As we saw two weeks ago, having adopted Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh as his own, one final task now lay before Jacob before he died: that of blessing all twelve of his sons. This morning we’ll consider the blessings Jacob pronounced upon his first four children: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah who were all born of Leah, his first wife;[1] next week we’ll consider the blessings he pronounced upon his remaining eight sons: Zebulun and Issachar by Leah;[2] Gad and Asher by Zilpah, Leah’s servant;[3] Dan and Naphtali by Bilhah, Rachel’s servant;[4] and finally Joseph and Benjamin, his two favorite sons by Rachel, his favorite wife.[5]
As Genesis 49 opens we read how Jacob “called for his sons and said” to them: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. 2 Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.” Verse 2 is using a parallelism to make the same point in two different ways for as we’ve noted before Jacob at times is referred to as Jacob and at others as Israel.
In verse 3, we see that Jacob’s blessing upon Reuben, his eldest son, begins positively: “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.” How fortunate Reuben would have been had his blessing ended with this praise for his might, strength, and honor and power excelling. But this was not to be for Reuben’s earlier sin against his father had not been forgotten by him. As recorded in Genesis 35, when Israel after setting up a pillar to mark Rachel’s tomb moved on and “pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder” and “was living in that region,” “Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.”[6] This evil deed, which was possibly a premature grab for power, resulted in Reuben’s loss not only of that power but also—and more importantly—of his honor. As stated in verse 4, the consequence for him who grew up into someone who was “turbulent as the waters” was that he would “no longer excel” for, as Jacob said to him, “you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it” (emphasis added). Thus did Reuben’s presumptive behavior lose him the privileges and rights of the firstborn.
In a similar manner, Jacob’s second and third sons, Simeon and Levi, ended up receiving a bleak blessing for their evil deeds. If you’ll recall, these two sons of Leah acted with great cruelty and rashness upon learning that their sister Dinah had been raped by Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite—as I noted at the time we covered these events, they had had the right instinct but the wrong reaction to this horrific evil.[7] For Simeon and Levi deceived Shechem and his father, convincing them to be circumcised along with every male in the city. The men agreed and, as recorded in Genesis 34, three days later as they were recovering from their pain, Simeon and Levi
took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.[8]
It was because of this rashness that their father Jacob now said to them, verses 5–7, “5 Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords are weapons of violence. 6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. 7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.” As was true with Reuben, Simeon and Levi, respectively, lost the blessing of the firstborn as a result of their sinful behavior. Therefore this blessing ended up being passed down to Judah, the fourth of Jacob and Leah’s sons.
And how appropriate it is to consider Judah’s blessing on this communion Sunday! What Jacob’s father said to him provides a stark contrast with what he said to his first three sons. As stated beginning with verse 8, he said, “8 Judah, your brothers will praise you;”—and it’s perhaps worth noting again that the name Judah both sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew word for praise— “your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.” As we saw how the two dreams God gave Joseph of his brothers bowing down to him were fulfilled, so too, will Judah become prominent among his brothers as they similarly will “bow down” to him. A statement of the power Judah will wield is found in verse 9, “You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?” Not too long ago a friend shared with me that whereas male lions protect the pride, the females do the majority of the hunting. Therefore we see in these analogies the breadth of Judah’s power as both protector and provider to those over whom he will rule.
Next, Jacob comments on the authority Judah will exercise, verse 10: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,….” But notice that as verse 10 continues, the focus switches from Judah to one of his future descendants. As Jacob states, one day Judah will pass on this scepter, a symbol of sovereignty, of kingly rule, “until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his” (emphasis added). Jacob’s blessing has changed its focus from Judah to a future ruler who will be born from his tribe—a future King to whom this scepter rightly belongs. This future King will rule not only over Israel’s tribes but also the nations. As one commentator notes, “Jacob predicts the great empire of David, and the greater kingdom of Christ, the second David.”[9] As David was Israel’s greatest king, Jesus Christ is the greatest King over all nations. As the author of Hebrews later declares, “But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.’”[10] Only one who is eternal is able to rule eternally.
