Read with Me
Genesis 48:1-7 (HCSB)
Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as an eternal possession to your future descendants.’ Your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine. Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do. Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way, some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath,” (that is, Bethlehem).
Listen with Me
In Israelite tradition, as well as in the tradition of many other nations, there were certain solemn rituals that were to be performed by a man before he died, if at all possible. Many times, they were performed on a death bed. Or they could be performed by a man before going off to war when he had serious doubts that he would return. Or they could even be performed by a man who grew ill and feared that he would die from the illness, such as Isaac’s passing on the blessing to Jacob many years before he actually died (Genesis 27:1-4).
Among those solemn duties was the bestowing of the birthright and the passing on of the blessing, usually to the eldest son. When Joseph heard that his father was failing, he came to him with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph knew that he was the favored son of Jacob, especially since the eldest son, Reuben, had disgraced himself by trying to cement his position as first-born by sleeping with one of his father’s concubines, but was found out.
Joseph would not receive the primary blessing from his father. Ruben wouldn’t receive it, and neither would the next two sons in line, Simeon and Levi, because they had orchestrated the massacre of Shechem (Genesis 34:24-31). Instead, it would be given to the fourth oldest son, Judah, whose line was prophesied to become the rulers of the whole people. This was fulfilled by King David and his descendants, and it was ultimately fulfilled by Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of Judah and of David on both his father’s side (Matthew 1:1-16) and his mother’s (Luke 3:23-33).
Joseph did however receive the birthright, the double portion of the inheritance – in this case, the Promised Land. But Jacob did it in a way that would be difficult for his other sons to challenge: he adopted Joseph’s sons, so that each would receive one share in the inheritance. Thus, when it came time to divide up the land, Joseph would not be named as an inheritor, but each of his two sons would be counted as a tribe alongside Jacob’s other eleven sons.
Pray with Me
Father, no matter how improbable it might seem, there are always ways for You to fulfill Your promises. So, no matter how unlikely a promise might seem to us to be, we can always rest securely in Your ability to deliver. Thank You, Lord, for Your absolute faithfulness in everything. Amen.