Ephraim & Manasseh (Genesis 48)

Do we have narrow ideas as to how God should handle things? Are we flexible enough to allow God to surprise us, even when He does the exact opposite of what we may have expected? Let’s look at Genesis 48.

What did Israel say to Joseph? What had God told him?

After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Someone told Jacob, and said, “Behold, your son Joseph comes to you,” and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed. Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’ (Genesis 48:1-4 WEB)

Did Israel elevate his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh to the same status as his other sons?

Now, your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I arrived in Egypt are my own. Ephraim and Manasseh are just like Reuben and Simeon to me. Your family who is born to you after them are yours, but their inheritance will be determined under their brothers’ names. When I came back from Paddan-aram, Rachel died, to my sorrow, on the road in the land of Canaan, with some distance yet to go to Ephrathah, so I buried her there near the road to Ephrathah, which is Bethlehem.” (Genesis 48:5-7 CEB)

Did Jacob want to bless Joseph’s sons? Did Joseph show his father great respect?

Jacob was very old and almost blind. He did not recognize the two boys, and so he asked Joseph, “Who are these boys?” Joseph answered, “They are my sons. God has given them to me here in Egypt.” “Bring them to me,” Jacob said. “I want to give them my blessing.” Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged and kissed them. Jacob turned to Joseph and told him, “For many years I thought you were dead and that I would never see you again. But now God has even let me live to see your children.” Then Joseph made his sons move away from Jacob's knees, and Joseph bowed down in front of him with his face to the ground. (Genesis 48:8-12 CEV)

Did Joseph expect the usual, a greater blessing for his older son, Manasseh? Did Jacob surprise him?

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 him. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” (Genesis 48:13-16 CEV)

Did his father know what he was doing? Has God done this before, putting the younger before the older?

When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it was a mistake and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe, and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.” So he blessed them that day with these words: The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying, “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,” putting Ephraim before Manasseh. (Genesis 48:17-20 HCSB)

Did Joseph inherit the double portion, an allotment usually reserved for the firstborn son?

Then Israel told Joseph, “Pay attention! I’m about to die, but God will be with you. He’ll bring you back to the land that belongs to your ancestors. I’m assigning you one portion more than your brothers from the land that I confiscated from the control of the Amorites in battle.” (Genesis 48:21-22 ISV)

Does a later prophecy count Ephraim (Joseph) and Manasseh as two of the tribes of Israel, but not Dan? Could it be because Dan would leave his place and become the first tribe to choose idolatry? Could this also mysteriously picture Judas Iscariot no longer counting as an apostle?