In Genesis 48 we can see a little meeting between Joseph and his father. When he had heard that his father was ill, he went to see him and he took along his two sons -- Manasseh and Ephraim. Verse two says:
When Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has come to see you," Israel rallied his strength and sat up on his bed.
Isn't it interesting that this man is called Jacob and Israel in the same sentence -- the same verse? I wonder how common it was for people to change their names back then. I wonder if they ever had problems with that.
Jacob told his son what God had told him earlier at Luz in the land of Canaan:
"I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you."
I bet those words were so important to Jacob/Israel that he found it necessary and probably pretty easy to memorize them. In much the same way that we realize we can get lots of laughs by memorizing lines from a movie, this conversation must've made a big impression on him. It says that God blessed him there, too. It's funny that the memory gets a little fuzzy after a while. Genesis 28 chronicles this earlier event:
He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and He said: "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
I might have gotten alarmed about one detail of this if God had told me that. It's comforting to know that God will watch over and not leave ... until He's done what He promised. Yikes! Does that mean that God would leave Him after that point? Probably not. It's probably a figure of speech and doesn't mean that as soon as He fulfills His promise that He's going to split.
Anyway, Israel elaborates on this blessing and tells Joseph that his sons would fall under this blessing, and so on. When he saw the two sons that he'd brought, he asked who they were and had Joseph bring them over so he could bless them. Blessings are a neat subject. I believe in the principle of blessing. In fact, I would even say that "I believe in the power of blessing." I don't claim to have a clear understanding of what goes on when I bless people, but I think something significant is transacting in heaven when I speak blessings to people. I guess it's kind of like a prayer, where I am asking God for something or just talking to Him and He is hearing me. It was certainly a big deal to these people at this time in history, that's for sure.
Joseph brought his two sons over and strategically placed them oldest in front of Israel's right hand and youngest in front of his left. Joseph was thinking about the firstborn getting the greater blessing, as his tradition had specified that. However, Israel crossed his arms, placing his right hand upon the youngest (Ephraim) and his left hand on the oldest. Joseph didn't like this and took hold of his dad's hand. He said, "No, my father, this one is the first-born; put your right hand on his head." His father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations."
This wasn't the first time that a late-in-life blessing was handed down from a very old man to his children (or children's children, as in the case here). It's funny how it's a repeating theme.
I've heard it said that Jewish families today bless their children quite often (perhaps daily), speaking onto them that they will be great lawyers and doctors and bankers, etc. I'm not sure if this is true, but we sure do see a lot of Jewish lawyers, doctors, and bankers, don't we? I sure do like the concept of blessing, though. I think it's an act of love.
I hope you enjoyed the blogs from last week's SXSW events.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at March 19, 2007 08:35 AM