Genesis
47:13 ¶ And there was no bread in all
the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the
land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was
found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they
bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt,
and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give
us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth. 16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will
give you for your cattle, if money fail. 17
And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in
exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and
for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
18 When that year was ended, they came
unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord,
how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is
not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: 19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes,
both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will
be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that
the land be not desolate. 20 And Joseph
bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his
field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.
21 And as for the people, he removed
them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end
thereof. 22 Only the land of the priests
bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did
eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.
23 Then Joseph said unto the people,
Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed
for you, and ye shall sow the land. 24
And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth
part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and
for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little
ones. 25 And they said, Thou hast saved
our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s
servants. 26 And Joseph made it a law
over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part;
except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.
Egypt
and Canaan were both severely stricken by this famine. The people of Egypt, and
foreigners we have seen, put a lot of money in the government of Egypt’s
coffers to buy the grain they needed so badly to survive. Finally, the money
ran out so Joseph took property in the form of cattle and horses and asses for
a year after that. Then, when the government owned the livestock he took the
land removed the former residents to cities around Egypt. Only the powerful
priests were exempt from this acquisition. The people still farmed the land and
Joseph gave them seed to plant but it belonged to the government now. As
tenants they had to pay 20% of their crop output as a tax to the Egyptian
government. The people were happy with this for they and their families could
survive even though this goes beyond the famine they are enduring now and
carries with it great consequences for their future.
The
issue of government and government’s place in the scheme of things comes into
play here. We are forced to consider it. This passage states a rather negative
truth about taxation. The ability to demand a portion of the people’s living is
like ownership. Taxation can be considered in one respect a type of slavery.
You are forced to spend part of your working life working for the government.
Joseph says in verse 23 that he has bought them for Pharaoh.
Under
the New Testament after Christ’s resurrection the Christian is told to yield to
the heathen governments of the time, none of them based on any Christian
principle, in their function of punishing evil and protecting the innocent.
Romans
13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good
works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that
which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for
good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the
sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon
him that doeth evil. 5 Wherefore ye must
needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for
they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Jesus
Himself said we are to pay taxes to keep from offering offense and performed it
supernaturally.
Matthew
17:27 Notwithstanding, lest we should
offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that
first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece
of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
Once
a people starts using government issued currency rather than, as in much of the
Old Testament, simply a valuable metal by weight as a medium of exchange, you
become ensnared in the scheme of government to own its population and control
its economic activity.
Matthew
22:15 ¶ Then went the Pharisees, and
took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. 16 And they sent out unto him their disciples
with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the
way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not
the person of men. 17 Tell us therefore,
What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and
said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19
Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image
and superscription? 21 They say unto
him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. 22 When they had heard these words, they
marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
It
is a truth that humans will generally prefer security to liberty, however. The
Hebrews will eventually want a king and, therefore, a government like the
heathen around them. God will tell Samuel, who objects to their cry;
1Samuel
8:4 ¶ Then all the elders of Israel
gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and
thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the
nations. 6 But the thing displeased
Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the
LORD. 7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all
that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have
rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
Then,
gave them this prophetic warning of the evils and expectations of human
government.
8 According to all the works which they have
done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day,
wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto
thee. 9 Now therefore hearken unto their
voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the
king that shall reign over them. 10 And
Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.
11 And he said, This will be the manner
of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them
for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run
before his chariots. 12 And he will
appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set
them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of
war, and instruments of his chariots. 13
And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks,
and to be bakers. 14 And he will take
your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them,
and give them to his servants. 15 And he
will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his
officers, and to his servants. 16 And he
will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young
men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye
shall be his servants. 18 And ye shall
cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and
the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they
said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20
That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge
us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people,
and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. 22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto
their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye
every man unto his city.
The
Bible gives us a detailed treatise on human government if we regard the entire
book and not just Romans 13 as an excuse for tyranny. Pray for your leaders.
They are typically not good men. There is a famous quote in recent history that
pertains to the men who have led people in government and war by the Englishman
John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton,
known as Lord Acton.
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great
men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority;
still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by
authority.”
The Holy Spirit reports through the Bible
writers that God has placed over humans as rulers the worst sort of men…
Daniel
4:17 This matter is by the decree of the
watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the
living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it
to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
…and
the governments of the world are under Satan’s authority.
Luke
4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an
high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of
time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All
this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto
me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
The
lacking of men to rule generally in the right way is based on one major lacking
even if they call themselves Christians.
2Samuel
23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of
Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of
God.
