The Twelve Sons of Jacob » Maranatha! The Lord is Coming!

Twelve sons of Jacob

“And Jacob called his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.”

Life 49:1.

The Word shows us the characteristics and patterns of thinking that will be formed in the last days. We have the opportunity to be inoculated against this evil and discover for ourselves which servants will please the Lord in the last time.

The purpose of this Word is our maturity as servants of the Lord.

1 Reuben – the fickle servant

“Reuben, my firstborn!
you are my strength and the beginning of my strength, the height of dignity and the height of power; but you raged like water, you will not prevail, for you ascended to your father’s bed, you desecrated my bed, you ascended” Gen.
49:3-4 .

His life is fickle, he is sometimes in blessing, sometimes in sin. This is a servant who knows the value of work, but is not awake .

Reuben did not want to kill Joseph, but left him in the ditch, and his brothers later sold him.

2 and 3 Simeon and Levi - cruel

“Simeon and Levi are brothers, their swords are instruments of cruelty;
Let not my soul enter into their council, and let not my glory join their assembly, for in their anger they killed the husband and, at their whim, cut the veins of the calf; cursed is their anger, for it is cruel, and their wrath, for it is fierce; I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel ." Gen.
49:5-7 .

This is a nervous person who easily loses self-control.

He has many strong experiences with God, but his temperament destroys what the Holy Spirit produces in his life. He fails to preach the gospel, because his testimony seduces the first-time visitor.

4 Jude – filled with the Holy Spirit

"Judas!
Your brothers will praise you. Your hand is on the back of your enemies; the sons of your father will worship you. The young lion Judah, my son, rises from his prey. He bowed down, lay down like a lion and like a lioness: who will raise him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until the Reconciler comes, and to Him is the submission of the nations. He binds his donkey's colt to the vine, and the son of his donkey to the best vine; he washes his clothes in wine and his garments in the blood of grapes; His eyes are sparkling with wine, and his teeth are white with milk .” Gen.
49:8-12 .

The man who was converted endured much and grew into a mature servant:

Scepter
: Never lost the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Lawgiver
: lives according to the laws established by the Lord.
Eyes and teeth
: spiritually speaking of witness in sanctification.
Young Lion - Lioness - Lion
: From the moment of conversion there has always been a deep identification with Jesus. Always fought and fights to remain faithful. This is a permanent servant.
The Coal of the Vine
: Devotes all his labor and strength to the Work that the Holy Spirit is doing in the church.
Clothes in Wine
: His salvation is the result of numerous experiences with spiritual gifts.
Robe
: His protection is in the power of the blood of Jesus.

5 Zebulun – worldly habits

“Zebulun will dwell by the shore of the sea and by the docks of the ships, and his border will be as far as Sidon”
Gen.
49:13 .

A man is in a church, but is building a house on the seashore. It's a believer filled with slang, bad habits and quirks .

It is very difficult for him to understand the Work, but it is very easy for him to absorb worldly things. Lives in church, but does not take his eyes off the world.

6 Issachar – comfortable

“Issachar is a strong donkey, lying between the channels of water;
and he saw that the rest was good, and that the earth was pleasant: and he bowed his shoulders to bear the burden, and began to work to pay the tribute” Gen.
49:14-15 .

This is a servant who has discernment, gifts, attends seminars, i.e. has everything to carry out the Work, but is always too busy with his own affairs

. He cannot accept that someone works less than him. Always wants to be praised for his work.

7 Dan – judges, has his own opinion on everything

“Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel;
Dan will be a serpent on the road, an adder on the way, biting the horse's leg, so that his rider will fall backward. I hope for your help, Lord .” Gen.
49:16-18 .

He judges everyone according to his own opinion. Lives by talking badly about people behind their backs, loves gossip .

Can't say anything positive about the brothers.
The Lord is waiting for him to change ( salvation
) so that he can enter into the plan that God has for him.

8 Gad – tried and victorious

“Gad,” the crowd will press him, but he will push them back on their heels”
Gen.
49:19 .

These are those who go through great trials, but overcome in the Lord.

These are tried servants, they know what it means to pay for the love of the Lord.

9 Asher – has an open Word

“For Asher his bread is too fat, and he will deliver the royal dishes”
Gen.
49:20 .

Filled with strong experiences with the Holy Spirit. Used heavily in gifts and in the Word .

10 Naphtali – covenant with the Work

“Naphtali is a slender chamois;
he speaks beautiful sayings” Gen.
49:21 .

Completely dedicated to the Work. Work is his main priority. He works with love and gratitude to the Lord. Shows in his testimony a love for the Work .

His words are about the eternal.

11 Joseph is faithful

“Joseph is the branch of the fruitful tree, the branch of the fruitful tree above the spring;
its branches extend over the wall; They upset him, and the archers shot and fought at him, but his bow remained strong, and the muscles of his hands were strong, from the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. From there is the Shepherd and the stronghold of Israel, from God your father, who will help you, and from the Almighty, who will bless you with the blessings of heaven above, the blessings of the deep that lies below, the blessings of the breasts and the womb, the blessings of your father, which exceed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the pleasantness of the eternal hills; let them be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the chosen one among his brothers” Gen.
49:22-26 .

A servant who goes through difficulties and changes in his life, but his work remains unchanged, devoted to the Lord .

Works constantly for the Work, even when everything is bad (
in prison
) or very good (
ruler of Egypt
).

