It is interesting, at least to me, that, of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob, who have inherited the blessings of God, being promised they would become a multitude of nations and that they would be given the Land of Canaan for a possession, not one of them was the firstborn of their father.[1] Thus, the Lord who blesses isn’t bound by any custom of man. As we understand from Paul later: “So then it is not of him who desires (Ishmael), nor of him who runs (Esau), but of God who shews mercy” (Romans 9:16; parenthesis mine). Custom or tradition must yield to the authority and mercy of God. Even in the matter of firstborn rights, which became clearly evident, when it came to Joseph and Reuben.
It was Joseph, whom the Lord had placed in authority in Egypt, overruling the attempt of his brothers to enslave him. It was Joseph who was given the power to save Jacob and his descendants, namely, Joseph’s brethren and their wives and little ones. So, Jacob’s choosing Joseph over Reuben for the firstborn blessing, is clearly supported by the Lord in the text. In fact, it may very well have been his realization of how the Lord had already blessed Joseph that Jacob chose him over Reuben, even though Joseph was clearly Jacob’s favorite son. We can understand this in the fact that Judah, not Joseph, was given the scepter of family leadership, so the Messiah would come through Judah, not Joseph, Rachel’s firstborn, or even Reuben, Leah’s firstborn (Genesis 49:10)!
In fact, when Joseph realized what was happening, he thought Jacob didn’t understand that he had placed his sons in their proper order before his father. Therefore, he tried to stop Jacob from giving the main blessing of firstborn rights to Ephraim, Joseph’s second son by removing Jacob’s right hand from Ephraim’s head and placing it on Manasseh’s head (Genesis 48:17-18). Nevertheless, Jacob informed his son that he knew exactly what he was doing, but he offered Joseph the consolation of saying that Manasseh would also become a great nation. However, Ephraim would surpass him in greatness to become a multitude of nations. So, Jacob finished his blessing by saying all Israel will bless them saying, “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!” (Genesis 48:19-20), placing Ephraim’s name before Manasseh’s, he showed he would be the greater of the two.
Then Jacob told Joseph that he knew he was dying, but God would be with him, vis-à-vis Joseph, and he would be brought back to the Land of Promise (Genesis 48:21), and proof of this is in the fact he had given Joseph a double portion of the land over what his brethren would inherit. Jacob states that he had taken the land out of the hand of the Amorite, which is a term which is used to describe all the Canaanite tribes (Genesis 48:22; cp. Genesis 15:16). There isn’t any record in the text that shows this had occurred, but much speculation has been offered by both the scholars and the rabbis. However, I believe Jacob is speaking of the future, as though it were the past, vis-à-vis Jacob in the persons of his descendants led by Joshua took the land from the Amorites/Canaanites with his sword and bow, in a similar manner that Levi tithed to Melchizedek in the person of Abraham. Jacob phrased it this way in order to emphasize the certainty that what he told Joseph would, indeed, come to pass (cp. Romans 4:17).
__________________________________________
[1] It is possible that Abraham was the first born of his mother, but Haran was his father’s firstborn son (Genesis 11:27-31). Terah, Abraham’s father had more than one wife, as we understand from Abraham’s witness that Sara was his sister through his father, but they had different mothers (Genesis 20:12). Indeed, Isaac was also the firstborn son of his mother, Sarah (Genesis 21:1-5), but Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn (Genesis 16:16). Moreover, Jacob’s twin brother, Esau, was Isaac’s firstborn (Genesis 27:1), yet it was Jacob who inherited. Finally, although Joseph was the firstborn of his mother Rachel (Genesis 30:22-24), Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn (Genesis 29:31-32), whom he received from Rachel’s sister Leah. Yet, the blessing of the firstborn went to Joseph. Thus, tradition must bow to election.
Smoodock's Blog 