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146
The Beginning of the End
not as numerous as Judah, Joseph, or Dan, and was among the first
to be carried into captivity.
Next were Simeon and Levi. They had been united in cruelty
toward the Shechemites and had been the most guilty in the selling
of Joseph.
“I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.”
[113]
Moses, in his last blessing to Israel before entering Canaan,
made no reference to Simeon. In the settlement of Canaan, this tribe
received only a small portion of Judah’s lot, and any families that
afterward became powerful formed different colonies and settled in
territory outside the borders of the Holy Land. Levi also received
no inheritance except forty-eight cities. However, their faithfulness
when the other tribes apostatized secured their appointment to the
sacred service of the sanctuary. In this way the curse was changed
into a blessing.
The crowning blessings of the birthright were transferred to
Judah:
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you. ...
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience
of the people.”
The lion, king of the forest, is a fitting symbol for this tribe, from
which came David, and the Son of David, Shiloh (Jesus), the true
“Lion of the tribe of Judah,” to whom all powers shall finally bow
and all nations give honor.
For most of his children, Jacob foretold a prosperous future. At
last he reached the name of Joseph, and the father’s heart overflowed
as he invoked blessings upon “the head of him who was separate
from his brothers:”