This future ruler, verse 11, “will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch,” words reminiscent of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem while riding on a donkey on the first Palm Sunday.[11] Jacob’s blessing upon Judah and this future ruler closes with him stating, “he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.” As one scholar notes, “The blessedness of the messianic ruler is represented by wine (a symbol of prosperity…) and by his beauty.”[12]
Well with this, I want to turn our attention to this future ruler who, by way of Judah, was blessed by his ancestor Jacob. For as Jacob referred to Judah as “a lion’s cub” and “a lion” and “a lioness,” in a similar manner in the fifth chapter of his Revelation, the Apostle John refers to our Lord Jesus Christ as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” The chapter opens with John seeing “a mighty angel” and asking, verse 2, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”—according to one scholar, this scroll is likely the one mentioned in the book of Ezekiel.[13] In verse 1 we see this scroll being held “in the right hand of him who sat on the throne…with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.” Yet the scroll couldn’t be read because, verse 3, “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.” Consequently, verse 4, John “wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.”
But all hope was not lost for “one of the elders” said to him, verse 5, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” This Lion who is a descendant of both the tribe of Judah[14] and of David, Israel’s greatest king,[15] is none other than Jesus Christ who was born, in fulfillment of Scripture, to be a ruler who would shepherd God’s people.[16] He is the ultimate conquering Lion, the future ruler noted by Jacob to whom the scepter and the obedience of nations rightly belong.
Yet as John’s vision continues, Jesus, the powerful and ruling Lion is also Jesus, the Lamb who was slain. As stated by one scholar, “The OT [sic] promise of a conquering Lion is fulfilled in the NT [sic] reality of one who is also the slain Lamb.”[17] But notice what John states about this Lamb in the first part of verse 6: “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain,….” If Jesus was actually slain—which he was—then why would John see him looking as if he had been slain? It’s because, of course, death could not hold this slain Lamb. For this Lamb, Jesus the risen Christ, yet lives! Although we often think of lambs as being tame and meek, Jesus is a conquering Lamb. As John declares later in his Revelation, “They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”[18] No, Jesus is no ordinary Lamb. He is the Lamb of God who, as John the Baptist his kinsman[19] declared, “takes away the sin of the world!”[20]
Returning to verse 6, after stating that he “saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain,” John notes that this Lamb was “standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” If these seven spirits are taken to be the sevenfold Spirit of God, then God here has disclosed his triune nature to John for verses 1 and 7 represent the Father sitting on his throne; verses 5–6 tell of the Son who is both Lion and Lamb; and the end of verse 6 points to the Holy Spirit.
Next, beginning with verse 7, we see that the Lamb “went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.” The authority of the Father is one with the authority of the Son. The Son taking the scroll results in an act of worship as the twenty-four elders fell down before him further emphasizing that this Lamb is no mere creature, but is God himself. After noting, verse 8, that each of the elders “had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people,” we’re provided a glimpse of the “new song” the elders sang. As one commentator notes, “In the OT [sic] a new song celebrated a new act of divine deliverance or blessing. That is also its sense here.”[21] Jesus, the Lamb of God, by willingly placing humanity’s sins upon himself and thereby dying—but then rising!—from death, is the means God has provided to deliver us from evil and bestow upon any and all who believe in him his eternal blessing. How appropriate then are the words of this song to the Lamb of God recorded in verse 9: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Again, the Lamb is worthy of worship because by his sacrifice, by his death, all who turn to him are purchased and received by God, regardless of their tribe, language, or nation. And in purchasing people from each of these realms is found the fulfillment of the blessing God first pronounced upon Abraham, Judah’s great-grandfather, that one day all the nations of the world would be blessed through him.[22] Therefore, now all who receive the Lamb, whether Jew or non-Jew, are received by him and made into a kingdom and priests to serve God and reign on earth.
Well is it any wonder, then, that the praise begun by the elders is next expressed by the angels? As John states beginning with verse 11, “11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying”—rather than sing as did the 24 elders, these thousands upon thousands upon thousands of angels offer their praise by way of proclamation. They praise Christ by saying loudly, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Such Good News telling of the sacrifice of One who is worthy dying on behalf those who are unworthy should be shared “in a loud voice.” For Jesus, the Lamb of God, warrants our gratitude—and admiration—and devotion for wielding his power, wealth, wisdom, and strength to procure our salvation by providing the ultimate sacrifice, his life, in order that we might know, love, and be with him both now and forevermore. All honor, glory, and praise be to him!