Joseph was a working man:

The branch of the fruitful tree above the source
: does not move away from the presence of the Lord, therefore there is always fruit in his life, even during trials.
They extend over the wall
: the boundaries of the Spirit do not present difficulties for it. His life is prosperous and has no need to go beyond these restrictions.
Upset
: experienced in difficulties.
His bow
: knows the doctrine of the bow and knows that the church (Body) is his protection.
The Mighty God of Israel
: Jesus is his strength, through experiences in the Spirit.
Blessings
: Experiences spiritual blessings and material deliverances.
Chosen (separated) among (from) his brothers
: established in the Work and separated from the world.

12 Benjamin – carnal

“Benjamin, the ravenous wolf, will eat the spoil in the morning and divide the spoil in the evening”
Gen.
49:27 .

Carnal believer.

The Bible Set for Family Reading Joseph and the Sons of Jacob in Egypt

Jacob, Joseph and his brothers

It seemed that Jacob was finally destined to calm down upon returning to his homeland, where he could live independently and freely among his large family.
But Jacob was not happy with his children. His sons, who later became the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the Israeli people, ruled by God Himself, caused him a lot of grief. Among them, only Rachel's son Joseph did not upset him, and therefore Jacob loved and distinguished him above all his other children. This aroused envy in Joseph's brothers and served as a reason for discord in the family. Joseph's brothers were completely irritated when he told them the amazing dreams he had seen, by the interpretation of which it was possible to judge his future leadership over them.

This is the first dream that Joseph told his brothers: “Behold, we are binding sheaves in the middle of a field; and behold, my sheaf rose up and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves stood round and bowed down to my sheaf. And his brothers said to him, “Will you really reign over us?” will you really rule over us?

When Joseph told them and his father his second dream: “... behold, I saw another dream: behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars worship me,” then even “his father scolded him and said to him: what kind of dream is this? which one did you see? Shall I and your mother and your brothers come to bow down to the ground before you?”

(Genesis 37:7-10)

Joseph's brothers completely hated him and were ready to destroy him. The opportunity for this soon presented itself.

“His brothers went to pasture their father’s cattle in Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph: Go, see if your brothers are healthy and if your cattle are safe, and bring me an answer. And he sent him out of the valley of Hebron; and he came to Shechem.

And someone found him wandering in the field, and the man asked him, saying, “What are you looking for?” He said: I am looking for my brothers; tell me where do they graze? And the man said, They left hence, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

And they saw him from afar, and before he approached them, they began to plot against him to kill him. And they said to each other: Behold, there comes a dreamer; Let's go now and kill him, and throw him into some ditch, and say that a predatory beast ate him; and we will see what will happen from his dreams. And Reuben heard this and delivered him from their hands, saying: We will not kill him, do not shed blood; throw him into the pit that is in the wilderness, and do not lay hands on him. He said this with the intention of delivering him from their hands and returning him to his father.

When Joseph came to his brothers, they took off Joseph's clothes, the coat of many colors that he was wearing (which also aroused their envy and irritation, like a gift from their father to their younger brother), and they took him and threw him into the ditch; that ditch was empty; there was no water in it.

And they sat down to eat bread, and, looking, they saw, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, and their camels were carrying styrax, balm and incense: they were going to take it to Egypt.

And Judas said to his brothers: What good will it do if we kill our brother and hide his blood? Let's go, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let our hands not be on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. His brothers obeyed him and, when the merchants of Midian passed by, they pulled Joseph out of the ditch and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.

Reuben came again to the den; and behold, Joseph was not in the den. And he tore his clothes, and returned to his brothers, and said: The boy is gone, but I, where can I go? And they took Joseph's clothes, and killed the goat, and stained the clothes with blood; and they sent the coat of many colors, and brought it to their father, and said: We have found this; see if these clothes are your son's or not.

He recognized it and said: This is my son’s clothing; a predatory beast ate him; That's right, Joseph was torn to pieces. And Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters gathered together to comfort him; but he did not want to be consoled and said: I will go down to my son in the underworld with sorrow. Thus his father mourned him.

The Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's courtier, commander of the bodyguard. And the Lord was with Joseph: he was successful in business and lived in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that everything he did was brought to success by the Lord in his hands. And Joseph found favor in his sight and served him. And he set him over his house, and all that he had he gave into his hands. And from the time that he placed him over his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in his field.”

(Gen. 37, 12-36; 39, 2-5)

Beautiful in all respects, the young man Joseph aroused the complete confidence of his master. But unfortunately, his wicked wife also liked him. In response to the offer to deceive his husband, Joseph refused and said: “Behold, my master does not know anything in the house with me, and everything that he has has given into my hands; I am no longer in this house; and he forbade me nothing except you, because you are his wife; How can I do this great evil and sin before God?” Then the treacherous wife was indignant at Joseph and slandered him before her husband. “When his master heard the words of his wife, which she said to him, he was inflamed with anger; And his master took Joseph and put him in prison, where the king's prisoners were imprisoned. And he was there in prison. And the Lord was with Joseph, and extended mercy to him, and gave him favor in the eyes of the captain of the prison. And the keeper of the prison gave into the hands of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the prison, and he was in charge of everything they did there. The warden did not look at anything that was in his hands, because the Lord was with Joseph, and in everything he did, the Lord brought success.”

(Gen. 39, 8-9, 19-23)

While Joseph was in prison, the butler and baker of his court, who had done something wrong before Pharaoh, were brought there. Under the influence of heavy thoughts about how the trial against them would be resolved, whether they would be acquitted or convicted, both of them saw incomprehensible dreams that alarmed them. They conveyed their uneasy bewilderment about this to Joseph, who was kind to everyone and sympathetic to everyone.

