he had spoken of, v. 10. Now that he was going to be gathered to his people, he breathes after him to whom the gathering of the people shall be. [2.] Heaven, the better country, which he declared plainly that he sought, (Heb. 11. 13, 14.) and continued seeking, now that he was in Egypt. Now that he is going to enjoy the salvation, he comforts himself with this, that he had waited for the salvation. Note, First, It is the character of a living saint, that he waits for the salvation of the Lord. Christ, as our Way to heaven, is to be waited on; and Heaven, as our rest in Christ, is to be waited for. Secondly, It is the comfort of a dying saint thus to have waited for the salvation of the Lord; for then he shall have what he has been waiting for: long-looked for will come.
IV. Concerning Gad, v. 19. He alludes to his name, which signifies a troop, foresees the character of that tribe, that it should be a warlike tribe, and so we find, 1 Chron. 12. 8, the Gadites were men of war fit for the battle. He foresees that the situation of that tribe on the other side of Jordan, would expose it to the incursions of its neighbours, the Moabites and Ammonites; and that they might not be proud of their strength and valour, he fore tells that the troops of their enemies should in many skirmishes, overcome them; yet, that they might not be discouraged by their defeats, he assures them that they should overcome at the last, which was fulfilled when, in Saul's time and David's, the Moabites and Ammonites where wholly subdued; see 1 Chron. 5. 18, &c. Note, The cause of God and his people, though it may seem for a time to be baffled and run down, yet it will be victorious at last, Vincimur in prælio, sed non in bello—We are foiled in battle, but not in a campaign. Grace in the soul is often foiled in its conflicts, troops of corruption overcome it, but the cause is God's, and grace will in the issue come off conqueror, yea, more than conqueror, Rom. 8. 37.
V. Concerning Asher, v. 20. That it should be a very rich tribe, replenished not only with bread for necessity, but with fatness, with dainties, royal dainties, (for the king himself is served of the field, Eccl. 5. 9.) and these exported out of Asher, to other tribes, perhaps to other lands. Note, The God of nature has provided for us, not only necessaries but dainties, that we might call him a bountiful Benefactor; yet, whereas all places are competently furnished with necessaries, only some places afford dainties. Corn is more common than spices. Were the supports of luxury as universal as the supports of life, the world would be worse than it is, and that it needs not be.
VI. Concerning Naphtali, v. 21. A tribe that carries struggles in its name; it signifies wrestling, and the blessing entailed upon it signifies prevailing; it is a hind let loose. Though we find not this prediction so fully answered in the event as some of the rest, yet, no doubt, it proved true, that those of this tribe were, 1. As the loving hind, (for that is her epithet, Prov. 5. 19.) friendly and obliging to one another, and to other tribes; their converse remarkably kind and endearing. 2. As the loosened hind, zealous for their liberty. 3. As the swift hind, (Ps. 18. 33.) quick in despatch of business; and perhaps, 4. As the trembling hind, timorous in times of public danger. It is rare that those that are most amiable to their friends, are most formidable to their enemies. 5. That they should be affable and courteous, their language refined, and they complaisant, giving goodly words. Note, Among God's Israel there is to be found a great variety of dispositions, contrary to each other, yet all contributing to the beauty and strength of the body; Judah like a lion, Issachar like an ass, Dan like a serpent, Naphtali like a hind. Let not those of different tempers and gifts censure one another, or envy one another, any more than those of different statures and complexions.
22. Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. 23. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 24. But his bow abode in strength, and the. arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 25. Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 26. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of thy progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. 27. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
He closes with the blessings of his best beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin; with these he will breathe his last
I. The blessing of Joseph, which is very large and full. He is compared (v. 22:) to a fruitful bough, or young tree; for God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction; he owned it, ch. 41. 52. His two sons were as branches of a vine, or other spreading plant, running over the wall. Note, God can make those fruitful, great comforts to themselves and others, who have been looked upon as dry and withered. More is recorded in the history concerning Joseph, than concerning any other of Jacob's sons; and therefore what Jacob says of him, is historical as well as prophetical. Observe,
1. The providences of God concerning Joseph, v. 23, 24. These are mentioned to the glory of God, and for the encouragement of Jacob's faith and hope, that God had blessings in store for his seed. Here observe, (1.) Joseph's straits and troubles, v. 23. Though he now lived at ease, and in honour, Jacob reminds him of the difficulties he had formerly waded through. He had had many enemies here called archers, being skilful to do mischief, masters of their art of persecution: they hated him, there persecution begins; they shot their poisonous darts at him, and thus they sorely grieved him. His brethren, in his father's house, were very spiteful toward him, mocked him, stripped him, threatened him, sold him, thought they had been the death of him. His mistress in the house of Potiphar, sorely grieved him, and shot at him, when she impudently assaulted his chastity; (temptations are fiery darts, thorns in the flesh, sorely grievous to gracious souls;) when she prevailed not in this, she hated him and shot at him, by her false accusations, arrows which there is little fence against, but the hold God has in the consciences of the worst of men. Doubtless he had enemies in the court of Pharaoh, that envied his preferment, and sought to undermine him. (2.) Joseph's strength and support under all these troubles; (v. 24.) His bow abode in strength, that is, his faith did not fail, but
