Genesis 48 - Israel Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh - The Mysteries of God's Word

Israel (Jacob) blesses his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh in Genesis 48, deliberately crossing his hands to give the greater blessing to the younger son. This powerful chapter illustrates God's sovereign choice and how divine plans often work contrary to human expectations and cultural traditions.

• Joseph brings his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to visit his ailing father Israel
• Israel formally adopts Joseph's sons, giving them equal status with his own
• Israel intentionally crosses his hands during the blessing
• Israel places his right hand on Ephraim (younger) rather than Manasseh (firstborn)
• Israel prophesies that while both will be great, Ephraim will surpass Manasseh
• Israel describes God as the God of his fathers, his Shepherd, and his Redeemer
• Israel gives Joseph an additional inheritance of land.

• It is also discussed how Ephriam will not be the tribe that brings about the Messiah but Judah will. 

Join us next week for Genesis 49, where Israel will bless all of his sons.

Chapters

• 0:00 Jacob's Illness and Joseph's Visit
• 4:09 Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh
• 6:40 Israel's Eyesight Dims, Hearts Connect
• 10:14 The Crossed Hands Blessing
• 13:42 Joseph's Land Inheritance
• 17:58 Next Week Preview and Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

Grace and peace to you from God, our Father and our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ. Today we are in Genesis, chapter 48, where Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh, beginning at verse 1. After this, joseph was told Behold, your father is ill. So he took with him his two sons, manasseh and Ephraim, and it was told to Jacob your son, joseph, has come to you. Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed and Jacob said to Joseph God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me and said to me Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you and I will make of you a company of peoples and I will give you this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession here.

Speaker 1: 1:29

In these first four verses of chapter 48, verse 1 tells us that this visit from Joseph and his sons, manasseh and Ephraim, takes place sometime later, which means it's taking place sometime later, after Jacob had called Joseph previously and asked him to take an oath that Joseph would make sure Jacob was buried with his fathers, abraham and in the land of Canaan. Considering how in our last chapter chapter 47, it ended and now it begins this way, it's likely these events are within months, perhaps even weeks, of each other and Joseph is told behold, your father is ill Again. The context of all of this suggests that this visit from Joseph and his two sons to his father, israel, is simply because they know he's ill. They don't have any idea of the important developments that are about to take place and the blessings that Israel is about to give. And when Israel heard that Joseph had come to see him, he summoned his strength. I don't know if you've ever been exhausted or just completely wiped out because you were sick, but when that happens, you know that once in a while you can summon a little bit more strength. And here Israel summons his strength just to sit up in bed and he talks with Joseph and his two sons. Then Jacob tells Joseph how God Almighty, or El Shaddai, the all-sufficient God, appeared to him at Lutz, which is also known as Bethel. Jacob then describes how God Almighty reaffirmed the Abrahamic covenant to him and that God promised that through him he would make a great congregation of people, that God would give a promised land to his offspring and that the promise would be an everlasting promise, meaning this is going to last for all of eternity, picking up in verse 5,. And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, Picking up in verse 5, after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 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 Ephrata, and I buried her there, on the way to Ephrata, that is, bethlehem.

Speaker 1: 4:40

In verses 5, 6, and 7, jacob formally adopts Joseph's two firstborn sons as his own, giving them the exact same status of an heir as Reuben and Simeon, his firstborn sons. In doing this, what Jacob or Israel is doing is giving Rachel's two sons, joseph and Benjamin, the inheritance of three tribes. Instead of Joseph receiving a direct inheritance, his two sons, ephraim and Manasseh, will each be viewed as a separate tribe. They'll each be viewed as a child of Israel, and therefore Joseph, the chosen and blessed son of Israel, receives here a double inheritance. As Jacob or Israel is affirming the Abrahamic covenant and adopting Joseph's two sons, giving them the very rights of the firstborn sons, it shows how Israel considered Joseph to be the chosen offspring, the one to carry on the promise of the coming Messiah. The promise of the coming Messiah, and while the life of Joseph clearly shows his fear of the Lord and his faith in the redemptive plan of God, it will actually be through the line of Judah that the Messiah comes.

Speaker 1: 6:12

After formally adopting Joseph's two sons, israel goes on to recall the great sorrow that he had when Joseph's mother died on the way to Bethlehem, verse 8. When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said who are these? And 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 Now. The eyes of Israel were dim with age so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him and he kissed them and embraced them, kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph I never expected to see your face. And behold, god has let me see your offspring also. Then Joseph removed them from his knees and bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel's left hand and Manasseh in his left hand towards Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. 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.

Speaker 1: 7:42

In verses 8 through 14, after Israel tells Joseph that he is officially adopting his two firstborn sons, joseph then brings his sons closer to Israel and now Israel can see the forms of these two boys. We learn that Israel has a loss of vision, but apparently he can make out their forms and he says who are these? And Joseph tells his father that they are in fact Ephraim and Manasseh. And Israel then asks Joseph to bring them closer so that he can bless them. And at the request of Israel, joseph does. He brings both Ephraim and Manasseh close to Israel and he places the boys on their grandfather's knees. Israel kisses them and begins to embrace them. Israel then expresses how he never thought he would ever see Joseph again, but now he's able to even see his children After this time of intimacy with one another. Joseph takes the boys off of grandpa's knees and the great governor, joseph, bows himself before his father, israel.

