Roger Lewis - Class 2: Why were Simeon and Levi Blessed Together

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Now, as it turns out, our three strange stories for today all have their Genesis in the book of Genesis. They've all begun, strangely as it turns out, and with no particular intent on my part, in this first book of the Bible. And our first study this morning is, as the screen shows, why were Simeon and Levi blessed together?

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   And those brief but very interesting verses that our chairman read for us by way of introduction. Of course, the old man knew, didn't he? He knew of things that he'd seen and heard that the Spirit had revealed unto him, as his mind moved forwards to things that lay beyond.

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   Interesting thing, you see, because verse 5 says Simeon and Levi are brethren. Why would Jacob say they're brethren? When all of the twelve sons of Jacob were brethren, weren't they? Simeon and Levi even more so, since they were close-born sons of Leah, but so also was Reuben and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun.

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   They also were brethren, were they not? So why just these two described as brethren? And only these two are joined together, incidentally, in the blessings. If you come to the 28th verse, you'll notice what it says at the end of Jacob's blessings on his sons. Verse 28 says, All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is that that their father spake unto them and blessed them.

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   Everyone according to his blessing he blessed them. Everyone according to his blessing. Except, actually, these two were not blessed individually. For some strange reason, their father pronounced a blessing over the two of them. And when we come to the blessing in verses 5 to 7, it sounds more like a curse than a blessing.

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   Which it most probably was. So, why? Why was this the case? If you come back to the book of Genesis in chapter 30, you'll notice in the genealogy that there was a close relationship between two of the children of Jacob, born, we believe, close by one another, when the record will say in verse 21, And afterwards she, that is Leah, bare a daughter and called her name Dinah.

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   And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb, and she conceived and bare a son, and said, God hath taken away my reproach, and she called his name Joseph. And so what we've got is the whole family of Leah, six brothers and their one sister, called Dinah, here in verse 21.

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   And hard on the heels of the birth of Dinah, we've got the birth of Joseph, of Rachel. Two different mothers, but presumably born quite close to each other in time, maybe only two or three years apart. And that's got an impact, you see, on the story that's going to follow. Because if you come to Genesis chapter 34, you might remember that there was an earlier story, wasn't there, before the blessing of Jacob was ever uttered on his sons.

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   Genesis 34 says this, you see, verse 13, that when the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor concerning the matter of Dinah, it says that they answered deceitfully. The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor, his father, deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah, their sister, they said, we cannot do this thing to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, for that is a reproach unto us.

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    But in this we will consent unto you, if ye will be as we are, or as we be, that every male of you be circumcised, then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

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    But you see, it wasn't all the brothers that actually did answer deceitfully, was it? It does say the sons of Jacob, verse 13, but it was actually only two sons, really, that were complicit in this matter of deceit. Because the record tells us, subsequently, in verse 24, unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out into the gate of the city, every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city, and it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons, just two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males, and they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.

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    The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. And clearly, Simeon and Levi were the instigators of this violence on this occasion. Perhaps the only ones involved. And not only did they slay the city, but they took their families, and their flocks, and their herds, and their wealth.

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    Oh, and did you notice that they used their swords, their swords to wreak the devastation upon this particular place? Well, Jacob certainly held them responsible, didn't he? Because verse 30 says, And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me stink among the inhabitants of the land. And they said, verse 31, Should he deal with our sister as an harlot?

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    So they were not repentant. They challenged their father disrespectfully. These two sons were vigorous and violent. They were brethren all right, but they were brethren in wickedness and not for good.

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    And now there's another story that follows close by in Genesis chapter 37. And in Genesis chapter 37, you'll remember the story of Joseph coming to meet his brethren. It's an interesting one, because the record says in verse 15, And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field, and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

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    And he said, I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, Well, they departed hence, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And when they saw him afar off, before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

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    And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, therefore, and let us slay him. And cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. Let me show you something interesting from the Targum of Jonathan about this particular occasion in Genesis chapter 37.

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    What the Targum says, when it says that they saw him afar off, before he'd come nigh to them and plotted against him to kill him, it says, And Simeon and Levi, who were brothers in council, said each man to his brother, Behold, this master of dreams cometh. So you see, the Targum singles out Simeon and Levi as being the instigators of this matter against Joseph in Genesis chapter 37.

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    Why would the Targum suggest that, do you think? Well, perhaps because the incident of Genesis 34 has already indicated their forceful character. After all, Reuben was already in disgrace, and they were the next oldest sons, you see. But do you notice also that they've gone to feed their father's flocks, and do you see where they went to feed them?

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    Verse 12 of Genesis 37, His brethren went to feed their father's flock. Why? In Shechem. But Shechem was the very city they had destroyed back in chapter 34. That's what had upset Jacob so much. And here they are, they're back in Shechem, in that very region. And perhaps their reason to be in Shechem was to continue to assert their domination of that area, in which case we can be quite sure that the fierce and angry Simeon and Levi would be dominant in this matter among the brethren.

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    And if they were near Shechem, with the events of chapter 34 in mind, they probably had their swords with them at the time, don't you think? They could have dispatched Joseph then and there, should they have chosen. And I think the target is correct for this reason, brothers and sisters, that when you think about it biblically, when you think about the context of this chapter, the order of seniority in the brethren was this.

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    Reuben the firstborn, then Simeon, then Levi, then Judah. But we know it wasn't Reuben's suggestion to slay Joseph, was it? Because verses 21 and 22 of this same chapter say, and Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, let us not slay him. And Reuben said, shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that's in the wilderness.

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    Lay no hand upon him. So it wasn't Reuben's idea, and it wasn't Judah's either. Because verse 26 says, Judah said unto his brethren, what profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. So if it wasn't Reuben, and it wasn't Judah, whose idea was it to do this against Joseph, do you think, in Genesis chapter 37?

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    Well, it was most likely Simeon and Levi. Don't you think? And you see, that brings us back to Genesis chapter 49, because by the time Jacob finally offers his blessing upon his sons, he knew full well what had happened back in the circumstances of Genesis 37. And this is what he says to his boys.

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    Genesis 49 verse 6. And maybe verse 5, just before we move on, Simeon and Levi are brethren, instruments of cruelty, are in their habitations. But the margin says, their swords are weapons of violence. Oh, there it is, their swords. See? See the connection? Their swords are weapons of violence. O my soul, he says, verse 6, come not thou unto their assembly, into their secret.

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    Unto their assembly mine honour be, not thou united. For in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dig down a wall. And Jacob therefore recoiled in horror from the dark deeds of these two of his sons. He stood apart from their plotting. In their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dig down a wall.

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    Well, at least that's what the authorised version says. But the margin says, they hoffed oxen. Now that's interesting, because it's all to do with a very subtle change of the text. And so there's a question mark here as to which of those readings might be the preferred one. Does this statement of Jacob mean that they dig the wall, or that they hoffed an ox?

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    Well, the King James Version has digged down because it's based on the word shua with a cholem below the vav. So there should be a little dot just there. At least in the King James Version, the reading that they're taking to translate the word that way. That's what the Latin Vulgate says in the Targums of Onclus and Jonathan.

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    But if you move that little dot to the top of the vav, it changes the word to become the word shua, which now does mean, it does relate to oxen. It's the Masoretic text. It's followed by the Septuagint and the Samaritan text. It's followed by Tyndale and Greens and a number of other translations.

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    And as pointed that way in the authorised version and throughout the rest of the Old Testament, it is always translated as ox. Oh, and just one other thing, brothers and sisters. In the Hebrew, it's in the singular. It's not oxen. It's one animal. One ox. And if the slaying of a man is a reference to the killing of Shechem, we suggest that the huffing of an ox was an allusion here to the laming of a man.

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    But Jacob wasn't talking about Hamor. I think he was referring to the laming of Joseph. Of course, to huff meant to hamstring by slicing the tendons behind the heel. Now, Jacob doesn't mention who Simeon and Levi huffed on this occasion. But Moses would, in his companion prophecy about the sons of Jacob in Deuteronomy chapter 33, you see.

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    Because do you remember, in Moses' account of the sons, he will refer to one of them in this interesting way when in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 33, he says this in verse 16, concerning Joseph, for the precious things of the earth and the fullness thereof, for the goodwill of him that dwelt in the bush, let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.

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    His glory, the glory of Joseph, is like the firstling of his bullock. Or as one translation says, in majesty, he, Joseph, is like a firstborn bull. His horns are the horns of a wild ox. Ah, you see that word bullock there in Deuteronomy chapter 33 and verse 17? That's the same word translated ox in Genesis 49 verse 6.

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    Now the firstborn ox always belonged to Yahweh. But Moses says that Joseph was the ox. That was his symbol. This was the man they hoffed. They didn't slay him, but they crippled his status as the effect of firstborn by selling Joseph into captivity. And now we know why the Targum described Simeon and Levi as the ringleaders in the plot against Joseph in Genesis 37, because they were.

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    They were the ones that sold him into slavery and in doing so, they effectively hoffed an ox. They lamed Joseph in the process in terms of his rightful position in the family. And coming back to Genesis chapter 49, just to finish off the passage, he says this. Genesis 49 verse 7 says, Cursed be their anger for it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruel.

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    I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. And there's a lesson here, isn't there, brothers and sisters, concerning friendship? Some friends bring out the worst in others.

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    Some friendships are not helpful in the truth at all. See, these boys were brethren in crime, brethren in evil. It's like the first of Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33, isn't it? Be not deceived, evil companions corrupt, virtuous habits. And Jacob says, Because of what they were like and how evil they were, verse 7, Cursed be their anger for it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruel.

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    I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. And Jacob's prophecy predicted that they would be divided and scattered so that their combined cruelty might never be brought together again to slay a man or huff an ox. And that prophecy, brothers and sisters, the prophecy of this very moment here was fulfilled in astonishing detail.

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    But the lesson that comes out of that is this, and this will be the burden of our opening study today, that whatever comes upon us in life, whether good or evil, whether blessing or cursing, our response will totally affect the outcome. we can choose to bow before God and submit to his chastening hand, or we can deny the truth, refuse to change, and pursue our own cause.

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    Of course, we're free to choose, aren't we? The principle of free will is a divine axiom, but so also is the law of consequences that comes and follows it. So what impact do you think their father's words had on these two boys? Well, let's trace a couple of the connections through. You know, at the beginning of the wilderness wanderings, you'll remember this famous episode in Exodus chapter 32, when Moses had ascended the mount to receive the tables of stone.

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    There was a problem, was there not? Exodus chapter 32 tells us of the matter of the golden calves, and it specifically says this, Exodus 32 verses 5 and 6, when Aaron saw he built an altar, made a proclamation and said, tomorrow is a feast. They rose up early on the morrow and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

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    And the result of that play was a terrible matter of apostasy, in the nation and the people. Verse 25 says, And Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies. And Moses stood on the camp and said, Who is on Yahweh's side? Let him come unto me.

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    And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And then he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp and slay every man his brother and every man his companion and every man his neighbor.

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    And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses. For Moses, verse 29, had said, Consecrate yourselves this day, even every man upon his son and upon his brother. And on that day, brothers and sisters, men of Levi drew sword against men of Simeon and all because of the truth. In fact, what verse 25 appears to indicate if you look at the margin is that the tribe of Levi had stood apart throughout the whole episode and as a result of that faithfulness, they were appointed to the priesthood and made separate from all the tribes in their dedication to God.

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    And in standing for God, in deciding to be on God's side, they declared that they would no longer be a brother to Simeon in acts of wickedness and violence and evil. They stood for God instead. Levi made choice, brothers and sisters. They made choice to go a different way to Simeon. And if that's what happened at the start of the wilderness journey, wasn't there another controversy at the end, like unto it?

