Genesis 48:1One 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 that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
For Jacob, life has become a series of ave miracles. One day, Jacob looks at his camp, his family, and his livestock and fears that they will all starve. What has happened to all God’s promises? Surely Jacob has not imagined all his encounters with God! Then word comes from Egypt that Joseph is alive and well and calling for Jacob and all the family and their herds to come to him. When the family arrives in Egypt, Joseph arranges for them to settle in an area where their animals will have excellent grazing and where the Egyptians will leave them alone. In a few short weeks, Jacob goes from intense emotional turmoil to profound peace and contentment.
Now Jacob is blessing Joseph’s sons. With the prescience that sometimes comes to the dying, Jacob gives the greater blessing and prophecy to Ephraim, the younger son. In that moment, God is using Jacob as a prophet. Notice that when the twelve tribes of Israel are mentioned, we never hear of the tribe of Joseph but rather of the half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Tomorrow we will examine Jacob’s blessings and prophecies over his sons; however, today we are concerned with the peace God gives Jacob at the end of a long and tumultuous life.
Those of us who are aging find ourselves deeply concerned with the people and the institutions we must leave behind when we die. Questions plague us. Have we done everything we can to resolve the problems facing us? Have we handled people honestly and fairly, according to God’s Word? Have we worded our wills in such a way that our heirs will not find themselves engaged in fire fights with one another? Many of us have seen problems with estates that have fractured families, leaving debts and broken relationships.
One verse that has comforted me through the years is Isaiah 26:3. “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” We can trust the One who has given us life and breath, who has brought us through to old age, to assist us to act as peacemakers in our own families.
One sad thing is family disagreements that explode into decades of conflict, resentment, and broken communications. Many times, we take offense unnecessarily, cutting ourselves off from those we love and only realizing our mistakes after long years of silence. If this description sounds familiar, I am begging you to resolve those hurts! Forget those offences! Pray and find ways to heal grievances. You can’t say “I’m sorry” to a grave and have it mean much.
May God who is the Lord of all the earth and the God of peace bring peace to all your conflicts so that you are able to enjoy your family members while you still have them!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to forgive our family members, making peace with them and enjoying them while we can. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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