Sermons
Vander Kam on Genesis 49:27 & Deuteronomy 33:12
Sermons
Vander Kam on Genesis 49:27 & Deuteronomy 33:12Genesis 49:27 – "'Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And in the evening he divides the spoil.'"
Deuteronomy 33:12 – "Of Benjamin he said,
'May the beloved of the Lord dwell
in security by Him,
Who shields him all the day,
And he dwells between His shoulders.'" (New American
Standard Bible)
Beloved in the Lord: having now come to the conclusion of this particular series dealing with the twelve sons of Jacob, it is also well that we give an account of ourselves and that we also realize that herein is also the historic redemptive revelation shown. And that we will also realize that herein our God has drawn His heavy lines of history, and that these are the things that then also go on throughout the entire Old Testament era, and that they are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
So that all the various problems that you find, not only in your own life but also in the lives of those who are pictured to us in the pages of Holy Writ. All the various problems with which they had to cope from day to day find their solution in Jesus Christ. Apart from Him they run completely stuck, they are not able to find the way, there is no life, but it is only with the dawning of the New Testament, only with the coming of Jesus Christ is the answer to these various problems given.
And so also when we come to the last of the sons of Jacob in regard to Benjamin, here we also see that there is ever so much that is paradoxical, that is, a seeming contradiction. But those are also precisely the things that you and I find in our own lives. There there are also those things so many a time that are totally paradoxical, where there is one contradiction after another, and that we are not able to see the way out, and that we also begin to wonder many a time the way in which our God leads us. And that nevertheless we also have the hope and the assurance that it shall all lead to that same goal.
We speak to you tonight on, Benjamin: The Paradoxical Life. And then we notice in the first place, that it is paradoxical in its beginning; secondly, in its history; and finally, also in its end.
And here beloved, we are to again look upon that entire history because there is so very little of Benjamin that is revealed to us. And that we are to realize that there is not a word that has ever come from his mouth that has been penned and that has been recorded for us in Scripture. And that it is therefore rather the entire history of the people of God as we see it from the tribe of Benjamin that speaks to us, of which Jacob has then also given already the prophesy at this time, that he is about to die.
And then he speaks of it in this way so that we will also realize what are the circumstances at the time of the birth of Benjamin. And that his mother Rachel calls him Benoni, that is, the son of my sorrow. Because of the fact that the birth of this child also was her own death, that she died in childbirth and that she was therefore buried under the oak there at that particular place.
Then we will also realize that it is this same Rachel of whom Jeremiah says, and again Matthew quotes him, and that says there again and again that "Rachel will not be comforted, because her children are not." She will not be comforted; she refuses to be comforted. It is not even this, that there is a comfort that is offered her, not even this, that there is no comfort that she is able to find; but she refuses it, because the only comfort that she is able to know is her children, and she refuses to be comforted because they are not.
And now beloved, here there is then also that picture, that final picture given of Rachel, the one who has battled against her own sister throughout her entire life. And here there is also no high degree of spirituality whatsoever. This is the one who has apparently never understood the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism. This is the one who does not realize that "My only comfort is this, that in life and death, in time and eternity, I am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior." But she refuses to be comforted, because her children are not, and when you take my children away, then I curse God.
And at the same time, here we also read of his father, that his father called him Benjamin. That is, the child of my right hand; that is, my strength. This is the child for which he has hoped, this is the child in which he rejoices, and yet that joyful father must now also because of this child become a widower. This father must now also recognize that in the getting of that son, there is also that grief attached to it, and it is paradoxical from beginning to end. That child of my right hand; and every time he looks at that child, he is then also filled with a mixed feeling. That child is of Rachel, that child is of his beloved, but that child was also the cause of her death. And it is again paradoxical, for Jacob cannot understand the ways of God.
