Jacob’s prophesying with blessing concerning each of his sons is very significant, being fulfilled both in their life as tribes in Israel and in our spiritual experience today in the church as the real Israel of God.
When he spoke of Judah, Jacob likened him to a lion who is victorious, gets the prey and then couches; he binds his donkey to the vine, has his eyes red with wine and his teeth are white with milk. This portrays both the fact that the leaders in Israel come from the tribe of Judah and that Christ Himself is the Victorious One, the unique overcomer who defeated Satan, the world, sin, and death.
Now we can enjoy Christ (bind our donkey to the vine) and we’re being inwardly transformed to express the riches of the divine life and speak the word of God for others to be nourished.
We see this in the Gospels, where we read how Christ came, was victorious over Satan through His death, and in resurrection He has become our rest, enjoyment, and peace and satisfaction.
In speaking of Zebulun, Jacob likens him to a seaport that sends out ships; this refers both to the fact that the tribe of Zebulun is by the sea and to the preaching of the gospel. In the book of Acts we see, right from the beginning, 120 “gospel ships” – the disciples who were filled with the Holy Spirit within and empowered by the Spirit without to sail out with the gospel and bring others into the enjoyment of Christ.
Today we are still in the book of Acts, and we preach the gospel to minister the riches of the Triune God into man and bring man into the enjoyment of the riches of the Triune God.
In his prophecy concerning Issachar, Jacob likens him to a donkey who couches among the sheepfolds; he is satisfied and is willing to be a task-bearer as assigned. Later, Moses blesses Issachar by saying that he rejoices for his tents.
This utterance is mysterious yet full of meaning; it refers to the proper church life today in the Lord’s recovery. May the Lord open our eyes, remove any veils, and cause us to see clearly what the prophecy concerning Issachar means and refers to, and may we enter into its experience today.
The Prophecy concerning Issachar Portrays the Church Life
Jacob’s prophesying with blessing concerning Issachar is recorded in Gen. 49:14-15 where he says, Issachar is a strong donkey, couching between the sheepfolds. And he saw a resting place that was good and the land that was pleasant, and he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a task-worker…
When speaking of Judah, Jacob said that he’s binding his donkey to the vine – and this typifies the fact that we have reached our destination, we are now enjoying Christ as the vine into which we were grafted.
When speaking of Issachar, Jacob says that he’s a strong donkey couching between the sheepfolds. This means that we are resting in satisfaction “among the sheepfolds” – not “in the sheepfolds” but among the sheepfolds. A sheepfold is a place where the sheep are kept until the shepherd comes to take them out into the pasture.
When the Lord Jesus came as the good Shepherd, He called out His sheep out of the sheepfold of Judaism, and His sheep heard His voice and followed Him (John 10:1-9, 16).
Today there are many sheepfolds – the many denominations are sheepfolds, denominational folds based on some laws. But we in the Lord’s recovery are not in the fold; we are couching among the sheepfolds, that is, we are enjoying Christ in rest and satisfaction with the saints outside of any religious practice and denomination.
The poetry in Genesis 49:14 portrays the genuine church life as the issue of the preaching of the gospel, in which our natural man rests in satisfaction between (that is, outside of) the religious sheepfolds. The land typifies Christ as the green pasture enjoyed by the believers in the church life (John 10:9).
Later Moses blesses Issachar saying that he rejoices for his tents (see Deut. 33:18); there, the tents signify the local churches as the expressions of the unique Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4).
In the local churches the believers rejoice in the enjoyment of Christ’s riches, and there’s much joy and rejoicing in all the gatherings of the local churches outside of the denominations and religion (see Phil. 4:4; 1 Thes. 5:16).
Why is it “donkeys” and not sheep? In our natural man, we are all donkeys, but we are being transformed to be the Lord’s sheep. We are all a bunch of transformed donkeys resting as sheep among the sheepfolds.
As we enjoy the Lord in the church life, as we enjoy peace and rest in Christ as the all-inclusive good land, we are willing to lower our shoulders to serve and bear some responsibility, just as Issachar is willing to lower his shoulder and be a task-bearer.
In the church life we love to serve, we are eager to fellowship and help, and we love to just be open and serve with whatever there’s necessary. The task-work is not what we want to do but what the Lord as the Head assigns to us as the members of His Body, and we do our assigned portion in the Body as a tribute offered to our Master for His satisfaction.
How wonderful it is to be part of the tribe of Issachar, enjoying the rich Christ in the church life in rest and satisfaction, and being willing to serve as assigned by the Lord for the building up of His Body!