“Are not interpretations from God?” - Joseph responded and asked to tell him their dreams. The cupbearer said that he dreamed of a grapevine with three branches. And when the vine developed and the berries ripened on it, he squeezed the juice out of it into Pharaoh's cup and gave him that cup.

Trusting in Almighty God, Joseph explained his dream to the cupbearer this way: the three branches are three days, after which you will be justified before Pharaoh and will again put the cup into his hand.

“Remember me when it goes well for you, and do me a good deed, and mention me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house,” Joseph asked the cupbearer and told him his story and how undeservedly he was imprisoned.

Then the baker said that he also dreamed of three lattice baskets: in the upper one there were breads baked for Pharaoh, and the birds pecked them in the basket on his head. In three days, Joseph explained, Pharaoh will order your head to be cut off and hanged, and the birds will eat your body. Both of these explanations were exactly correct.

The pardoned cupbearer soon forgot about Joseph. But two years later, the king of Egypt himself had dreams that alarmed him and which no one could explain to him. It was then that the cupbearer remembered Joseph and told the king that he knew one man who could explain dreams. Joseph was immediately taken from prison and presented to Pharaoh (as the kings of Egypt were called).

“Pharaoh said to Joseph: I had a dream, and there was no one who could interpret it, but I heard about you that you can interpret dreams. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, This is not mine; God will give an answer for the good of Pharaoh.”

(Gen. 40, 8.14; 41 15-16)

And Pharaoh told Joseph his dream that, standing on the bank of the river, he saw seven fat cows grazing in the reeds, and after that he saw other, but already very skinny cows, which devoured the first; and that he also saw in a dream seven full, good ears of corn on one stalk, “but behold, after them seven ears of thin, skinny ears grew, and dried up by the east wind; and the lean ears devoured the seven good ears.”

“I told this to the wise men, but no one explained it to me. And Joseph said to Pharaoh: The dream of the Pharaohs is one: what God will do, He told Pharaoh. Seven good cows equals seven years; and seven good ears of grain are seven years: one dream. Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout all the land of Egypt; after them seven years of famine will come, and all that abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and famine will deplete the land. And that the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice, this means that this is truly the word of God, and that God will soon fulfill this.”

(Gen. 41, 23-32)

And Joseph advised the king to choose a prudent and wise man and instruct him to take measures against the upcoming famine in the second seven years, ordering to stock up on grain for all of Egypt in the first seven productive years.

“And Pharaoh said to Joseph: Since God has revealed all these things to you, there is no one so understanding and wise as you; You will be over my house, and all my people will keep your word; Only with the throne will I be greater than you.

...Behold, I have made you over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand; He dressed him in fine linen, and put a golden chain around his neck; ordered to take him to the second of his chariots and proclaim before him: bow down! And he set him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to Joseph: I am Pharaoh; without you no one will move his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Tzaphnath-paneah, and gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of Heliopolis, as his wife. Joseph was thirty years old when he appeared before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.”

(Gen. 41, 39-46)

During seven fruitful years, Joseph collected grain throughout the land and stored it in reserve granaries, which he set up for this purpose in many cities. When the lean years came, there were so many reserves that they were enough not only to feed the whole of Egypt, but also for sale to neighboring regions.

Meanwhile, famine came to the land of Canaan. And from there the sons of Jacob arrived in Egypt to buy grain, with the exception of Benjamin, whom his father kept with him. They, along with other foreigners, were brought to the main ruler of the entire Egyptian land, their brother Joseph, but they did not recognize him. He recognized them, and he remembered his dreams in his youth, foreshadowing future greatness and that his brothers would bow to him.

In order to test, however, what they had become now, he did not show that he recognized them, “and spoke to them sternly and said to them: where did you come from? They said, “From the land of Canaan, buy food.”

“You are spies,” Joseph told them, “you have come to spy out the nakedness (weak spots) of this land.”

“They said to him: No, our lord; Your servants have come to buy food; we are all children of one person; we are honest people; Your servants were not spies.

He said to them, “No, you have come to see the nakedness of this land.” They said: We, your servants, are twelve brothers; We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is now with our father, but one is gone.

And Joseph said to them: This is what I spoke to you, saying, “You are spies; This is how you will be tested: I swear by the life of Pharaoh, you will not leave here unless your younger brother comes here; send one of you, and let him bring your brother, and you will be detained; and it will be revealed whether you are right; and if not, then I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you are spies.

And he put them in custody for three days.

And Joseph said to them on the third day, Do this and you will live. for I fear God; if you are honest people, then let one brother of you be kept in the house where you are imprisoned; and you go, bring bread, for the sake of the hunger of your families; Bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be justified and so that you will not die. That's what they did."

(Gen. 42, 7, 9-20)

Then the sons of Jacob remembered their great sin against their young brother and realized that for this sin the hour of Divine retribution had come for them. Released from prison, they went, supplied with bread, back to their land, except for Simeon, who remained as a deposit until they fulfilled Joseph’s order to bring their brother Benjamin to him.

Meanwhile, the money that they brought with them for the bread was secretly returned and put into everyone’s bag. At the lodging for the night, one of the brothers opened his sack to give food to his donkey; but how greatly he was frightened when he found the money there! “Come here quickly,” he shouted to his brothers, “my money is in the bag again!” They were all very afraid and said: “What has the Lord done to us?” They saddened their father with the story of their strange journey.

“And Jacob said to them (having heard about the demand of the Egyptian ruler to bring Benjamin to him): you have deprived me of my children: Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and you want to take Benjamin—it’s all on me!” And he did not agree to let Benjamin go.

