In the Book of Genesis, we have come to the time of Jacob’s death. In our previous study we found that he had grown very weak and called for Joseph. Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and had gone to his father’s bedside, where Jacob was waiting for him, sitting on his bed. Jacob had called to mind the time of Joseph’s disappearance, when both he and Joseph’s mother, Rachel, mourned him, believing he was dead. In fact, Rachel’s sorrow was so great that she died giving birth to Benjamin. It was difficult for Rachel to conceive and give birth, so when her only son had, presumably, died, her giving birth to a second couldn’t console her, so she died in great sorrow (Genesis 35:16-18).
Jacob decided to give Joseph, firstborn of Rachel, the firstborn blessing instead of Reuben, firstborn of Leah. In doing so, he told Joseph he was taking his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as though they were his own sons, and this was for the purpose of the Lord’s promise to make him a multitude that would inherit the land (Genesis 35:11-12). So, instead of inheriting a single portion of the Promised Land, Joseph would receive a double portion, in that each of his two sons would inherit like Reuben and Simeon, Jacob’s own sons (Genesis 48:4-5).
Jacob’s eyes were dim (Genesis 48:10), so, when he realized Joseph wasn’t alone, he asked who was with him (Genesis 48:8). Joseph told Jacob, who sat upon his bed that they were his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Therefore, Jacob told him to bring his sons to him, and he would bless them (Genesis 48:9).
As I mentioned above, Jacob couldn’t see very well, perhaps shadows, if he could see at all, so, when Joseph brought his sons to Jacob, the two of them knelt before him at his bedside; Jacob embraced and kissed them, after which he told Joseph that he hadn’t thought to see his face again, yet God had blessed him in that he has been able to embrace his grandsons by Joseph (Genesis 48:10-11). By now both Manasseh and Ephraim were about 24 and 23 years of age, allowing their births to come in the third and fourth years of the seven years of good harvests (Genesis 41:50-52). It would be another six to seven years before they would meet Jacob, their grandfather, and he would live in Egypt for 17 more years (Genesis 47:28). So, at Jacob’s death they would have been young men
When Jacob was finished greeting his grandsons, Joseph brought them out from between their grandfather’s knees, and Joseph bowed to the ground before his father, Jacob (Genesis 48:12). Then he brought his sons back to Jacob, taking Manasseh with his left hand and placing him at Jacob’s right hand and vise versa with Ephraim, so that he was to Jacob’s left. Once again, they knelt before their grandfather (Genesis 48:13). However, Jacob, understanding what Joseph had done, crossed his hands, as he placed them on the heads of his grandsons, so that his right hand was placed upon Ephraim head and Jacob’s left hand was placed upon Manasseh’s head, and he blessed Joseph (Genesis 48:14).
The words of Jacob’s blessing upon Joseph are significant, but their impact is often overlooked. Notice what he said here, and what he said earlier to Joseph:
“God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people; and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession’ (Genesis 48:3-4)
…and the blessing:
“God, before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel, who 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” (Genesis 48:15-16; emphasis mine).
In other words, the only God, whom Jacob and Abraham and Isaac ever knew was “the Angel,” vis-à-vis the Angel of the Lord, who is otherwise called Almighty God. Let the scholars debate whether or not the Angel of the Lord, who later became Jesus, is truly God, if they wish. Nevertheless, any child who has the ability to read and reason is able to see from the text here, that this particular Angel or Messenger is Almighty God, which recalls the plurality of Genesis 1:26 – “Let **us** make man in **our** image…”
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