Pass It On - Genesis 48:1-22

[0:00] Genesis 48, today's message, the study title I guess you could call it, is Pass It On. We're going to see as Jacob now begins to pass on what God has given him. Specifically here in chapter 48, it's with Joseph and his, Joseph's two sons, and then the next chapter in 49, it will be as he brings all of his sons in and begins to pass on what God has given him to them.

[0:24] And then 50 will wrap up where we leave the state of Israel, the nation of Israel, the people of God, where we leave them at the end of Genesis as we begin into Exodus. But today, if you remember last week, Genesis 47, that Jacob had come into the land.

[0:41] He'd finally come into the land. The son had brought him into the land. They began to dwell in the land. And then at the end of the chapter, Jacob, after 17 years of living in Egypt, he's coming to a point where he's like, I'm going to die. My time is coming soon.

[0:55] If you remember his father, Isaac, he thought he was going to die long before he actually died. Jacob seems to have some of this like hypochondriac kind of mentality. He's like, it's time for me to die. I must die.

[1:09] If you remember at the end of Genesis 47 and verse 31, he then says to Joseph, he brings his son in and he says, swear unto me. And he swear unto him.

[1:20] And then he bowed himself upon the bed. He said, swear unto me that you will not leave my body here in Egypt, but that you will take it up back into the promised land. Give me a promise that abides beyond death. And Joseph, very much our shadow of Christ, our Old Testament type of Christ, that picture we see where he makes a promise based upon his word and his character that lasts beyond death. He says, I won't leave you in this place. I'll take you up.

[1:50] John chapter one, verses 12 through 13 says, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

[2:05] And as we see Jacob here passing on what God has given him, he's passing it on to those of the same blood. He's passing it on by inheritance. He's passing it on to his family. And the same way we come into the family of God, we come in through birth.

[2:18] We talked about that last week. We come in through a new birth, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but God. This is God's desire and this is God's will. It is God is not willing that any should perish.

[2:30] And so we come not by our own strength, but there is our part, right? We have to receive. We have to re-believe. We have to take part in that.

[2:42] And now as we begin chapter one, I'm not going to go through the, we'll go through the outline kind of as we hit it. So chapter 47, not chapter one, chapter 48, I'm on the wrong page.

[2:56] Verses one through seven is passing on God's word. As Jacob begins to pass on, the first thing he's going to pass on, he's going to pass on God's word. We pick up in verse one of chapter 48. And it came to pass after these things.

[3:08] So there's a good deal of time there. They want us to know this isn't like instantaneously after chapter 47, where Jacob's like, I'm going to die. Well, there's a little bit of time. And it came to pass after these things that one told Joseph, behold, your father is sick.

[3:22] And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And then we're going to see in verse two, and one told Jacob and said, behold, your son Joseph comes unto you. And we know in scripture when we see, just as we see a type of Christ, the type of the son of God in a person like Joseph, when we see in scripture an unnamed messenger to God's people, we know that's a type of the Holy Spirit.

[3:46] And here this unnamed messenger comes and speaks to Joseph and says, hey, I want you to be ready. I want you to be prepared because your father's going to die. And then he goes to Jacob and says, I want you to be ready.

[3:58] And I want you to be prepared because your son is coming unto you. And then what do we see here? Joseph brings his two sons. Now we're going to find out that Jacob is going to do something very uncharacteristic in the way he's going to bless Joseph's sons.

[4:14] But I don't think at this moment, Joseph is bringing his sons like, hey guys, I think grandpa's going. Let's get over there so we can be first in line for the inheritance. I don't think he's thinking that at all. I don't think Jacob right now, because he's not expecting Joseph to come.

[4:28] An unnamed messenger says, hey, Jacob, by the way, your son is coming. I don't think he's thinking, oh good, I got this plan on how to bless him. I don't think at all. We need to be ready and prepared to receive God's heritage.

[4:41] I mean, God's heritage. And we also need to be ready to pass it on. So the question we want to ask as we start this message and go through this section of scripture, are we prepared to receive and then to pass on the heritage that God has for us?

[4:55] Neither Jacob nor Joseph were sitting around thinking, okay, this is the very next thing I have to do. I think it was in Jacob's heart for sure, as he's getting near the end. Lord, what do you want me to do?

[5:05] God, you've been with me for 70 years, over 70 years since you made that promise. What's next? But I love how Joseph brings his two sons with him. He's like, come on, boys.

[5:17] Man, grandpa's sick. Let's go comfort him. Let's go be with him. In Deuteronomy chapter six, Moses, you know, writing God's law, God speaks to Moses to pass this information onto the children of Israel, beginning in verse five.

[5:31] It says, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in your heart. And you shall teach them diligently unto your children.

[5:43] And she'll talk of them when you sit in that house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. God never intended a generation gap. God never intended for there to be, well, then this generation and then this generation just kind of figures it out and starts all over again.

