Zebulun will dwell at the shore of the seas; Yea, he will be at the shore of the ships, And his side [toucheth] upon Sidon.
Jacob is dying, and he tells each son what lies ahead. Zebulun's future takes one sentence: a shore, ships, and a border reaching to Sidon. Is that a promise of wealth, or a warning about where wealth leads?
Jacob's words to his sons form one sequence, not twelve separate sayings. One writer traces the fall in that sequence: from Judah's royal line, to trade with the nations, to the serpent.
Reuben, Simeon, and Levi are corrupt and violent. Judah is connected with God's purposes as to the royal line. Zebulun, a haven of ships, and Issachar, a strong donkey burdened, are linked with prosperity in commerce with the nations, or Gentiles. Then Dan is to judge his people. So when Israel joins with the Gentiles in that way (Zebulun and Issachar), you get the serpent brought in.
The order matters. Zebulun comes straight after the promise of Shiloh, the ruler who was to come. What follows shows where a people turn once they have refused Him.
Zebulun gives us the next picture of the history of Israel. Now that they have had Shiloh presented but have refused Him, the Jews find their comforts in dealings with the Gentiles. This is what they do now — trying to make themselves happy, when, if they weigh their own prophets, they must suspect a fatal error somewhere in their history. They have lost their Messiah, and they court the world.
Leah, his mother, named him Zebulun, which means dwelling — being close, at home with someone. Jacob picks a different word, and the change is the whole point.
In the fourth place, we come to Zebulun, and again Jacob points to his name. It means "dwelling with," in closeness, as Leah's use of it shows. But Jacob here uses another word, and in this place it clearly has a bad sense. Its primary meaning is "to lay oneself down." Zebulun does this at the haven of the sea — the haven for ships — and his border is toward Sidon. The idea of prosperity, or at least of working hard for it, is plain. Yet for Israel we must remember that this trade with the idolatrous nations was not a good sign, and it did not end well. Her border reaching out toward Sidon predicts a dangerous rubbing out of the line that divided Israel from the nations.
Sidon was more than a point on the map.
Here we find Zebulun in connection with the sea of peoples and nations. Zebulun (= dwelling) looked entirely towards the nations, and to Sidon in particular. Baal worship came from there, and King Ahab brought it into Israel.
The words came true twice. First in the land the tribe received. Then in the centuries after the nation refused its Messiah.
With Zebulun, in verse 13, we come to a prediction. It sets out what has marked the people since they rejected their Messiah. That tribe did occupy the north-western part of the land toward Sidon. This brought them into contact with the wide outlook of the shipping world. And for many centuries now the Jew has been pushed out all over the world and has given himself up to trade. Ships are a fitting symbol of it.
Jacob's word was not the last thing said about Zebulun. The story turns at the very place where it went wrong.
Zebulun, the dweller in relationship, as he should have been, had long fulfilled Jacob's prophecy. "Dwelling at the shore of the sea," he had become the picture of Israel as a whole. Israel gave up its "dwelling alone" to mingle in adulterous commerce with the nations... But the Saviour of sinners is not stopped by this, and there in the darkness was the very place for light to spring up. And now there had come to Zebulun a Dweller, in whom God Himself could dwell with man.
Zebulun's later record is not all compromise. The same tribe that traded with the nations fought hardest when everything was at stake — against Sisera, alongside Gideon, and for David. One writer draws the uncomfortable parallel.
However much the inconsistency may surprise us, the fact remains that there are many Christians who have far too much traffic with the world, yet who, if foundational principles are attacked, will throw off their worldly spirit and come forward vigorously, even to a death struggle and martyrdom, in defence of the word of God and the honour of Christ.
- Name — Zebulun means dwelling. Closeness with God was his calling.
- Drift — Jacob's word turns dwelling into lying down at a harbour. The call to dwell with God became life among the nations. God let Israel have what it chose.
- Border — The border reaching to Sidon rubbed out the line between Israel and the nations. Baal worship later came from that direction.
- History — The tribe took its coastland. Later the scattered Jewish people gave themselves to world trade. Both answer the prophecy.