Next, like a pebble cast in water, this joyous and contagious praise to Christ continues to ripple out. It began with the praise of twenty-four elders, continued with the praise of the thousands of angels, until John heard it, as stated in verse 13, from “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea,….” And let me pause for a moment to observe how here, at the end of ages and at long last, the entire creation that Christ made[23] offers him praise. For as Genesis records that God made heaven, earth, and seas, along with creatures to populate each of these realms,[24] the second half of verse 13 in Revelation 5 tells how all of these—again how “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them”—respond to their Maker and LORD by saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” as the chapter closes with “the four living creatures” simply stating, “Amen” as “the elders fell down and worshiped.”
Dear brothers and sisters, this consideration of Jacob’s blessing upon his fourth son, Judah, is a powerful reminder why God has left and safeguarded his Scriptures for us. For although we continue to learn much about the historic families and individuals God used to bring about his plan of redemption, make no mistake—the primary reason God has left us these Old and New Testament Scriptures is so that you and I might know him—our Father who made us, his Son who redeemed us, and his Holy Spirit who seals us and is with us and will carry us home to our great and gracious LORD once our earthly lives are over.
For Judah’s scepter, this symbol of sovereignty, of kingly rule, points to Jesus’ sovereign and kingly rule over not only Israel but all nations;
Judah’s lion-like attributes, growing from a lion cub to an adult lion, points to Jesus, the Lion of Judah, who both protects those who are his from all enemies as does a male lion, and provides for the same as does a lioness.
And though we are unworthy of his sacrifice, Jesus the promised Messiah, the Christ; Jesus the Lamb of God declares and demonstrate our worth in his eyes—in the eyes of God—by willingly sacrificing his life, by willingly being slain, in order that any and all who believe and receive him might be delivered now and forever from Satan who attacks us—and from our sin and disobedience which destroys us—and from all evil that oppresses us.
So let us not wait until the time when Christ returns for us to worship him, the conquering Lion and Lamb, as will the twenty-four elders—and thousands upon thousands of angels—and every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them. No, let us worship him now and for all time, giving him our thanks and our praise and ascribing to him the honor and glory and power which is his due both now and forevermore.
Let us pray.
[1] Genesis 29:31–35: 31 When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.” 33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. 35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
[2] Genesis 30:14–21: 14 During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?” “Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. 17 God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. 19 Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 21 Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
[3] Genesis 30:9–13: 9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” So she named him Gad. 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher.
[4] Genesis 30:1–8: 1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” 2 Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” 3 Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, 5 and she became pregnant and bore him a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan. 7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.
[5] Genesis 30:22–24: 22 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him Joseph, and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.” Genesis 35:16–18: 16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.” 18 As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
[6] Genesis 35:19–21: 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb. 21 Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.
[7] See sermon preached on January 10, 2021, Right Instinct, Wrong Reaction, Christ’s Redemption on Genesis 34.
[8] Genesis 34:25–29.
[9] The Crossway ESV Study Bible note on Genesis 49:8–12. The Zondervan NIV Study Bible similarly notes that verse 10 “was initially fulfilled in David, and ultimately in Christ.” It further references Numbers 24:17: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth. It also references Ezekiel 21:27: A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.’ See also 1 Corinthians 15:24–25: 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
[10] Hebrews 1:8. Emphasis added.
[11] Prophesied by Zechariah and fulfilled by Jesus. See Zechariah 9:9: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.; Matthew 21:4–7: 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.; John 12:14–15: 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
[12] Reformation ESV Study Bible note on Genesis 49:11, 12.
[13] Reformation ESV Study Bible note on Revelation 5:1 and referencing Ezekiel 2:9–3:3: 9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe. 1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
[14] See Hebrews 7:14a: “For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah,….”
[15] As noted in Matthew’s lineage, Judah and David were both Jesus’ ancestors. Matthew 1:1–3, 6, 16–17: “1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,…. 6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,…. 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. 17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.” Luke 3:23, 30, 31–32a: 23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,… 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah,… 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse,….
[16] See Matthew 2:3–6 (quoting Micah 5:2, 4): 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Micah 5:2, 4: 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” 4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
[17] Reformation ESV Study Bible note on Revelation 5:5.
[18] Revelation 17:14.
[19] See Luke 1:34–37: 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
[20] John 1:29: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 53:7–12: Isaiah 53:7–12: 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
[21] Zondervan NIV Study Bible note on Revelation 5:9.
[22] Genesis 12:1–3: 12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
[23] See, e.g., John 1:1–3, 10: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made….10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.; 1 Corinthians 8:6: yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.; Colossians 1:15–17: 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
[24] Genesis 1:20–21, 24–25: 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good…. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.