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery we realize that there are different gifts, but the same Spirit; there are different ministries but the same Lord; there are different operations but the same God (1 Cor. 12:4-6).
God has placed each member in the Body of Christ as He willed, and each member has a portion in the Body (1 Cor. 12:18, 28). The church is God’s masterpiece, and we were created for good works, which we do in Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 2:10; 4:11-12; Rom. 15:16). In the church life, we learn to say,
Lord Jesus, we love You! We love to enjoy You personally and together with the saints. Lord, thank You for being so rich and so wonderful to us. Thank You for bringing us into this glorious freedom, outside of any religion and denomination, to enjoy You as the all-inclusive land, the rich green pasture. Lord Jesus, we rest here and are satisfied with You in the church. We give ourselves to You to be useful to You for the building up of Your Body. Lord, we want to function in the Body in our measure!
The Gospel, the Preaching of the Gospel, and the Church Life Result in the Enjoyment of the Church Life and the Kingdom Life
The Bible is truly amazing, and the more you read the Bible being open to the Lord’s shining and receiving the help of the ministry that opens up the word of God, the more you will be amazed of the deeper meaning of the word of God.
Jacob blessed each one of his sons, and his prophesying with blessing applies both to the twelve tribes of Israel and to our Christian life and church life today. A few hundred years after Jacob passed away, Moses also blessed the twelve tribes of Israel, and in his blessing we see further development of the blessing of Jacob.
In Deut. 33:19 Moses said, They shall call peoples to the mountain; There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; For they shall suck the abundance of the seas And the hidden treasures of the sand. Wow!
The consummation concerning Judah (the gospel in the four Gospels), Zebulun (the preaching of the gospel in the Acts), and Issachar (the church life fulfilled in the remaining books of the New Testament) is seen in Deuteronomy 33:19, which says that the peoples, the nations, will be called to the mountain, signifying the kingdom of God (Dan. 2:35), where they will offer sacrifices of righteousness and enjoy the abundance of the seas (the church composed mainly of Gentile believers—footnote on Matt. 13:1) and the hidden treasures of the sand (the kingdom hidden in the earth—v. 44); this shows that the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and the church life as the issue of the gospel result in the enjoyment of the church life and the kingdom life (Rom. 14:17). [Witness Lee, Life-Study of Genesis, msg. 101]
WOW! So the consummation of Judah, Zebulun, and Issachar is seen in Deut. 33:19: all the peoples will come to the mountain of God and will offer God sacrifices of righteousness and enjoy the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.
The consummation of the gospels, the preaching of the gospel, and the church life is that the kingdom of God is brought in! The victorious and peace-bringing Christ is the gospel, this gospel is preached and produces the church, and the church life is the kingdom of God today which will increase to fill the whole earth, and all the nations will see it, enjoy it, and proclaim it!
The church today is the “abundance of the seas” and “the hidden treasures of the sand”. All I can say is just…wow!
What a view of Jacob’s prophesying with blessing concerning Judah, Zebulun, and Issachar! What a glorious vision of the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and the church life! What a wonderful overview of the whole New Testament with the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles with the book of Revelation!
Lord Jesus, praise You for the church life, the kingdom hidden in the earth and the abundance of the seas! Keep us in the church life, enjoying You in rest and satisfaction, and being willing to serve You in the Body and for the Body. Lord, increase Your kingdom in us and increase Your kingdom on the earth until the whole earth will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ! Hallelujah, Jesus is Lord! Christ is Victor! We proclaim Your victory and we declare Your glorious works! Lord Jesus, we love You and we praise You!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis (msg. 101), as quoted in, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (3), week 10 / msg 10, Jacob’s Prophesying with Blessing (1).
- Hymns on this topic:
# In the church the sound of life upon our ear is falling, / Then we see the joy of Christ expressed on every hand; / Babylon and things of earth in vain to us are calling. / We are home forever in Christ our land. / We’re churching in the Spirit / On the church’s local ground; / We’re churching with our brothers, / Our family we have found. / Oh, yes, we’re churching with the churches, / And we’ll make the earth resound / With hallelujahs for Christ our land! (Hymns #1236)
# In the church life we can see / We are God’s own family. / As we blend with the saints / We are built up in love, / His expression thus to be. / In the church we are home; / Here our joy has begun. / In this sweet fellowship / We are built up in love / As the many, yet as one. (Song on the Church Life)
# Not where we elect to go, / But where Jesus leads the way, / There the living waters flow, / There our darkness turns to day. / Not our self-appointed task / Will the Lord’s approval win, / But the work we did not ask, / Finished humbly, just for Him. (Hymns #907)
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