Meanwhile, the famine increased in the land of Canaan. The sons of Jacob had to go to Egypt again for bread. But they could not go without Benjamin. Judas convinced his father to let his youngest son go with them, saying to him: “Let the boy go with me, and we will get up and go, and we will live and not die, both you and our children; I am responsible for it, you will demand it from my hands; If I do not bring him to you and place him before you, then I will remain guilty before you all the days of my life.”

(Gen. 42, 21-36; 43, 8-9)

Jacob finally agreed to the persistent request of his sons. “Israel their father said to them: if so, then do this: take with you the fruits of this land and bring as a gift to that man some balm and some honey, styrax and frankincense, pistachios and almonds; take other silver into your hands; and return the silver that was put back into the hole of your sacks with your hands: perhaps this is an oversight; and take your brother and get up and go again to the man; May Almighty God grant you to find mercy from a man so that he will release you and your other brother and Benjamin, and if I am already childless, then let me be childless. And the people took these gifts, and doubled the silver in their hands, and Benjamin, and they arose and went to Egypt and appeared before Joseph.”

When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin among them, he ordered the ruler of his house to prepare a meal for those who came. “And these men were afraid that they brought them into the house of Joseph, and said: It is for the money that was first returned to our sacks that they brought us in to find fault with us and attack us, and take us and our donkeys into slavery.” And they tried to justify themselves, to explain their innocence in the discovery of silver in their bags, which they returned to the ruler of Joseph’s house, providing him at the same time with other silver for a new purchase of bread.

At this time, Joseph himself came out to them, greeted them warmly, asked about the health of their father, looked intently at Benjamin and said: “May the mercy of God be with you, my son!”

“And Joseph hastily departed, because his love for his brother was inflamed, and he was ready to weep, and he entered the inner room and wept there.

And having washed his face, he went out, and strengthened himself and said: Serve the food. And they gave it to him especially, and to them especially, and to the Egyptians who dined with him, especially, for the Egyptians cannot eat with the Jews, because it is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat down before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and these people marveled at each other. And food was sent to them from him, and Benjamin's share was five times the share of each of them. And they drank, and they drank contently with him.”

(Gen. 43, 11-15, 18, 29-34)

But before they left, Joseph, before revealing himself to his brothers, decided to test them once again to find out how they treated Benjamin, and detained them in this way: he ordered, as the first time, to put the silver they brought in for bread into bags them and, moreover, put his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack.

“In the morning, when it was dawn, these people were released, they and their donkeys. They had not yet gone far from the city when Joseph said to the ruler of his house: go, catch up with these people, and when you catch up, tell them: why did you pay evil for good (why did you steal my silver cup)? Isn’t this the one from which my master drinks and he tells fortunes with it? It's a bad thing you did.

They said to him: Why does our lord say such words? No, your servants will not do such a thing. Behold, the silver that we found in the hole of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan: how can we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

Whoever of your servants finds (the cup), to him will be death, and we will be our master’s servants.”

So be it, the head of the house agreed and began to search their bags. The cup was found in Benjamin's bag.

“And they tore their clothes,” the grief-stricken older brothers. “And having each laid his load on his donkey, they returned to the city. And Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house and fell to the ground before him.

Joseph said to them: What have you done? didn't you know that a person like me would certainly guess right?

Judas said: What shall we say to our lord? what should I say? what is the excuse? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; Behold, we are servants to our master, both we and he in whose hands the cup was found. But Joseph said: No, I will not do this; the one in whose hands the cup was found will be my slave, and you go in peace to your father.”

(Gen. 44, 3-9, 13-17)

Then Judas came up and objected to him. He told Joseph with what difficulty his father decided to let Benjamin go with them, to whom he had been especially attached since long ago when he lost his beloved son from Rachel.

“This is what our father told us when he refused to let Benjamin go with us,” Judah continued, “behold, “one son left me, and I said: surely he is torn to pieces; and I have not seen him until now; If you take this one out of my sight, and misfortune happens to him, then you will bring my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.”

“Now,” Judas further convinced and prayed to Joseph, “if I come to your servant, our father, and the boy with whose soul his soul is connected is not with us, then he, seeing that the boy is not there, will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. Moreover, I, your servant, undertook to answer for the boy to my father, saying: if I do not bring him to you (and put him before you), then I will remain guilty before my father all the days of my life. So let me, your servant, instead of the lad, remain the servant of my master, and let the lad go with his brothers: for how can I go to my father when the lad is not with me? I would have seen the disaster that would have befallen my father.”

(Gen. 44, 28-34)

After listening to Judas, “Joseph could no longer hold out in front of everyone standing around him and cried out: Get everyone away from me. And there was no one left with Joseph when he revealed himself to his brothers. And he wept loudly, and the Egyptians heard, and the house of the Pharaohs heard. And Joseph said to his brothers: I am Joseph; is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him, because they were embarrassed before him.”

“And Joseph said to his brothers, Come to me. They came up. He said: I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt; but now do not be sad and do not regret that you sold me here, because God sent me before you to preserve your life; for now there are two years of famine on earth: there are still five years left, in which they will neither yell nor reap; God sent me before you to leave you on earth and preserve your life with a great deliverance.

So it was not you who sent me here, but God, who made me a father to Pharaoh and lord over all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Go quickly to my father and tell him: This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord over all Egypt; come to me, do not delay; you will live in the land of Goshen; and you will be near me, you, and your sons, and your sons’ sons, and your flocks and herds, and all that is yours; And I will feed you there, for there will be another famine for five years, so that you and your house and everything that is yours will not become poor. And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you; Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about everything that you have seen, and quickly bring my father here.

And he fell on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and cried, hugging them. Then his brothers spoke to him.”

