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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