In Genesis 48:1-49:27, Jacob blesses his sons on the eve of his death
(see outline). Israel’s blessing of his
sons is described as a great act of faith and worship in Hebrews 11:21. I believe
that it is described as such because in these two chapters, Jacob’s blessings
are in anticipation of God’s great salvation to come. For the Israelites, this will play out in both
the near (in the Exodus, Conquest, & Monarchy) and distant future (the
Messianic Kingdom).
The reason that
distinction is important is because we as Christians are also called to hope in
God’s coming salvation and to so bless our families and all other peoples of
the earth with that hope. So what does a
rich hope in God’s coming salvation look like in the life of God’s people?
I.
TOUR OF THE TEXT:
a.
ISRAEL ADOPTS THE SONS OF JOSEPH (48:1-12)
[48:1] After this, Joseph was told, “Behold,
your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
[2] And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then
Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. [3] And Jacob said to
Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed
me, [4] and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply
you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to
your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’ [5] And now your
two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in
Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
In this chapter, Jacob
first adopts Joseph’s Sons (48:1-12) and then blesses Joseph and
his sons (48:13-22). This adoption of
Ephraim and Manasseh solidifies their identity with the family of Israel rather
than with the nation of Egypt and also solidifies Joseph as the one who will
receive the double portion of the “firstborn.”
[6] And the children that you fathered after
them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in
their inheritance. [7] As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow
Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some
distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that
is, Bethlehem).”
[8] When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said,
“Who are these?” [9] Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom
God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may
bless them.” [10] Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he
could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced
them. [11] And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face;
and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” [12] Then Joseph
removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. (Genesis
48:1-12 ESV)
b.
ISRAEL’S BLESSES JOSEPH AND HIS SONS (48:13-22)
[13] And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in
his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward
Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. [14] And Israel stretched
out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and
his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the
firstborn). [15] And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life
long to this day, [16] the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless
the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers
Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the
earth.”
[17] When Joseph saw that his father laid his
right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's
hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. [18] And Joseph
said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn,
put your right hand on his head.” [19] But his father refused and said, “I
know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be
great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his
offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” [20] So he blessed them
that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make
you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
[21] Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will
be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.
[22] Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one
mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with
my bow.” (Genesis 48:13-22 ESV)
In Jacob’s blessing upon
Joseph and his sons, we see God’s unconventional, sovereign choice of the
younger sibling over the older sibling.
This has happened throughout Genesis and it teaches us that God is sovereign and often unconventional
in whom He chooses for His purposes.
And He gets to be because He is God!
This blessing is also prophetic: the Northern Kingdom will often be
called simply “Ephraim” at times during the divided monarchy.
A final thing that I
would like to point out to you before we move into some application is what frames this adoption and blessing. It begins and ends with Jacob’s affirmation
of the Abrahamic covenant (48:3-4,21).
Jacob is persuaded of God’s faithfulness to keep these promises.
Now here is one reason
that I think these two chapters are ultimately rooted in God’s coming
salvation: because God’s coming
salvation is the ultimate outcome of the Abrahamic covenant. When I say “God’s coming salvation,” I do not
only mean the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan, I also mean the coming of the
Messiah, who will be the ultimate salvation for God’s people. God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
did not only have to do with the Israelites becoming a nation and occupying
some land, it also had to do with a coming offspring (12:7), the same offspring that is promised in Genesis 3:15. This coming
offspring would mediate God’s salvation to all the peoples of the earth
(compare Gen.12:1-3 with Gal. 3:8), not just the
Israelites. He would also lift the curse
inflicted upon creation in Genesis 3. So God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob was ultimately about the Messiah who would come and bring His everlasting
kingdom. The Patriarchs were all looking
forward to more than a simple return to the Promised Land; they were looking to
an even better country: God’s eternal kingdom come to earth (Hebrews 11:8-16).
II.
THOUGHTS FROM THE TEXT:
a.
People Who Hope in God’s Coming Salvation Have a
Deep Confidence in the Promises of God
Jacob has a deep
confidence in these promises that God has made to him and his ancestors. It is his faith in those promises that drives these blessings he is giving to
his family. Here is the question for us
today: Do you have such a deep confidence in the promises that God has given to
us in His Word? As the people of God, we
are to be a people who possess a rock solid confidence in God’s promises to us
concerning both our present and our future. How do we cultivate such a robust confidence
in God’s promises? First, we must become
acquainted with those promises.
Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing
through the word of Christ.” As we
become acquainted with the promises of God, those very promises begin to build
our faith and cause us to then be persuaded by them.
b.
People Who Hope in God’s Coming Salvation Have a
Deep Walk with God Himself
Notice how “God” flavors
so much of the conversation between Jacob and Joseph in Gen. 48: God Almighty appeared to me and blessed me (3), God gave
me these sons (9), God has let me see your offspring (11), God…bless these boys, the God who my
father and grandfather walked with, the God who has been my Shepherd all my
life long, the God who is the Angel that has redeemed me (15-16), God will be
with you and bring you back to the land again (21). This is the kind of talk that flows out of
the heart in which God is seen as supreme treasure, center, and source of
all. Let’s consider some of these
statements about God that we see here as questions to evaluate our own
relationship with God.
First, Is the God of the
Bible the God that you can honestly say that you walk with? I wonder, would my children say what Jacob
said of his father and grandfather: that they walked with God? Second, Do you know the God of the Bible as
the Good Shepherd that He is? The
imagery of a shepherd is that of a close, intimate relationship with God. Jesus would describe this relationship in John 10, calling Himself the “Good
Shepherd” and saying that He knows His sheep and that His sheep know Him, hear
His voice, and follow Him. Is that a
description of the relationship that you have with God today? Third, Do you know God as Redeemer? Have you experienced His rescue? Finally, is God your greatest hope in this
life? Have you staked your life upon His
coming salvation? If I could summarize
these four questions, I would say this passage is calling us to know God as our
dearest Friend, our Good Shepherd, our Glorious Redeemer, and our Greatest
Hope. This is eternal life: knowing God
through Christ Jesus His Son.
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