[5:58] It's so beautiful to see this picture of here is Jacob as he's going to be dying and passing this on. Joseph coming, but bringing his sons. It's like, hey, we're all part of this. God is a heritage he's going to pass on.

[6:09] But it's meant to be in a context of not just like, I got to figure this out on my own. I don't know what I'm doing. But man, God brings the older and the younger along. Those are older in their faith, older in life to be like, hey, I wouldn't do it that way.

[6:22] Well, why not? Because I tried that and it didn't work out. Right? God brings the younger along to say, hey, there's still work to be done. Every season of life is a season of fruitfulness.

[6:33] God never intends this generation gap. And it's beautiful to see the way Joseph brings his sons with him. And one told Jacob, as we saw in verse two, and said, behold, your son Joseph comes unto you and Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed.

[6:48] He drew strength as the son drew near. He drew strength from the presence of the son. And we have a commentary on this event that's taking place here in scripture in the New Testament.

[6:59] The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible. It's the Bible. The Bible always comment on itself. We don't have to go outside the Bible to find out what the Bible says. Right? We form our theology and our belief system off what the Bible says.

[7:13] We let the Bible inform that. We don't come to the Bible to validate a belief system and a theology. We let God's word decide for us what it is. But in Hebrews, in the hall of faith, Jacob's listed there.

[7:27] He's listed a couple different times. But one time, particularly just for something he did. And it's right now. What's happening here in Genesis 48. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, I like the King James, when he was a dying, by faith, when Jacob was a dying, must have been Southern, he blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

[7:49] Well, we just read there in verse two that he said, okay, Joseph is coming. And he strengthened himself and sat upon the bed. He kind of pulls himself up and he's like, man, I'm not going to receive my son lying down. And he gets in the hall of faith for that.

[8:02] Something so small, something so meaningless, he gets in the hall of faith. Never discount the smallest acts of faith that God has you do. All of his lifelong, all of the things he's done.

[8:12] And what does he get put in the hall of faith for? He sat up on his bed and faithfully passed on to his grandsons and his sons what God had for him. Never discount the smallest act of faith.

[8:26] In Matthew 17, verse 20, Jesus speaking to his disciples said, truly I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

[8:40] Why is nothing impossible unto them? Because they have the power of faith? No, because with God all things are possible. And your faith is in someone to whom all things are possible. So it doesn't matter what it is.

[8:50] To God moving a mountain or sitting an old man up in bed, they're all the same. And my faith doesn't need to be any different. It doesn't need to grow and be bigger. My faith is in something already that's awful big, in someone that can move mountains.

[9:05] So if I have faith that big, man, I'm not expecting that mountain to move because of anything I've done. And for Jacob at this moment, the mountain in his life was what God was putting in front of him to do in the lives of his son and his grandsons.

[9:18] But I like, too, how Jacob strengthens himself as Joseph draws near, as his sons coming and his grandsons are coming.

[9:29] There's a family here. There's a relationship here. There's fellowship here. I think how many times I've been strengthened just coming as we're together, as we break bread together, as we hang out, as we talk. I am strengthened by relationships.

[9:45] Reclaiming this word from the world today, empowerment. We all need to be empowered. That's what the world tells us. But relationships are for the purpose of empowerment. Not as the world says. Not like the world says, man, we all need to be empowered to do our own thing.

[9:58] Not at all. But relationships are for the purpose of empowerment. First Thessalonians 5.11, wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also you do.

[10:09] In the body, God designed relationships to give life, to give strength, to empower each other. Ephesians 6.10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.

[10:21] How are we strong in the Lord? It's through our relationship with him and in the power of his might. And then lastly, tucked away in the Old Testament, in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, beginning in verse 9, Solomon would write, Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

[10:38] For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he falls, for he has not another to help him up. Which is kind of pretty basic. If you fall down, you know, who's going to help you up?

[10:50] Well, relationships are there for that purpose. Marriage is there. Friendships are there. How many times have you been lifted up when you've fallen down because of a relationship? So Jacob strengthens himself.

[11:03] Yes, this is an act of faith, but man, it's an act of love, too. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me.

[11:15] Luz is another name for Bethel, which means the house of God. Remember we said that what is Jacob passing on right now? He's going to pass on God's word. He's going to tell him how God appeared to him.

[11:27] He's going to pass that on. We're going to find out later, I think it's in verse 10, that he can't see very well. So right now he's talking to Joseph, and later he's going to be like, oh, your sons are here, too?

[11:39] And I don't think he's having a senior moment when that happens. I don't think he realizes they're there right now. We're going to find out he's mostly blind. But he knows Joseph is there. And he begins to speak to him, and he says, God Almighty, that's the word in Hebrew, El Shaddai, the Almighty God, the one to whom nothing is impossible, to whom if we put our faith in, all things are possible.

[11:59] God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz, or Bethel, in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me. Remember what he said to Pharaoh last week when Pharaoh said, whoa, you are old. How old are you?

