COME AS A CHILD LESSON 104 ISRAEL BLESSES EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH AND JOSEPH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

So now Jacob/Israel is very old and he has been living in Egypt almost seventeen years under the favor of Pharaoh because of his son Joseph.

 Israel had fallen very ill.  Joseph heard of his father’s failing health and he went to visit him.  He took Manasseh and Ephraim, his two young sons with him.  These two boys had been born to Joseph before their grandfather ever arrived in Egypt.  That would make both of them at least 17 years old or older.  They had spent 17 years knowing and loving their grandfather, Israel.

When Joseph arrived Israel rallied.  He gained a little strength and sat up on his bed.  He spoke with Joseph of things that mattered very much to him.  These were his words:  “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.’”

Remember that “Luz” was another name for Bethel.  Bethel was where Jacob had wrestled with The Angel of The Lord, which most people now consider to be Christ Himself in the form of a Christophony.  It is thought that Jacob was now dying in peace because of this experience where he had met God at Bethel.  Jacob never forgot what happened there. He knew that he was redeemed by the Angel of The Lord at Bethel.  He had held on to the Angel until The Angel had blessed him.  Jacob had been begging for pardon of his sins, both against his brother and against God.  At Bethel he gave up his old self.  There he had repented, confessed, pleaded and wrestled and begged forgiveness from The Angel of The Lord all night long until the sun began to come up.  He had held on all through the dark night until The Angel of The Lord finally agreed to his request.  The “blessing” that The Angel of The Lord brought to him was Jacob’s pardon for his sins and guilt.  There at Bethel Jacob had been redeemed and changed.  He was a new man, forgiven and had the new name of Israel.

We all have our Bethels.  They are unforgettable.  Do you remember yours?  Has it happened yet?  There comes a time in a person’s life when they have to repent of their sins, turn from their old self and allow God to bless them with a new name. 

There at Bethel, Jacob had received the greatest blessing that one can receive; the blessing of being the first physically redeemed new man of Christ.  Only Jesus has the power to forgive sins.  He earned this right as he died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice, once and for all, for the sins of mankind. 

Try to wrap your mind around what truly happened to Jacob at Bethel with Christ.  Jesus had come back from outside of time with God the Father as The Angel of The Lord and had forgiven Jacob, making him the first after Abraham, who had believed in Messiah on faith alone, ahead of the cross and the coming of  Messiah.

 Jacob was given so much more than Abraham to hold on to; He had met Christ in person, seen him with his own eyes and wrestled with Him and had been redeemed and promised a new life with a changed name.  At Bethel, Jacob had become Israel, the first of a nation of people who would follow God The Father. 

Now Israel lay dying, ready to go meet with God again, just as soon as he passed on his blessing to his son Joseph and his descendants as well as Joseph’s other brothers.

Israel continued to talk with Joseph.     

“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 Ruben and Simeon are mine.  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. 

Israel spoke to Joseph once again of his mother, Rachel and spoke of how she died in The Land of Canaan on the way to where they were going, just a little distance from Ephrath.  (This was Bethlehem.)  Israel spoke to Joseph of how he had buried Rachel near Bethlehem.  He felt it was important for Joseph to remember this. 

Then he went on to explain to Joseph his plans for Ephraim and Mannesseh’s future.   In so many words Israel was explaining to Joseph that he was legally adopting Ephraim and Mannesseh as his own sons. This adoption would make them the legal heirs to all that Israel possessed. They would be considered first, above all the rest of Israel’s sons, as heirs to Israel’s estate and blessings. 

One cannot help but think of the old saying “what goes around comes around.”  Jacob’s sons were jealous of his love for Joseph.  They once would have inherited equally, but because they cast him away from Jacob his love for Joseph had only been multiplied.  The inheritance of Joseph and his sons was much greater than the inheritance of all of Joseph’s brothers, though he was not the oldest at all.  He was the most favored.  His sons were the most loved.  The brother’s of Joseph had brought justice on their own heads by their plots against Joseph.  Even though Joseph and Israel had forgiven them, Joseph had only gained favor, just the opposite of what they had hoped to accomplish. 

Once again we see the proof of Joseph’s dream where his brothers would bow to him.  Once again we see that people plotting with that ugly green monster called jealousy never win in the end.  Joseph never had to say a word in his own defense.  God looks after those who follow Him in righteousness through all kinds of circumstances.  In the end, it is God who arranges their outcome, not the plotters and the schemers. 

Ruben and Simeon were physically the oldest two sons, the first and second born, but they had disqualified themselves as leaders of the family long ago and Israel was placing Ephraim and Mannesseh in their place of leadership as head of the family. 

How could he do such a thing?

There is a good logical explanation, even more than all the love he held in his heart for Joseph. It had to do with the type of people Ruben and Simeon had become.   It had to do with the type of people Ephraim and Manesseh were already and would go on to be.  Israel had been with them for seventeen years and God had been speaking to him about them all along.  God had given this knowledge to Israel by Divine counsel, through the spirit of prophecy.

Manesseh had been named by Joseph.  Manesseh meant “forgetting.”  It was Joseph’s wish that with the birth of his first son, Manesseh, he would become more content in his circumstances and learn how to forget the disconnect he had to endure by living in a land away from his family and all that he loved against his will.  The “forgetting” that came with Manesseh had made Joseph a stronger person, a person who could endure and cope with all circumstances and situations.  This is a very good trait for a man to have. 

