GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 48

GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 48 (Gen 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.

“After these things” refers to the arrangement of the funeral. At the close of Jacob’s life he was handling the last vital things, and after that the next stage was to bestow upon Joseph a special blessing through his two sons, before he called all of his sons in for their final blessing, then he would die. He seemed to know that there was not much time left and he had barely enough strength left to go through with it. That was somewhat different from his father, Isaac who thought he was going to die many years before he did.

(Gen 48:2) And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

It was Jacob who heard that Joseph was coming but it was Israel, the conqueror who strengthened himself upon his bed. It was the spiritual man who recognized the need to bestow the last blessings upon his family, and Jacob who lived in the carnal world. So in our own dual nature, we still contend with the fleshly nature, while nourishing our spiritual man.

(Gen 48:3) And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, El-Shaddai appeared to him twice at Luz, or Bethel, once when departing and once when he returned. The blessing from God Himself would far outweigh any other given by man.

God had promised him two things, a numerous issue, and Canaan for an inheritance (Gen_48:4); and Joseph's sons, pursuant hereunto, should each of them multiply into a tribe, and each of them have a distinct lot in Canaan, equal with Jacob's own sons.

(Matthew Henry)

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(Gen 48:4) 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.

God promised Jacob that he would make his life abundantly productive. He promised that they would increase their number greatly and then referred to the land. This land was God’s sanctuary where the drama of redemption was to be played out. God gave that to Abraham in an everlasting covenant. If everlasting does not mean forever then there will come a day that ceases to be. And if that is true with this covenant how can we expect any better with the ones given to us today? If words mean what they say then the covenant with Abraham is still in effect as well as the one God has given us.

(Gen 48:5) 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.

Jacob claimed these two sons as his own so that it would ensure Joseph being the one who obtained the benefits of the birthright.

Nowhere did he tell Joseph or anyone else that he would receive the birthright, but by doing adopting Joseph's two sons he guaranteed that Joseph would have it. He would have the double portion and would produce two tribes for Israel instead of just one. He did not get the seed part of the blessing, which would go to Judah.

(Gen 48:6) And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

Any children Joseph may have had after this would not be reckoned as separate children forming new tribes but would have to come under the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. It is not known whether or not Joseph had any more and we could never know since they were not in the lineage that would be recorded in the Bible. Scripture only recorded the elements important for the story of redemption.

(Gen 48:7) 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.

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The words “And as for me” convey a great depth of meaning that I do not know how exactly to express. In the Hebrew it is simply, “I” when I came…” but in English they convey such things as Joshua said when it came time for his last words to Israel, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” They are used as “Concerning myself,” “For my part.” So when tied to the transaction which had just been made in forming two tribes of Joseph, they could convey the idea of “this I am doing for my benefit,” which would include for Rachel’s benefit who died before she could see the blessing upon her seed. This statement in Gen_48:7 is connected vitally to Gen_48:5.

The words, “died by me” have been variously interpreted as shown in the Pulpit Commentary: “not for me in the sense of sharing with me my toils and perils, and so bringing on herself the deadly travail which cut her off (Lunge), which is too subtle and metaphysical in its refinement; but either upon me, i.e. as an heavy affliction falling on me (Rosenmüller, Gesenius, Murphy, et alii); or at my side, i.e. near me (Keil, Wordsworth, 'Speaker's Commentary'); or perhaps to me, meaning, This happened to me, or, I saw Rachel die (Kalisch); or possibly with a touch of tender emotion, Rachel to me, i.e. my Rachel died (Tayler Lewis) (Pulpit Commentary) He records Rachel’s burial but not Leah’s. Yet he buried Leah at Machpelah, where he would be buried. We do not know when.

(Gen 48:8) And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?

Jacob was almost blind, and though he had just given such a great blessing to these two he did not know that they were the ones for he did not discern them due to his failing eyesight. At the same time, it must be remembered that when he bestowed the blessings upon these two shortly before this, it was really upon Joseph himself they Jacob was conferring the blessing.

(Gen 48:9) 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.

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When it came time to bless all his sons in the next chapter he would bless Joseph himself, but here, separate from the rest he divided Joseph’s blessing in two portions, placing the younger above the older. [and he said, bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them] not in a common way, barely wishing them prosperity and happiness, but as a patriarch and prophet, under the influence and inspiration of the Spirit of God, declaring what would befall them, and what blessings they should be partakers of, in time to come. (Gill) (Gen 48:10) 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.

Who these sons were would bring a multitude of memories back to Jacob. His mind went back even before he met Rachel, when he was the supplanter and obtained the birthright and blessing from Esau, for now he would bless them without interference as he had when it came time to obtain a blessing from his father. They would also be in the Patriarchal position of younger over the older. They were of Rachel, which made them special and guarantee for them a double portion of the birthright, since all the birthright could not go to Joseph. And then Joseph having been lost to him for a time and finally finding that he was here in Egypt.

(Gen 48:11) And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

From the day he saw the bloody coat until he found that Joseph was in Egypt were mournful days for Jacob. He had blamed himself for sending him out alone. He had gone over in his mind again and again the hopes he had for this favorite son and the love he had for his mother. Those were tragic years and he never expected to see Joseph again. He did not know that God was using Joseph to prepare them to become a great nation. Yet all that passed, and here Jacob was looking not only at Joseph, but here were the sons of Joseph before his face. What a wonderful way to end life, with all restored that was lost and dying in peace and prosperity.

