Genesis 48
1 After these things Joseph was told, “Your father is weakening.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.
Jacob was about to die. Manasseh and Ephraim were both half-Jewish and half-Egyptian.
2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has just come to you,” Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed.
The Masoretic text reads “bed,” but the Septuagint reads “staff.” Hebrews 11:21 seems to support that Jacob leaned on his staff.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “The sovereign God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.
This was God’s first appearance to Jacob at Bethel. God is sovereign. He plans and executes all history. There is nothing left to chance.
4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will multiply you. I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants as an everlasting possession.’
God confirmed the Abrahamic Covenant to Jacob. God promised to multiply Jacob. He gave him 12 sons in order to multiply the nation of Israel.
He promised not to make Jacob into nations, but into a group of tribes. Each of the 12 sons will become the 12 tribes of Israel. Eventually, they will be split into the two nations of Judah and Israel.
God promised to give the land of Canaan to Jacob for an everlasting possession. Since Jacob died owning none of the land, God will have to raise Jacob from the dead and give him the land. This prophecy is a Genesis example of the resurrection of Jewish saints.
The Hebrew word for "everlasting" is עוֹלָֽם (slam), which means a very long time. Hebrew has no vocabulary word for eternity. The very long time would be later identified in Revelation six times as 1000 literal years. After the 1000 literal years of the Millennial Kingdom are completed, everyone will enter into the eternal order. The details of the eternal order were never given in the Old Testament. The recorded details of the Eternal Order are very scant, but some of the details were recorded by the Apostle John in Revelation 21-22. As good as the 1000 year Millennial Kingdom will be, the eternal order will be even better.
5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.
Jacob adopted Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons and made them equal to Reuben and Simeon. Jacob gave the birthright to Joseph in the place of Reuben and Simeon. Joseph’s two sons would take the place of Reuben and Simeon. 1 Chronicles 5:1–2 points out that Judah had the preeminence, but Joseph had the birthright.
6 Any children that you father after them will be yours; they will be listed under the names of their brothers in their inheritance.
Joseph had no more sons.
7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow – in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
Rachel was not buried in Bethlehem Ephrath, but on the road outside of Bethlehem Ephrath. The current tomb of Rachel is in the wrong place, but it is good for unethical tourist business.
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?”
Jacob was going blind and could not see the identity of the two sons.
9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” His father said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”
Jacob wanted to bless Ephraim and Manasseh.
10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of his age; he was not able to see well. So Joseph brought his sons near to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
Ephraim and Manasseh were about 18-20 years of age at this time.
11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, but now God has allowed me to see your children too.”
Jacob not only saw Joseph, but he was able to adopt Joseph’s two sons and make them equal in their family inheritance.
12 So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground.
Joseph was the vizier of Egypt, but he was showing a sign of submission to his father.
13 Joseph positioned them; he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father.
Ephraim was the oldest son, so Joseph positioned Jacob’s right hand on the oldest so that he could receive the blessing of the first born.
14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Jacob intentionally crisscrossed his hands. This one-time ritual was a recording of a historical event. It is not a modern day charismatic ritual that magically transfers the power of the Holy Spirit to another person. In the modern church age, the Holy Spirit fills and controls a person who has studied the Scriptures and continually confesses his sin (1 John 1:9). Those who possess human viewpoint will tend to lean toward superstitious rituals. Those who possess divine viewpoint will study the entire counsel of the Word of God and continually confess their sins. Then, the Holy Spirit will fill the mature believer and use him for his service.
15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked –the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
Jacob was a professional shepherd, but it was God who had been shepherding Jacob. Jacob was just a dumb, helpless sheep who was being hunted by a lion who wished to devour him. Since Jacob could not see into the spiritual world, then God shepherded Jacob through his life.
16 the Angel who has protected me from all harm –bless these boys. May my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”
The Hebrew word for “the angel” is הַמַּלְאָךְ֩ (ha-melek). Since the definite article is used, this is the Angel of the Lord, or the Pre-incarnate Christ.
The Hebrew word for “protected” is הַגֹּאֵ֨ל (ha-goel), meaning “the redeemer.” Since the definite article was used, the Redeemer is the Pre-incarnate Christ. This is the first time in Scripture that הַגֹּאֵ֨ל (ha-goel) is used. The ha-goel is the one who pays the purchase price to redeem a loved one from slavery. The Messianic Angel of the Lord was the one who redeemed Jacob from the blindness of slavery.
Ephraim and Manasseh were fully adopted into the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. They would be a part of the twelve tribes of Israel. Although they were grandsons of Jacob, they were adopted as sons with full inheritance rights. Therefore, Joseph as the first born of Rachel received the double grant of land through his two sons.
17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
Joseph thought that Jacob was old and blind and that he had made a mistake.
18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
Joseph corrected his father.
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”
Ephraim would become such a predominant tribe, that it would be used synonymously with Israel.
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you will Israel bless, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Ephraim the younger brother was blessed before Manasseh the older brother.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Jacob knew that he would die in Egypt. God would be with Joseph. Joseph would die in Egypt, but his body would return to Canaan during the Exodus.
22 As one who is above your brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
The Hebrew word for “mountain slope” is שְׁכֶ֥ם (Shechem). Shechem was the town that Simeon and Levi slaughtered all of the Canaanite men of the city after their prince raped sister Dinah. This city belonged to Jacob by conquest. Joseph would receive the city of Shechem as his inheritance. When the land of Israel was divided, Shechem was given to Manasseh. Joseph would be later buried in Shechem.
The Amorites were the Canaanites. The sword and bow that took the lives of the men of Shechem was Simeon and Levi.