In order to prophesy with blessing, we must fulfill four requirements. The first requirement is to know God, the desire of God's heart, and the purpose of God. God, God's desire, and God's purpose are all revealed through Jacob's word in this chapter. The remainder of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament are the development of Genesis 49. In other words, nearly the whole Bible is the development of Jacob's word spoken in this chapter. How high, deep, and profound is this word! This chapter is a very rich seed, a seed that undergoes a marvelous development in the rest of the Scriptures. In order to speak such a word, we must know God, we must know God's heart, and we must know God's purpose.
The second requirement is to know people, to know the actual situation of every person involved. You may think that, because it should be easy for a father to know his son, it was easy for Jacob to know his twelve sons. However, it is often very difficult for parents to truly know their children. Many times we know our children in a blind way like Isaac knew Jacob. Seemingly, we parents know our children; actually, we know neither what they are nor where they are. But Jacob had a thorough understanding of his sons. Every situation, condition, and hidden problem was clear in his sight. Likewise, if we would speak such a word in the church, we must know the church, the elders, and all the brothers and sisters. This is not easy. Although we meet together day after day, probably I do not know you too well. Although I have been meeting with the elders for a number of years, I still may not know them very well. We should not know people according to our mental understanding; rather, we must know them according to the spirit. Genesis 49 indicates that Jacob had a proper understanding of his sons. He knew their deeds, their situations, and their condition. Jacob was an expert in knowing people. He had a spiritual x-ray. As he was prophesying with blessing, this heavenly x-ray made the situation of each son crystal clear in his sight. His knowledge of his sons is expressed in his brief word about each one.
Although we may know God, God's heart, and God's purpose and although we may know the situation of others, we shall still not be able to bless them if we are poor. A certain dear one may be pure, absolute for God, and worthy of a rich blessing. However, if I am poor, what blessing can I grant to him? Spiritually speaking, I may just have a dime and I may need to keep two cents for myself. Thus, I could only give an eight-cent blessing. Jacob, however, was full of riches. Because he had no lack of riches, he could bless others. In fact, the capacity of those receiving his blessing fell far short of his riches.
In addition to the three requirements already covered, we need a strong, active spirit. Jacob's word in this chapter was spoken as he was dying. When many Christians are about to die, not only their body, but their whole being is weak. Thus, they do not have a strong spirit to exercise in prophesying by blessing others. Although Jacob was dying physically, he was vigorous spiritually. In his body he was dying, but in his spirit he was strong and active. Therefore, in order to prophesy with blessing, we must have the knowledge of God, the knowledge of people and their situations, the riches of God, and a strong spirit.