[12:10] And he's like, oh, evil and few have been the years of my pilgrimage. It's been an evil, tough life. But when he looks back, all he sees is blessing. He's looking back over his life now, and he's got Joseph there, and he says, man, God blessed me.

[12:24] At the end of my life, as I look back, all I see is blessing. In Psalm 103, the psalmist writes, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name.

[12:36] Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all thine iniquities, who heals all thy diseases, who redeems thy life from destruction, who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercy, who satisfies thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.

[12:56] Bless the Lord, O my soul. Today, we can each look back over our life, and what do you see? Wow, that was a hard time in life. Man, but yeah, did God get you through it?

[13:06] Well, you're here. Has God healed all your diseases? Are any of you here dead? I don't think so. God has blessed us. We look back, and we just see blessing. And here is Jacob, passing this on now to his son.

[13:19] And he begins to speak God's word to him, to rehearse what God has spoken to him. And he said unto me, this is God speaking unto Jacob at that time in Bethel, when he had set up that pillar after God had appeared to him in a dream as he's running away from home 70-some years ago.

[13:34] God said unto me, behold, I'll make you fruitful, and I will multiply you. And I will make of you a multitude of people. And I will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.

[13:46] This is over 70 years ago God spoke this to Jacob. And he's just recalling it. He's not pulling out his Bible. Well, let me turn to that one verse and tell you what this has been in his heart for over 70 years.

[13:59] But look at what God's word, God's blessing is dependent upon. He said, God spoke to me. God said to me. God's blessing is dependent upon God's word.

[14:10] And God's word to Jacob was three things. It was fruitful. He said, I'll make you fruitful and multiply you in a multitude of people. It was definite. Look how many times he says, I will. I will make you fruitful.

[14:21] I will make you a multitude and will give you this land. And God's word to Jacob was enduring. It wasn't just for Jacob's lifetime. This will endure for an everlasting possession for your people.

[14:33] God's word to Jacob was fruitful. It was definite and it was enduring. What is Jacob's response to God's word? This word that's been in his heart for over 70 years. Well, he received it. He received it as this is what God spoke to me and it's for me.

[14:46] He remembered it. He's remembering God's word for over 70 years. And then he's passing it on. He's rehearsing it, receiving it, remembering it, and rehearsing it to the next generation. And now Jacob's going to speak something very uncharacteristic here, which is why I think, you know, we asked that question in the beginning.

[15:04] Are we ready to receive God's heritage for us? What is a heritage? Well, it's something that can be passed on. Usually something that has to do with an inheritance, something of value being passed on. And are we ready to receive it?

[15:16] Are we ready to pass it on? And this is where I think Jacob was. His heart was in tune to what God was doing. Because in verse 5, he says, And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt, before I came unto thee in Egypt, are mine.

[15:32] As Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Remember, Joseph had two sons, Manasseh the firstborn, which meant forgetting, that God had caused him to forget the hardship of his father's house.

[15:44] And then Ephraim, meaning fruitful, or that God will add. Now Jacob's going to bless these two sons. He's going to do something uncharacteristic. He's going to bless the younger above the elder. And right here, he puts Ephraim's name first, instead of Manasseh.

[15:59] He says, I'm going to claim them as my own, as Reuben and Simeon. So Joseph's sons essentially are being adopted by Joseph's dad. He's saying, these are going to be my two sons, as Reuben and Simeon.

[16:10] Reuben and Simeon, the first two. Reuben, oh, what a Reuben. All the mistakes he made, all the times he blew it. Simeon, the cruelty that was in that man.

[16:22] I don't know if Jacob's looking at this as replacing them, or like, these are your two boys, Joseph. Man, they got the heart I wish Reuben and Simeon had. They have the heart that I wish my sons had.

[16:34] And he's bringing them now in. What does that make Joseph? Well, Joseph not only is now a father to these sons and a son to Jacob, but now he's a brother.

[16:48] It's like he's a father, a son, and a brother. Interesting. And thy issue, which thou begets after them, in verse 6, shall be yours. So any other kids you have, Joseph, those are yours, and she'll be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

[17:02] But these two are mine. 3 John 1, verse 4, John writes, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

[17:14] You think Joseph was like, are you serious? You're not taking my sons. They're mine. I think he was so blessed. Like, you would bring my sons into your inheritance. You would bring them into this blessing.

[17:25] For those of us who have children, and those of us who may someday have children, are we okay giving up our children to the father? Are we okay when the father says, hey, that one is now mine.

[17:39] It's not yours anymore. It's mine. It's going to be called by my name. Are we okay giving up our children to the father? Men, I have no greater joy than to see my children walk in truth. And I won't embarrass them, so I'll leave it there.

[17:52] And as for me, when I came from Paddan, 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.

[18:04] And the same as Bethlehem. This is a really strange verse tucked in here. He's talking about, Joseph, your sons are going to be mine. They're going to be part of my inheritance. And then it seems like he just has a senior moment and just kind of starts talking about the past.

