Genesis 48-50

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

April 16, 2011


 *JAN 16 - GENESIS 48-50 - JACOB'S BLESSINGS*


 *1. 48:1 (48:1-2) JOSEPH: VISITS JACOB. “And it came to pass after these
things, that one said to Joseph, Behold, your father is sick: and he took
with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim” (ASV '01). *What filial
devotion Joseph had to his father Jacob, even though he was lord of the land
of Egypt! Father, we give ourselves to You with this same spirit of
devotion. * Hallowed be Your Name!*


 *2. 48:5 (48:3-7) EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH. “And now your two sons, who were
born unto you in the land of Egypt, before I came unto you into Egypt, are
mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine.” *Here
comes the double blessing of the firstborn upon Joseph instead of Reuben. O
may we not like Reuben forfeit our blessing, but walk a walk that will
retain what You Father, have properly given us! *Your :kingdom come.*


 *3. 48:14 (48:8-20) JACOB: BLESSES JOSEPH'S SONS. “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, crossing his hands wittingly; for
Manasseh was the first-born.” *Your provisions, Father are always right! In
Your Sovereignty, You may place our younger above our elder! *Your :will be
done, As in heaven, so on earth.*


 *4. 48:21-22 JOSEPH'S PORTION. “And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die:
but God will be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22 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.” *See the
promise of the land yet to be fulfilled! See the blessing of God upon
faithfulness in persecution and suffering! *Our :daily*

*bread give us this day.*


 *5. 49:28 (49:1-28) ISRAEL: BLESSES HIS SONS AND TRIBES. “All these are the
twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spoke unto them
and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.” *The
12 sons became 12 tribes, each one representing one of the 12 gates of the
New Jerusalem. The 12 apostles will one day sit on 12 thrones judging the 12
tribes. They could be the 24 elders in the book of Revelation. In Christ,
neither Jew nor Gentile! O Father, hold us steady in Your truth! *And
forgive us our :debts, as we also have forgiven our :debtors.*


 *6. 49:33 (49:29-50:13) JACOB: HIS END. “And when Jacob made an end of
charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the
spirit, and was gathered unto his people.” *This is the fitting honor due to
a passing patriarch, a father in Israel. His dying wishes were observed.
Egypt participated in honoring his death. Father, in this You were honored
in Your servant. *And bring us not into temptation.*


 *7. 50:25 (50:14-26) JOSEPH: HIS END. “And Joseph took an oath of the
children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry
up my bones from here.” *Now the patriarch and prophet Joseph speaks, and
his wishes too were fulfilled. When our ways please You Father, You make
even our enemies to be at peace with us! *But deliver us from the evil one!*


 *NOTE**: *The forgiveness of Joseph towards his 10 sinning half brothers -
brings us forward to Jesus on the Cross forgiving His own people the Jews,
who through their leaders, led in His crucifixion. And what prepared
Joesph's heart to be such a type in forgiveness for his coming Lord? One
clue is through the birth of his firstborn Manasseh, which means
“forgetfulness”. The joy of the coming of this little son helped him to *
forget* the bitterness of his past, as he dandled him upon his knee. Just
think of his reception for his brothers - had they arrived prior to the
birth of Manasseh! Manasseh also stands for the reality of inner healing,
which likewise took place at this time of *forgetfulness*. Then it was
proper for Ephraim - fruitfulness - to arrive. But we cannot be fruitful
until *first* we deal with the bitterness of the past!


 Then we cannot fail to notice how Jacob in his sightlessness was led to
cross his hands and put the blessing of the firstborn upon Ephraim, the
second born! And when the father Joseph remonstrated - Jacob soothed him by
revealing that he was aware of what he was doing - but that his action was
initiated by *God*, not himself.! This immediately calmed the upset of
Joseph, so that he could accept the will of God in this instance, even as
the same was revealed concerning his father Jacob the youngest and his uncle
Esau, the elder.


 God is God! We must *all* be prepared to understand and accept the
Sovereignty of God in our circumstances - to upset such circumstances from *
our* point of view - and to do instead what lines up with *His* hidden
wisdom!


 Then Jacob reveals to his son Joseph the deep understanding God had for him
in his rejection and suffering! To bring to reality God's purposes of
blessing on Joseph's behalf, Jacob adopts as his own sons Ephraim and
Manasseh, giving Joseph a *double-portion* in Israel! Jacob then called his
12 sons together, and prophetically proclaims over them God's projected
pattern for each one according to the Sovereign will of God. These in turn
line up with the prophetic words of Moses over the 12 tribes of Israel in
Deuteronomy 33.


 And *now* Jacob nears his end. He leads Joseph to promise to bury him in
his own promised land by his covenant God, which Joseph and Egypt did.


 Then Joseph drew from the people of Israel their promise to bring his bones
with them when God delivers them from Egypt - and bury him in the land of
his fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


 So - Genesis starts out with creation and life in the Garden of Eden, and
ends up with an embalmed body in the land of Egypt! J.A.W.


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