Sermon Tone Analysis

Thursday April 12, 2007

Genesis: Genesis 48:21-22-Israel Reassures Joseph and Gives a Portion of Shechem to His Descendants

Lesson # 312

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 48:1.

This evening we will complete our study of Genesis 48.

Therefore, by way of review of what we have covered thus far in Genesis 48, we have noted the following:

In Genesis 48:1-4, Joseph visits his father after being informed that he has become sick and his father in turn recalls the promises that God gave him before entering into the ceremony of adopting Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Then in Genesis 48:5-12, Jacob adopts Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

This was followed by Jacob blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, which is recorded in Genesis 48:13-20.

This evening we will study Genesis 48:21-22 and will read Israel reassuring Joseph of God’s presence and promise of the land of Canaan to the Israelites as well as giving Joseph’s descendants the tract of land he purchased outside of the city of Shechem.

Genesis 48:1, “Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, ‘Behold, your father is sick.’

So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.”

Genesis 48:2, “When it was told to Jacob, ‘Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,’ Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.”

Genesis 48:3-4, “Then Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’”

Genesis 48:5, “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.”

Genesis 48:6, “But your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.”

Genesis 48:7, “Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

Genesis 48:8, “When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, ‘Who are these?’”

Genesis 48:9, “Joseph said to his father, ‘They are my sons, whom God has given me here.’

So he said, ‘Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.’”

Genesis 48:10, “Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see.

Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.”

Genesis 48:11, “Israel said to Joseph, ‘I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.’”

Genesis 48:12, “Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the ground.”

Genesis 48:13, “Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right, and brought them close to him.”

Genesis 48:14, “But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.”

Genesis 48:15-16, “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 to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads and may my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.’”

Genesis 48:17, “When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.”

Genesis 48:18, “Joseph said to his father, ‘Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn.

Place your right hand on his head.’”

Genesis 48:19, “But his father refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great.

However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.’”

Genesis 48:20, “He blessed them that day, saying, ‘By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.”

Genesis 48:21, “Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.’”

Israel’s statement “Behold, I am about to die” is a reference to his imminent physical death.

Death is the sovereign decision of God based upon the integrity of God and omniscient knowledge of all the facts.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, “There is an appointed time for everything, a time for everything under heaven.

There is a time to be born and there is a time to die.”

Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.”

Ecclesiastes 7:1b, “The day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.”

The death of a member of the human race is not ruled by chance or fate but according to the providence of God.

The doctrine of providence expresses the fact that the world and our lives are not ruled by chance or fate but by God Who reveals the purpose of providence through the work of Christ on the Cross.

“Physical” death is the separation of the human soul (and in the case of the believer, the human spirit also) from the body (Matt.

8:22; Rom.

8:38-39; 2 Cor.

5:1-8; Phil.

1:20-21; 2:27, 30).

At physical death, the unbeliever’s soul is separated from his physical body and goes to Torments, a compartment of Hades, which is called in the Old Testament “Sheol” (Luke 16:19-31).

The unbeliever’s physical body goes to the grave but is raised up at the Great White Throne Judgment (Dan.

12:2; Rev. 20:11-15) and their ultimate destiny is the Lake of Fire (Matt.

25:41; Rev. 20:12-15).

During the church age, the believer’s physical body goes to the grave at physical death and his soul and human spirit go to be face to face with the Lord who is in the third heaven (2 Cor.

5:8).

However, prior to the resurrection, ascension and session of the Lord Jesus Christ, Old Testament saints when they died did not go to the third heaven but rather to Paradise, which was a compartment of “Sheol,” which in the New Testament is called “Hades.”

These Old Testament saints such as Jacob ascended with Jesus Christ into heaven as part of our Lord’s triumphal procession as victor in the angelic conflict and were part of the booty from our Lord’s victory that was accomplished through His death and resurrection (See Ephesians 4:8).

The believer will receive a resurrection body at the resurrection of the church, which is called by theologians, the “rapture” of the church (See 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) whereas Old Testament saints like Jacob will receive their resurrection bodies at the Second Advent of Christ (See Ezekiel 37).

Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross has freed us from the fear of death (See Hebrews 2:14-15).

Notice in Genesis 48:21 that Jacob/Israel expresses no fear in dying.

Physical death cannot separate the believer from the love of God (Rom.

8:38-39).

Death was designed by God to be your greatest testimony for the Lord in the pre-historic angelic conflict.

The Lord promises to wipe away every tear from our lives caused by the death of loved ones.

Revelation 21:5, “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Life hangs by a very fine thread that can be snapped at any moment and should motivate the believer to use the remainder of his time on earth to execute God’s plan for his life to become like Christ.

Romans 14:8, “For if we live, we live because of the Lord and if we die, we die because of the Lord therefore whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord.”