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    At the end of the wilderness journey, there was another incident that made the division between Levi and Simeon final. It's in Numbers, isn't it, chapter 25, in the matter of Baal Peor and the daughters of Moab. So, they were divided in Jacob right at the start of the wilderness wanderings, Simeon and Levi.

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    they would be divided even further at the end of the wanderings. Because in this matter, you'll remember that Phineas, verse 7, when he saw a matter, he rose up amongst the congregation, took a javelin in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly and the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

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    And as a result of that, we're told, are we not, that the house of Phineas, the house of Levi, won a promise of everlasting priesthood because they were zealous for their God. And that intense spirit that Levi once had for acts of violence had now been transformed into the spirit of earnest dedication to God's service.

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    But did you notice who really slew who? Verse 14, Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitis woman, was Zimri, the son of Selu, a prince of a chief house among, why, the Simeonites. A man of Levi, Phineas, slew Zimri, a man of Simeon. You see, it was Simeon that were leaders in this apostasy.

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    The whole tribe, the whole tribe was caught up in this matter of apostasy. In fact, have a look at this in terms of the numberings. You'll recall that there were two numberings of Israel, one at the start of the wanderings and one at the end. And if you just look at these numbers at the bottom, you'll notice that the numbering at the start and the numbering at the end is almost the same, is it not, in terms of the total population.

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    But have a look at this tribe. You see, their father's words had come true. Simeon was utterly devastated by this episode. And the judgment against Simeon was executed by a man of Levi, no less. I will divide them and Jacob had been the promise of Jacob himself. And their father's words had come true.

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    The two tribes were divided, completely divided, before they even entered the land. And that division reflected the fact that one tribe still showed the same spirit as their father, Simeon, whom Jacob had cursed, while the other tribe, Levi, had by their very faithfulness turned that same judgment into a blessing.

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    But the promise of Jacob was also that they would be scattered in Israel. And if you come to Deuteronomy chapter 33, we see perhaps how that occurred as well. Not just divided in Jacob, but scattered in Israel. And in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 33 in verses 8 to 11, in Moses' words upon Levi, he says these words, Of Levi, he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim!

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    be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah, who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children, for they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant.

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    They, they of Levi shall teach Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy law. They of Levi shall put incense before thee and hold burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. So you see, Levi, scattered in Israel, used that very scattering to teach Jacob's judgment, to teach God's judgments and God's laws to the whole house of Israel.

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    Levi, the very nation that had been cursed in Genesis 49, now becomes the source of divine blessing. We shan't turn it up, but you'll remember in Numbers 35 that the Levites received cities through all the other tribes. Do you remember them? The Levitical cities. 48 of them. And through those 48 cities, Levi was scattered everywhere.

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    But that scattering wasn't a bad thing, brothers and sisters. It was a wonderful thing because in the scattering of Levi through all the tribes, they took with them the teaching of God's law and became counsellors of wisdom wherever they went. It was a mark of honour that they were scattered through the other tribes.

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    Not so with Simeon. Oh no, their scattering was quite different. For them, it would be the outworking of Jacob's curse because they did not learn, they did not repent, they did not change.

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    Now do you know that incident of Baal Peor slash the numbers of their tribe to less than half, so reduced was their state, so bad was their position that in Moses' song in Deuteronomy 33 about the tribes, he doesn't even mention Simeon at all.

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    They're not there. in Deuteronomy chapter 33. Joshua 19 says that the cities of Simeon were scattered in the inheritance of Judah because they received no separate inheritance of their own. They were scattered in Judah. Actually, they were scattered a little bit further because if you come to the first of Chronicles in chapter 4,

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    they were scattered wider and wider again as circumstances unfolded because in the first of Chronicles in chapter 4, we're told this at the end of the chapter.

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    And just so that we're clear, this section of first of Chronicles chapter 4 is verse 24 about the sons of Simeon. It's about the tribe of Simeon. And in the context of the tribe of Simeon, the record says in verse 39, they went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

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    And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide and quiet and peaceable, for they of Ham had dwelt there of old. And these, written by name, came in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and smote their tents and the habitations that were found there and destroyed them utterly unto this day and dwelt in their rooms because there was pasture there for their flocks.

