CHAPTER 48

(1689 B.C.)

THE SONS OF JOSEPH

¹And it came to pass after these things (Hebrews 11:21 throws much light on the beautiful Forty-eighth Chapter of Genesis; in fact, in Chapters 48 and 49, Jacob shines as never before; if it is to be noticed, the Holy Spirit refers to him again and again as Israel; this is the great Faith action of his life; feeble and dying, and having nothing except the staff on which he leaned and worshipped, he yet bestowed vast and unseen possessions on his grandsons Williams), that one told Joseph, Behold, your father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (these boys must have been about 18 or 20 years old at the time).

²And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, your son Joseph comes unto you: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. (Joseph wants his two grandsons to know and realize that even though they have been born in Egypt, and all they have ever known is Egypt, still, they arent Egyptians, but rather of the house of Jacob, i.e., Israelites. Such is a portrayal of Believers born in this present world, but nevertheless not of this world, but rather of the world to come. And finally, the significance of the change of name from Jacob to Israel is not to be overlooked. By faith [it is always Faith], the great Patriarch, moved upon by the Lord, will claim the Promises, and chart the course of Israel. Though the eyes of the Patriarch are, in the natural, very dim, even as we shall see, his Faith burns brightly, actually brighter than ever; hence he is called Israel.)

³And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty (Jacob refers to God as El Shaddai, using the same name which God had used of Himself, when He appeared to the Patriarch at Bethel, which was after the sad experience of Shechem [35:7-15]) appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,

⁴And said unto me, Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people; and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession. (The Palestinians should read these words very carefully.)

⁵And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto you in the land of Egypt before I came unto you into Egypt are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. (By this, Jacob indicated he was bypassing the older sons and was making sure that Joseph would get the double portion of the birthright. This would apply to Ephraim and Manasseh, hence Jacob, by the Holy Spirit, claiming them as his own.)

⁶And your issue, which you beget after them, shall be yours, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. (Even though he may have, there is no Scriptural record that Joseph had children other than Ephraim and Manasseh. But if he did, they could not be reckoned, as it regards the blessing, as it pertained to Ephraim and Manasseh. In other words, their blessing would have to be in the blessing of the two. All of this was of extreme significance, and because it pertained to the raising up of the Nation of Israel, through which the Messiah would come, and the Word of God would be given. In fact, nothing in the world was more important than this, hence the Holy Spirit instructing Jacob accordingly.)

⁷And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Beth-lehem (where Rachel died is where Jesus would be born; except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit [Jn. 12:24]).

THE BLESSING

⁸And Israel beheld Josephs sons, and said, Who are these? (That Jacob did not at first discern the presence of the sons of Joseph shows that his adoption of them into the number of the theocratic family was prompted, not by the accidental impulse of a natural affection excited through beholding these young men, but by the inward prompting of the Spirit of God.)

⁹And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray you, unto me, and I will bless them. (The blessing consisted of Josephs double portion, with a portion being given to each of these sons, which, as stated, contained a significance all out of proportion to natural thinking.)

¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. (Even though the Patriarch was blind, or nearly so, the Holy Spirit refers to him as Israel, because he could see by Faith.)

¹¹And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see your face: and, lo, God has shown me also your seed. (Satan had told the Patriarch that he would never see Joseph again. But now the Holy Spirit says, You have not only seen Joseph, but his sons, as well. True Faith in God is never disappointed.)

¹²And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth (proclaims the fact that Joseph understood the tremendous import of what was here being said and done).

¹³And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israels left hand (because Ephraim was the younger), and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israels right hand (because he was the older), and brought them near unto him.

¹⁴And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraims head, who was the younger (signifying by his right hand that the greater part of the blessing would go to Ephraim, even though he was the younger), and his left hand upon Manassehs head, guiding his hands wittingly (guided by the Holy Spirit); for Manasseh was the firstborn (but for the Spirit of God would have received the greater portion).

¹⁵And he blessed Joseph (the double portion would go to Josephs sons; just before Jacob blesses these young men, the aged Patriarch takes his staff and, leaning upon it so as not to fall, bows in grateful worship before God; Paul mentioned this [Heb. 11:21]), and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day (he specifies that the blessing about to be pronounced was from God and God Alone),

¹⁶The Angel which redeemed me from all evil (the Lord is referred to here as an Angel, but is not to be confused with that particular creation), bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the Earth. (The name spoke of Promise, while the multitude spoke of Blessing. The Promise had to do with the coming Redeemer, Who definitely did come. The blessing concerns the multitude, and has only partially been fulfilled, but definitely will be fulfilled in the coming Millennium, when Israel will be the leading nation on Earth.)

¹⁷And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him (because Ephraim was the younger, and thereby normally should not receive the greater portion): and he held up his fathers hand, to remove it from Ephraims head unto Manassehs head.

¹⁸And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn (Manasseh is the first born); put your right hand upon his head.

¹⁹And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. (The northern kingdom of Israel, about 800 years into the future, would also be called Ephraim; however, the greater fulfillment concerning a multitude of nations awaits the coming Kingdom Age.)

²⁰And he blessed them that day, saying, In you shall Israel bless, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers (which would happen about 240 years into the future).

²²Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. (We arent told exactly what Jacob meant by his statement. This could very well have been a conflict with the Amorites, of which we are given no information; however, it could speak of the coming day when Israel will vanquish all who contest their right to the Promised Land, which will take place at the Second Coming.)