When Pharaoh learned about everything that had happened, he responded sympathetically to Joseph’s joy, added his invitation to his entire family to move to Egypt, promised to provide them with everything they needed in his land and ordered chariots, travel supplies and various gifts to be delivered to Joseph’s father on the road.

And Joseph delivered to his brothers everything according to Pharaoh's orders. “He gave each of them a change of clothing, and to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. And he sent his brothers away, and they went. And he said to them: Do not quarrel on the road.

And they departed from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father, and told him, saying, “Your son Joseph lives, and now rules over all the land of Egypt.” But his heart was troubled, for he did not believe them.

When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the chariots that Joseph had sent to carry him, then the spirit of Jacob their father revived, and Israel said: It is enough (for me), my son is yet alive. Joseph; I will go and see him before I die.”

(Gen. 45, 1-15, 21-22, 24-28)

“And Israel departed with all that he had,” and with all his sons and his sons’ sons: “all the souls of the house of Jacob that went over with Jacob into Egypt were seventy.”

Having reached Bathsheba, Jacob made sacrifices here to the God of his father, Isaac. The Lord, in a night vision, renewed His promises to him. “Do not be afraid to go to Egypt,” He said to Jacob, “for there I will make of you a great nation; I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring you back. Joseph will close your eyes with his hand.”

“Jacob set out from Beersheba; and the children of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their children, and their wives in the chariots which Pharaoh had sent to bring him.

Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph so that he would show the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. Joseph harnessed his chariot and rode out to meet his father Israel in Goshen, and when he saw him, he fell on his neck and wept for a long time on his neck. And Israel said to Joseph, Now that I have seen your face, I will die, for you are still alive.

And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's house, I will go and tell Pharaoh and say to him, My brothers and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; these people are shepherds of sheep, for they are cattle breeders; they brought their flocks and herds, and all that they had.

If Pharaoh calls you and says: What is your occupation? Then you will say: we, your servants, have been herders of cattle from our youth until now, both we and our fathers, so that you may be settled in the land of Goshen. For every shepherd of sheep is an abomination to the Egyptians.

And Joseph brought Jacob his father, and presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob: How many years of your life are you? Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty years; The days of my life are small and miserable and have not reached the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their wanderings.

And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left Pharaoh.

And Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and gave them possession in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded. And Joseph supplied his father and his brothers and all his father’s house with bread, according to the needs of each family.”

And the new newcomers, the Israelites, lived prosperously under him, and they owned the land of Goshen, and “multiplied greatly.”

(Gen. 46, 1, 27, 3-5, 28-34; 47, 7-12, 27)

“And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. And the time came for Israel to die, and he called his son Joseph and said to him: if I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will show me mercy and truth, and will not bury me in Egypt so that I can lie down. with my fathers; You will carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their tomb. Joseph said: I will do according to your word.

After this they said to Joseph, Behold, your father is sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to Jacob. And Israel saw the sons of Joseph and said, Who are these? And Joseph said to his father, These are my sons whom God has given me here. Jacob said: Bring them to me, and I will bless them.

The eyes of Israel were dull with age; he could not see clearly. Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, I did not hope to see your face; but behold, God has shown me your children also.”

And reminding Joseph of the blessings and promises he had received from the Lord, Jacob added: “Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt, before I came to you in Egypt, they are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, like Reuben and Simeon, will be mine; and your children who are born of you after them will be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, although he was the youngest, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh.”

When Joseph told his father that it was not Ephraim, but Manasseh, who was his firstborn, and asked to place his right hand on the head of the firstborn, then “his father did not agree and said: I know, my son, I know; and from him (Manasseh) will come a nation, and he will be great; but his younger brother will be greater than he, and from his seed will come a large nation.”

“And he blessed them that day, saying, Through thee shall Israel bless, saying, God do unto thee as unto Ephraim and Manasseh. And he placed Ephraim above Manasseh.

And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am dying; and God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers; I give you, especially before your brothers, one plot, which I took from the hands of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

(Gen. 47, 27-31; 48, 1, 8-11, 5-6, 14, 19-22).

After this, Jacob called his eldest sons and, blessing them, told them at the same time what awaited them in the coming days. Blessing his fourth son, Judas, the patriarch departing from this world seemed to have reached the highest degree of sacred inspiration and, as if peering spiritually into the distant destinies of the human race, he foresaw and for the first time even determined the deadline for the fulfillment of the promise of the Savior of the world coming into the world

This is what he said to Judas: “Judas! Your brothers will praise you. Your hand is on the back of your enemies; the sons of your father will worship you. The young lion Judah, my son, rises from his prey. He bowed down, lay down like a lion and like a lioness: who will raise him?

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until the Reconciler comes, and to Him is the submission of the nations.”

(Genesis 49:8-10)

Indeed, the tribe of Judah was the most powerful of the twelve tribes of Israel. From his descendants came the ancestors of the royal family, starting with King David. The royal scepter and with it the right over life and death did not come out of this family even during the time of the Babylonian captivity; the tribe of Judah maintained its independence and gave its name to the descendants of Jacob. Finally, when the Romans captured the country of Judea, they handed over the scepter or power over it to the Edomite Herod, and at that time the Savior was born...

His dying father said to his beloved son Joseph: “Joseph is a branch of a fruitful tree, a branch of a fruitful tree above the spring; its branches extend over the wall; They upset him, and the archers shot and fought at him, but his bow remained strong, and the muscles of his hands were strong, from the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. From there is the Shepherd and the stronghold of Israel, from the God of your father, who will help you, and from the Almighty, who will bless you with the blessings of heaven above, the blessings of your father, which exceed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the delights of the everlasting hills; let them be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the chosen one among his brothers.

