07.10. Zebulun

ZEBULUN.

HERE is a general sketch of the lot and history of Zebulun:- "While faithful to thy covenant King, In holy might excelling, Thy haven welcomed storm-tossed ships, * Home to thy quiet dwelling.

*Genesis 49:13 "Thy thousands scattered Jabin’s pride, * In Kishon’s stormy fight;

Thy tens of thousands swept away The conquering Amorite.

* Judges 5:18 "And when the tribes to Salem poured;* Their festal tides along, Thy banner on the hill of God Waved with the jubilant song.

* Deuteronomy 33:18 "0 Zebulun, my valleys spread, Fair in the morning’s sheen; But fairest when He dwelt in thee, * The sinless Nazarene.

* Matthew 4:15 "Great was thy glory when thou dwel’st At haven of the sea; But greatest when He sheltered souls On thy shore, blue Galilee.

"And even now in Cana’s name, In Nazareth and its hill, In Magdala, on Tabor’s height, * A fragrance lingers still;

* 1 Chronicles 6:77 "Which yet shall fill the dewy air, Of that long-looked-for day, When He returns who was thy Light, * Returns to shine for aye!"-PAULIN.

* Matthew 4:15-16 In Genesis 30:19-20, we read the narrative of Zebulun’s birth-time. There was gladness in the tents of Jacob; Leah’s voice was heard acknowledging the kindness of the Lord. "God [He who alone disposes and rules in matters private as well as public] has given me a good dowry;" and she calls it "good," because of what she anticipated would result from it, viz., "For now shall my husband dwell with me." Writers generally suppose that she used the term ***** "to endow," because of its being so far an alliteration with ****** "to dwell," playing on the words in the happy moment of her son’s birth. She thinks it sure that her bringing so much to her husband (this being her sixth gift to him) will secure his becoming more warmly attached to her, and his ever after dwelling with her. This last of a cluster of gifts will complete her victory over any remaining alienation that may have for a time existed in his mind. Who does not know that "A man’s gift maketh room for him" (Proverbs 18:16). "Whithersoever it turned it prospereth ’. (Proverbs 17:8). Benefits, kindnesses, gifts, succeed in removing distance, coolness, alienation, when other things have failed. It is so between man and man, and it is even so between God and man; that is, God has used this natural instinct of gratitude for favour as a means of melting down man’s enmity. His Spirit raises in our hearts the question, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits?" It is a remarkable clause in Psalms 68:18, "Thou hast received gifts for men, that the Lord God might dwell among them." View it in two ways. On the one hand, it speaks of gifts inducing the Lord to be a Zebulun to us, to dwell with us, as if persuaded by Christ’s gift, Christ’s dowry of righteousness, and the glory rendered to the Father’s name for us. On the other hand, it speaks of the Lord finding out a way of dwelling with us by leading us to come and dwell with Him. He shows us "the gift of God," and who it is who gives it (John 4:10), thus subduing our resistance, and prevailing over our alien­ated souls. Was it not thus that (in Zebulun’s borders) He prevailed on the "son of Zebedee" (the name signifies "dowry") to follow Him, holding out the gift, "I will make you fishers of men"? Shall we not learn from our God how to allure our fellow-men, holding out to them God’s great gift of his Son? and so we shall in a higher sense become what Zebulun’s tribe became in after days, "havens to ships," storm-tossed (Genesis 49:13), and callers of others to the mountain, while we show them what God has done (Deuteronomy 33:19).

Jacob’s blessing alludes to the meaning of the name "Zebulun [he whose name signifies dwelling] shall dwell at the haven [or shore] of the seas; he shall be a haven [or shore] for ships; and his border shall be over Zidon" (Genesis 49:13). He is to bring in foreigners to dwell with him, by presenting a roadstead for ships-a shore where they may find shelter and anchorage. The Bay of Carmel seems chiefly to be alluded to. "Their border went up toward the sea" (Joshua 19:11; compo Joshua 9:1); that is, the Mediterranean, here called "the seas," be­cause, perhaps, of the bay suggesting a north and a south sea coming in. Others understand "seas" to refer to the fact that his region stretched from the Mediterranean to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. But what is meant by "his border shall be over Zidon?"* It intimates that his position would give him easy access to Zidon, and might further suggest that by his ships his border may be said to reach even as far as Zidon. However, the simplest view is that *** is to be understood as "over," in the sense of superiority; q. d., though he shall never rival Zidon in merchandise and in naval renown, yet his Bay of Carmel shall attract when Zidon fails. Delitzsch notes that a proof of the genuine antiquity of Jacob’s words is furnished by the fact that Zidon, not Tyre, is the city, for Tyre was not then famous; indeed, not founded till the times of the Judges. But renowned as Zidon may have been for luxuries, and even if Zebulun’s fisheries, and purple-dye, found on his shores, and such like merchan­dise, should never equal that merchant city, still his tribe has temporal blessings that might allure even Zidon to his borders; besides having the far greater blessings referred to by Moses in Deuteronomy 33:19, and spoken of clearly by Isaiah (Isaiah 9:1-2).

