King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 9 notes
1And 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.
2And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4And 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.
Oh, so that is how information and knowledge is passed on.
From generation to generation the mantle remained.
5And 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.
Right here Joseph has the right of the 1st born, a double portion. Instead of he representing himself, a single tribe, he represented 2.
So whiles Esau lost the 1st born through trading it, Joseph gained the first born right through excellence; he demonstrated leadership and the traits of the 1st born.
Also it almost looks like Jacob wanted to reward his favourite wife since she had only 2 children, so he gave Joseph 2 slots instead of one. Because right after, he speaks of Rachael.
Ah oo... I now get it... Jacob made Joseph the first born and so gave him two portions in the blessings and of course consequently in the sharing of the land of Canaan.
In doing this he made Ephraim and Manasseh in place of Reuben and Simeon.
Again he swapped Manasseh’s place with Ephraim, so Ephraim became the 1st born and Manasseh the 2nd born.
Such powers the patriarch had and understood.
It seems also that from his encounters with God almighty and the promise of him becoming a multitude of nations, he knew each son of his would represent a unique tribe... why else would he switch places of the first born if they were not going to be significant nations individually?
So he blessed and gave the son whom he loved from his wife whom he loved the rights of the first born, just as he had gotten those same rights from his father.
6And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7And 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 Beth-lehem.
8And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?
9And 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.
10Now 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.
Joseph was now about 54 years and his young men in their twenties.
And here they witnessed how blessing and mantles are transferred from generation to generation.
It was a very spiritual moment. And this indeed is the reason we give birth — to pass inheritance across generations and to ensure that your name and legacy remains strong 💪 from generation to generation.
He could not see, like his father Isaac, and kissed, embraced and smelled them like when he was taking the blessings from Isaac his father.
There was no deception here though...
But wait, there was — he swapped places... the first for the last.
11And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
12And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Before his father, in obedience and honour.
This was his father whom he played with and whom he was favorite of, but at this moment his father was a prophet and in his spiritual elements.
Joseph recognized the moment and bowed down. Ready to be blessed.
13And 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.
14And 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.
15And 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,
16The 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.
17And 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.
18And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
Spiritual moments cannot be missed. You cannot assume it doesn’t matter. You must needs be present, and things must needs be done in a certain way.
Whelp
19And 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.
Oh what a word, we all want to be great.
He also shall be great.
20And 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.
21And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22Moreover 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.
Interesting, even before they returned to Canaan and to share the land, Jacob prophetically and in faith gave Joseph additional land and property, and specified which portion was for Joseph for his birthright.
These men were indeed men of faith who died not having duly inherited the promise but saw it a far way off.