And Jacob commanded his sons and said to them: I am added to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan. And Jacob finished his testament to his sons, and laid his feet on the bed, and died, and was gathered to his people.

(Gen. 49, 22-26, 29, 30, 33)

Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the doctors, to embalm his father; and the doctors embalmed Israel. And he was forty days old, for so many days are used for embalming, and the Egyptians mourned him for seventy days. When the days of mourning for him had passed…” Joseph, having received permission from Pharaoh, went with his entire household and the elders of Egypt accompanying them to bury his father in the land of Canaan according to his will.

“And Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all those who went with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

And Joseph's brothers saw that their father had died, and they said: What if Joseph hates us and wants to take revenge on us for all the evil that we did to him? And they sent to Joseph: Your father bequeathed before his death, saying: So say to Joseph: forgive your brothers the guilt and their sin, since they did you evil. And now forgive the guilt of the servants of the God of your father. Joseph cried when they told him this. His brothers themselves came and fell down before him, and said: Behold, we are your servants.

And Joseph said, Fear not, for I fear God; Behold, you have plotted evil against me; but God turned it into good to do what is now: to save the lives of a great number of people; So do not be afraid: I will feed you and your children. And he calmed them and spoke according to their hearts.

And Joseph lived in Egypt, he and his father's house; Joseph lived only one hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw the children of Ephraim unto the third generation, and also the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh were born into the lap of Joseph. And Joseph said to his brothers: I am dying, but God will visit you and bring you out of this land to the land about which he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Joseph cursed the children of Israel, saying, God will visit you, and take up my bones from here. And Joseph died a hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him and put him in an ark in Egypt.”

(Gen. 59, 1-4, 14-26)

Perhaps the most convincing example of God's communication with man is the story of Joseph. He “carried God” in his soul, and therefore his soul did not reflect truly divine traits: purity, kindness and love for people.

His soul was so kindly disposed towards others that it was not this that elevated him even to insight into what was needed to calm them down. He wanted with all the strength of his soul to reassure those who were confused and perplexed, and whether it was God Himself who responded to his desire by suggesting what was needed for this. The miraculous explanation of the dreams - first to two people imprisoned with him, and then to Pharaoh himself - was saving in this case for many thousands of people during a public disaster, a famine, in which the Lord visited several countries.

Joseph “walked before God” in purity and integrity, and therefore God Himself abided in him, saving him and through him others. The story of righteous Joseph, as well as much in the Old Testament, serves, in the opinion of the Fathers of the Church, as a prototype of the One True Son of God, the God-Man, incarnate on earth.

The Holy Venerable Andrew of Crete in his Great Penitential Canon says about Joseph that he “lived in the ditch as an image of the burial and uprising of the Lord.”

“Isn’t that why the Holy Church creates the memory of Joseph the Beautiful in that week in which the passion of Christ is remembered? Indeed, the righteous and chaste Joseph clearly depicted our Lord Jesus Christ in himself: Joseph was the beloved son of the forefather Jacob, and Christ is the beloved Son of God the Father; Joseph was hated by his brothers, and Christ was hated by His brethren, the Jews; Joseph was betrayed by his brothers for twenty pieces of silver, and Christ was betrayed by His disciple for thirty pieces of silver. Joseph, the innocent, was in prison and there he predicted freedom and life for one Egyptian courtier, and execution and death for another - and Christ, the sinless one, was in prison and on the Cross, and here one thief was promised paradise from Him, and another was promised by His impenitence and blasphemy inherited hell. Joseph emerged from prison in glory; Christ rose from the grave in resurrection glory; Joseph became the first king in Egypt; Christ sat down at the right hand of God the Father in the Kingdom of Heaven. Joseph called his father and his brothers with their families to him in Egypt and made them calm, contented and happy - and Christ calls and will once call all those who believe in Him to Himself into the Kingdom of Heaven and will make them blessed for all eternity.”[1] .

[1] From Conversation 22 by Father Archpriest V. Nordov.

Lecture 6.2 The Story of Jacob

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About blessing

It happens that Isaac loses his sight. Therefore, the subsequent story becomes possible. But its meaning is not that God deprives Isaac of his sight so that what follows will certainly be accomplished. The meaning is different. While still physically sighted, Isaac is already spiritually blind; he still sees with his eyes, but does not see the obvious. But he should, because he is a patriarch, a man who must peer into God, check his whole life with God. Alas, he doesn't do this. The time has passed when Isaac fell to God with all his heart. Now his life is measured and, obviously, it does not have that reverent presence before God that King David maintained throughout his life and which King Solomon lost at some stage in his life. The same thing happened to Isaac. He lost the thread of connection with God, stopped holding himself before God, like a child before his father. He ceased to understand the will of God, and therefore God blinds him.

God makes it clear to Isaac that his mind is blind. And if his mind does not see the things that he should have seen, why does he need eyes? God sends Isaac to look at his inner self. From the point of view of Divine will, the loss of vision is an indicator that Isaac has lost his mind. Why did Isaac lose his mind? This is due to earthly passion - love for his son, or more precisely, for the food that his son brings him, overshadowed the patriarch’s mind. This happens in our lives when some kind of earthly attachment - both very high (great passionate love) and very low - darkens our ability to see and understand the will of God: what God wants from us here and now. It is passion that prevents us from seeing this, and nothing else can cloud our mind and deviate us from God.

And so the blind Isaac grew old and decided to perform the most important act in his life: to convey a blessing to his eldest son. He calls him. Esau comes, but does not receive the blessing.

