Big Picture: In previous generations the Abrahamic blessing was passed on to a single son, but now that Jacob has become Israel, the father of a “community of nations” (35:11), the blessing must be passed on to all twelve of his sons. Yet each son does not receive the exact same blessing, as though they were products rolling off an assembly line. We often refer to what Jacob does here as blessing his sons, but when we pay attention to the details, we realize that in some cases, these blessings sound more like curses. Or, as Moses’ says, each receives “the blessing appropriate to him” (49:28).  Speaking prophetically Jacob links future royalty to the tribe of Judah.  Chapter 50 details two deaths and two burials: those of Jacob and Joseph. What makes their burials so significant is that each in his own way professes his confidence in God’s promise of exodus from Egypt and a return to the Promised Land. Indeed, Jacob’s funeral procession into Canaan has the marks of a proto-exodus.

1. Appropriate blessings (49)
2. The Proto-Exodus (50)

This sermon is indebted to Sam Emadi’s “From Prisoner to Prince”; Ian Duguid’s “Genesis”; Alex Duke’s “From Eden to Egypt”; “Bible Talk” with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi; D.A. Carson’s “For the Love of God”; and the NIV “Biblical Theology Study Bible”