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Introduction

5 Minutes 30 seconds

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A man named Jacob had 12 sons, and his favorite was Joseph.

Joseph had two visions as a child in which his brothers and his father were seen bowing down to him.

To make a very long and complex story slightly shorter - Joseph’s older brothers were jealous of their brother and angry at his offensive visions, so they abducted him and sold him to some Midianite traders passing through on their way down to Egypt.

When they returned home they lied to their father and told him that Joseph - his favorite son - had been killed by a wild animal out in the fields, and Jacob was absolutely devastated by the news.

Meanwhile, Joseph was being sold to Potiphar - a captain of the Egyptian guard - where he enjoyed quite a bit of success.

God allowed him to prosper under Potiphar, earning a great deal of respect from the Egyptian because of Joseph’s acumen as manager of Potiphar’s estate.

However, Joseph was eventually thrown into prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

But after a miraculous and divinely ordained turn of events Joseph is installed as the viceroy over all Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh himself in authority.

Joseph’s brothers, coming to Egypt for provisions during a famine in their homeland, discover their brother - whom they thought to be dead - standing in the full garb of the Egyptian royal household.

And to their amazement, rather than snapping his fingers and ordering their execution, he speaks these utterly unexpected words:

“And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

(ESV)

“And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

Joseph then commands his brothers to go and fetch their father and the rest of their family and bring them to live in Egypt with him so that they might survive the famine that threatens them at home.

Last week, Brian recounted to us the story of the reunion between Jacob and Joseph, the favorite son whom he believed to have been dead for years and years.

This morning, we pick up the text in Genesis chapter 48

It stood out to me that Jacob crossed his hands so I want to focus on that.

In this passage we will see four major events transpire:

First, Joseph’s two oldest sons will be adopted by Jacob as sons - not as mere grandchildren

Second, we will see Jacob bestow Joseph’s blessings to him by way of the two boys.

Third, we will see Joseph’s older son humbled below the younger

And fourth, we will see the younger son elevated to the legal position of firstborn son

Before we begin, though, let’s pray...

The Blessing from Jacob

Genesis 48:1-

12 Minutes 30 seconds

Introduction

Joseph’s sons adopted

Jacob adopt’s Joseph’s sons as his own

v. 1-7

We know from the previous chapter and from verse 1 of our passage today that Jacob is nearing death.

As such, Jacob is beginning to get his affairs in order.

As such, Jacob is beginning to get his affairs in order.

In chapter 47, Jacob calls his son Joseph in to swear an oath.

He doesn’t want to be buried in Egypt - He wants Joseph to carry him out of Egypt and bury him where his fathers Abraham and Isaac are buried.

Once Jacob’s burial arrangements are made, the next order of business is bestowing the patriarchal blessing.

In verses 1-4 Jacob calls the proceedings to order by recounting God’s covenant to Joseph.

Read verses 1-4

Next, Jacob does something remarkable: He adopts Joseph’s sons as sons of his own.

Read verses 5-6

By adopting the two oldest sons of Joseph, he de facto passes Joseph’s inheritance to the boys.

This is how Israel ultimately ends up with no “tribe of Joseph”.

Instead, we have today the half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh as a direct result of this act of adoption by Jacob.

Jacob even names his own first- and second-born sons Reuben and Simeon and says, “Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.” .

Additionally, in verse 12 we read that “Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.” .

This was most likely a symbolic gesture.

By positioning the boys at or between the knees of their grandfather - and newly adoptive father - the implication is made that Ephraim and Manasseh were to be forevermore regarded as having come from the very loins of the Jacob, the patriarch of Israel - just as much as even Reuben or Simeon.

First, we have the official, legal adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh.

Next, we find the patriarchal blessing.

Joseph’s sons blessed

v. 8-16

Read verses 8-16

Jacob begins by looking at Joseph’s two boys and asking, “Who are these?”

The beginning of Jacob’s blessing hearkens back to the day he himself was blessed by his father Isaac.

We’re told here in verse 10 that Jacob’s eyes had grown dim in his old age.

His father Isaac’s eyesight had dimmed as well, as we read back in chapter 27.

Here, Jacob asks, “Who are these?”

when Joseph presents his two sons.

His own father, Isaac, had asked a similar question back in chapter 27.

“So he (Jacob) went in to his father and said, ‘My father.’

And he said, ‘Here I am.

Who are you, my son?’

There is a major difference here, though, as Jacob receives an honest answer to his question.

When his father Isaac had asked, “Who are you, my son?” Jacob had deceitfully answered, “I am Esau your firstborn.” .

In verse 24 Isaac had even asked a second time just to be sure: “‘Are you really my son Esau?’

He answered, ‘I am.’”

Now - here in - we find Jacob, the deceiver and the usurper, approaching the end of his life and acting almost as if he is somehow trying to make amends for the sins of his youth.

He finds himself in the same vulnerable position as his own father - nearly blind and at the mercy of the integrity of his son.

Joseph, once again, proves to be a man of greater character than his father when he answers Jacob honestly.

Joseph presents his sons to his father Jacob but, before he bestows the blessing upon them he looks up to Joseph with his failing eyes and, in a very touching moment, gives thanks to God in verse 11.

“And Israel said to Joseph, ‘I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.’”

In verses 15 and 16 we find the blessing bestowed on Joseph by way of Ephraim and Manasseh

Read verses 15 and 16

Despite a life stained with deceit and sinfulness, Jacob now acknowledges at the end of his life that the same God who carried his fathers Abraham and Isaac has carried him as well.

He acknowledges that God has led him and fed him as a Shepherd everyday of his life

He also acknowledges that God has redeemed him from all evil the way a kinsman redeemer was to rescue a relative who might be in some trouble, danger, or need.

He appeals to this God and pleads with him to bless not Joseph, who has clearly been blessed beyond measure and made incredibly great among the nations, but the boys - Ephraim and Manasseh.

Jacob asks God to carry on his name and the names of his fathers Abraham and Isaac through the boys.

He asks that God would let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

Jacob adds on to this blessing down in verse 20 as well:

“So he blessed them that day saying, ‘By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, “God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh.”’”

The firstborn humbled - The second-born exalted

Read verses 8-

v.13-14, 17-20

But as we look deeper into this passage we notice that something is not quite normal - not quite what we would expect.

When Brian asked me to preach this passage and I first began to read it and think about it I kept getting hung up on the same thing: When Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh he crosses his hands.

What typically would happen in a setting like this would be this:

The sons would approach the father - the firstborn on his right and the second-born on his left.

The right hand side is considered the position of preeminence.

Most of us already know that from one thing or another.

We typically hear in history or in government that a second-in-command will typically be seated at the right hand of the king or queen when court is in session.

The father would then place his right hand - the hand of preeminence - on the head of his first born son and his left hand on the head of his second-born.

Joseph knew this and expected the blessing to proceed as such.

We see this expectation in verses 13-14

If we look down at verses 17-19 we see this even more clearly: