Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen 48)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Genesis 48.

We’re starting to wrap up our time in Genesis, so let me give you a brief rundown of the next few weeks:

Today, we’re witnessing Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen 48)—in it, we see God’s willingness to do the unexpected.

Next week, we’ll see Jacob blessing his sons (Gen 49)—in it, we see prophetic statements concerning the future of the nation of Israel (in particular, we’ll highlight the Messianic promise in it).

The following week, we’ll wrap up Joseph’s life by tying all the threads together and seeing the Christological foreshadowing that Jacob’s life provides (Gen 50)

So, we’re nearing the finish line and I hope that the book of Genesis has been as much a blessing for you as it has been for me and previous generations who have loved the first book of the Bible.

As stated, today’s section focuses on Jacob blessing his grandchildren and we see in it a picture of how God works—that God doesn’t do things according to human tradition, but rather however He sees fit. which is His prerogative, and we can rest in knowing that God always works according to His own will and for His own glory and really, for our good.

Keep this in mind as we read Genesis 48 together.

Genesis 48 ESV

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. 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. 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.”

As we study this passage together, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) Jacob’s Illness (1-7) and (2) The Blessing (8-22). What we’re witnessing is the final bit of Jacob (aka) Israel’s life. With that said, there are a few remaining things that he wants to do as he prepares to die—one of which is to present a customary blessing to his children and grandchildren—in this case, he starts with his grandchildren—and, in this case, you’ll notice that he starts with the youngest and not the oldest.

My goal for us today is (1) to see how the covenant is retold generation after generation and (2) to see how God providentially chooses the least of these as His own covenantal people, which should cause us to simply receive the blessing of His covenant with thanksgiving and to compel us to rest in His wisdom.

Prayer for Illumination

Jacob’s Illness (1-7)

The Setting and Reason for the Event (1-2)

Our text starts by laying out the situation

Joseph was informed that his father was sick—so he, along with his sons Manasseh and Ephraim go to see Jacob (aka Israel).

We’re not informed what the illness is, though, you do have to consider that Jacob is much older by this point—Joseph was one of Jacob’s younger children—so, he was already older by the time Joseph was born and now Joseph has his own children that seem

When Jacob is alerted that Joseph had come to see him, he sits up to see them and then explains something vital to their family—he retells the covenant to Joseph in vv. 3-7.

The Retelling of the Covenant (3-7)

Jacob lays out how the covenant was given to him as a descendant of God’s chosen people—remember, Jacob heard from God when God appeared to him in Luz.

And God extended the covenant to Jacob like He did for Jacob’s father, Isaac, and Isaac’s father, Abraham.

Jacob reiterates the blessings of the covenant—that God had promised to “make [him] fruitful and multiply [him]” to make him a company of people with the promised land given to his offspring.

What he does next, seems odd to us, but makes sense in their culture—he claims Joseph’s sons as his own and gives them the covenant.

In a culture where things like inheritance are passed down from father to children, what Jacob is doing is he’s giving Joseph a double portion of the inheritance.

Instead of just Joseph having a portion of the inheritance, now both Ephraim and Manasseh will have full portions of the inheritance.

Of course, a double portion was typically meant for the first born child, but remember that due to sin, Jacob’s firstborn (Reuben) had forfeited his inheritance.

There’s also an element in this situation where God through Jacob is pulling Jacob’s grandchildren into the covenant despite the fact that Ephraim and Manasseh are half Egyptian.

Which, shows us that from the beginning of the covenant, the covenant wasn’t just for Jewish people—it was for anyone who genuinely believed.

There’s a typological and redemptive significance here—that God saves all who are within the covenant.

That gives us the twelve tribes of Israel, by the way before Jacob continues and says that the children that Joseph will have later will be brothers of the heirs of the inheritance.

Transition: now Jacob makes a brief statement about the loss of his wife in which he ties in the fact that she was buried in Bethlehem—yet another foreshadowing of the future Messiah. And then he notices who Joseph has with him in vv. 8-22, which for sake of time, we won’t re-read, but let me point out a few details:

The Blessing (8-22)

The Blessed Blessing (8-16)

Jacob notices Ephraim and Manasseh—of course, you might wonder why it took him that long to notice them, but the text answers that question for us.

v. 10, “now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see.” — so it wasn’t that Jacob was ignoring them or anything of the sort, he literally just couldn’t see them.

And once he’s told by Joseph who these people were, there’s a rather emotional exchange—Israel says, “I never expected to see your face and behold, God has let me see your [children] also.”

He then places his hands on the heads of Ephraim and Manasseh and he pronounces a blessing on them.

However, there’s something unique happening as Jacob does this—his dominate hand is placed on Ephraim, who was younger and his other hand was placed on Manasseh.

And Joseph notices this and is upset about this, but we’ll come back to the reasoning in a minute or two.

The blessing that Jacob pronounces is simple:

vv. 15-16, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long 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.”

It’s actually a rather sweet and caring blessing given by a grandfather to his grandchildren—that God would bless them and they would be fruitful and multiply and grow into a multitude of people.