[18:17] But I don't think it is. I think what he's saying here is, I didn't have an opportunity to have any other children by Rachel. She died.

[18:28] Joseph, I have you, and I have Benjamin. Oh, I wished I could have other children. And these two sons, I'm taking them as if they were Rachel's, as if they belong to her. And I love some of the wording in here.

[18:40] Paddan means field. Rachel, if you remember, her name means you, like a female sheep. You know, when she was born, her parents looked at her and said, oh, she's like a little lamb. And then Ephrath, which is also Bethlehem.

[18:52] But Ephrath means fruitful, right? It's the root of Ephraim. Ephrath, fruitful. And Bethlehem, the house of bread. And so as Jacob's remembering, he's getting close to his death.

[19:03] He's remembering when he laid Rachel to rest. But he's remembering that, you know, that was near Bethlehem. That was in a fruitful place. And God can take the hardest moments in our lives and turn them into fertile fields of fruitfulness.

[19:17] He could take a moment where Jacob thought, the love of my life is gone. I'll never have more children by her. And I got like a bazillion other kids over here through Leah and the concubines.

[19:30] But Rachel, she's been taken from me. God can take the hardest moments in life and turn them into fertile fields of fruitfulness. And so we saw passing on God's word.

[19:41] And now we're going to see verses 8 through 12 where Jacob will pass on faithfulness. He's passed on God's word. And now he's like, I want to pass on to you. Now God's faithfulness. And Israel beheld Joseph's sons and said, who are these?

[19:54] Again, I don't think he's having a senior moment, right? His eyes are dim, and I don't think he realized they were there. He's like, who are these? Oh, it just so happened Joseph brought his sons. You see how God's bringing all this together.

[20:06] I also think this moment in Jacob's heart and mind, he's probably thinking back 70-some years. In Genesis 27, when Isaac thought he was going to die and pass on, he was going to give the blessing to Esau.

[20:21] But Jacob has grown up his whole life hearing from his mother, the elder shall serve the younger. Because God promised me when you were in the womb, and I didn't know I was having twins, and I went and prayed and said, what's going on with me?

[20:33] And the Lord spoke to me and said, hey, there are two nations in your womb, but the elder will serve the younger. And I think Joseph, Jacob is thinking back, back to when his father was going to bless Esau.

[20:46] And Jacob decided to try and get that blessing from Esau. And if you remember, he came in before Isaac, and it says, Isaac's eyes were dim.

[20:58] And Isaac said, who are you, my son? And Jacob, covered in goat hair and wearing Esau's sweaty clothes, was like, it's me, Esau. He says, here am I. It's your son.

[21:08] And now Joseph, bringing his two sons, and as Jacob asks him and says, who are these? Who are these? Joseph. And Joseph said unto his father, they are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.

[21:24] And he said, bring them. I pray thee unto me, and I will bless them. You see, God was giving Jacob another chance. He was giving Jacob a chance to do it the right way. Seventy-some years ago, Jacob did it the wrong way, trying to pass on God's blessing, trying to get God's blessing.

[21:39] And now God is giving him a chance, again, with an older and a younger, to pass on God's blessing. As a father, Joseph's job was to bring his sons to the place of God's blessing.

[21:52] As Jacob says, bring them near, my son. Bring them to me, that I may bless them. Joseph has discharged his duty as a father. He has brought his children to the place of blessing. And yet, as an adopted brother, because these are now his brothers, he's also done his duty in bringing them to the father, bringing his sons to a place of blessing and bringing his brothers to the father.

[22:20] In John chapter 14, beginning in verse six, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father, but by me. If you had known me, you should have known my father also.

[22:31] And from henceforth, you know him and have seen him. Just through Jesus, we come to the father. It is through him we come to that place of blessing. And then verse 10 tells us what we've already talked about.

[22:41] Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. So he didn't know the two boys were there. And he brought them near unto him, and he kissed them and embraced them. You see, his natural eyes were dim, but his spiritual eyes were bright.

[22:55] They were shining right now with the vision that God was giving him for this future blessing of his family. And he brought them near, and he kissed them.

[23:08] God's work of redemption in our life is unique. We follow the Lord not because of what we can get from him or get out of him to satisfy ourselves.

[23:20] We follow him because he's worthy, because he's sacrificed on our behalf, and he's paid the price for us to come into relationship with him. But our relationship with him is unique because of redemption.

[23:30] The religions of the world say, you've got to do and earn it. Redemption says it's been paid for you. But redemption doesn't just work forward. It's not like, well, praise God, the past is forgiven and forgotten.

[23:45] I have a good future ahead of me. Redemption works in both directions. When we get to heaven, we're not going to forget our past and be like, oh, remember that? What we're going to find is, in everything of life, we're going to find that God's word is true.

[23:56] Romans 8, 29 exists. All things work together for good to them who love God and are called according to his purpose. We're going to find the worst moments in life, the biggest failures, we're going to see the redemption that was in them.

[24:08] And we're going to glorify God for that. All of eternity, we will see the beauty that God brought from that. But even in this life, redemption is very unique and that the areas of our greatest failures and our greatest trials, God will take them and that he will use them in our lives where all of a sudden are very sensitive to that.

[24:24] They create a sensitivity to that. An example would be, if you've lost someone very close to you, a loved one, and God has helped you work through that and understand that and given you comfort for that, you have a great sensitivity now towards others who have lost someone.

[24:39] 2 Corinthians 1, verse 7, it says, And our hope of you is steadfast, Paul's writing this, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation.

[24:51] God's desire through redemption is the things that we would look at as the biggest failures. I don't even want to think about that. I don't want to remember that. Man, God's grace can work in that where one day we're using that to minister to someone else because God's given us a sensitivity there.

[25:06] And I think for Jacob, there's a big sensitivity to this idea of blessing, of the older, of younger, of what God wants to do in passing on his blessing because Jacob did it so bad. He blew it so bad.

[25:17] But God redeemed that. And now there's a sensitivity. And the eyes of Israel were dim, and he brought them, and he kissed them. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see your face, and lo, God has showed me also your seed.

[25:37] For Jacob, he assumed that the brokenness and distance between him and his son would never be restored. He didn't have any faith for this. He didn't pray about this. This was over.

[25:48] I will never see my son again. He's gone. He's dead. I never thought to see you again. I never thought God could restore this relationship, that he could bring it back. Not only did God restore the relationship between father and son, but that restored relationship, it opened the door for even more sons to come, for Ephraim and Manasseh now.

[26:09] 1 Corinthians 2, verses 9 and 10. But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man and the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

[26:22] But God has revealed them unto us by his spirit. For the spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. I think for Jacob in this moment, God is revealing things by his spirit. And he never would have imagined he would see Joseph and then Joseph's sons.

[26:36] You don't know what God is going to do in that broken relationship. In that area of your life, you don't have any faith left for. But God does. It's not entered into your heart and my heart, but it's entered into God's heart.

[26:48] He has plans that we don't even know of. But he will prepare us for them, just as he did Jacob and Joseph, by his spirit. And now Joseph brings them out from between his knees.

[27:02] Joseph's like, all right, boys, it's my turn. You've hugged dad enough. And he bowed himself with his face to the earth. The son honors the father because of the promise and the blessing that he's spoken into his life.

[27:14] Jacob has passed on God's word to Joseph and his sons. Jacob has passed on God's faithfulness. Where he said, Joseph, I never expected God to do this in my life. He was so faithful.

[27:26] And now he's going to pass on a name. Verses 13 through 18. Jacob will pass on a name. And Joseph took them both. Now he takes Ephraim in his right hand.

[27:38] I'm sorry. Yeah, in his right hand and towards his left hand. And Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand. Okay. So if you were Jacob, if you were Israel, I'm going to take the oldest and I'm going to take him in my left hand, Manasseh, so that he goes towards your right hand.

[27:54] And Ephraim's over here in my right hand to go towards your left hand because the right hand is the hand of blessing. So I want to steer. Dad's blind. Let's make sure you get this right. And so Joseph steers them there.

[28:05] The son is bringing near his adopted brothers for the sake of blessing. He's got a hold of them and he's moving them towards the father in a position of blessing. Isaiah 41, 13 says, For I, the Lord thy God, I will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help you.

[28:21] Isn't that beautiful? The right hand, the right hand of strength. Well, wait a minute. If God's holding my right hand, he has the hand of strength. What right hand is now free to work? It's God's.

[28:32] God's got me by his left hand and his hand is now the one, the hand of strength because he's holding me by mine. And Israel now stretches out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head.

[28:43] So now if I'm Jacob, if I'm Israel and Ephraim's coming at me, I take the hand of blessing and I put it on Ephraim's head. I swap. It was the younger.

[28:54] And the left hand, he puts it now, he reaches and he puts it on Manasseh's head, guiding his hand wittingly or literally means prudent or circumspect. He understands what he's doing. For Manasseh was the firstborn.

[29:06] He has understanding in what he's doing. How does he know to do this? Has he planned this? He's like, man, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna trick Joseph. No, not at all. Again, I think there's a great sensitivity in this moment because of what he's gone through and he wants to do it right.

[29:22] John 3, 8, we're given information about how the spirit of God works in our life. It says the wind blows where it will and you hear the sound thereof, but you can't tell once it comes from where it goes. So is everyone that's born of the spirit.

[29:33] Right? The wind looks like it's blowing that way and it swirls around and looks like it's blowing that way. We don't actually see it swirl. Oh, there it goes. You can't tell. You can just see the effect of it. So is everyone that's born of the spirit.

