64 EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH

Did Jesus have Abraham’s descendants in mind when He said, “The last shall be first, and the first last”? (Matthew 19:30). Abraham’s son Isaac, his second son, was elevated above Ishmael, the older son. Although Jacob was Isaac’s second-born, he became greater than his older brother Esau. Then in the next generation, Jacob’s eleventh son became ruler of the family. And now Joseph’s second-born, Ephraim, was elevated above his older brother, Manasseh. God evidently saw something good in the character of those He elevated. Evidently there is some element more important than sequence in birth, rank, position or title. What is it? Could it be spiritual character, spiritual aptitude, a heart inclined toward God or even some spiritual quality for which we humans don’t even have a category or word?

This makes me say, let no man or woman called and chosen by God regret, worry, fret, be intimidated or in any way concern him or herself with position or sequence among siblings within his or her family and also not be preoccupied with rank, position or title in the Church. God looks at the heart and character of a person, not the position or title. Character is of superior significance to position any day. Be what God wants you to be and He will use you how He wants to use you. Develop yourself spiritually and don’t be concerned about titles or recognition from men or organizations. What God sees in your heart is of far greater consequence.

Therefore, “Who are you?” is a more important question than “Where are you?” “What is your character?” is a greater issue than “What is your rank?” The answer to “What are you?” is far more important than the answer to “What is your title?” God through Jacob selecting Ephraim, Joseph’s second son, ahead of Manasseh, his first born son, can remind us of this profound and important truth. You may not be able to elevate your title or rank, but you can improve your character and heart. 

Joseph, when learning of his father’s illness, goes to see him. Though Joseph was a busy man of honor and business, yet he will not fail to show this due respect to his aged father. Verse one says, “Some time later Joseph was told, ‘Your father is ill.’ So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him.” Visiting the sick, to whom we are under obligations, or may have opportunity of doing them good, either for body or soul, is our duty. The sick bed is a proper place both for giving comfort and counsel to others and receiving instruction ourselves. Joseph took his two sons with him, that they might receive their dying grandfather’s blessing, and that what they might see in him or hear from him might influence them for good. It is good to acquaint young people who are coming into the world with the aged servants of God that are going out of it. The dying testimony to the goodness of God, and the pleasantness of wisdom’s ways, may be a great encouragement to the rising generation. Manasseh and Ephraim would not soon forget what they saw and heard during their visit to their grandfather’s bedside. Wise Joseph wanted his sons to receive an impression, perhaps a blessing, from their grandfather.

Jacob, when informed of his son’s visit, prepares himself as well as he could to entertain his guests. All he could do was to sit up, but he did what he could. He did what he could to rouse his spirits, and to stir up the gift that was in him. He offered what little was left of bodily strength, put forward his utmost, and sat up on the bed. Man or woman of God, strengthen yourself, as Jacob does here, and God will strengthen you to pass something of eternal value on to your children and grandchildren. Seize every opportunity to repeatedly do this.

To reward Joseph for all his attentions to him, Jacob here adopted his two sons. In this charter of adoption there is particular mention of God’s promise to him as verse three says, “Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me.’” God had promised him two things, numerous offspring and Canaan for an inheritance. And now Joseph’s sons will each multiply into a tribe, and each will have a distinct lot in Canaan, equal with the others of Jacob’s own eleven sons. See how Jacob blessed these two young men by faith in what God had said to him as recorded in Hebrews 11:21, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” Jacob was looking ahead by faith. If Jacob did not believe the promise God had given him, he would not have given this blessing. In all our prayers, both for ourselves and for our children, we ought to remember God’s promises to us.