Israel perceived that Manesseh would inherit these same traits of his father.  Even though Manesseh was born in a pagan land and the odds of him being like his father in the culture he grew up in were low, Israel sensed that he was going to rise above the mediocrity of his culture and become very much a man like Joseph.  Manesseh has become for the world looking back, a perfect example of a man who rises above the teachings of his culture and society and becomes righteous and godly in spite of his surroundings. 

Then there was Ephraim who was born second to Joseph.  Ephraim was born to a much stronger, more settled, very stable Joseph.  By the time of Ephraim’s birth Joseph had become very prosperous and successful in a foreign land.  Joseph named him Ephraim because it meant “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”  Joseph had transformed beyond merely surviving to thriving because of his faith that God would see him through anything.  By the time of Ephraim’s birth Joseph had moved on up to a higher spiritual plane.  He had come to a place of experiencing the joy of communion with God in any circumstances.  Ephraim’s birth was symbolic of Joseph’s joy. 

In spite of the fact that Ephraim too was born in a culture that was pagan, he also had begun to aspire to be like his father Joseph, to possess integrity in a land where integrity was not required or expected.  Israel perceived from God that Ephraim would be very great.  Ephraim became the symbol to mankind after him of one who could rise above mediocrity, one who could obtain physical and spiritual enlightenment from God in any circumstances.  He could swim against the current and keep moving upstream with no problem.    

So Joseph brought his beloved sons to Israel.  When Israel saw them he asked, “Who are these?”

Joseph said, “They are the sons God has given me here.”

Israel and Joseph both knew who the boys were.  This was simply Israel giving Joseph the chance to state out loud and in front of God and his two sons that they were a gift from God.  Joseph acknowledged in this statement that all that they were and all that they would become were simply a blessing from God’s hand on their lives and nothing that Joseph had done on his own.  It was a way of showing honor and thankfulness to God for the gift of the two boys.   Israel wanted to honor God first before passing on the blessings he had received from God.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”

Israel’s eyes were very bad in his old age and he could hardly see the boys.  Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them, then he said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too!”  I can imagine both men’s eyes being filled with tears at this point.  It was a very sweet moment in both of their lives.

Joseph bowed down toward his father showing him the great love and respect he held for him.  Then,  Joseph took both sons, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to Israel. 

An interesting thing happened next.  Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephriam’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 first born.

This wasn’t a mistake.  Israel crossed his hands on purpose.  It was what he had discerned from God that should be done.  This has happened over and over again throughout the history of God and his people and the passing down of blessings.  Remember how it happened with Jacob and Essau?  It has happened with many more since them. 

Everything does not always go as expected by humans when God is in control.  God sometimes gives more to some than others.  This should never be questioned.  It may not seem logical to humans at the time.  Often this happens to those who expect to receive less.  We are reminded of that worn out verse that people like to ponder that says ‘the first shall be last and the last shall be first.’  God’s idea of fair isn’t always on a human level.  That is because His wisdom is so far beyond our ability of thinking that we cannot begin to understand it. 

The right hand always holds the idea of showing the most favor.  The right hand is said to be the hand of strength and skill.  We  hear much later in history of Jesus being seated at the right hand of The Father in heaven.  It is because He has the most favor from God that he sits on the right.

Joseph was displeased that his father placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, so when he saw this he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head saying, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.,” But Israel 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.” 

That was exactly how it happened years and years later.  Ephraim became the father of Joshua who led the people of Israel into the promise land!  Israel had the discernment to bless them according to how God would use them and lead them later.  God gave this discernment to Israel and there was no doubt in his mind that he was making the right blessing.

These were the words he used in the blessing:

“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, 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.”

This blessing from Israel was the first place in the scriptures where God was related to as a Shepherd who would guide the nation of Israel.  It was very appropriate for Israel, a shepherd himself, to state. 

And then Israel said something amazing: “In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing; ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh”.

It has come to pass after this blessing that all of the nation of Israel, even up until this present day, still pray for their sons to be like Ephraim and Manesseh.  Many Christian families have adopted this tradition too. They are hoping that they have sons who will rise above the commonplace people of their culture and society and conform to and worship God in all circumstances at all times.  This was what Ephraim and Manesseh did in Egypt.  This is also a perfect blessing for the sons of the earth today from any parents who wish for them to follow God’s will and ways all the days of their lives.

Then Israel blessed Joseph.

After Israel had blessed Joseph’s sons, he looked up at Joseph and said “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.  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.”

Later scriptures hints at where this ridge that Joseph inherited as an extra portion was.  John 4:5 seems to imply that with this blessing Joseph was given the land of Sychar.  Joshua 24:32 goes on to explain:  “And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.  This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants. 

A while back we studied what happened in Shechem with Reuben and Simeon.  It was a terrible tragedy and it was the reason they were disinherited.  

The word for “portion” is “Shechem.”  Shechem was the name of the city where this land that Israel spoke of had existed.  The tribe of Ephraim eventually possessed this land.  Israel was seeing this as he blessed Ephraim under the spirit of prophecy.  When Israel refers to obtaining the land with his sword and bow, he speaks of his money.  His money at that time was marked with an archer holding a sword and a bow.   This was the way the land was obtained.  He bought it from the children of Hamor the Hivite.  You would do well to review the story again, I do not have time or space to re-teach it here. 

The Jewish people state in their writings that Jacob and his sons had a very grievous war with the Amorites because of their capture of the Shechemites. 

By giving to Joseph this portion above his brothers, it seems that Joseph was given the birthright, the double portion, all that Jacob had obtained in the land of Canaan. 

This land of the double portion, was the spot where Joseph later declared that his bones should be buried when he died.