Genesis 48: Jacob blesses Joseph's sons:
Last week, we closed with these thoughts:
(Gen 47:23) Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. {24} "And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones." {25} So they said, "You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." {26} And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's.
Now back to the Children of Israel
{27} So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.
{28} And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
Israel makes preparation for his burial
(Gen 47:29) When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, (30) "but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place." And he said, "I will do as you have said." {31} Then he said, "Swear to me." And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.
“So Israel bowed himself” – In worship, or exhausted?
So we ended Genesis 47 last time.
Jacob is sick, so he gives his last blessings:
(Gen 48 NKJV) Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, "Indeed your father is sick"; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. (Gen 48 :2) And Jacob was told, "Look, your son Joseph is coming to you"; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. {3} Then 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 multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.'
The blessing God had given at Bethel:
(Gen 35:6-12 NKJV) So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. {7} And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, [BDB Definition:
El Bethel = “The God of the House of God”] because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother. {8} . .{9} Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. {10} And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. {11} Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. {12}"The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land."
(Gen 48:5) "And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Jacob is still Jacob! As far as he is concerned, Joseph is his first born because he was the first born of the wife he really wanted and loved. In order to give him the inheritance of a first born, this is what he does. By making Ephraim and Manasseh “his sons,” he doubles the inheritance that Joseph would otherwise have received. It worked! The land is divided twelve ways. The sons of Levi are scattered throughout the tribes because they must serve as the priests for all tribes.
(Gen 48:6) "Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; [to my knowledge, he had no more childrent] they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. {7} "But as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)."
Jacob is just reflecting on the loss of his beloved wife. Joseph reminds him of her. Joseph and Benjamin are what he has left from Rachel—his true love.
(Gen 48:8) Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, "Who are these?" {9} And Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place." And he said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them."
It is interesting. He had claimed these as his sons before he had even identified them.
(Gen 48:10) Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. {11} And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!" {12} So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. {13} And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. {14} Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. {15} And he blessed Joseph, and said: "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
{16} The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." {17} Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. {18} And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for 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; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."
Jacob would not be changed by Joseph.
{14} Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Jacob was not the first born—that was Esau
Cain was not the firstborn—that was Abel
Isaac was not the firstborn—that was Ishmael
Joseph was not the firstborn—that was Reuben
(Gen 48:20) So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!' " And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh. {21} Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Had Abraham told him what he had been told?
(Gen 15:12-16 NKJV) Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. {13} Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. {14} "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. {15} "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. {16} "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
(Gen 48:22) "Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow."
We understand his giving a portion above his brothers by claiming his two sons as his. What isn’t at all clear is the statement about his sword and bow. We have no written record of this.
Some believe that the parcel of ground being spoken of is the land he bought from the children of Hamor.
(Gen 33:18-19 NKJV) Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. {19} And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.
So in Chapter 48, we have Jacob dealing with Joseph and his two sons. In Genesis 49, he will tell the future of his sons, one by one.
My Sunday Evening Lessons Bible Study with Harley