It’s simple, but it reflects the same covenant that God gave Israel, that God gave Isaac, and that God gave Abraham.

The Unexpected but also Expected (17-22)

Now, let’s talk about Joseph’s displeasure in this situation.

Joseph, sees that Jacob had laid his dominate hand on the head of Ephraim and it displeases him enough to move his father’s hand to Manasseh’s head as Manasseh is the firstborn.

And yet, Jacob’s response is prophetic—meaning, he’s foretelling a bit of the future when he says, “I know, my son . . . [Manasseh] also shall be great [,but Ephraim] shall be greater . . . and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

So, Jacob continues the blessing by saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.” before telling Joseph that he has given Joseph a mountain slope that he took from the Amorites—it’s for Joseph and not Joseph’s brothers.”

Part of that statement about the mountain slope is prophetic—he says so, “God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.” — Jacob prophesies that Joseph will be brought back to the Land of Canaan.

That’s all that Jacob says in this text—however, he isn’t finished with pronouncing blessings—in fact, the whole next chapter will focus on Jacob’s final words to the rest of Joseph’s brothers, but we’ll get to that next week.

Transition: Now, of course, reading blessings like this can sometimes get lost on us—because we read them and think, well that’s fine for the folks that are being blessed, but what exactly does this mean for me? The blessing given from Jacob to his grandchildren is wonderful, but it seems like it doesn’t matter to us—until you remember some of the typological and redemptive meanings of the text. And that’s where our application finds its foundation.

Let’s talk about how we ought to apply this passage:

Application

God’s Blessing isn’t based on Human Logic or Expectation

We assume that God thinks and acts just like us.

Ps 50:21, we make the mistake of thinking that God is just like us.

We assume that how we think, God thinks; how we act is how God acts

The number one example would be when it comes to issues of salvation.

When it comes to the doctrine of election—that God chooses His people, which by the way is misunderstood in so many different ways—one of the first pushbacks that I hear about the doctrine of election is, “God can’t do that because I wouldn’t do that.”

You’re assuming that God acts just like you—perhaps He acts differently than you would because He’s God.

Or think of how many people have difficulty reconciling with the problem of evil—that evil things do happen and God in His sovereignty and providence allow it to happen.

When it comes to the problem of evil—one of the first pushbacks is the idea that “a truly loving God wouldn’t allow for evil things to happen.”

You’re assuming that God thinks just like you—perhaps He thinks differently than you because He’s God.

1 Cor 1:25, the wisest and strongest amongst us are foolish and weak compared to God.

This passage is a prime example of what I mean by saying God’s blessing isn’t based on human logic or expectation—you only have to read the rest of the passage:

1 Cor 1:20-25, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (ESV)

Now consider Jacob offering blessings:

First, he starts with his grandchildren rather than his children—significant due to the typical customs of the time.

Second, he blesses the youngest, Ephraim—over the oldest, Manasseh—despite Joseph’s pushback to the idea.

This flipping of societal norms has been part of the expansion of the covenant since the very beginning:

When Abram is chosen out of a pagan nation—simply because God chose him

When Issac is chosen over his older brother—because God chose him

When Jacob is chosen over Esau—because God him

Despite human logic and expectation—God’s blessing isn’t based on us, our thoughts, our traditions, or our ideas, but rather on Him.

Now consider your own life:

First, your salvation, which is a blessing from God, is a gift from God through the Holy Spirit—the Bible is very clear that you only love Him because He first loved you.

Second, your progressive sanctification—the process through which you are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, is a blessing from God—the Bible is very clear that the Holy Spirit changes you.

Third, James 1 speaks about how all good things are gifts from the Father above—just consider how many other good things you can think of:

Your life, your home, your family, your job, etc.

Now consider the truth that prior to salvation, you’re absolutely depraved in sin and even after salvation, you keep stumbling back into sin.

No part of you deserved to be saved, no part of you deserves to be sanctified, none of the good things given to you by God were owed to you.

And, in fact, humanly speaking, if you were in the position to bestow blessings like these on someone as depraved as you were and sinful as you are, you probably wouldn’t do it—your human logic and expectations would tell you that that individual doesn’t deserve you blessings.

And yet, God’s blessing isn’t based on us, our thoughts, our traditions, or our ideas, they’re based on Him.

As such, we ought to receive His blessings with thanksgiving and Rest in His Wisdom

Because the blessings bestowed on us by God are contingent on Him and not on us, we ought to give thanks.

Sing praise and worship Him—regularly and actively, corporately and privately

Give thanks for all things—as all good things come from Him

Live life in the posture of gratitude for who God is.

Because His blessings on us are contingent on Him, we ought to be humble and rest in Him and His wisdom.

Know how much God has done for you—how much you couldn’t do for yourself.

Understand that because His blessings are based on Him and not you—you can’t mess it up.

So, find your rest, hope, and comfort in Him and Him alone.

Friends, if God’s blessing isn’t earned by logic or lineage, then it must be received in humility and lived out in gratitude.

So, receive God’s blessings with thanksgiving and rest in the wisdom of God who blesses whomever He wills.

Pastoral Prayer