Genesis Part 073

In Genesis 48, we read that Jacob is close to death. After learning of his rapid decline, Joseph goes to visit him and takes his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.  

Jacob takes Manasseh and Ephraim as if they were his own sons. 

“And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.” 

They are now a part of Jacob’s family and will receive a blessing at his death for being his sons. 

These sons no longer belong to Joseph. Any children born after this point to Joseph will be his, but these two belong with the sons of Jacob and would be no different in that regard than any of his other sons. Any future children of Joseph would not get their own tribe or inheritance but would roll up under either Manasseh or Ephraim. 

It is interesting in verse 7 that Jacob reminds Joseph, and all of us by extension, about Rachel. Rachel was the one that Jacob was supposed to marry (not Leah). If Jacob had married only Rachel and had sons with her, that firstborn son would have received the “firstborn” inheritance, and it would have been Joseph. 

That is not what really happened, as we know Reuben was Jacob’s true firstborn son, born from Leah. 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 states, 

“Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler, although the birthright was Joseph's.” 

Initially, Joseph’s two sons are positioned where the eldest, Manasseh, would receive the greater blessing (firstborn blessing). Jacob (Israel) crosses his hands, so that the greater blessing would fall on Ephraim (not Manasseh).  

Jacob asks God to apply his name (Israel) to these two young men, and to apply the name of Abraham and Isaac to them. This is meant to tie all the blessings that God had promised the forefathers to Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob concludes this first blessing on both boys by asking God to make these two sons to become very numerous on the Earth. 

In verse 19, Joseph tries to correct what he thought was a mistake, where maybe, in his old age, Jacob had gotten confused and put his hands on the wrong heads. However, Jacob assures Joseph that this is not a mistake. Manasseh, while older in age, would become a great nation, but it was Ephraim that would become even greater: a multitude of nations. 

The greatness of God’s blessings on Ephraim and Manasseh would lead the other tribes of Israel to use their tribes as the epitome of God’s blessings. Here is what the UCG Bible Commentary states: 

“God was using this situation to indicate that He had special plans for the descendants of the sons of Joseph, and that Ephraim would indeed be greater in wealth and power than his older brother, Manasseh. As the chapter begins, they were mentioned in order of age, ‘Manasseh and Ephraim’ (verse 1). But a point is later made of a switch in name order. Jacob ‘blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as [note the order] Ephraim and Manasseh!’” And thus, he set Ephraim before Manasseh’ (verses 18–20). 

Furthermore, we see clarified here that the national birthright blessing of a nation and company of nations given in Genesis 35:11 did not refer to the tribes of Israel generally. Instead, Manasseh was to become a great single nation, and Ephraim the company of nations.  

Indeed, as incredible as it sounds, the blessing for Manasseh could explain the prominence of the United States of America—the greatest single nation the world has ever seen. And the blessing for Ephraim describes a ‘company of nations’— which could be applied to the Commonwealth nations of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and a small segment of South Africa and other former British colonies. Today, the Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign nation-states, referred to as Commonwealth countries. Prior to America’s national greatness, Britain ruled over the largest empire in the history of the world. (To learn the amazing story of how this came to be, request or download our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy) We will see more details of the tremendous blessings that were to come upon the family of Joseph in our next reading, Genesis 49.” 

Jacob was not just doing his own thing or deciding which grandson he liked more: it’s clear he was following God’s direct commands. While these blessings were poured out during their lives in their time periods, their greatest fulfillment was prophetic and extends to the time we are living in now. 

UYA Team | uya@ucg.org  

United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships, and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.