Jacob - Part 7 of 8

Genesis 47:28-48:22 (New Living Translation)

28 Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so he lived 147 years in all.

29 As the time of his death drew near, Jacob called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I die, please take my body out of Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.”

So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”

31 “Swear that you will do it,” Jacob insisted. So Joseph gave his oath, and Jacob bowed humbly at the head of his bed.

48 One day not long after this, word came to Joseph, “Your father is failing rapidly.” So Joseph went to visit his father, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2 When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.

3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4 He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations. And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

5 “Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.

7 “Long ago, as I was returning from Paddan-aram, Rachel died in the land of Canaan. We were still on the way, some distance from Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). So with great sorrow I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.”

8 Then Jacob looked over at the two boys. “Are these your sons?” he asked.

9 “Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are the sons God has given me here in Egypt.”

And Jacob said, “Bring them closer to me, so I can bless them.”

10 Jacob was half blind because of his age and could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Jacob kissed and embraced them. 11 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!”

12 Joseph moved the boys, who were at their grandfather’s knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground. 13 Then he positioned the boys in front of Jacob. With his right hand he directed Ephraim toward Jacob’s left hand, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Jacob’s right hand. 14 But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to lay his hands on the boys’ heads. He put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, though he was the firstborn. 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked—the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day,16 the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm— may he bless these boys.May they preserve my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac.And may their descendants multiply greatly throughout the earth.”

17 But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head. So Joseph lifted it to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 “No, my father,” he said. “This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

19 But his father refused. “I know, my son; I know,” he replied. “Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”

20 So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, ‘May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In this way, Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

21 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors. 22 And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of the land[e] that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

Dear God,

We actually have two fathers in this story: Jacob and Joseph.

I suppose Jacob always did have a soft spot in his heart for the younger sibling over the older. And as I noticed many times before, it is seldom the oldest that ends up being the greatest in Biblical families. Isaac before Ishmael (Muslims would disagree with this, and I would too if I were them, but since this is from a Christian perspective I’ll go with it). Abel was more pleasing to you than Cain. David wasn’t Jesse’s firstborn. Solomon wasn’t David’s. I do not know—maybe I would feel differently if I were the oldest instead of the youngest in my family, but I think the theory that the firstborn is the obvious choice as the natural one to receive the birthright blessing is not supported by many Old Testament stories.

Joseph obviously felt this way about his boys. He wanted them to be blessed according to their birth order. But Jacob had a different paradigm, and we will see tomorrow that he blesses his fourth-born, Judah, as the leader of his sons and not Reuben, the firstborn.

I also note that Jacob did not leave Egypt during his life. I would have thought that after the famine was over, they would have returned to Canaan. Did he not want to inconvenience his children? Was he too old for the journey? Was he too weak to lead them? I understand that you ended up using the ensuing slavery to build his lineage as a nation, but it seems to me that it would have been easier for his family to return to Canaan being well-fed and nourished over the last few years of famine. On paper it seems like this was a failing in Jacob and even in his sons. They all got fat and happy. But you still were able to use what I perceive as their possible failing for your purposes and plan.

Father, I know I will fail. I know that despite my best efforts I can act fat and happy. But there is freedom in the idea that I know my heart is for you. I worship you, I love you, and I am doing my best; and you can work with my sin and my failures to still bring about your plan for your glory. I simply pray that my work will be pleasing in your sight.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen