(A) Blessing Background (Gen 48:1-7)
We're almost at the end of Genesis, and nearing the end of Jacob's life. Gen 48 begins with Joseph being told that his father Jacob as ill and dying, and he brings his two sons to meet their grandfather. This might seem like an extended ending to some of us. After all, we wouldn't be surprised if the story ended with Joseph being reunited with his father and brothers. A simple "and they lived happily ever after" would not shock us. Yet, the narrative continues in Gen 48, and it continues to teach us so many things about how we read the Bible! We often come to the Bible with our own preferences and ideas, and this extended ending reminds us to read God's Word because it fundamentally the very words of God.
Jacob gives Joseph some instructions in Gen 48:3-7. From Gen 48:5, we read of how Jacob claims the first two sons of Joseph. In Jacob's eyes, his first two sons were 'disqualified' because of the sins they committed (Recall: Reuben slept with his father's wife and Simeon conducted a mass slaughter). Gen 48:3-4 harken back to Gen 28, where he recounts the blessing of God at Luz. Because God promised Jacob that he will be fruitful, he takes Joseph's two sons.
(Note: Later on in the OT, Ephraim becomes a term of reference for Israel, a collective term for the 10 tribes. Joseph does not become a tribe, while the tribe of Levi does not have an inheritance. Judah continues the Davidic line.)
Once again, we come to a passage that speaks of "blessing". How would you define blessing? The world may think that it has to do with material provisions, but the Bible has a different definition. In Genesis as we have seen regularly, it is tied to the reversal of the curse of Gen 3. Read Eph 1, which recounts for us all the spiritual blessing we have in Christ that has nothing to do with possession and status. You see, in the Bible, material blessings are not blessings because they fade, can be destroyed and are really temporary. The Bible holds out something better that is eternal. When was the last time we stopped and counted our blessings, not in terms of material wealth, but according to Eph 1?
(B) Blessing Proper (Gen 48:8-16)
Gen 48:8-11 describe a particular physical problem Jacob has. By this time, we are told that his eyes were dim with age (Gen 48:10). Joseph had to bring his sons close to a nearly blind Jacob. The passage also goes into great detail about how Joseph approached Jacob (Gen 48:12-14). Joseph bows with his face to the ground, clearly aware of the significance and importance of what is going on. Then, he brings his two sons to his father.
Read Gen 48:13-14 carefully. There's some complicated hand-swopping going on. In Joseph's mind, his oldest son Manasseh should be at Jacob's right hand, to receive the blessing due to the oldest child. This was the idea of primogeniture, where it is the right by law or custom of the firstborn male child to inherit the family estate in preference to siblings. This was the standard practice of ancient Eastern culture. Jacob knows this standard practice and knows the order that the boys will be brought to him and swops his hands intentionally. Keep this in mind and we'll pick up this point in the next section!
Jacob blesses his sons in Gen 48:15-16. Before he actually blesses them, botice how he goes in to some detail describing God. He begins by invoking the covenant formula (“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked"), then describes God as a shepherd, a familiar motif for a shepherding family ("the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day") and also speaks of the messenger of God who redeemed him ("the angel who has redeemed me from all evil"). Why does Jacob describe God in so many ways? This flows from the heart of an incredibly God-centred person who sees the various attributes of God and thinks of his life in terms of God. This is a man to whom God is not merely an idea or just a person, but he links his entire life and the events in his life with this God. What is your walk with God like? Does His name not excite you? Does His revelation not capture your imagination?
Only at the end of Gen 48:16 do we see the blessings of the covenant: that they will carry on the name of the covenant and be fruitful and multiply.
(C) Blessing Surprise (Gen 48:17-22)
When Joseph saw that Jacob laid his right hand on Ephraim the second born, we are told that it displeased him and he took steps to forcefully remove the hand and place it on Manasseh's head instead (Gen 48:17). In Joseph's mind, the practice of primogeniture meant that Jacob was wrong. Joseph believed that unlike his old and blind father, his mind was clear and he thought that he could see what's going on. But the great irony in Gen 48 is that the physically blind Jacob had the clearest vision and understanding.
How did Jacob react? Like a patient father, Jacob assured Joseph that he wasn't dull and muddled. By this time at the end of his life, Jacob knew that the God of his fathers Abraham and Isaac and the God of this covenant worked in ways different from the rest of the world. How else would he, Jacob the second-born of Isaac inherit the covenant? This is a God whose covenant worked differently from the world's expectations, and throughout the line of his people, this idea has been repeated over and over again.
In blessing the sons of Joseph, Jacob in Gen 48 reminds us that the God of the Bible chooses the foolish and weak things of the world to shame the strong and those who think they are wise. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob continues to make a covenant with people that are unable to fulfill their part, choosing to work through undeserving, weak and frankly, quite messed-up people. The God of the covenant is a God of grace. The ESV Gospel Transformation Bible also has this to say about these verses:
“Yet God chose to set his love on the younger rather than the older brother. God’s love does not seek out those who are intrinsically worthy of it. Indeed, no one is intrinsically worthy of God’s love. This is what it means for grace to be grace. “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Rom. 11:6).”
What does this mean for us today? Gen 48 reminds us of the basic truth of the Christian life. We often struggle in the Christian life, because we are like Joseph, thinking that God is a blind and old father like what Jacob is. We think that God cannot see clearly and we know what's best for our lives, and we need to do him a favour help him with it. Titus 3:3-7 reminds us that we are actually the bind and undeserving ones, who, by our sinful deeds, deserved no position of favour or blessing. Yet, according to the logic-defying logic of God's grace, we who do not deserve the inheritance are made heirs through Jesus Christ our Savior. This is the amazing logic of Jesus -- that the last shall be first, that those who lose their lives for his sake will find it.
Whose logic do you live by?
Only by grace can we enter
Only by grace can we stand
Not by our human endeavor
But by the blood of the Lamb
Into Your presence You call us
You call us to come
Into Your presence you draw us
And now by your grace we come