Wednesday, Sept. 11
Genesis 48:21 – 49:28 Read it here
As Jacob (now Israel) prepares for his death, he gathers his sons around him and pronounces a blessing on each. While we might think of a “blessing” as being a statement of good wishes, this is something different.
Jacob, for all his failings, is blessed by God with keen insight. Sometimes he’s used this to enrich himself, but here we see the amount of insight he has into each of his sons. His predictions of their future fate come from a deep and honest understanding of who each one is, both the good parts and the bad parts.
Today’s reading from Proverbs says that God sees our ways and examines our paths.
Likewise, it seems that Jacob has seen the ways and paths of his children. In some of those cases he has seen evil.
Reuben, he says, has defiled his bed. Simeon and Levi have a fierce and cruel anger that has led them to kill.
Even Benjamin, who Jacob has particularly loved and protected, doesn’t escape his father’s perceptiveness. He, Jacob says, is a “ravenous wolf.”
Others, like Judah and Dan, are of noble character. Judah, who will be the ancestor of David and counted as the ancestor of Jesus, will have a royal line, but there’s a possible prophecy of the crucifixion in this blessing: “he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.”
Others seem to be good men, but not particularly strong.
Joseph receives special commendation for his steadfastness.
It’s easy to read through this passage as just poetic ramblings, but it shows the kind of honest insight that all of us would do well to develop. Jacob is neither naive nor cynical in viewing his sons. His honesty is unclouded by sentiment. He loves all of them deeply, but doesn’t allow his love to blind him to who they are.
Too often we believe that if we love someone we have to overlook their faults, or if we see someone’s faults we can no longer love them. Jacob shows us that this doesn’t have to be an either/or decision.
Real love requires both courage and honesty.