I became familiar with the history of Jacob's twelve sons long before I realized how sweet and wonderful their history was. The more time I spend on Genesis 49, the more I appreciate these twelve sons. It is very worthwhile to delve into their history. The first four sons—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah—were all sinful. But Joseph and Benjamin, the last two, are without fault or defect. They are perfect. Between the first four sons and the last two, we have the other six sons. With Dan we see apostasy; with Gad, recovery; with Asher, sufficiency; and with Naphtali, resurrection. If you put together the record of these twelve sons according to Genesis 49, you will have a portrait of yourself. On the one hand, when I look at these twelve sons of Jacob, I marvel at them; on the other hand, I am thankful to God, because in them I see a picture of myself. I also see the very Christ I have experienced and the salvation and transformation that are in Christ. In the past we all were Reubens, Simeons, Levis, and Judahs, but today we are Josephs and Benjamins.
Two of the sinful ones, Levi and Judah, were transferred into something positive. Levi was transferred into the priesthood, and Judah was transferred into the kingship. Thus, among the twelve sons of Jacob, we eventually have the priesthood, the kingship, and finally the ultimate consummation, which we see in Joseph and Benjamin. In the following message we shall see that the ultimate consummation is of two things: blessing and dwelling. We shall be brought fully into the universal blessing under God, and then we shall become His dwelling. Sinners become God's priests and kings, and ultimately they are under His universal blessing and become His eternal dwelling. If we saw the significance of this record, we would shout and praise the Lord. We would say, "Once I was a Reuben, but today I am a Levi, a Judah, a Joseph, and a Benjamin!" For eternity, we shall be the kings under God's blessing, and we shall be God's dwelling.
Have you ever realized that the Bible could be so wonderful? Have you ever seen that in one chapter, Genesis 49, we could have an abstract of the whole Bible and a summary of the history of the twelve sons of Jacob, of the history of the nation of Israel, of the history of the church, and of our own spiritual history? Everything is here. Although this chapter is poetic and very profound, it is nonetheless quite simple. It is all-inclusive. It includes all the Bible, it encompasses the history of the twelve tribes, it indicates the history of the church, and it portrays our personal history. How wonderful! Without doubt, this summarizes God's dealing with His chosen people. God's dealing with His people began with sinners, it proceeds to transformation, and eventually it reaches the ultimate consummation, which is the blessing and the dwelling of God.
Among Jacob's twelve sons, there are various types of persons. How I thank God for giving Jacob twelve sons. What if Jacob had had just one son? In the eyes of God, Abraham and Isaac each had just one son, for God counted only Isaac and Jacob, not Ishmael or Esau. But God's economy required twelve tribes. For this, Jacob had to have twelve sons. Not even ten tribes would have been sufficient. One day, after the death of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two parts with ten tribes in one part and two in the other. But not even these ten tribes were sufficient; there had to be twelve. We need to remember the names of Jacob's twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. In this message we shall consider part of the spiritual significance of Joseph and Benjamin, covering three matters: fruitfulness, victory, and trust. In the following message we shall consider the blessing and the dwelling.