How do father’s who bless their sons in the Bible know what will happen in the future? Or is it figurative speech?

Question

There are many blessings in the word both positive and negative. For the sake of shortening the question I will use Genesis 49:8-13

8 Judah,[b] your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.

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? enter preformatted text here

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[c] until he to whom it belongs[d] shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; 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.[e]

13 Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon.

How did Jacob know all these things would come to pass such as where Zebulun would live? Are these things revealed to him, is it just what his heart desires or is it figurative speech?

Answer 1

God of Providence
God Almighty is a God of providence. As some scholars have coined it, "He is an over-arching Superintendent," or "the Governor of the Universe," or the " the Lord from everlasting to everlasting" (Psalm 90:1-4).

And the Psalmist also remarked:

O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and my uprising, Thou understandeth my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but Lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. (Psalm 139:1-4)

God knows the future of human lives even before they are born (v. Psalm 139). So when we keep in mind that, in the Bible, we have the revealing of the "redemptive history " of God's salvation, and that the people---main players---in that drama are part of God's planning, it is not to be wondered that the destiny of those men are known---and that their birth names will reflect this!

Believing Parents The parents who are given to serving and worshipping the true God, are also gifted with the ability to know the Spirit and Voice of God, and be influenced by what they should do, including the naming of their children.

Sometimes the parents are aware of the implications of the name they give to their children by "inner whispers" of the Spirit. Other times a visible Angel clearly and openly declares the names. (Note John the Baptist, and the naming of Jesus.(Gospel of Luke).

The prophecies given over the children of Jacob are not uncommon. God's prophetic word over people's lives is a common thread throughout the Bible.(Recall the prophecy over the Apostle Paul's life and ministry by Ananias; Acts 9). AND many charismatic Christians would aver that God still speaks into families' lives, and directs their destinies---and the destinies of their new-born children.

God is a God of Providence who knows the End from the Beginning.