It would seem that he called his eldest son - give him a blessing. But Isaac, instead of blessing, says: “Once again I want to try your wonderful game, your wonderful stew, go, catch it and cook it.” This shows that even at such a crucial moment, it is more important for Isaac to receive the delicious food that he is so accustomed to eating from the hands of his son than to convey to his son the blessing of God, which will lead to the Birth of the Savior in his family.

So, Esau runs off to hunt, and Isaac’s wife Rebekah takes advantage of the situation. She, unlike her husband, did not lose understanding of the inner world of her children. She feels that what Isaac wants to do is wrong. It is her youngest son who is worthy to receive the blessing, it is her youngest son who is spiritual, it is in him that there is a need for reverent standing before God. She sees this and knows that Esau doesn't care. She intervenes according to the will of God: God is with her, so the deception will take place. But this is a deception only in form. The point is that God's Providence chooses whoever he chooses. If a person decided to fraudulently transfer the gift of the Holy Spirit to someone who is unworthy of it, then God will not allow it - He is not a machine that is programmed and cannot change anything in its program. He is a Free Being who Himself determines whom He will bless. And if He chose Jacob, then He will bless Jacob, and no one will interfere with this. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob, “covered his hands and his smooth neck with the skin of kids,” because Esau was very shaggy, cooked the food that Isaac loved, dressed Jacob in Esau’s clothes and sent him to his father. Isaac was surprised that Esau came running so quickly. He was embarrassed and decided to check whether there was any deception. He hears that the voice is not Esau, but the hands, the smell - everything belongs to the eldest son, and most importantly - there is stew. The extent to which a person is internally blinded seems naive to us: if we were in his place, we would certainly have guessed the deception. But he is so internally blind that he does not see the forgery.

And when Isaac had eaten the food, he laid his hands on his son and blessed him. The youngest son leaves. Then the eldest son comes running with some stew: “here I am.” At that moment, as the Bible says, Isaac trembled with terrible trembling. Why? Did you find out it was a scam? So what, punish your youngest son, change it. You are a free man. There are many scenes in fiction where a father deprives his son of his blessing.

No. The father’s trembling comes from the fact that while blessing his youngest son, he felt that the grace of the Holy Spirit had descended on the one whom he was blessing. He felt it in all his blindness.

What happened was what should have happened. And so he throws up his hands and says: I can’t do anything. I have already given and cannot take and return again, because there is God who works through me. When he faced the fact of deception, he realized that he was not deceived, but he was deceived: he loved the wrong person, he chose with his heart the wrong person whom God chose. He is still a patriarch, a man who once stood before God. He experienced it, he realized that he was mistaken. And I found the strength to realize my mistake. He realized that the one he blessed had received a blessing from God. Esau cried, begged his father to give him a blessing, but he no longer received it. Let me remind you that we are not talking about inheriting property - it, as we know, passed to Esau anyway. Esau cries over the loss of his chosen position. But the blessing that Isaac blesses his eldest son also has far-reaching consequences. He says: yes, you will have earthly prosperity, but your younger brother will dominate you and trample on you. But one day you will overthrow his yoke and reign over him, and then Salvation will come.

Isaac's blessing of his eldest son contains a prophecy. The Holy Spirit, through the father, testifies and in its own way consoles Esau: both he and his descendants will be involved in the birth of the Savior, although, as we know, in a very strange and paradoxical way. “When the descendants of Esau reign over the descendants of Jacob, the Savior of the world will be born” - we are talking about Herod the Great: King Herod of Idumea. The inhabitants of Idumea are the descendants of Esau, the eldest son. When Herod reigns over Israel, where the descendants of Jacob live, and the Savior of the world is born. The conclusion that is important to us is that God’s judgment is carried out differently from human judgment. From an earthly point of view, it seems to us that some person, according to the signs known to us, is worthy of blessing. But God's Providence thinks otherwise. And chooses the one whose heart truly seeks God.

Isaac dies. As long as Isaac lives, Jacob lives with him. But immediately after Isaac's death, Rebekah sends him to his relatives, because neither she nor Jacob know how his older brother will react to what happened. Jacob is running. He received a blessing, special gifts from God. But these gifts lead him to wandering - this will happen more than once or twice in history with those whom God chooses. God chose Abraham - and he went to a foreign land, was a wanderer, an alien, sometimes an exile, a sufferer, a toiler. God chose Jacob - and he wanders, flees to a foreign land, returns to his mother’s relatives, endures various sorrows, works as a slave for almost two decades and returns to suffering. Crying, sorrow, resettlement again... God chooses Joseph - he is sold into slavery, slandered, and imprisoned. God chooses David - he is slandered, is on the verge of death several times, flees for 14 years in the desert, although he is anointed king over Israel. This is how chosenness works.

We say that God chooses someone, anoints someone with some special spiritual seal, but that doesn't mean that person will prosper. Quite the contrary. These sorcerers who have filled our spiritual space promise success and prosperity. And the grace of God promises wanderings, sorrow, suffering. This is what it means to be chosen. This is the great power and consolation of biblical stories, that we see how righteous people suffered and, thanks to their humility and patience, were consoled by God and stood before Him in eternity. And this should console and inspire us, so that in our lives we too try to endure to the end, hoping for similar consolation from God.

Jacob comes to his uncle Laban, lives with him for some time and falls in love with his youngest daughter Rachel. They are having a wedding. According to custom, the bride comes to the wedding under a veil. A certain prototype of this veil is a veil, evidence that the bride before the groom is one who is not known, unknown... But in this case, the bride literally turned out to be who knows what. When the veil was removed after the rituals, Jacob learns that this is not his beloved Rachel, but her older sister Leah. The uncle explains that according to custom, it is not customary for the youngest daughter to marry off before the eldest. But from the point of view of Divine providence, this is a kind of payment for what Jacob himself did - he deceived his father, and so that he does not think that deception in itself is good, he receives the same thing.