And now when he has come to the very conclusion of his life beloved, and is called upon now to give a blessing to all of his sons, now he speaks of Benjamin as a ravening wolf. And certainly when we look again upon this blessing, that we are also scarcely able to see in it a blessing. Then we are only to look upon this, that it is more of a condemnation than anything else. And that he is a ravenous wolf that goes out and that is bloodthirsty, that is also self-sufficient, so that he is also able to get enough, so that he is also able to share the spoil at evening; that is the kind of a blessing that is now given to Benjamin.
Here there is nothing of spirituality whatsoever, but it is only this, that he is going to live by his own strength, that he is going to live by his own bloodthirstiness, and that thereby he is also going to get enough prey so that he is also going to be able to share it with others.
And now Moses, when he comes to the end of his life and looks now over Canaan and gives his blessing to the tribes, he says that Benjamin is like a lamb, the beloved of Jehovah, and then we begin to wonder. Now, can both be true, can he be a ravening wolf and at the same time that kind of a lamb who is the beloved of Jehovah, and that Jehovah's people shall dwell between his shoulders, between the hills of Benjamin. That is the way he comes into the world. These are the prophesies that are given concerning him. And there you see that it is one contrast with another, and they are virtually black and white, and that is the kind of a paradox that the Bible holds before us in order that we may also follow it in the history that is to come. And notice therefore that history.
And here beloved, we are also to look upon those things that many a time we don't look at very closely in the Old Testament. And I would then also refer you to the last three chapters in the book of Judges. And there in the last three chapters in the book of Judges which many a time we skip because of the fact that seemingly it is such a sordid history, and the kind of a history that is also not very upbuilding, not very edifying, and that it is not very good at family devotions.
There is this Levite that comes out of Judah, and he goes now to a city, a city of Benjamin, in order that he may there stay overnight and there is no one that gives him any hospitality until this old man comes and takes him into his home. And during that night the men of that city here in Benjamin, they seek his life. And here are the morals of Sodom, right here in Benjamin; and finally he gives them his concubine and they so abuse her that she comes to the threshold of his house by morning, and with her hands upon the threshold, expires. And he in wrath takes the body of that concubine, mind you, and brutally cuts it in twelve pieces and sends it to all the tribes of Israel; this is the thing that is done in Benjamin.
And then all eleven tribes rise up against Benjamin in war. And it becomes a war in which at least sixty-five thousand people are slain. And at the same time even though Benjamin is strong, nevertheless finally they are defeated, and in that defeat they lose so much that now Israel must make special accommodations in order that a tribe shall not be wiped out. It has come to the very "enth" degree, it has come to the very final, and here now is that Benjamin can catch; that is the word that is used in the last chapter of Judges. That can catch women for wives, because otherwise there is going to be a tribe missing. That is the history of Benjamin.
Therein it has shown its sordid history in such a way beloved, so that we also begin to see that it is of the ravenous wolf. And that the hand of every man is therefore also turned against that kind of a wolf, in order to save their own lives, in order also to stamp out that kind of a wolf in Israel.
And when we go on that we are also able to see that there are indeed ever so many heroes that have arisen out of that tribe of Benjamin. And then we read of an Ehud, the judge. This is the man who is going to judge Israel for several years, and we see there that brutality, that cruelty. And notice the irony of Scripture; that the only time that it speaks of left-handed individuals is in regard to Benjamin. That is the son of my right hand, says Jacob. And Ehud, as every child here knows, was left-handed, and because of the fact that he was left-handed, therefore he was also able to accomplish the thing that he set out to do.
So it is also said of Benjamin at the time of the judges, that they had seven hundred men who left-handedly could with the sling hit a head and never miss. Son of my right hand! And he becomes left-handed in his strength. An irony of God, how He works in the history of His people, how He works in the history of men, how He overthrows and then builds up in order that it may answer to His own purpose.
And not only do we find an Ehud, but also a Mordecai and an Esther are also of the tribe of Benjamin. And these are the ones even though there is also not a high degree of spirituality that is found there; nevertheless they are also the ones who are used of God to save Israel alive. And here Benjamin therefore again rises to somewhat greater heights; here they are able to come to that kind of a pinnacle, so that in a Mordecai and Esther they may even come to the very throne of Persia, and in that way also have influence for the benefit of the people of God.
