THROUGH THE BIBLE COMMENTARY
This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears.
Bruce McGee, Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418
GENESIS
CHAPTER 48
1 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
When Joseph learned of his father's illness, he took his two sons to visit.
Children should honor their parents all their lives. And grandparents shouldn't be deprived of the blessing of being near to their grandchildren.
Notice that Jacob does a very commendable thing. He "strengthened
himself" to prepare for their visit. In other words, Jacob put aside
his discomfort to focus upon ministering to his people.
Do we?
3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. 5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
In essence, Jacob adopts Ephraim and Mannasseh, allowing them to take
Joseph's place. In fact, if you note very closely in verse 5, these two sons
of Joseph are to replace Reuben and Simeon as the first and second-born
sons of Jacob! This grants Ephraim & Manasseh the headship of Jacob's family.
And according to verse 6, if Joseph has any more children, they are to become a
part of Ephraim's and Mannaseh's families.
7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem. 8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? 9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
Jacob remembers the hardest time of his life: the death of his wife Rachel.
But he turns to the JOY of the moment, and wants his grandchildren close.
We should live our lives in the JOY God gives us, even though we cannot
forget the sad times.
11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed. 12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Jacob desires to "pass on" the blessings God has given him. As he stretches
his hands toward the children, the Bible says he guided his hands "wittingly" (vs 14).
Joseph did not understand what his father was doing, but Jacob DID!
Joseph carefully positioned the boys so that the eldest would be at Jacob's
right hand; but, Jacob, knowing the promises of God, CROSSED his hands!
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, 16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
Jacob praises God Who has "fed" him - or more accurately has shepherded him
all his days. This is the first of many times that God is referred to as
Shepherd.
Now Jacob asks God, that the "Angel" (or vision of God) bless this
adoption and cause these two young boys to become greatly multiplied.
17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. 19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. 20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Joseph didn't think this was quite right when he realized his father had
crossed his hands. He had conferred the first-born right upon the younger
of the two. But Jacob now reveals what he knows that Joseph doesn't.
Ephraim will become the most prominent of the two. (When Israel left
Egypt, and entered Canaan, Mannasseh was the LARGEST tribe. But later,
when the kingdom was split, the Northern 10 tribes of Israel were named
EPHRAIM.)
Friends, when it comes time for elders to "pass on" the blessings to their
descendants, we should pass on what we KNOW from GOD!
What we know from GOD is the MOST IMPORTANT thing we can give!
An inheritance of land and riches without God is NOTHING!
21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
Joseph himself never returned to the land of Canaan to live. But when the
Israelites were given freedom and went back to Canaan 400 years later,
they carried the "bones" of Joseph into the land and buried him there.
Christians, we may die in this world of slavery; but God is going
to deliver us to the land of FREEDOM and PROMISE!
Now listen to this little tidbit of extra information about this chapter.
It is very appropriate for this particular date, July 3, 2000.
Jacob actually "bought" some land for burial plots from the sons of
Hamor, Shechem's father (Gen. 33:19, Josh. 24:32). The sons of
Hamor were destroyed (in trickery) by Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi.
And according to what Jacob says here in Gen. 48:22, he had to
physically WAR in order to take this land back and preserve
it as a burial place.
In other words, Jacob had FOUGHT in order to present this
land to his children.
The MOST we can leave our children in this world is a place
in which to be BURIED!
But the BEST we can leave our children in this world is an
inheritance of FREEDOM through GOD!
This is what our forefathers left us in America! They fought to
give us a land where we could live and die. But they fought so that
we could have a land of FREEDOM through GOD!
The BEST we can leave our children in this world is an
Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.