[29:44] For Joseph, he's watching this and we're gonna find out he is just mortified in this moment. What is going on? But in Jacob's heart, there's a great sensitivity and a great perception of what God is doing.

[29:57] The other thing in scripture, you know, we live in a society right now that's very anti-touch, especially post-COVID. Very anti-touch. Like, oh, hey, huh? It was so awkward during all that.

[30:08] And you'd go to say hi to someone, you know, at work or whatever and they're like, hi. I was like, I don't want your elbow. What am I gonna do with that? And it's just, and even still, you go to shake someone's hand, you're not sure if they're gonna fist bump or what. We're very anti-touch society.

[30:22] But God is very touch. He's very hands-on. In Matthew 19, I think it was big, like, it must have been a bunch of homeschool moms.

[30:35] They're like, come on, we're going on a field trip, kids. Where are we going? Well, there's this preacher on the hillside. We're gonna go see him. And they all wanna then bring their kids to Jesus and they want him to put his hands on them, to bless them and to pray for them.

[30:47] But the disciples rebuke him. They're like, no, no, no, no. He doesn't got time for you. Get out of here. But Jesus said, I'm gonna suffer the little children and forbid them not. Forbid them not to come unto me. For of such is the kingdom of heaven.

[30:59] And he laid his hands on them and he blessed them. He put his hands on them. He didn't have to. He could have just said, no, no, guys, I'll bless them. God bless you. Go your way. But he put his hands on them.

[31:10] He's very hands-on. In 2 Timothy 1, verse 6, Paul says to Timothy, remember, and I put you in remembrance.

[31:22] I tell you to stir up the gift of God that's in you, which is in you by the putting on of my hands, through the laying on of hands. Hands are for blessing. God designed our hands to be a blessing.

[31:33] You know, if God puts someone in your life to pray for, don't you stand there awkwardly? Put your hands on them. Pray for them. Put your hand on their shoulder. Let them know you love them. Hands are for blessing. And I love to see how Jacob just bringing them near to bless them.

[31:49] And now he blesses. But look what he says here in verse 15. And he blessed who? Joseph. Joseph. All who are of the son receive the son's blessing.

[32:03] This is Joseph's blessing. But because Ephraim and Manasseh are of the son, they get to partake in this blessing. 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.

[32:20] The angel which redeemed me. Angel just means messenger or representative. It doesn't mean an actual angel. He's talking about referencing God as that, that messenger. The angel which redeemed me from all evil.

[32:33] Bless the lads. We've said this many times as we've gone through Genesis. Past faithfulness. God's past faithfulness equals future promise because he's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

[32:45] If God's been faithful in the past, he'll be just as faithful in the future. He's not going to change. Hebrews 13.8 says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.

[32:57] And I love in Jeremiah 31. So applicable. Thus says the Lord, which gives the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar.

[33:10] The Lord of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.

[33:21] The world today hates Israel. They want him to cease from being a nation. They will never cease from being a nation. If the sun and the moon and the stars cease, and if the waves cease, you know, there's always, there's never been a time that like all the seas are calm.

[33:34] There's always waves. I don't think of that as an ordinance of God, but it is. If any of those things end, then you can say, oh, Israel stopped from being a nation. But they won't. They won't. And we have God's past faithfulness as a promise for his future faithfulness in our lives.

[33:52] As he says here to these boys, he says, the God of Abraham, which fed me all my life long, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. Blessing comes by way of redemption.

[34:04] And let my name be named on them in the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. This messenger, this angel, this representative who brought redemption, may he be a blessing.

[34:21] You see, there's no evil that is not touched by redemption. There's no evil that redemption can't touch and redeem. Jacob has lived through a whole lot of his own troubles that he's made and that other people have brought in his life.

[34:36] And God has been faithful through all of that. And also, we bear the name of Christ for the same reason Ephraim and Manasseh do. Jacob says, hey, they're going to have my name because I've adopted them.

[34:49] We bear that name through relationship and adoption. But Isaiah 44, verse 21, speaking of the fact that blessing comes by way of redemption. Remember these, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant.

[35:03] I have formed thee, thou art my servant. O Israel, thou shall not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins. Turn unto me, for I have redeemed thee.

[35:17] Blessing comes by way of redemption. The blessing that Jacob has to pass on to his sons isn't something he's making up on his own. It was God's word spoken to him, God's blessing giving to him, and God's redemption.

[35:33] 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.

[35:46] Joseph, we never see Joseph, we're never given an example of Joseph's sin. This is very much the greatest picture of Joseph's humanity that we see in scripture. He handles being sold into slavery really well.

[35:59] He handles being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife really well. And here we see Joseph's humanity. He's a type of Christ, but he's not Christ. He's human like the rest of us. Joseph was displeased because God's blessing here is not living up to his expectation.

[36:16] He had personal expectations of how God's blessing should work and is not living up to that. And he's very displeased by this. Displeased means it's evil in his eyes. He is seeing through natural eyes and natural perception what Jacob is seeing through spiritual eyes and spiritual perception.