Now,
it must be said that even though a chief executive other than God Himself was
not His direct will for Israel it fell under His permissive will, His
permission, and He did bless kings and Israel when they were obedient or
repentant, seeking forgiveness, for their lack of obedience. Do not make the
mistake, though, that brought Western Civilization to World War One where most of
the warring countries thought they were God’s chosen people and God’s chosen
government each fighting evil personified in their opponents. Do not make the
mistake of believing that what God allows mankind to do is what His good, and
acceptable, and perfect will is rather than the lusts of our own hearts. In the
end all the machinations of mankind cannot thwart God’s eventual plan for
humanity nor do they help mankind escape the judgment that is being brought
down.
Your
government, whether it be the United States, China, Russia, England, or even
Namibia is the enemy of your liberty in the Lord because you have rejected His
leadership. This fact is part of His judgment.
Genesis
47:27 ¶ And Israel dwelt in the land of
Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew,
and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob
lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an
hundred forty and seven years. 29 And
the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said
unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand
under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in
Egypt: 30 But I will lie with my fathers,
and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he
said, I will do as thou hast said. 31
And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed
himself upon the bed’s head.
We
find another reference to the cultural practice of putting a hand under someone’s
thigh to declare an oath. Abraham made his servant swear an oath that he would
get Isaac a voluntary bride from his own people.
Genesis
24:2 And Abraham said unto his eldest
servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy
hand under my thigh…9 And the servant
put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning
that matter.
Now,
I daresay that none of you who are of a sound mind regard this as a requirement
for you to be holy that you place your hand under someone’s thigh to make a
promise. If it is not in your cultural frame of reference you pass over this
like you would a verse number or a word you don’t know and are too lazy to
cross-reference or look up elsewhere. So, for cultural practices that we know
have an historical reason, we are not required, as a matter of holiness, to
practice. For instance, in 1Corinthians 11 Paul tells them to follow the
instructions he has given them and adds a but
to include a practice of their own. He agrees with them that their women
should have long hair while at the end of the brief argument he admits that it
is not required practice in churches elsewhere.
1Corinthians
11:1 ¶ Be ye followers of me, even as I
also am of Christ. 2 Now I praise you,
brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I
delivered them to you. 3 But I would
have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman
is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4
Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth
his head. 5 But every woman that prayeth
or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even
all one as if she were shaven. 6 For if
the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a
woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head,
forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of
the man. 8 For the man is not of the
woman; but the woman of the man. 9
Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
10 For this cause ought the woman to
have power on her head because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the
woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is
the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a
woman pray unto God uncovered? 14 Doth
not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame
unto him? 15 But if a woman have long
hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we
have no such custom, neither the churches of God. (Neither means roughly ‘not even’ in
Paul’s letters.)
From
history we know that at Acrocorinth, the acropolis of ancient Corinth, called
Upper Corinth, stood the Temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love, among
other related things. There were a thousand short-haired prostitutes working
there that men would enjoy sexually being the devoutly religious people they
were. That was sarcasm, by the way. There was even a school for prostitution
there. It would not do, obviously, for a woman of Corinth’s church to be
mistaken for a prostitute, a priestess of Aphrodite. So, you have a conviction
that you should have long hair as I have a conviction that I should wear a suit
when I teach Sunday School. Don’t impose it on others. Remember that the time
you are honoring with your long hair, when you feel Christians were just and
right, the late 1800s, they believed that not wearing it up, letting your hair
hang down around your shoulders, was sexually suggestive and scandalous just as
my business suit bought off the rack at a department store would have had a
whole different meaning in the early church. They were laborers and slaves and
would have worn their shabby work clothes to a meeting of the church and then
gone off to work. We must be careful about cultural practices becoming dogma.
In
the same regard the letters of Paul call for the members of the church to give
each other a holy kiss. That is not
something we do in our culture in America typically. Nor do we feel less close
to God because we don’t. It is not our cultural practice and Paul commanding it
of the Roman church, the Corinthian church, and the Thessalonian church and we
not doing it doesn’t bother us one bit.
Be
careful about standards that other people set for you or as a Christian
recently lamented on Facebook, “Don’t judge me for not believing something the
Bible did not say.” Cultural practices in the Bible are not moral requirements,
funnymentalist insistence aside.
Genesis,
chapter 48
Genesis
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. 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. 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.
Upon
hearing that Jacob was ill Joseph took his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to see
him. Jacob was apparently pretty out of it as he had to be told they were
there. He then relates the blessing God bestowed on him through his father
Isaac and his grandfather Abraham.
Genesis
28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above
it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac:
the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the
earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the
north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of
the earth be blessed. 15 And, behold, I
am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will
bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done
that which I have spoken to thee of.
Remember
that it was Abraham who would be told that Canaan was to be an everlasting
possession.
Genesis
17:7 ¶ And I will establish my covenant
between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an
everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for
an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Jacob
states that Joseph’s sons are just as much a part of this blessing as are
Joseph’s brothers, Jacob’s own sons Reuben and Simeon. He established them as
tribes included in the inheritance by saying that their descendants would be
named after them. Then, Jacob mentions his beloved Rachel and where she was
buried. It has been many, many years but the pain is still there as it is with
many of us who have lost a loved one decades in the past.