* See in Ugolinus the treatise by Hasaeus, "De Zabulonis prae Zidone Praestantia." Thomson ("Land and Book," i. 484) supposes that Zidon may have then been equivalent to Phoenicia; and understands "His border shall reach unto Zidon," to signify that Zebulun’s boundaries should stretch towards Phoe­nicia.

Moses, in his blessing, alludes to one of the characteristics of this tribe, his attractive influence, when he joins him with Issachar in the prediction (Deuteronomy 33:19)- "They shall call nations to the mountain;

There they offer sacrifice of righteousness." The Gentiles were allured to dwell with Zebulun we know well, for "Galilee of the Gentiles" was in part his territory. But Moses seems to say that while these nations were attracted by them to the mountain where sacrifice should be offered, it was in the first instance by Zebulun’s produce and merchandise that they were drawn- "For they shall seek the abundance of the seas, And the hidden treasures of the sand;" earthly good things-fish, purple shells, glass, and all besides that their position on "the seas" enabled them to traffic in. In spite, too, of Delitzsch’s remark to the contrary, "Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out," is a clause that does seem to refer to this tribe’s enterprise and traffic, although we have no record of their undertakings in this department. But Zebulun was at all times ready not only to draw others in to dwell with him, but "to go out," when occasion required. His numbers stood high in the enumeration in the wilderness, first 57,000, and then 60,000 fighting men. When Barak and Deborah summoned Israel to battle, Zebulun came at once. "Take with thee," said De­borah to Barak, "ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulun" (Judges 4:6); and her song cele­brates them as (Judges 5:18)- "A people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field." In Gideon’s day they are among those who "came up to meet him" (Judges 6:35), when he blew the trumpet, and sent his messengers. Nor were they wanting in the day of David’s trial and distress; for 50,000 of them came to help God’s anointed king in his adversity; "men that went forth to battle" (1 Chronicles 12:33), **** comp. **** (Deuteronomy 33:19)- "Expert in war, with all instruments of war, Fifty thousand that could keep rank, They were not of double heart." The men of this tribe (2 Chronicles 30:11) in the days of Hezekiah, if they are not found calling others to the mountain, where sacrifice was offered, at any rate encouraged others to go by sending many of their number up to Jerusalem to keep the Passover. "Divers of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 30:11). "A multitude of the people, many of Issachar and Zebulun" (2 Chronicles 30:18).

Some understand that Ibzan, the judge, mentioned in Judges 12:8, was of this tribe; and the Bethlehem, where he was buried, is in that case, the city mentioned in Isaiah 19:15, the name and remains of which have been found by travellers in the midst of an oak forest. But at any rate, Elon (Judges 12:12) was of this tribe; for with curious emphasis it is repeated, "Elon, a Zebulonite, judged Israel ten years," "Elon, the Zebulonite died, and was buried in Aijalon, in the country of Zebulun." And one other fact let us not fail to remember, viz., Nazareth was in this tribe. The tribe, whose name means "Dwelling," was the tribe in whose bounds the Incarnate Son of God dwelt thirty years; and on the shore of one of its seas how often was He to be found? If nought else had distinguished Zebulun, this alone would have been enough in our eyes to fill up the prediction, "His border shall be above Zidon." Rejoice, Zebulun, and call the nations to the mountain where sacrifices of righteousness are offered. In­vite all men hither; for in God manifest in the flesh-Jesus of Nazareth-they shall find better than all earthly wealth, better than the abundance of the seas. They shall find the One great sacrifice which supersedes all others; they shall discover that "the Word made flesh, who dwelt among us," is the best of hidden treasures; and shall agree with us that his presence has made the border of Zebulun far to excel the border of Zidon.