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    And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, 500 men went to Mount Seir, having for their captains. And verse 43 says, and they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped and dwelt there unto this day. They smote, they smote. Ah, they still lived by the sword, do you notice?

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    But now Jacob's words were further fulfilled because now they were scattered even further apart, some in Judah, some further to the west in Gedor, and some further to the west in Edom.

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    And the curse of Jacob followed Simeon because they were to be scattered even further. In fact, so decimated did the tribe of Simeon become that finally other tribes took pity on them and asked them to become school teachers to their children and their own tribe. And so the family of Simeon ended up and many other tribes as a result of the prophecy of Jacob coming to the pass.

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    Here's a quotation about that from Gil's exposition. And just a little bit we want to notice at the bottom here is that the tribe of Simeon became teachers of children by which they lived among several tribes. Isn't that remarkable, brothers and sisters? I'll divide them and Jacob and scatter them and Israel came absolutely true.

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    But in Levi's case it was for good reasons. In Simeon's case it was a mark of their continuing violence and recalcitrance. Now we might imagine that there the story ends. The two brothers divided and scattered to tread their separate paths according to how they responded.

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    But this is not the end of the story you see. In fact, in a sense it's only just the beginning. When the curtain closes in the Old Testament it's like the end of Acts 1 or Act 1 and when the curtain rises in the New Testament it's like scene 2 of the same story you see.

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    To ask yourself this question brothers and sisters why was it that Simeon and Levi were brought together in the prophecy of their father? What was it that Jacob really saw that saw him that gave him such horror and anguish?

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    You see his vision extended well beyond the life of the two lads because doesn't Genesis 49 say that he would tell them words about what would befall them in the last days? And that crucial phrase takes us to the time of Christ and to the overthrow of the Jewish commonwealth. What Jacob saw was Simeon and Levi's spirit in the final hatred of the nation toward Messiah himself.

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    And in the providence of God Simeon and Levi were brought together again as brethren against the anti-typical Joseph. And if I go back to that reference which I've just taken off the screen but I'm going to put it back up again so that you might notice something else that I cunningly didn't highlight so that you wouldn't pay attention to it.

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    But let me just change the colour now so you can see another little point. And suddenly you'll see the connection. You see the tribe of Simeon we're told became scribes.

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    Oh now that's interesting isn't it? Because Levi well they were the priests but Simeon became scribes. So again let me just give you a little extract here from Hippolytus he says Simeon and Levi brethren fulfilled iniquity of their own choice into their council let not my soul enter and into their assembly let not my heart contend for in their anger they slew men and in their passion they hoffed a bull this he says regarding the conspiracy into which they were to enter against the Lord since from Simeon sprang the scribes and from Levi the priests for the scribes and priests fulfilled iniquity of their own choice and with one mind they slew the Lord and suddenly brothers and sisters we're taken in Jacob's prophecy into the New Testament era into another Joseph and another controversy between the brethren now what gospel do you think we might turn to brothers and sisters to see the spirit of Simeon and Levi at work against the Lord what gospel portrays our Lord Jesus Christ under the cherubic form of the ox why the gospel of Mark so come and have a look at what Mark says because it's Mark in particular that draws attention to this matter we believe in the New Testament record the gospel of Mark in chapter 14 says chapter 14 verse 1 here's the beginning of this matter in the New Testament record suddenly we're transported to things well beyond the tribes of Israel in Old Testament times Mark 14 verse 1 says after two days was the feast of the Passover and of unleavened bread and the chief priests and the scribes sought

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    how they might take him by craft and put him to death here it was here's the secret council and the hidden assembly that Jacob saw the soul might not be associated with it in fact Matthew 26 says then assembled together the chief priests and the scribes unto the place the palace of the high priest and they consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him but it wasn't a full assembly of the Sanhedrin brothers and sisters it was a clandestine gathering of the inner circle they were meeting in secret to