And so it goes on in this man, Saul, the first king of Israel. He is also the one who is of the tribe of Benjamin; here is the man who is also of that nature that we are not able to see what we are to do with him in the whole history of redemption. The very fact that he is anointed king over Israel is of course, doomed to failure. That is the prerogative of Judah alone; Judah is to rule; Judah is to be the father of kings, and the very first king that Israel receives comes out of the tribe of Benjamin. Whereby God makes it clear to all Israel, that your royal house is something which is doomed to failure unless it is rooted in the theocracy, unless it is rooted in the Word of the living God.
And this is the kind of an individual beloved, of which the Bible speaks, and speaks of it rhetorically and says, "Is Saul also not among the prophets!" And that is rhetorically asked, so that the answer is, "Yes! He is also among the prophets." And at the same time, he goes to Endor, to the witch. This is the man who gives his own daughter as a wife to David, and then seeks to kill him. You are almost faced with this, that in the whole case of Benjamin we are faced with schizophrenia. That here they go in opposite directions, and this Saul is the one also whom we are not able to understand. A man who rises to the very heights, a man who begins so well, and he ends up there by the witch at Endor, and ends up a suicide. That is Saul, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Now these are the kind of things that are so very, very difficult to understand. What is the purpose that our God has in mind with that kind of a tribe? What is the purpose that He has in mind that there is also going to be this Benjamin, that there is going to be a Benjamin who has that kind of a paradoxical life, not only in his beginning, but also throughout his history. And to go even a step farther; Jerusalem lies within the confines of the borders of Benjamin, not Judah. It lies within the confines of the border of the tribe of Benjamin; "He shall reign, he shall dwell between his shoulders," says Moses. That is going to be his place. Judah is going to look for a capitol to Benjamin, and that is the place where the kings of Judah are going to dwell. And at the same time, within the confines of the borders of Benjamin, lies also of course, Golgotha.
So that the seat of the kings of Judah, and a place of infamy, both reside within Benjamin; that is the place. And again it goes from the one extreme to the other. There is the light, and there is the dark, there is this, that he is going in the direction in which there is hope, and there is also that other direction that is totally dark. "He is a wolf," says Jacob, "a ravenous wolf." Strong, self-sufficient. And Moses says, "He is the beloved of Jehovah, for kings shall dwell between his shoulders, he is like a lamb."
Now there in that entire history we then find, and there are more things of course, that could be added. There we find that indeed the curse and the blessing, these are both found. A Shimei, the one who curses David is also of the tribe of Benjamin. And thus we are able to go on throughout that entire history, how closely it is interwoven with the history of Judah, so that finally Benjamin and Judah's properties become one. And yet there is that paradox, that paradox throughout; you don't know what to do with Benjamin. In his own life, Joseph was the man; Benjamin is only that too, that you are to send to Egypt in order to get grain, in order to see my face again. And so remains Benjamin, a paradoxical life, a life of seeming contradictions.
And finally, notice also its end. Therein we are to realize that Saul of Tarsus was also of the tribe of Benjamin. And that this Saul of Tarsus is the one beloved, in whom we also see that ravenous wolf. And that he also goes about in such a way so that he is there seeking to scatter the people of God and that he is seeking to persecute them even to the ends of the earth. That here there is a man who will leave no stone unturned until he has accomplished his purpose. That he is the one who is also going to be of that nature that he will be able to distribute the spoil in the evening; he is going to be self-sufficient unto the task that he himself has set before him. Here is the man who is strong, as strong as a lion, strong as a wolf, and he is also the one who tears, tears the church of Jesus Christ apart – until God meets him, and makes him a lamb, through conversion.
So that that entire history of Benjamin must once more come to life, and that therein again we see that paradox being displayed, and we see that paradox revealed to everybody. That that Saul of Tarsus, that ravenous wolf becomes indeed the beloved of Jehovah. That is the man who is going to be used for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God.