Israel has already made arrangements with Joseph to be buried in Canaan and not in Egypt according to Genesis 47:27-31 and was buried in the cave of Machpelah where the bodies of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah were buried according to Genesis 50:1-13.

Genesis 48:21, “Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.’”

Israel reassures Joseph that even though he is about to die, God would be with him and his entire family.

“You” is in the plural meaning “all of you” referring of course to Israel’s entire family, his sons, their wives, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The noun Elohim, “God” is used rather than the covenant name of God, which is Yahweh, “Lord” since Israel is emphasizing the omnipotence of God, which will protect the entire family of Jacob when he has died.

Israel reassures Joseph that “God will be with (all of) you” echoes God’s recent promise to him “I will go down with you to Egypt,” which is recorded in Genesis 46:4.

It also echoes the Lord’s promise to him “I am with you” which was given to him when he left Canaan and is recorded in Genesis 28:15 and also it echoes the promise made to his father Isaac “I will be with you” in Genesis 26:3.

This promise is a guarantee to Joseph of the Lord’s presence in the lives of the entire family and that the family would be protected in Egypt.

Therefore, we can see that by giving Joseph this reassurance of the Lord’s presence in the life of the family, Israel is expressing his faith in the Lord’s promise to him just prior to leaving for Egypt.

The promise “God will…bring you back to the land of your fathers” is a reference to the “Palestinian” covenant, which was a confirmation and enlargement of the original “Abrahamic” covenant and amplified the land features of the “Abrahamic” covenant (Gen.

13:14-15; 15:18).

Therefore, the “Palestinian” covenant was originally established with Abraham as recorded in Genesis 12:7 and reconfirmed to him in Genesis 15:7, 18-21 and 17:8 and was also confirmed to Isaac in Genesis 26:3 and to Jacob in Genesis 28:13 and in Genesis 35:12.

The “Palestinian” covenant was reiterated to Moses (Ex.

6:2-8) who described the geographical boundaries of the land in Numbers 34:1-12 and who prophesied the fulfillment of this covenant during the millennium in Deuteronomy 30:1-9.

The “Palestinian” Covenant stipulated that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who exercise faith alone in Christ alone would not only come into permanent possession of the land of Canaan but also most of the land in Turkey, East Africa, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and Red Sea, Syria, Iraq, Jordan.

The boundaries of this land grant are on the Mediterranean, Aegean Sea, Euphrates River and the Nile River (See Genesis 15:18-21).

The Lord promises that this land would be given to Abraham and Jacob’s descendants and this promise was fulfilled to a certain extent by Israel under Joshua (Josh.

21:43-45; cf.

13:1-7) and David and Solomon (1 Kgs.

4:20-25; Neh.

9:8).

The “Palestinian” covenant will have its literal and ultimate fulfillment during the millennial reign of Christ (Isa.

11:11-12; Jer.

31-37; Ezek.

34:11-16; Hos.

1:10-11; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:6-7; Zeph.

3:14-20; Zech.

8:4-8).

The promise “God will…bring you back to the land of your fathers” is a “personal” promise in that it is a guarantee that Joseph would return to the land of Canaan not only in a coffin (See Genesis 49:29-32) but more importantly that he and all of born again Israel will live in the Promised Land in resurrection bodies during the millennial reign of Christ.

The promise “God will…bring you back to the land of your fathers” is not only a “personal” promise but also a “national” promise in that it is a guarantee that the Israelites will return to the land of Canaan.

“You” is in the plural meaning “all of you” referring of course to Israel’s entire family, his sons, their wives, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The promise “God will…bring you back to the land of your fathers” is also a reference to the fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in Genesis 15:12-16 that Abraham’s descendants would be enslaved in a nation for four hundred years and that God would judge that nation and his descendants would return to Canaan.

Genesis 48:22, “I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

Israel’s promise to Joseph “I give you one portion more than your brothers” is composed of the following: (1) The adjective `echadh (dj*a#) (ekh-awd), which is used as an indefinite article meaning “a portion of a larger amount, (2) The noun shekhem (<k#v+) (shek-em), which refers to the city of Shechem.

The adjective `echadh usually refers to the number one but at times it can be used as an indefinite article meaning “a portion of a larger amount” and thus it denotes a “portion” of the city of Shechem.

Therefore, the Hebrew text literally reads, “a portion of Shekhem.”

Genesis 33:18-19 records Jacob purchasing a plot of land from Hamor just outside the city of Shechem.

Genesis 33:18, “Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city.”

“Shechem” is the proper noun shekhem (<k#v+) (shek-em), which means, “safe and sound” and is approximately thirty-five miles north of Jerusalem, directly west of the Jabbok River and approximately twenty miles from the Jordan in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 33:19, “He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.”