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    let us slay him can you hear the echo brothers and sisters back into genesis chapter 37 and that's what drew forth the horrified gasp of Jacob when he said oh my soul come not thou into their secret and unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united so here it is brothers and sisters I'll put it on screen for the matter of time but here it is you see

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    chapter 14 verse 1 the chief priests those of Levi and the scribes those of Simeon sought how they might take him by craft and put him to death mark 14 verse 43 a great multitude with swords all with swords from the chief priests and the scribes mark 14 verse 53 they led Jesus away to the high priest and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes mark 15 verse 1 the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and the scribes mark 15 verse 31 the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes himself he cannot save it was all there brothers and sisters Simeon and Levi plotted against the Joseph of their time did they not and Jacob's prophecy had been about the last days all along in 1968 there was an astonishing discovery made in a little area northeast of Jerusalem in a place called Gavata Mitva they uncovered a Jewish tomb and the tomb contained a stone ossery with the Hebrew inscription Yehohanan the son of Hagol and in that little ossery box were the bones of the deceased there was one bone in particular that was of extraordinary interest in that ossery box it was that one there and the reason why that bone is significant is because it's a Roman nail through a man's bone it's the only discovery ever made of an actual crucifixion in biblical times and this one dates to the first century AD to the very time of Christ the nail didn't pass through the front of the foot it was nailed through the side right through the calcaneus

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    bone straight into the wood of the cross they missed the point by the way they missed the spot that they were aiming for in this particular case they nailed through the bone and those nails well they weren't small they were about five to seven inches long those Roman nails and they were the ones used to crucify in those days what's interesting about this discovery you see in the crucifixion was that clearly the nail on this particular occasion had come right through the bone but they missed the point where it should have entered now incidentally this cannot be how Messiah was crucified exactly because John 19 says they shall look upon me whom they pierced and yet also says not a bone of him shall be broken so the Lord can't have been crucified in exactly this way but there is a spot you see a spot where a nail can be placed in the feet without breaking the bone well let me show you that because I think this is what happened you see so that what's called

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    a man can be nailed to a tree and the bones part to take the nail but none of the bones are broken in the process it's that little spot there if you can see it it's between the calcaneus and the cuboid and the navicular bones and you can nail a man so that he's pinned to the tree at that point without breaking the bone but if you do that it affects the principal nerves of the feet and impinges on the deep perineal nerve which can be punctured by a nail in that place and it doesn't just affect the nerves it affects the arteries some of the main lateral arteries that run down through that area are severed by a nail in that place including the lateral the tarsal artery and it affects the tendons as well because there's vital tendons in that area where a nail in that gap would most likely rupture the extensor digitorum longus and it affects not just the tendons but also the muscles in fact there's a muscle that starts right at the back of the calcaneus bone where that nail goes just in front of and there's a bone a muscle there attached to that bone called the quadrantus plantae you know if you damage that particular muscle you get terrible terrible excruciating pain if that muscle is ruptured anywhere but wherever that muscle is ruptured all the way down through there the pain is referred back to where it begins and you feel it just there and you see I think what happened brothers and sisters is that when our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified when the nail

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    forced the joints and separated the bones it fulfilled Psalm 22 they pierced my hands and my feet and when the nail punctured the nerves and severed the arteries it fulfilled Genesis 49 they hoffed an ox and when the nail ruptured the tendons and pierced the muscles it fulfilled Genesis chapter 3 thou shalt bruise his heel and that's exactly what happened you see brothers and sisters when the prophecy of Jacob reached its final fulfillment Simeon and Levi in the fierceness of their anger and the cruelty of their wrath slew a man and hoffed an ox they got him brothers and sisters and Yahweh's ox was hamstrung in the very mode of his death they were always parallel terms weren't they in Genesis slew a man hoffed an ox the man must die and that's the drama of the gospel record you see as Simeon and Levi were united in their cruelty and because of that outrage perpetrated upon his beloved son almighty God took Simeon and Levi and divided them among the nations and scattered them among all peoples to the four corners of the earth did he not because of what they'd done and it was all based much more closely on the life of Joseph than we might have imagined brothers and sisters why did Jacob use those words hoffed an ox when describing the evil done to Joseph by his brethren why was the prophecy concerned about the feet of Joseph well outside of Genesis there's only one passage that gives us inspired comment on the detail of Joseph's sufferings and that's Psalm 105 is it not let's just come there Psalm 105

