A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
GENESIS 47:27-31 AND GENESIS 48
Lesson #63
A LEGACY FOR THE FUTURE
- Memory verse: 2Timothy 1:9
- Read Gen 47:27-31 The outline of the remainder of Jacob’s life
- Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years and died at the age of 147.
- Joseph asks for the birthright from Jacob before he dies.
- Joseph promises Jacob that he will take Jacob’s bones back to the Promised Land. They did not leave Egypt before Joseph died, so Joseph made the same request when he died.
- That promise was fulfilled by Moses in Exo 13:19.
- Why is it very important to Jacob (Israel) that his bones are carried back to the Promised Land?
- God had promised to give the Promised Land to Abraham and his descendants. As we studied the life of Abraham, we saw that receiving the promise and possessing the promise were two different things.
- Possession required a growing faith and trust in God. That promise was passed down to Isaac and then to Jacob. Even though the Israelites were not in the Promised Land but were now in Egypt, the promise still remained.
- When both Jacob and Joseph request that their bones be carried back to the Promised Land, they are exercising their faith in God’s two promises:
- =1= To return them to the land (46:4).
- =2= To give them the land as a possession.
- Therefore, this request is an act of faith. Both men believe in a resurrection of the body. They believe that when the resurrection day comes they will be raised to stand in the Promised Land.
- In Gen 48:3 Jacob uses the name for God “God Almighty” which indicates that he knows that only an all powerful God could fulfill such far reaching promises.
- Read Gen 48:1-4 The birthright and the blessing
- Read Heb 11:21 1Chr 5:1-2
- The birthright:
- Remember that the birthright was double.
- The birthright was an inheritance that was usually given to the oldest son.
- We saw in Genesis that Jacob’s older sons lost the birthright because of sin.
- The birthright is given here to Joseph. (3-4)
- Jacob received the birthright by stealth and deception.
- Joseph received the birthright by merit and good works.
- Ephraim receives the birthright by the grace of God.
- Notice that the two important promises of God are mentioned:
- =1= The promised land,
- =2= They will be a great nation.
- What is not mentioned here is the promise of a lineage of kings. It is not mentioned because the lineage of kings would go through the tribe of Judah.
- The pre-eminent blessing:
- Usually the blessing remained with the one who received the birthright.
- However, here we have them separated.
- Remember that the pre-eminent blessing amounted to one’s spiritual destiny. Jacob gives the spiritual blessing to Judah who has become the spokesman for the family.
- Remember that Judah is the tribe through which came Jesus Christ.
- The pre-eminent blessing:
- Remember that the birthright was double.
- The birthright:
- Read Gen 48:5-7 The adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh
- As we have seen before in Genesis, adoption was not unusual.
- Why did Jacob do this?
- Joseph had an Egyptian wife and they were living in a foreign land. By adopting these two boys, Jacob assures a bond with the Promised Land and God’s promised blessings.
- Joseph’s sons would not be wooed away by their Egyptian roots if their inheritance lay with God in the Promised Land.
- Notice that any subsequent sons of Joseph would be Egyptian and not tied to the promises of God.
- The adoption:
- Jacob actually adopts Joseph’s 2 sons so as to give them equal status with the other 12 sons, specifically equal to Reuben and Simeon.
- Because of this adoption, there are technically 14 tribes of Israel. However, God’s plan provides for only 12 tribes, and only 12 are ever mentioned at any one time in scripture.
- So as to reduce the 14 names to 12 tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh are called “half tribes” and Joseph is not to be mentioned separately as a tribe.
- As we have seen before in Genesis, adoption was not unusual.
The 12 tribes of Israel in Scripture:
| 12 Sons of Jacob
(Israel) |
In Old Testament History |
144,000 in the
Tribulation |
12 Tribes in the
Millennium |
| Gen 29:31-35
Gen 30:1-24 Gen 35:18 Gen 49 |
Gen 48:5
Jos 13 Jos 15-19 |
Rev 7:4-8 | Eze 47:13-23
Eze 48:1-29 |
| 1 Reuben | Reuben | Reuben | Reuben 1 |
| 2 Simeon | Simeon | Simeon | Simeon 2 |
| 3 Levi | Levi | Levi | Levi 3 |
| 4 Judah | Judah | Judah | Judah 4 |
| 5 Dan | Dan | Joh 6:70-71
Rev 13:11 |
Dan 5 |
| 6 Naphtali | Naphtali | Naphtali | Naphtali 6 |
| 7 Gad | Gad | Gad | Gad 7 |
| 8 Asher | Asher | Asher | Asher 8 |
| 9 Issachar | Issachar | Issachar | Issachar 9 |
| 10 Zebulun | Zebulun | Zebulun | Zebulun 10 |
| 11 Joseph | Ephraim andManasseh | Joseph | Joseph 11 |
| 1Kin 11:26
1Kin 12:20 |
Ephraim 12 | ||
| Manasseh | Manasseh 13 | ||
| 12 Benjamin | Benjamin | Benjamin | Benjamin 14 |
- Read Gen 48:8-22 The special blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh
- After the rite of adoption pictured in verse 12 (“out from between his knees”), Jacob gives a special blessing to these sons.
- Important things in the right order according to custom:
- Manasseh was the first born and was supposed to get the greater blessing according to custom.
- The right hand was the side of blessing and honor.
- Joseph places the 2 sons properly, according to custom, before Jacob with the oldest (Manasseh) on Jacob’s right side.
- Jacob’s decision of reversal
- When all eyes are closed to receive the prayer, Jacob crosses his hands and places his right hand on the youngest (Ephraim). The greater blessing is therefore given to the youngest.
- This upsets Joseph, but once the blessing is given, it cannot be changed. Jacob indicates that the reversal was done on purpose directed by God. It was Israel, the new man, that performed this blessing not the Jacob of the old flesh nature.
- The prophetic blessing: The sharpness of faith’s vision
- Ephraim’s tribe would be a multitude of nations and greater than the tribe of Manasseh.
- The name Ephraim means = double fruitfulness
- While the name Manasseh means = forgetting
- The fulfillment:
- The tribe of Ephraim became:
- =1= The largest in population of any of the other tribes.
- =2= The possessor of more territory in the Promised Land.
- =3= The name of the Northern kingdom when the 12 tribes split into 2 kingdoms after King Solomon.
- Ephraim’s tribe would be a multitude of nations and greater than the tribe of Manasseh.
- The gift to Joseph (48:22)
- Jacob gives one “portion” as a gift to Joseph. The Hebrew word here is shoulder or mountain ridge. The meaning of the name Shechem = is shoulder.
- Jacob refers to the city of Shechem and gives it to Joseph. You will recall that this is the city where Dinah was raped, and all the Amorites of Shechem were killed. (Gen 34)
- Application:
- What are some things we should be passing down to the next generation?
- Discussion
Homework
Genesis 49
- Application of Gen 48
- Blessings, traditions, family history, etc. were all valued and passed down from generation to generation. How is your family doing in passing down the traditions of faith to the next generation? Relate some areas of success and some areas of failure.
- What can you do specifically to make sure that the things of God are passed down to your grandchildren?
- Preparation for Gen 49
- Read Gen 49:1-33
- What specific things do you notice about the blessing given to Judah in verse 8-12 that reminds you of Jesus Christ?
- Read Gen 49:1-33
- Memory verse: Rom 8:17