As he deceived, so was he deceived. But the deception by which Jacob was deceived was also accomplished according to the Providence of God. It is from Leah, the eldest of the sisters, who will ultimately be born in whose genealogy the Savior of the world will come. The son of Jacob and Leah will be called Judah, from this name the name comes - Jews. Jacob asks Rachel to marry him, and they have a new wedding. Jacob now has two wives. But he is a poor man, and according to Eastern custom he must bring a ransom. Since there is nothing to give him, he must work – seven years for one, seven years for another. That is, for 14 years, living with his wives under the same roof, he must work as a shepherd for his uncle Laban without any pay.

Jacob loves his wife Rachel very much. He does not love Leah, although he fulfills his marital and other legally required debts towards her. This circumstance gives Rachel a certain right to exalt herself over her sister. Leah is unloved and unhappy. Maybe she was ugly, it was not for nothing that they could not marry her to anyone, so her family had to deceive her, and, as the Holy Scripture says, Leah cried a lot. And God looked upon Leah, but did not look upon Rachel. Rachel is a beloved wife, but she cries, suffers, and feels bad. God blesses Leah, and her unloved wife gives birth to boys one after another. The husband constantly spends time with Rachel, they have great love, real, such that when Rachel dies in childbirth, her husband will never stop crying after her death.

God gives Leah something that will bind her husband to her. When the boys are born, Jacob spends more and more time with his unloved wife, because the boys are in her tent, he reaches out to his children, because his sons need him. Rachel is terribly offended by this, she resorts to various remedies for infertility. She gives Jacob a maid so that the child born from this union will be considered her son, but there is still no child. God chooses again. The point is not which of these women is better - in the end, the son born to Rachel will also be marked by the special election of God and will play an incomparable role in the history of the Israeli people. But God does not look at some external characteristics of a person, but at his heart.

If a person, because of his external characteristics, begins to exalt himself over someone and even reproach someone, relying on his distinctive qualities, God turns away from him. As the New Testament says, God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. And Christ says: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The parable of the publican and the Pharisee says the same thing. Outwardly, the Pharisee was impeccable: he was not just righteous - he was righteous in the eyes of everyone; The publican was not just a sinner, but extremely sinful in the eyes of all people. But everyone came with their own thoughts in their hearts, and God justified one and condemned the other. And His Judgment was not like human judgment: God needs a heart that trembles before Him.

Leah was offended and resignedly, praying to God, trusting in God, suffered from her sister. And God did not disgrace this humiliation and humility. And Rachel was proud of her beauty, her husband’s love, and her happiness was almost destroyed. She cried until she came to terms with it. God's chosenness favors the one who trusts in Him the most.

When Laban's father-in-law's term of work ends, Jacob seems to receive the long-awaited freedom, but he cannot leave - he has 12 children, two wives: where will he go without having anything? He could, under certain circumstances, take root here quite well, but he understands that he is God’s chosen one and must do what God wants from him. He remembers that Abraham was specially led out of this land to Palestine, which would later be called the Holy Land, and he understands that he must return there. The biblical pages that describe the return of Jacob to Palestine are permeated with amazing trepidation, stunning fear: he takes a step - and prays after each step, he sends gifts to his brother, hides children in the hope of at least their salvation, resorts to various tricks so that somehow - to appease Esau and save his family. He doesn't know what awaits him, so he's prepared for the worst. He does not know that Esau will greet him with a brotherly kiss, but without knowing this, he nevertheless returns: it pleases God. He understands that he serves God, which means he must return, but he cannot return empty-handed, otherwise his family will have nothing to live on. He enters into an agreement with Laban and promises that he will work for him for another 7 years, but the spotted cattle that will be born during this time will be Jacob’s cattle - he understands that if he asks for money, he can be deceived, and the spotted cattle is his father-in-law , perhaps, he will give it away (in those days, spotted cattle were considered defective, something that had a defect, so Laban happily agreed to this, realizing that this was not a loss for him). But Jacob's trust in God led to the fact that the cattle began to be born only with spots. And everything began to belong to Jacob: within seven years, almost all of Laban’s cattle became spotted and, according to the agreement, began to belong to Jacob.

Laban understands that he is poor, that his son-in-law, who was in the position of a slave, takes everything from him, but cannot do anything; and not because he is unable, but because he understands: this can only happen at the command of God. Laban is a man who is inclined towards idolatry; he has idols in his house, but he understands that it is impossible to do anything against the will of God. He would be glad to punish Jacob, but he fears God, because God is with Jacob. He becomes poor, and when Jacob takes away his daughters, grandchildren, all the livestock, he understands that he is left without anything and cannot do anything to Jacob, since God is with him.

Boldness before people and trust in God in all aspirations is the reverent trust of a person that God expects from people. When it exists, it is a great benefit to that person. When not, a person loses everything. History teaches us such faith, as the blessing was passed on from Abraham to his grandson Jacob.

Then we will be interested in the fate of Jacob’s descendants: how his twelve sons built their lives, which of them will be right to convey God’s blessing, which of them will God choose. Unlike his father, Jacob has open eyes and an open mind, he looks at his children and tries to understand which of them is capable of receiving this blessing. And when special events happen, he keeps them in his memory, although he never reproaches his sons, waiting for the time when he will have to bless them.