[36:31] Natural perception is always at odds with spiritual perception. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Mass is the firstborn.

[36:43] Put thy right hand upon his head. Natural perception also puts us at odds with the father's will. 2 Peter chapter 3, we are told that in the days we're living in, natural perception will be a problem in the church.

[36:58] This is speaking of people in the church. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, their own desire, their own perception, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?

[37:10] Well, that's not the world. The world doesn't care about his coming and they don't know about his coming. This is talking about those who believe he's coming. This is the church. There will be those that will say, Where is the promise of his coming?

[37:20] For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. Natural perception. This isn't, Are you serious? The heavens are going to be rolled back as a scroll. Jesus is going to come and bodily take his church.

[37:34] That doesn't fit with my expectations. That doesn't fit with natural perception because they are walking after their own lusts. This is not about salvation. This is not about those in or out of Christ.

[37:44] It is their walk. Their walk is after their own desires instead of after the things of the Lord. And Jacob, having passed on God's word and passed on faithfulness, passing on a name, he will now pass on blessing in these next two verses.

[38:00] His father refused, refused to have his hand lifted and moved. He's like, I know it, my son. I know it. I love how he says it twice. He says, I know who it is. You don't understand, Joseph.

[38:11] I know this. I've been there. I have done this before. I did it wrong and I'm going to do it right this time. I know it, my son. I know it. He also shall become a people, Manasseh, and he shall also be great.

[38:24] But truly his younger brother shall be greater than he and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. So when they go into the promised land and the land is divided among the 12 tribes, if you remember, half the tribe of Manasseh will stay on the east side of the Jordan.

[38:39] And then the other half will go on to the west side. Manasseh covers a huge land mass, large tribe. You say, well, wait a minute. How shall Ephraim be greater than Manasseh is?

[38:51] Because in Ephraim, if you look, it's down near, to give you context of where we are, it's down near Jerusalem. There you see the Dead Sea. Within Ephraim was both Bethel and Shiloh, two places the tabernacle dwell.

[39:03] Bethel, the house of God. Shiloh, the place where the people would go back to to meet with God. Manasseh may have been bigger, but Ephraim was greater because of the presence of God in their midst.

[39:15] See, spiritual perception perceives what is true, not necessarily what is expected. It was expected that Manasseh should be the one who would receive the blessing, but spiritual eyes perceive something else.

[39:31] 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. And this goes back to Hebrews 11, 21, that by faith, Jacob blessed Joseph's sons.

[39:47] Now you see what that blessing was in the act of faith to bless the younger above the elder. The blessing spoken by Jacob, it was 100% upon God's ability and God's faithfulness to fulfill that.

[40:02] He blessed them and said, God make thee. If God didn't back this up, it's just empty words. But he knew who it was motivating him to give this blessing. He's passed on God's word, his faithfulness, a name, a blessing, and lastly here, these last two verses, he will pass on a person, passing on the presence.

[40:25] And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die. But God shall be with you and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. Jacob had a promise from Joseph, a promise that would last beyond death to be taken and buried into the promised land.

[40:44] And now he's giving Joseph a promise. He says, hey, God's going to take you up out of this land. Did Joseph get taken up out of Egypt to go again to the land of his fathers? Not in his lifetime. In Genesis 50, which we will get to in a couple weeks, verse 25, as Joseph is dying and Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from hence.

[41:08] God's promises are not affected by death. God's promises go through death. And as Israel prophesies to Joseph and says, hey, God will bring you up again out of here.

[41:20] He did, but it wouldn't be in his lifetime. Jacob has passed on to Joseph he's passed on God's presence.

[41:32] He said, the God who is with me be with you. He's passed on God's promise. God will not leave you here. And he's passed on his purpose. The purpose isn't for Israel, the nation of Israel to stay here in Egypt.

[41:45] There's a greater purpose. Our purpose is much greater than this world. We think that we are here because God has a use for us and a purpose and he does. But when we are in eternity, we'll realize that is our purpose that we've been prepared for.

[41:58] That is where the fulfillment will truly be. Moreover, I have given to you one portion above your brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

[42:10] We don't have this account in scripture, but at one point, Jacob went out and defeated some Amorites and took a portion. That word portion in the Hebrew means shoulder or shechem.

[42:21] It's the same word for shechem. Joseph's life proved that he was capable of handling the shechem that his brothers could not. His brothers went to take shechem and they did in their own way.

[42:35] Jacob says, I have a shechem in my life I'd like to pass on to you and you can handle this. They couldn't. You see, there's a time and a place for God's blessing and only God can determine that.

[42:46] What is our part? We determine our readiness. Joseph was ready to receive shechem, the shechem from Joseph, the portion that his other brothers couldn't. He didn't know when that would be.

