LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #67 : SIMEON AND LEVI
written by: Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3568
LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #67
JACOB PROPHECIES ABOUT THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL #2
SIMEON AND LEVI
GENESIS 49:5-7
Simeon and Levi: I will… scatter them in Israel.
“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united to their assembly;
For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will, they hamstrung an ox.
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.
a. Simeon and Levi are brothers: The second-born son Simeon and the third-born son Levi received the same words for the same evil deed.
They were instruments of cruelty when they wiped out all the men of Shechem in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dinah (Genesis 34:25-29).
Jacob, perhaps in weakness, did nothing at the time except register a small, self-centered complaint (Genesis 34:30).
Yet he (and the LORD) remembered this event. This illustrates the principle that the sins of our past can come back and haunt us. Even when forgiven, they may carry consequences we must face for a lifetime.
b. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce: The real problem with Simeon and Levi was their anger (in their anger they slew a man). Their anger was sin because it was rooted in self-will (in their self-will they hamstrung an ox).
The Bible speaks of godly anger (Be angry and do not sin, Ephesians 4:26) and an ungodly anger (Let all bitterness, wrath, anger…be put away from you, Ephesians 4:31).
Often, the difference between godly, righteous anger, and ungodly anger is self-will.
c. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel: The prophecy of dividing and scattering turned out to be a curse for Simeon. The tribe of Simeon was the weakest numerically of the 12 (Numbers 26:14) and shared an allotment of land with Judah (Joshua 19:1).
The tribe of Simeon became small during the wilderness wanderings. They started out from Egypt being the third-largest tribe (Numbers 1:23), but some 35 years later, at the second wilderness census of Israel, 63% of the tribe perished and they became the smallest tribe (Numbers 26:14).
I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel: The prophecy of dividing and scattering became a blessing for Levi. Because of the faithfulness of this tribe during the rebellion of the golden calf (Exodus 32:26-28), it was scattered as a blessing throughout the whole nation of Israel.
They received no large tract of land, for the LORD was their inheritance, not land (Joshua 13:33).
So both Simeon and Levi were scattered, but one as a blessing and the other as a curse.
“Happy is that man who, though he begins with a dark shadow resting upon him, so lives as to turn even that shadow into bright sunlight. Levi gained a blessing at the hands of Moses, one of the richest blessings of any of the tribes” (Spurgeon).
The American author Washington Irving said: “It lightens the stroke to draw near to him who handles the rod.” When we suffer from our sin, we should draw near to God and anticipate that in mercy He will turn suffering into a blessing.
What do we learn from Simeon and Levi?
Their cruel nature began with hamstringing an ox. It was full-blown when they massacred all the men of Shechem to avenge the rape of their sister Dinah.
For this sin they were cursed to be scattered.
But when the Levis stood with Moses in the incident of the Golden Calf, their curse became a blessing as they were given to every tribe as they had no allotment of land as a tribe of their own. Instead, they were given cities of refuge to minister to those who were outcast. It is remarkable that the sons of a murderer like Levi their founding ancestor should be pardoned by God to serve as priests unto God on behalf of their people.
As for Simeon, the curse remained as his allotment was eventually subsumed under Judah and his descendants literally disappeared. They lived up to the negative aspect of his name: instead of being someone who "hears and obeys God", Simeon and sons chose to forget their holy calling and let their cruel nature take over with disastrous consequences. As their size gradually diminished, they ceased from being first and ultimately became last.