- Reversal — To that same shore came a Dweller in whom God could dwell with man. Where the dwelling failed, the light rose.
Issachar is a bony ass, Crouching down between two hurdles.
Jacob's words over Issachar are not flattery. They picture a strong animal that chooses to lie down under its load, and they set the tone for a long stretch of Israel's story among the nations.
The description sounds like praise until you look at the word itself.
He was a donkey lying down lazily between two burdens. (The word translated "strong" seems mocking — literally "bony." This is certainly not praise of Issachar.) He saw that rest was good and bowed down between two burdens. He is like people who live by sight and try to make this world their resting place. But they find themselves burdened twice over — with spiritual and everyday responsibilities. The world takes it out of him too; he becomes "a servant unto tribute." He crouched down in a humiliation he chose himself.
Another writer ties that word to the nation's trade with its neighbours.
Trade marks the nation, since his side touches Sidon; but if this brings personal prosperity to some, it does not make the nation fat, for Issachar is a bony donkey. Crouching between two burdens, he has come under the servitude of the Gentiles; and here he is content to rest.
Translators differ over the last phrase. The ESV reads "crouching between the sheepfolds." Older versions read "between two burdens." One writer renders it "hurdles."
Issachar is a bony (or strong) donkey, lying down between two hurdles. He saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant. He bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant paying tribute.
Another writer names the two loads he sees in Israel's later history.
The Jew has indeed shown remarkable strength. But his two burdens have pressed him down without a break. He has carried them for the sake of rest for his wandering feet and a pleasant life. Two things have weighed him down: the labour of gaining wealth on one hand, and being "a servant to tribute" on the other.
The order matters. Issachar stands next to Zebulun, and what follows them is darker.
Reuben, Simeon, and Levi are corrupt and violent. Judah is connected with God's purposes about the royal line. Zebulun a haven for ships, and Issachar a strong donkey under a load, go with prosperity in trade with the nations, or Gentiles. Then Dan is to judge his people. So when Israel joins with the Gentiles in that way (Zebulun and Issachar), you get the serpent brought in.
Others read the same two tribes as the long middle chapter of the nation's story, and warn where the money leads.
Zebulun and Issachar stand for the long period of Israel patiently bearing the Gentile yoke, during which the riches of the earth come into their hands; they are weighed down with wealth. But this leads us on to Dan, the tribe that turns away.
Behind the crouching lies a choice about whose yoke to wear. The tribe's name is part of the picture.
In Issachar we find Israel content to be the drudge of the Gentiles. The one who would not bear God's yoke quietly accepts the yoke of men. Here too the name is dwelt on: "there is reward"; ease and gain are all that is sought. How true to the character of unbelieving Israel! And these are the ways God governs. They do not know Him, yet He still arranges their circumstances.
Yoke-bearing has another side. Grace offers a different service.
From Jacob's prophecy we see that Issachar stands for yoke-bearing. But it is clearly a slavery that speaks of self-indulgence and the empty reward of sin's pleasure for a season. Here, though, we are to think of deliverance by grace from that servitude. We come to the One whose loving voice calls us to hear and find true rest. So we come under His yoke and learn from Him. He is the meek and lowly One who stooped to bear our burden and carry our sorrows, even to death, the death of the cross. In this way we enter a new service.
The crouching is not the last word for the tribe. A later blessing turns the scene around.
In Jacob's prophecy we see the one reaching out toward the surrounding nations, and the other crouching under their yoke. We are reminded of this here, though how different everything is now. Zebulun may now rejoice in going out, and Issachar in the tents of her pilgrimage. They still reach out toward the nations. But now they go as ambassadors of a present King, with a joyful invitation to come up and pay Him homage.
- Strength. The word behind "strong" means "bony." It reads as mockery, not praise — real strength spent lying down.
- Choice. Issachar saw that rest was good and bowed his shoulder. He chose ease and gain over God's yoke, so he took the yoke of men instead.
- Burden. The chosen rest turned into a double load: gathering wealth on one side, handing it over as tribute on the other.
- Consequence. Mixing with the nations for profit does not stop there. In the prophecy, Zebulun and Issachar lead on to Dan, the serpent.