Speaker 1: 9:00

What a beautiful picture here of the humility of Joseph with his now ailing father, joseph, the governor of Egypt, who was prophetically given dreams by God that his brothers, his father and his mother would one day bow down to him, now acknowledges the faith and the headship of his father bowing down before Israel. Joseph then brings his young boys once again near their grandfather and he places Manasseh the eldest at Israel's right hand and Ephraim at Israel's left hand. And then Israel intentionally crosses his arms and places his right hand on Ephraim the youngest and his left hand on Manasseh Verse 15, left hand on Manasseh Verse 15,. And then he blessed Joseph and said the God before whom my fathers, abraham and Isaac, walk, the God who has been my shepherd all of my life to this day, 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. Here, in verses 15 and 16, we see a blessing that Israel begins to give the two children. It says that Israel called upon the name of the God of his fathers, abraham and Isaac, the God who had been like a shepherd to him, and the angel who had redeemed him from all evil. And then he asks that God, his God, to bless the two boys of Joseph. From these two passages we see that Israel has had a change of attitude from his past gloom in life Now, having seen the work of God through the life and faith of his son, joseph, and having spent 17 years now with Joseph in Egypt. Israel blesses the boys and asks the Lord to continue this line of faith through these two young boys. The very fact that Israel uses this threefold approach to declare who the Lord is, beginning with the God of his fathers, abraham and Isaac, immediately ties this to the Abrahamic covenant, as all three, abraham Isaac and Jacob were men of faith that walked with God, and they were men anointed by God and chosen by God rather than by birthright. Furthermore, israel's description of God being his shepherd and his redeemer is a foreshadow and a description of the coming Savior, jesus Christ. The blessing that Jacob gives to Joseph here is a blessing calling upon faith in the Messiah through Joseph's two sons.

Speaker 1: 12:24

Verse 17,. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the hand of Ephraim, it displeased him and he took his father's hand to move hand of Ephraim. It displeased him and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim to the head of Manasseh. And Joseph said to his father Not this way, my father, since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head. 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. So he blessed them that day, saying by you, israel will pronounce blessings, saying God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh. Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh here, in verses 17 through 20,.

Speaker 1: 13:29

Joseph realized his father was blessing the sons in the opposite of their birth order. The Hebrew phrase literally means it was evil in his eyes. Joseph was upset and he began to move Israel's hand, telling him that he had his hands on the wrong children, telling him that he had his hands on the wrong children. But Israel refused to bless according to the birth order. And he told Joseph I know my son, I know, and he told Joseph that both brothers shall be great, but the younger one shall be greater than the older. And Israel pronounced Ephraim before Manasseh, giving the younger Ephraim the greater blessing.

Speaker 1: 14:17

Ephraim would in fact be blessed with great men of faith, one of them being Joshua, who would lead Israel into conquering the promised land, the promised land, another being the prophet Samuel. Ephraim would also become physically strong. They would be the strongest of the ten tribes who would one day break away from Judah and Benjamin. However, ephraim would not be the tribe through whom the Messiah would come. Judah would Additionally, in spite of this blessing given by Israel and Israel's hope for faith to continue through Joseph's line, the tribe of Ephraim would eventually lose their favor of God because they were given over to idolatry, while the tribe of Judah would secure it.

Speaker 1: 15:17

Hosea 4.17 reads Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone. And Psalm 78, 67-72 reads that God rejected the tent of Joseph. He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but he chose the tribe of Joseph. He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but he chose the tribe of Judah, mount Zion, which he loves. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth which he has founded forever. He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds From following the nursing ewes. He brought him to shepherd Jacob, his people, israel, his inheritance. With an upright heart. He shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand, picking up in verse 21, slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.

Speaker 1: 16:40

In our last two verses of chapter 48, israel recognizes that his time here on earth is very short and he's not going to see the day where the Lord brings him personally out of Egypt, him personally out of Egypt. But Israel believes and he understands the promise that God had given him 17 years ago on his way down to Egypt, where the Lord said I myself will go down with you to Egypt and I will also bring you up again and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes. Israel now knows that it's in Egypt that Joseph is going to close his eyes and the Lord is going to be now with Joseph and one day the Lord will bring Israel out of Egypt back into the promised land, egypt back into the promised land. And believing in this promise and with this hope of coming back to the promised land, israel tells Joseph that he's also given him this mountain slope, this plot of land that he took from the Amorites. And this was when he was sojourning, when he had to live by his sword and his bow.

Speaker 1: 18:00

We do know that Jacob had purchased this land for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor Shechem's father. This is the location of Jacob's well and this location is known today. It is kept by very strong tradition through Jews, samaritans, muslims and Christians alike. Israel is giving Joseph this plot of land and it will be an inheritance to all of the descendants of Joseph, joshua 24.32. Thank you so much for joining me this week and diving further in to the life of Israel and his son, joseph. Join me next week for chapter 49, where Israel will bless all of his sons. God bless you this week.