Why was Simeon not given a blessing?
Deuteronomy 33:1 - 29
KJV - 1 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
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In my opinion, the omission of Simeon from Moses' final blessing of the tribes of Israel was a reflection or fulfillment of Jacob's (or Israel's) final pronouncement regarding his sons Simeon and Levi and their descendants in Genesis 49:5-7, in which Jacob recalled the violence that Simeon and Levi had used in avenging the rape of their sister Dinah by Shechem the Hivite in Genesis 34 (which, as Jacob said in rebuking them at that time, had caused Jacob and his entire family to be repugnant to the people living in the Promised Land (Genesis 34:30)). The omission of Simeon was also a foreshadowing of the manner in which that tribe's allocation of the Promised Land would be taken completely from the portion allocated to Judah (as recorded in Joshua 19:1-9), rather than being a separate section of its own. However, while Simeon was omitted from Moses' final blessing, Levi (Moses' own tribe) was included, because it was to be the designated priestly tribe of Israel. But, like Simeon, the Levites also did not have a separate portion of the Promised Land allocated to them, since they were to be devoted wholly to leading the people in worship of the Lord, and would be sustained by the people's offerings to God, rather than working the land and living off its produce (Joshua 13:14).
Jacob’s prophecy for Simeon and Levi in the last days promises to “divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel” Gen (49:7). Levi was given the priesthood and Moses’ blessing, and lived in different towns in Israel. Simeon was given land that been apportioned to Judah, but without a blessing from Moses. Where can we find Levi in Christianity, that is, spiritual Israel, today? (We are quite probably in the last days.) Levi is comprised of all the pastors, preachers, priests, evangelists, etc, that are found in any nation in Christendom. The only group of people also found throughout Christendom is career government officials. This would include diplomats, bureaucrats, politicians, and the professional military, but not the aristocracy with their birthright prerogatives. The LORD would not bless both because Israel was intended to be a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19.6), not function as a secular kingdom like so many others. Taxation for the priesthood was commanded by the Mosaic Law, but taxes for the secular government weren’t commanded, and proved to be a very heavy burden. Actually, the secular government wouldn’t have been needed if the Israelites had taken the priesthood and the Law more sincerely. Only a few kings of the two kingdoms were considered to have done what was right in the eyes of the LORD. Even though Simeon wasn’t blessed, his name appears on one the angels of the twelve gates of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:12). All the shortcomings of secular government will be left behind when all things are made new (Rev 21:5) and the Sons of God rule as priest-kings among the nations of the Kingdom of God.
I believe Simeon was not blessed because he didn't act. My own question was "Why were Reuben and Levi blessed and not Simeon?" Probably Reuben, being the first son, deserved to be blessed and Moses did bless him briefly by saying, "You shall live and not die." Deut.33:6 When it came to Levi, Moses made a long blessing and prophesied over his life. Why? Levi had singled himself out by standing up for the Lord when the Lord had need of a man. Deut.33:8-11. Simeon had resigned himself to his fate, there was no basis for the blessings being that he had been cursed by his father. Levi did not let his cursed state keep him down. He was a man who had his own mind, a man of action.
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