A Few Words Before I GoSample

Jacob shared words of faith

“Then Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.’” (Genesis 49:1)

Jacob’s life had been eventful. We read yesterday that he fled from his relatives as a young man. In Paddan-Aram he founded a family that eventually numbered 12 sons. In time, Jacob moved back to the land of Canaan, and during a famine he sought refuge in Egypt. That is also where he died.

Shortly before his death, Jacob called all his sons to him. To each of them he had a parting word. Many of those words related to the future. For example, Jacob said that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah” and that all his brothers would bow down before him. Indeed, centuries later, someone from the tribe of Judah came to the throne. And eventually even the Lord Jesus was born of this tribe. “To him shall be the obedience of the peoples,” Jacob prophesied.

Joseph too was richly blessed. He was “set apart from his brothers.” Both of his sons were to form their own tribe — which came true. Hebrews 11:21 calls this blessing of Jacob an act of faith. God had shown him things that would happen “in days to come,” and Jacob passed them on to his sons.

Do you think God still shows people the future? Why or why not?