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As we near the end of the book of Genesis we come to the end of Jacob’s life. At this point he had lived 147 years and the years of his life had been unpleasant. As was common in that time and culture, he drew his children around him to give them a blessing and to give his heart to each of them.

The words of father are very important. Children need the blessing of their father, it will shape their character and strengthen them for life, or at least it should.

On September 11, 1985 Pete Rose got his 4,192nd career hit thus breaking the record of career hits held by Ty Cobb. Later a reporter asked what was going through his head as he stood on that base with the crowd going wild in the stadium for a full seven minutes. He responded, “I thought about my dad, that he was probably looking down from heaven and was proud of me.” At that moment, of all the things that could have been going through his mind, he thought of the approval of his dad. How powerful are the words of a father.

In Genesis 49, Jacob draws his children to speak words of prophecy over them. This is one of the first places in scripture where we see a prophetic word spoken. “Draw near,” he says to them, “that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.”

But the prophecies concerning them have everything to do with their character and how they lived their lives. In other words, there’s a connection between our past and our future. It’s also important to see, however, that you can make choices that will impact your future with God’s blessing.

There are great insights in these verses and in these prophecies. They contain many lessons for our lives today.

I. How We Live Today Matters

 In verse 2 Jacob said, “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; and listen to Israel your father.” He uses both names, Jacob and Israel. As you look at his life you realize that he had struggled with being Jacob, the heel-snatcher, or Israel, governed by God.

 In that culture it was common for the oldest to receive the greatest blessing, so he begins with Reuben, but it is not a blessing he gives.

A. We’re writing our legacy now

 Reuben was the first born, the beginning of Jacobs’s strength; preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
 But he was as uncontrolled as water, Jacob said. In other words, everything he did was done for himself. He even mentions his great failure, that he defiled his own father’s bed by sleeping with his father’s concubine.
 It was an attempt to usurp his father’s authority and to place himself in power, now Jacob is taking away his place as the first born.
 Apparently, Reuben tried to overlook it, tried to minimize it; he never sought repentance, he never sought change. That’s it, that’s all; he passed over Reuben and moved on to speak of the other brothers.

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