Genesis
35:16 ¶ And they journeyed from Bethel;
and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and
she had hard labour. 17 And it came to
pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not;
thou shalt have this son also. 18 And it
came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his
name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. 19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to
Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. 20 And
Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto
this day.
Genesis
48:8 ¶ 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
Many
times questions are asked in the Bible in a sort of rhetorical way. The
understanding is that the person asking the question knows the answer but the
requirement for an answer confirms a greater principle. For instance, in
Genesis we know that God knows everything so this question becomes a
requirement for someone to admit to something.
Genesis
3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD
God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 ¶ And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said
unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he
said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked;
and I hid myself.
Jacob
is blind, or nearly so, as a consequence of age. As part of the judgment we in
this world are enduring, old age leads to many physical failings on the part of
even the noblest and upright of God’s men and women of destiny.
1Kings
14:4 And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and
arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could
not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
Also
read the metaphorical speech regarding old age that Solomon gives in
Ecclesiastes
12.
1
¶ Remember now thy Creator in the days
of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou
shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 2
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened,
nor the clouds return after the rain: 3
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong
men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be
darkened, 4 And the doors shall be
shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise
up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought
low; 5 Also when they shall be afraid of
that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall
flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because
man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the
golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel
broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the
dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who
gave it.
Joseph
acknowledged that God had given him his sons and then Jacob said he wanted to
bless them. Jacob expresses his joy and satisfaction that he never thought to
see Joseph’s face again and yet now he has not only gotten to see Joseph’s face
but also his children. One of the laments of we parents who have lost a child
to death is that we will not only never see their face again in our earthly
life but we will not see the children they might have had. It is an enduring
pain and grief for some.
Joseph
is holding his boys close and presents them to his father to be blessed and
bows himself to the ground, this second greatest man in the world’s greatest
superpower acknowledging the authority of his sheepherding father. It is a
lesson we should learn as many of those reading this have risen to a higher
social, economic, or political strata than their father but still honor him in
respect. Position often has nothing to do with worthiness for respect.
Joseph
presented the children in a specific order, so that Manasseh, the eldest, would
receive the right hand of blessing from his grandfather, Jacob. Jacob crosses
his hands and places his right hand, instead, on Ephraim’s head, and blessed
Joseph. He mentions the Angel,
capital A, as protecting him and asks that Angel for a blessing on the children
and asks that they be included in his posterity and in the inheritance promised
to his descendants. We’ve already seen what the word angel refers to but let’s review as Roman and Persian mythology
have dominated a significant part of Christian history and have polluted our
thinking ability and colored the lenses through which we view the Bible’s clear
statements.
Remember,
an angel is a presence, an appearance of something that is somewhere else,
representing that person or thing but with power and ability that would prevent
us from distinguishing the difference.
Isaiah
63:9 In all their affliction he was
afflicted, and the angel of his presence
saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and
carried them all the days of old.
Matthew
18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one
of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Acts
12:15 And they said unto her, Thou art
mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.
Revelation
1:20 The mystery of the seven stars
which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven
churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven
churches.
Christ
is the appearance of God; the angel of the Lord, His presence. I want to repeat
the definition of an angel in Isaiah 63:9.
Isaiah
63:9 In all their affliction he was
afflicted, and the angel of his presence
saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and
carried them all the days of old.
Galatians
4:14 And my temptation which was in my
flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
(Even can link two things that are the
same such as I, even I, in Genesis
6:17 and over a dozen other verses.)
Who
led the Hebrews out of Egypt.
Judges
2:1 ¶ And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and
have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I
will never break my covenant with you.
You
can imagine the angel of the LORD (LORD
with all letters capitalized is Jehovah) or the angel of God as this Angel.
Joseph
tried to remove his father’s hands, which Jacob had placed very deliberately
where they were in full understanding of what he intended, onto the proper
child in the order that he thought they should be placed. Jacob insisted,
though, that Ephraim the younger would be greater than the elder. This is not
the first time we have seen this, is it? Jacob himself was the younger child
who supplanted the elder. But, this isn’t trickery or deception here. This
blessing is from the beginning done wittingly.
The
great leader to come, Joshua, a type of Christ in His Second Coming to conquer
and rule, came out of Ephraim.
Numbers
13:8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the
son of Nun… 16 These are the names of the men which Moses
sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
Jehoshua
is a different spelling of the name Joshua.
Ephraim
has its issues as a tribe which shall come out in the narrative as you read.
Jacob admits he is dying but tells them they will see the land, meaning their
descendants will, that was promised to them. Again, verse 22 is also a prophecy
of time to come.
Genesis
15:16 But in the fourth generation they
shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
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