BRAGADAYJAH 159

So Israel with his sons gathered around him was patriarch, father and prophet, looking by inspiration of God and declaring to them events that would come to pass way into the future. He had declared that the Messiah shall come out of the tribe of Judah; (“the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from beneath his feet until Shiloh {Messiah] comes.” Significantly we see that Judah was the 4th son of Leah who named him Judah, because she said, “Now I will praise the Lord; so she called his name Judah.” So in his name one may see the clear implication that he would be the Royal Line through which Messiah should come. And now the dying Israel turned to his beloved Joseph to whom, about whom he had a lot to say. “Joseph is a fruitful bough; even a fruitful bow by a well whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him and shot at him and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of the hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob from thence is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel; even by the God of thy father who shall help thee and by the Almighty who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breast and of the womb; the blessings of the father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the uttermost bounds of the everlasting hills; they shall be upon the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.” These words concerning Joseph consumed a good deal of the dying man’s strength; and they must have been in part somewhat galling to his other sons who were involved in the conspiracy to kill Joseph; but Israel’s words were not words of division, or intended to be reproachful. They were words of adoration and praise for the God of heaven who had used Joseph to carry out his purpose, supporting and strengthening and emboldening him on the way. But be that as it may they were words which had to be spoken. And now there was just one more son, his last son, to whom to turn his attention; that was Benjamin And turning to Benjamin he said, “ Benjamin shall ravin, (devour) as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey and at night he shall divide the spoil. More