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    tells us this verse 17 he sent a man before them even Joseph who was sold for a servant whose feet they hurt isn't that interesting brothers and sisters of all the privations of all the anguish of all the sufferings that Joseph endured the only one recorded by the spirit is they hurt his feet he was a man whose walk before his God was completely upright and they hurt his feet we're not told why or how but ancient iron leg shackles hammered in the place were frequently hammered too tight something damaged Joseph's feet they were bad bad enough perhaps for Joseph to bear permanent scars the marks or the stigmata of his suffering his feet were wounded brothers and sisters and when Jacob came into Egypt as an old man and met Joseph he saw his son's feet he either saw the scars or he saw the limp and now he knew full well what Simeon and Levi had done all those years before and he said in his final prophecy about the boys they hoffed an ox and so they had brothers and sisters and yet remarkably see what the psalm says that despite all of that verse 17 says it wasn't really Simeon and Levi that sent Joseph into Egypt it says God sent a man before them it was all under the providential control of God as are all things and you might remember in the Genesis record which time does not permit us to examine but when Joseph finally confronts his brethren and all the opportunity arose because of his power in Egypt to wreak vengeance upon them for that which had been

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    done what does he do he confronts them with his love apart from the one thing that you might remember that he kept one boy back for a little while in Egypt and said you must feel some of my loneliness some of my pain you must feel some of my despair and he popped one son in prison while the others went home do you remember that brothers and sisters which brother did he put in prison that he might learn about Simeon says Genesis 42 verses 19 to 24 now here's the lesson brothers and sisters we've all got events that come upon us which are of our own making we also face events brought about through no fault of our own but through the actions of others and it's easy to claim that the outcome was simply a direct result of the event but it's never the case the story of Simeon and Levi teaches us that what we do between the event and the outcome can change the outcome the trouble is you see that once we've made a response whether to choose the right or to choose the wrong we tend to follow that course afterwards we commit to that course of action and everything subsequently only widens the gulf between the two ways and that's the lesson of these two brothers really isn't it it's a little bit like this there was a famous quotation from Victor Frankel who once said between stimulus and response there is a space and in that space is our power to choose our response and in our response lies our growth and our freedom we can never go back

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    brothers and sisters and shape a better past but we can use the present to shape a better future and the key principle to remember when we're faced next with a crisis is to remember that the thinking of the flesh prompts us to react to an event but the thinking of the spirit moves us to respond to an outcome let me just show you that because I think it's an excellent summary of the lesson of these two boys you see instinctively the thinking of the flesh prompts us to react to the event of the past that was Simeon but the thinking of the spirit moves us to respond to a future outcome that we hope for that was Levi and this is one of the best lessons that we can learn in our lives brothers and sisters is to learn the power of that idea I think that's why they were blessed together so that they could choose how they might respond to the warning of God they were guilty together of wrongdoing against Joseph but based on their spirit subsequently they could either be blessed or cursed by God and God can do the same in our lives brothers and sisters can he not what we need to learn is that our reaction or our response will always affect the outcome and of course the greatest example of that is seen in our Lord Jesus Christ who was overcome by events through no fault of his own but he always chose to respond to the one outcome that would shape his whole life not my will but thine be done so thanks be to God brothers

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    sisters who in the story of the blessing of Simeon and Levi concealed the work of his son the cruelty of his enemies the mode of his death the piercing of his feet and the power of forgiveness seen when Joseph met his brethren let's remember the man with the wounded hands and the pierced feet and make him our benchmark Jesus is our Joseph let's remember after every event before we do anything to take a breath find a space to choose don't react try to respond and let's make choice not to react to the events of the past but to respond to the outcomes of the future and to be inspired by the example of one who confronts us with the spirit of his response and with the wonder of his love thanks W Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Thank you.