- Reversal. The name means "there is reward." Grace brings a different yoke, under the One who bore our burden. A later blessing shows Issachar rejoicing at last.
And he saw the rest that it was good, And the land that it was pleasant; And he bowed his shoulder to bear, And was a tributary servant.
Jacob's word over Issachar is the picture of a powerful animal that lies down between its loads, and of a man who trades his freedom for comfort. The verse turns on what Issachar saw, and on what that sight cost him.
The description is not praise. Older translations end the verse with "a servant unto tribute" where the ESV has "a servant at forced labor," and that older wording is what these writers quote. One writer takes the whole picture as mockery:
He was a donkey lying down lazily between two burdens. The word translated "strong" seems mocking — literally, "bony." This is not praise of Issachar: it is the opposite. He saw that rest was good and lay down between two burdens. He is like those who live by sight and try to make this world their resting place. They find themselves carrying twice the load — spiritual duties and earthly ones. The world takes it out of him too; he becomes "a servant unto tribute."
Issachar's name means "there is reward," and Jacob plays on it here. The man who lives for reward and ease ends up carrying someone else's load:
In Issachar, we find Israel content to be the drudge of the Gentiles; one who would not endure God's yoke but accepted the yoke of men without resistance. Here, too, the name is dwelt upon: "there is reward;" ease and gain are all that is sought. How true to the character of unbelieving Israel!
The prophecy has been read as a sketch of Israel's long history scattered among the nations. On that reading, the two loads are wealth and taxation — the very things a settled, prosperous life demanded:
The Jew has indeed proved himself to have remarkable strength. But his two burdens have pressed him down again and again. He has borne them for the sake of rest for his wandering feet and a pleasant life. He has been burdened with the labour of acquiring wealth on the one hand, and of being "a servant to tribute," on the other. Again and again he has crouched under a further burden: he must hand over, as tribute of one kind or another, much of what he had piled up.
One writer ties Caesar's coin back to Jacob's words. The coin was only the sign of a choice Israel had already made:
The Gentile yoke had come as their father Jacob had long since prophesied... Israel had accepted fellowship with the Gentile, and Caesar's coin was only the sign of this. She was Gentile in heart and in way, and God had counted her where she belonged. She could not hold on to an independence which, for her, could only be another name for dependence on God. Let them give Caesar his own; but let them give God His own also. When they really do this, there will be no question at all to settle about Caesar. Not by self-assertion, but by repentance only can deliverance come for them.
The pattern is not only national. Whoever lets the heart follow the world takes on a master:
But we are urged to stand fast in this liberty in which we have been made free — for the danger of getting caught in some yoke of bondage is always there. We fail in this when the heart goes after the things of the world and the flesh. Then we become slaves, and, like these sons of Jacob, we serve what we follow. That slavery hinders all service and witness; we become wretched ourselves and useless to others.
Issachar bowed his shoulder to the wrong load. One writer points to another yoke, and to a reward that answers the name at last:
From Jacob's prophecy we see that Issachar stands for yoke-bearing. But it is clearly a slavery that speaks of indulging the flesh and the empty reward of sin's pleasure for a season. Here, however, we are to think instead of deliverance from such slavery by grace. It comes as we come to the One whose loving voice calls us to hear and find the true rest. So coming under His yoke and learning from Him (Matt. 11:29) — the meek and lowly One who stooped to bear our burden and carry our sorrows, even to death, the death of the cross — we enter a new service... finding in this way the true reward, for "If anyone serves Me, My Father will honour him." Issachar means, "There is reward."
- He saw. Issachar lived by sight. Rest looked good, the land looked pleasant — and that glance decided everything.
- He stooped. Refusing God's yoke does not leave a man free; it leaves him accepting the yoke of men without a struggle, for the sake of ease and gain.
- He paid. The rest he chose came with two burdens, not none: the labour of getting, and the tribute of giving it up again.
- He is us. Whatever the heart follows, it serves. The believer who lets go of liberty becomes wretched himself and useless to others.
- He can be free. Not by self-assertion but by repentance. Then comes a different yoke, carried by the One who bore our sorrows, and a reward that is real.