That Was A Blessing, Papa?

Benjamin musta been scratchin' his head when his Dad called him over and said, "Come over here, son.  I'd like to pray for you." 

.....Ok, those weren't his actual words, but that's the gist of it.  I know if I were him and that was "blessing" my Dad spoke over me, I'd secretly be wondering if he'd lost his marbles!

See for yourself in Jacob's blessing over Benjamin:
Gen. 49:27
"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he shall devour the prey, {not very complementary} 
and at night he shall divide the spoil."
{hmm...divide the spoil; that's good!}

"Uh......Thanks, Dad!?? (I think.)".....again, I'm paraphrasing.  

Well, it may not have really been that surprising.  You see, earlier in this chapter, Jacob had said that he would be telling his sons what would befall them "in the last days," in Gen. 49:  There are prophetic elements in all of his blessings of each son that have to do with the time when Jesus walked on earth and even what will happen in our day.

Everything God says in His word is there to glorify His Beloved Son.  This particular blessing refers to a very, very famous descendant of Benjamin's.  But first, a little background.....

Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah.  Only one other of His disciples was also from that tribe: Judas Ishcariot.  The rest were from the region of Galilee.  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were from Zebulun, where Nazareth is located. Everyone else were from Naphtali except for the most famous of all.

This renowned descendant has quite a history.  Here are some of his accomplishments:
1. He attacked God's sheep with a vengeance--wolves "prey" on sheep--in the earlier part of his life--in other words, in the morning.
2.  He was given the full-blown revelation of grace right from Jesus Himself-- gospel of grace--and, 
3.  In the end of his life; in other words, the evening, he shared all this revelation--divided the spoils, and wrote 3/4 of the New Testament!
And finally.....
4.  He was from the tribe of Benjamin.

Who could it possibly be??  

Yes!  You guessed it!
The Apostle Paul!

Yes, Benjamin....THAT WAS A BLESSING!