Yet beloved, we are to realize that that has been the problem before the apostle throughout, and that's why we read to you tonight the first chapter of Philippians. He is struggling at all times with that problem of the paradox, struggling at all times with all of the inconsistencies that he finds in life, all the inconsistencies that he finds in the revelation of God. He finds it in Jesus Christ Himself, and as a result he flees from Him. He sees there that it is one contradiction after another; the meek and lowly, who is to be a sign. The one who tells others to turn the other cheek, and nevertheless, He is to be king of Judah. And when Paul is faced with these things, that which becomes foolishness, foolishness to the unconverted. That is the problem!
And that is the problem with which he has dealt in virtually all of his epistles. Dealing with that problem of the paradox, and finally says, "I have accepted it, and not only have I accepted it, that is the thing in which I glory." That the wisdom of God is greater than all the wisdom of men. Yea, that the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of men. "For," He says, and in this chapter that I read to you tonight, "life is Christ, then death is gain. When I am weak, then am I strong. I can do all things through Christ. And what I counted gain, I now count but loss." That is the paradox!
Now that is precisely the paradox beloved, that forms as it were, the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That forms as it were, the whole Gospel, that you are to believe on Him who is both Lion and Lamb; the Lion of the tribe of Judah, standing as the Lamb that had been slain. And therein the apostle glories. That's it! And that is foolishness to this world, foolishness to the natural man, foolishness to the mind of the flesh. But he says, "That's the Gospel!" That is it in a nutshell. "When I am weak, then am I strong." Death is not an end, but life comes out of death. And then, "For me to live is Christ, then to die is gain."
Now, says the apostle, especially in First Corinthians – notice that sometime – now as the result of the acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all of the laws of thinking have as it were, been abrogated, they have been cast aside. And that which I also, as a man of this world, as an unconverted individual, would call foolishness; that has become for me my very lifeblood. The paradox; that the Christ who is meek and lowly is the ascended Lord. But then, says Paul, something more has to be done than merely that that is in the mind and the whole heart, the whole heart has to be turned about. "For," as Jesus said, "then ye must be born again."
Now that is precisely the Gospel beloved, that he has proclaimed, even rejoices, and yet time and again when he is speaking to the people of his day, and he says to them, "I also am an Israelite, an Israelite of Israelites, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, blameless according to the law." Now what the law could not do, that grace has accomplished. The blood of Jesus Christ; through that blood I have now received all things, that those who are free from the law become its doers. That is the very heart of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. He has shown it to us along a very circuitous route, and we see all these things in the light, in the history of a Benjamin, and one begins to wonder. As a ravening wolf, and as the beloved of Jehovah. Benoni, son of my sorrow; Benjamin, son of my right hand. When I am weak, then am I strong.
And that is so difficult, isn't it, young people, to understand. I always thought, that when I am strong, then am I strong. And the Bible tells me no! Then you're weak. But when I am weak, then am I strong. And that death is not the end, and is not the defeat. But I don't know, says the apostle when writing to Philippi, what to hope for; to stay, or to depart – for to depart is far better! No: then you are no longer in the area of logic. Because the Bible has an entirely different logic, and the Bible doesn't give two cents for your and my logic. But it says, "Believe on Jesus Christ, God-Man, if you want paradise." The lamb-lion, the Benoni-Benjamin, and that paradoxical life, He attains His purpose. In order to show you the very foundations of the Gospel of Christ Jesus, so that I am able to say, "It is my only comfort, that in life or in death, in time or in eternity, I am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior." Amen.
We thank Thee, Lord our God, that Thou hast given us Thy Word in its fullness. Father, wilt Thou graciously give us the guidance and direction of Thy Holy Spirit, in order that we may thus be led into all truths. Grant, O God, that Thy favor may be upon us. Bless us in the days of the week to come. Guide us by Thy Spirit. Pardon our sins, for Thy great name's sake. Amen.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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