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(Gen 48:12) And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

Bringing them from between his knees sounds like little children, so this must just be a way of speaking for they were around eighteen years of age, grown boys nearly as large as their father. He honored his father by bowing himself before him, though in rank he was higher. To Jacob the superior rank of Joseph was of little significance, he was his favorite son.

(Gen 48:13) 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.

Joseph considered this blessing in human terms and was not looking at it from the standpoint of the old patriarchal blessing that had been handed down from Abraham. For in that blessing the younger was always placed over the older. So Joseph was making sure that Manasseh would be under Jacob’s right hand, the hand of blessing.

(Gen 48:14) 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.

He crossed his hands deliberately so that he would give the greater blessing to Ephraim the younger. This was not just for his own sake, but he knew that there was a God ordained plan that required this, just like he knew when it came time to bury Leah that it was God ordained that she must be buried in Machpelah by him.

Symbol of the cross when he crossed his arms.

YOUNGER BLESSED ABOVE THE OLDER [Gen_48:14] J. Vernon McGee Ephraim is to become the leader above Manasseh. Later on we will see that the tribe of Manasseh marched under the banner of the tribe of Ephraim in the wilderness march, as described in Numbers.

Joshua came out of the tribe of Ephraim, by the way, and there were GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 48—PAGE 5

many great men from that tribe. It became the tribe with priority— there is no question about that.

Do you see what happened here? Even though Jacob couldn’t see too well, he could tell what Joseph was doing. Joseph was pushing the older son to the position of Jacob’s right hand and the younger son toward the left hand. So what did old Jacob do? Well, he just switched hands. He crossed his hands and put his right hand on the younger son.

Why did he do this? There is no doubt that he had tender affection for both boys. They were the sons of his favorite son Joseph. He knowingly gives the blessing to the younger, and I think one reason may have been that he was the younger and he had received the blessing. So he passes the blessing on to the younger son here.

This is an interesting principle that runs all the way through the Scriptures. For instance, in the choice of David, David was the youngest of the sons of Jesse. Why did God choose him? God is illustrating for you and me a great spiritual truth. God does not accept primogeniture—that is, natural birth. Never will He accept it. There must be the new birth. Therefore, God does not pay attention to our customs. We say that the oldest boy has the responsibility in a family.

Well, the oldest boy is not the one whom God always chooses. That is, God does not choose the natural man—He chooses no man because of his natural ability. How we need to learn this truth in our day! Now don’t misunderstand me. God can use talent, but it must be dedicated to Him! If it took talent alone to bring about revival, we would have had revival in California years ago. We have Christian talent all around, but we don’t have revival. Why not? Because the talent is not dedicated to God. I tell you, my friend, it must be yielded to Him to be used of Him. And old Jacob crossed his hands as he laid them on the heads of his grandsons so that he gave the younger boy the priority.

(Gen 48:15) 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, Notice that this blessing was the blessing of Joseph though passed on to his children. This in addition to the one in the next chapter, for there it would be to Joseph as a son, and here it was to the two sons of Joseph in order to separate them in Israel. He began with bestowing

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the blessing of Abraham himself upon them. He recognized in all of this that God had fed him all his life and thus all these events were the work of His hands.

(Gen 48:16) 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.

He changed his address from Elohim to the Angel of the Lord which would be the same, and said that it was this God which named him Israel, and that name would be passed on to them. He had won that name through the memorable wrestling match when he returned to the land of promise. It was still the name attached to his descendants, and is today.

(Gen 48:17) 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.

Joseph had grown accustomed to the pomp and circumstance of Egypt and their protocol was very important for a man in his role, but this was human prestige and Jacob was interested in spiritual prestige. Joseph failed to catch it until Jacob insisted. Very likely his mind then went back to his knowledge of his father being favored over Esau.

(Gen 48:18) And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

Joseph had no idea that his father was deliberately blessing Ephraim above Manasseh. It appeared to him a merely accidental misplacing of his hands. He thought that the old man was unable to discern what he was doing.

Joseph must have thought that since he was blind, he did not know where his hands were going. But he knew perfectly well, and it was all on purpose, and for an eternal design.

(Gen 48:19) 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

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younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

He now revealed to Joseph that it was for an eternal purpose. These were not just sons of a man. These were sons ordained by an eternal God to fulfill a part of His great drama of redemption. This could not be done casually, nor can we make a mistake here for what is done today will have everlasting consequences. He must have thought back at the moment of his own mother who had revealed this same thing with him and Esau.

(Gen 48:20) 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.

The Israelites still use this custom. When they bless a son they say, “The Lord make you as Ephraim and Manasseh.” And if it is a girl they say, “The Lord make you as Sarah and Rebekah.” It is amazing to see the power of tradition. Often traditional customs linger long after the purpose for them has ceased to be significant.

(Gen 48:21) And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.

His father thought he was dying and blessed Jacob, but now Jacob knows he is dying and will not have many years left as Isaac had, so he blessed them now, knowing that the opportunity would soon be past. His eye now turned to Abraham’s covenant and reminded them that they would not be in Egypt forever. There was a land that he called here the land of your fathers, yet it was more than that, it was the land of God. (Gen 48:22) 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.

Jacob said, “I have given you one shek-em [the place on the neck between the shoulders where the burden is carried] above your brethren.” It appears he was speaking of the city of Shechem which were taken by Simeon and Levi. But the many problems with him

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speaking of the past event when he promised this makes most commentaries refer this to the future when Israel would conquer the land and this portion would be given to Ephraim. A problem remains however because this does not give any extra to Ephraim since this is included already.

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