Better Hands

God knows the final days—the outcome of human history. And without him, it looks bleak. But it is not without him, in an overarching sense, because he has inserted himself into the center of it as a Deliverer through his Son, Jesus the Messiah, King of kings and rightful ruler of the earth. And at the end of the day, those who belong to God will live under the blessings of God.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 49:1, 10, 28

Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. … “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” … All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.

C.S. Lewis observed, “No doubt all history in the last resort must be held by Christians to be a story with a divine plot.” When you read the final words of Jacob as he prophesies over his sons, you could easily get the sense that he is letting loose with some pent up frustrations that he has held onto over the years. He is finally going after some of their bad behavior with a well deserved but long overdue rebuke:

Reuben: “Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.” (Genesis 49:4)

Simeon and Levi: “Let me not enter their council, for they have killed men in their anger…I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.” (Genesis 49:5-7)

Dan: “Dan will be a snake by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward. I look for your deliverance, Lord.” (Genesis 49:17-18)

Wonder what he would have said to them if he were really upset!

But to understand the positive message in what might seem like a prophetic utterance season with the bitter salt of rebuke, one needs to see the overall thrust of what Jacob is seeing. And what Jacob sees is what we have been seeing through the narrative of Genesis: that even with a creation that went off the rails, the Creator was still there—at the start, in the middle, at the finish—steering human history for his sovereign purposes. That is why I chose three specific verses at the beginning of this devotional—verses 1,10, 28—verses from the beginning, the center, and the end of the prophecy.

In Genesis 49:1, we find that Jacob is speaking about what will happen in the days to come. In Genesis 49:10, we see that at the center of this description stands a king, a deliverer who will come from the tribe of Judah—which we now know was the Messiah, Jesus. At the end of the proclamation, in Genesis 49:28, Jacob refers to the blessing that will come upon the twelve tribes of Israel, and by prophetic extension, all of those who are the children of God by grace through faith in his Son.

The point? God knows the final days—the outcome of human history. And without him, it looks bleak. But it is not without him, in an overarching sense, because he has inserted himself into the center of it as a Deliverer through his Son, Jesus the Messiah, King of kings and rightful ruler of the earth. And at the end of the day, those who belong to God will live under the blessings of God. He has positioned himself to bless his people, and that will not be denied. God is steering the ship of history. He is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, and will bring his plan for the ages to the end that he desires and has foreordained. And since you are “in Christ”, you are tucked away into the fabric of that plan, safe and secure within his competent and caring hands.

Yes, if you are in Christ, your life is in Better Hands.