Jacob specifically and rightly desired something more important than Joseph’s success in Egypt. It was as though to say, “Let them not succeed their father in his power and grandeur here in Egypt, but let them succeed Abraham, Isaac and me in the inheritance of the promise made to each of us.” Jacob looked on God’s promise as much more valuable and honorable than Joseph’s high position, and wanted his grandsons to prize and covet those promises accordingly. In this way the aged and dying patriarch teaches these young persons, now that they were of age, easily calculated to be about twenty-one years old, not to look on Egypt as their home, nor to identify themselves as Egyptians, but to take their lot with the people of God, as Moses does later in a similar temptation and situation. Hebrews 11:24-26 say, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” Moses is to us a good example of what Jacob hoped Ephraim and Manasseh would think and feel spiritually. It would be a good example of self-denial in two sons of the prime-minister. They would have been likely to receive preferment if they wanted to identify more closely with an Egyptian heritage in Egypt. For them to identify with the despised Hebrews and to encourage them in that direction, Jacob makes each of them the head of a tribe. Those are worthy of double honor who, through God’s grace, break through the temptations of worldly wealth, position and preferment, to embrace godliness in disgrace and poverty. Jacob will have Ephraim and Manasseh to believe that it is better to be low and in the group of godly persons than high and out of it, to be called by the name of poor Jacob than to be called by the name of rich Joseph. Jacob was in essence asking his two grandsons, sons of the prime minister to identify with shepherds who were despised by the Egyptians. This was no small matter. Evidently the boys responded correctly because in the future we see there were tribes in Israel named Ephraim and Manasseh.

Let’s think about blindness for a moment. Jacob was blind as verse ten says, “Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.” Physical blindness or near blindness is one of the common problems of old age. As recorded in Ecclesiastes 12:3, “those looking through the windows grow dim,” refers to the eyes of an old person. Jacob was blind, but he was not blind. He saw clearly the value of his heritage. It is folly to walk with the sight of our eyes, and allow our hearts to value and long for the glittering, visible, mere earthly treasure we can see with our physical eyes, when we have the opportunity with our spiritual eyes to “see” an eternal treasure that will never pass away. Perhaps we should have eyes that are dim and cannot see earthly treasures and make certain the eyes of our faith continue always to see eternal treasures clearly. Jacob, like his father before him, when he was old, was dim-sighted, but only physically. Those that have the honor of age must also be content to take the burdens included in it. Nevertheless, the eye of faith may be very clear even when the eye of the body is very much clouded.

In blessing his newly adopted sons, Jacob crossed hands. Joseph placed them so that Jacob’s right hand would be put on the head of Manasseh the older son. But Jacob intentionally put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger son. This displeased Joseph, who was willing to support the position of his first-born, and wanted therefore to remove his father’s hands. But Jacob gave him to understand that he knew what he did, that he did not do it by mistake, nor humor, nor partial affection to one more than the other, but evidently from a spirit of prophecy in compliance with the divine counsels. Manasseh too would be great, but Ephraim truly would be greater. When the tribes were mustered in the wilderness, Ephraim was more numerous than Manasseh. Forty years later, the tribe of Manasseh was divided with Moses’ blessing with one half on one side of Jordan and the other half on the other side. This made it the less powerful and influential. In the foresight of this, Jacob crossed hands. What do we learn? God, in bestowing His blessings on His people, gives more to some than to others, more gifts, graces, and comforts, and more of the good things of this life. He often gives most to those that are the least. He chooses the weak things of the world and raises the poor out of the dust. Grace does not follow the order of nature, nor does God always prefer those whom we think most worthy to be preferred, but as it pleases Him. It is observable how often God, by the distinguishing favors of His covenant, advanced the younger above the elder many times, Abel above Cain, Shem above Japheth, Abraham above Nahor and Haran, Isaac above Ishmael, Jacob above Esau; Judah and Joseph were preferred before Reuben, Moses before Aaron, David and Solomon before their elder brothers. I Samuel 16:7 says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” God obligated the Jews to observe the birthright but he never obligated Himself to observe it. Notice Deuteronomy 21:17, “He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.” God is certainly not finished with the Jews, but temporarily we see a preference seemingly given to the Gentiles above the Jews. Gentile converts are now much more numerous than those of the Jews. In this way free grace becomes more obvious. Galatians 4:27 says, “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” God sees in people what we do not see.

Jacob had an eye for the future. He left with Joseph the promise of their return out of Egypt, as a sacred trust: “I die, but God shall be with you, and bring you again.” Verse 21 says, “Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers.” In the same way, Joseph, when he died, left this promise with his brothers as recorded in Genesis 50:24 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” This assurance was given them, and carefully preserved among them, that they might neither love Egypt too much when it favored them, nor fear it too much when it frowned on them.

The overarching significant spiritual truth in all of this section is that Jacob, having recently arrived in Egypt still was thinking about Canaan and giving certain parts of it to grandsons even though they were all in another land. Can we think of our heavenly Canaan in such concrete terms.  We live here, but we can think about that up there or over there. Canaan was a real place and so is Heaven.