the pattern for us, then we too should forgive on the basis of repentance.

On the other hand, if we forgive where there is no repentance, we dishonor God and do a disservice to the community of faith because we are not upholding God's righteous standard among believers, we are allowing sin to fester as an open wound in the church (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:1-13), and we may be leaving a brother self-deceived (cf. 1 John 1:8), or worse, rejecting God (cf. 1 John 1:10).

Now, as we are commanded to forgive, so we are also commanded to rebuke one another (cf. Luke 17:3). We are not to overlook sin but to resolve it, even before we come to worship God (cf. Matthew 5:24). Perhaps the only exception may be the occasion when the believer is so hard-hearted that they are the Proverbial fool (cf. Matthew 7:6; Proverbs 9:8; 26:4-5). In such cases, prayer may be in order so that God can soften their heart so that they might listen and repent. Consider the approach that Paul commanded Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:24-26:

Even in Joseph's case, what do you think was the reason that Joseph did not immediately reveal himself to his brothers? And why did he desire to have them bring Benjamin, his only maternal biological brother, to him? Could it be that he feared that his brothers might do the same treacherous thing to his brother as they did to him? Perhaps he wanted to see if they really learned their lesson over the years and were repentant. The brothers' words, which Joseph understood, revealed to Joseph that they were genuinely repentant and had learned from their former grave sin against Joseph (cf. Genesis 42:21-24; 44:33-34). And in fact, they did repent (cf. Genesis 50:16-18).

Therefore, while I would say harbor no bitterness toward anyone but leave all judgment to God, do not go around forgiving where there is no repentance just to ease your burden or to "move-on" with life. Let us instead create an environment where we can both freely rebuke and forgive each other in the proper way and so bring glory to God, who is this way with us.