FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 48: The Blessing of Ephraim & Manasseh
v.1-4
Jacob Testifies to Joseph
v.5-7
Manasseh and Ephraim to be named as part of
the family
v.8-12
Joseph presents them to be blessed
v.14-22
Israel changes the order of the blessing
v.1-4
Jacob Testifies to Joseph
v.1
Some
time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his
two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him.
v.2
When
Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied
his strength and sat up on the bed.
v.3,4
Jacob
said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land
of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going
to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you
a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting
possession to your descendants after you.'
[Notes:
Joseph visits Jacob, hearing he is not well, and presumably
expecting him to die soon. When he arrives Jacob makes a point
of reiterating God's promises to them that a) they would increase
in numbers and b) they would take possession of Canaan as an everlasting
possession.]
v.5-7
Manasseh and Ephraim to be named as part of the family
v.5
“Now
then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you
here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine,
just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
v.6
Any
children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory
they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers.
v.7
As
I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land
of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from
Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that
is, Bethlehem).
[Notes:
Jacob knows that the family name will be famous and
his twelve sons will be famous and so he wants Joseph to know
that his two sons are to be considered to be his in the same way
the sons of Jacob are.]
v.8-12
Joseph presents them to be blessed
v.8
When
Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”
v.9
“They
are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.
Then
Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”
v.10
Now
Israel's eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly
see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed
them and embraced them.
v.11
Israel
said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and
now God has allowed me to see your children too.”
v.12
Then
Joseph removed them from Israel's knees and bowed down with his
face to the ground.
v.13
And
Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right
toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh on his
left toward Israel's right hand and brought them close to him.
[Notes:
Joseph had brought his two sons to see Israel and now
Israel wanted to bless them and asks for them to be drawn near,
and he holds them close.]
v.14-22
Israel changes the order of the blessing
v.14
But
Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head,
though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left
hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
v.15
Then
he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham
and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all
my life to this day,
v.16
the
Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these
boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers
Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”
v.17
When
Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim's head
he was displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move
it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
v.18
Joseph
said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your
right hand on his head.”
v.19
But
his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will
become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his
younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will
become a group of nations.”
v.20
He
blessed them that day and said, “In your name will Israel pronounce
this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
v.21
Then
Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with
you and take you back to the land of your fathers.
v.22
And
to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the
ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
[Notes:
When he comes to bless them he swaps his hands over
so that the hand of authority, the right hand, is placed on the
head of the younger son. Joseph protests at this but Jacob knows
this is prophecy from heaven and he knows that God's intent is
to bless the younger over the older. Blessings are not the prerogative
of man but of God, perhaps even as he had learned from Isaac blessing
him and limiting Esau.]
Lessons
or Challenges to Ponder from Genesis Chapter 48
Jacob
blessing Joseph's two sons is a remarkable example of spiritual
sensitivity and prophetic insight. Something to be emulated!