JOSEPH #78 | JOSEPH IN EGYPT #60 | LAST WORDS OF JACOB #49

Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3674

JOSEPH #78

JOSEPH IN EGYPT #60
LAST WORDS OF JACOB #49

13. BENJAMIN #12

BENJAMIN'S LEGACY FOR US

Jacob’s twelfth son, Benjamin, received the final blessing of his father on his death bed:

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder” (Genesis 49:27).

As Jacob prophesied, this tribe adopted its founder Benjamin’s inclination toward war despite being the smallest of the tribes (1 Chronicles 8:40; 2 Chronicles 17:17).

Yet the second half of Jacob’s blessing predicts a division of riches after the battle. 

This is important when we consider that a notable member of the tribe of Benjamin is the Apostle Paul.

As seen through the life of Paul, this tribe teaches us that, despite hostility toward God early in our lives, if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God can spread His message of salvation far and wide through us.

What is today's final lesson on Benjamin?

He has great truths to teach. 

First, God doesn’t see as men see, for God looks on the heart. God saw a warrior inside of Benjamin. Outwardly, others saw him as the youngest son and his tribe as the smallest tribe. But God saw more, a man who would both devour and divide. 

The second lesson for us lies in the two Sauls who came from the tribe of Benjamin. 

King Saul, the epitome of the sin nature and its war against God, and Saul/Paul whose nature was changed by God from a murderous Pharisee to the apostle of grace.

Paul is an example of what God does for those who come to Christ in faith.

Indeed Paul's testimony is the best legacy of his Benjamite ancestry - for his epistles in the New Testament have touched the hearts and minds of millions of believers throughout the ages.