[42:57] He didn't know it was, alright, boys, we always gotta be ready for when dad's gonna die. He would. He didn't know when that was, but he was ready. And it's the same for us. God determines the timing of his blessing.

[43:11] We determine our readiness to receive it. The greatest portion that Joseph could receive from Jacob was not whatever material he was gonna give him.

[43:23] The greatest portion he could receive is in verse 21, but God shall be with you. It was the presence and faithfulness of God, wasn't it? In Jacob's life, God had been with him as he promised right from the beginning, way back in Genesis 28 when the Lord said, I will be with you in all places you go.

[43:46] God's faithfulness to Jacob. In Genesis 28, he said, I'm with you. I'm with you, Jacob. In Genesis 31, he said, I will be with you.

[44:02] In Genesis 31, 5, God has been with me. That's when he's getting ready to go back to his home. And then in Genesis 48, passing that on to Joseph, saying, God will be with you.

[44:15] The greatest opportunity of our lifetime and the greatest privilege of our lifetime is to receive the heritage God has for us and then to pass it on.

[44:25] One of the greatest privileges we will ever have is to pass on God's faithfulness to somebody else. Are we ready to do that? Are we prepared? If that unnamed servant comes to us and says, hey, today, that person is dying, go minister to them.

[44:37] What? Oh, dear. Oswald Chambers says, if we wait to get ready for when the big thing comes, we'll never be ready. We'll never be ready.

[44:49] We have to be ready now in the small things. God sees our faithfulness there. We each have a calling. We each have a purpose. Make your calling and election sure. No.

[45:01] You think, well, I'm not a pastor. Well, I wasn't a pastor for a long time either. But the calling that God gave me in my life, God gave me the opportunity to live it out wherever that was, to pray for people, to share God's word with them, to love them and care for them.

[45:14] Whatever your calling is, God will give you opportunity now if you prepare yourself. He will give you that opportunity. Are we prepared to receive and then to pass on the heritage that God has for us, the blessing?

[45:28] And how did that blessing come? Man, that blessing came by redemption, didn't it? How do we receive redemption? It's through the cross.

[45:38] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved is the power of God. Say, well, you can't put God in a box. That's what the world does.

[45:49] They say, that's a foolish box. You can't put God in a box, but you can put him in a book. The preaching of the cross. The blessing came by way of redemption.

[46:00] You know what Joseph said as he stood there looking at that blessing? He said, Dad, this is foolish. This is really foolish. You know what Jacob did?

[46:11] He put one arm like this. He put one arm like this. And he said, man, the God who redeemed me blessed you through the cross. And that's how we're blessed. We are blessed through the cross.

[46:23] We are blessed through redemption. It's foolish to the world. They don't have eyes to see. They don't have spiritual perception. They have natural perception. But we have been blessed through redemption. And that comes by way of the cross.

[46:36] So this morning, have you received that? Have you received God's heritage for you? Man, it seems foolish to the natural mind. The things of God seem foolish.

[46:47] There are those even in the church who would say, that is foolish to do it that way. Why do you guys sit around and just study the Bible? Don't you know there's better ways out there? Don't you know that's foolish? Preaching of the cross is foolish to them that perish.

[47:01] But to us who are saved, that was the power of God in my life that redeemed me. The God who redeemed me from all evil. Have you received God's heritage? It's like we looked at the beginning.

[47:13] It's very simple. To as many as received him, it's just receive. How? Through faith. Through believing. That God is big enough to redeem even you.

[47:24] And if you have received him, are you prepared to pass that heritage on? Are you prepared for God to use you where you're at? Are you prepared for him to come when you're not ready for it?

[47:36] To say, hey, would you pray with this person? Oh man, I don't know if I can do that. You can't. But if your faith is that big, God can. Father, we thank you so much.

[47:47] Thank you, Lord, for bringing us smack up against the wall again and again and again and again, Lord. the wall of our inability, Lord. The wall of our our sin and our failure, Lord.

[48:03] Oh Lord, but you are so good because Lord, you hold out that hand to us to grab us by our right hand. Lord, we tried everything we could and it didn't work. Our own strength failed. You grab us by your left hand, holding our right hand and Lord, you have the strength to move forward.

[48:20] All I have to do is reach out my hand. I don't even have to be the one to hold yours. You say, you will hold me by my right hand. I just have to be willing to reach out my hand and you will do all the rest, Lord.

[48:33] Thank you, Lord, for the heritage that we have through the Son. Thank you for bringing us in by adoption. Thank you that we can come to the Father and receive his blessing freely. And thank you, Lord, that you would use us, our hands, to bless others, to pass on the heritage of God.

[48:51] I pray for my brothers and sisters this morning, Lord, that their lives would be strengthened in you, that they would know the hope and the calling that they have in you.

[49:02] They would make their calling election sure. By grace are we saved through faith and that not of ourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

[49:13] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Even the good works we do, they're by grace, God working in us to bless others.

[49:25] We love you, Jesus. Amen.