The Recall of the Father

Genesis 49:5-7

I have never been part of the reading of a will; to be part of that even would mean that someone in your family had something material to leave you.  I do wonder if this thought goes through the minds of family members as they witness the reading of the will; I hope he/she does not recall what I did or said about them.  As we look at these three verses, it becomes painfully clear that Jacob/Israel had a great recall of his sons.

These are Jacob’s words to his next two sons:  “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords.  Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory be not joined to their company.  For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.  Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel!  I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.”   What was that all about?  You may recall that a Shechemite raped their sister Dinah and these two brothers came up with a plan to kill all the Shechemites, putting his family in great danger from the other tribes of people whose land they were passing through.

So at the time of blessing, Simeon and Levi, the two brothers who were closest companions among all the brothers, were to be divided.  If we look at Joshua 19:1 we see that Simeon’s inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah, and the Levi tribe never had an inheritance but were given cities scattered throughout all the other tribes.  They later became the priestly tribe among the Israelites.

A word to the wise; your sins will find you out.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice