Presentation 70

Presentation 70

A professor of Mathematics told me that mathematicians do their best work before the age of 35. In contrast our spiritual lives can positively sparkle in old age. The life of God in the heart of a man can beat with increased vigour despite being shackled to a body that is deteriorating. Paul says, 'though outwardly we are wasting away yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day' 2 Cor.4.16. Here is the paradox of Christian experience our bones may become brittle, our skin lose its elasticity, and our arteries harden, yet we can be more spiritually attune to God than ever before.

This was true of Jacob. In v10 we read of his failing eyesight yet in the succeeding verses he reveals a depth of spiritual perception we have not seen before.

Introduction

Presentation 70

After the first deathbed scene in Gen 47 Joseph seems to have left Goshen and returned to his palace duties. Only when Jacob's health deteriorated, was he sent for in v1. Joseph took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him to see their grandfather for perhaps the last time. Their arrival caused Jacob to rally and do something quite unexpected. He formally adopted Joseph's sons as his own v5-6 ..v16 ... Joseph's family is given a double portion. Ephraim and Manasseh become the fathers of two of Israel's tribes.

This is why there were 13 tribes and not 12 tribes. Only 12 tribes would have land apportioned to them in the promised land. The priestly tribe of Levi would not inherit land for God would be their portion.

Blessing for Joseph’s Sons

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Jacob did more than formally adopt Ephraim and Manasseh. He transferred the rights of his firstborn from Reuben to Joseph's descendants. Reuben had forfeited those rights when he dishonoured his father. 1Chron 5.1-2 we read that the transfer of the rights of the firstborn is precisely what took place here. ‘The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father's marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright, and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph)’

Blessing for Joseph’s Sons

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The rights of the firstborn draw our attention to the most interesting part of Jacob's blessing. The rights of the eldest, Manasseh, were given to the youngest, Ephraim, and we are not told why! The chief blessing was always given with the right hand and Joseph brought his sons forward in such a way that Manasseh was positioned to receive the chief blessing. But Jacob crossed his hands placing his right hand on the head of the youngest Ephraim.

Did Joseph think his father’s ageing eyesight or advancing senility were responsible for his behaviour? Joseph was all set to remedy what he thought was a mistake but Jacob would not be moved cf v15-16!

Blessing for Joseph’s Sons

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The rights of the firstborn were transferred to Ephraim with the promise of blessing that the younger brother would be the greater of the two. What was happening? Jacob had acquired some understanding of God’s purposes which often contradicts the conventions and expectations of men. Jacob was speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Did he remember what happened in his own life when he the younger son was blessed in preference to the older brother Esau. Jacob was not acting arbitrarily or else the writer of the Hebrews could not have written,

"By faith when Jacob was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons...”Heb.11.21

Blessing for Joseph’s Sons

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This blessing is a telling reminder of the sovereignty of God. At the very beginning of the life of Israel we have two significant reminders that the blessing of God is not a right to be taken for granted. It is wholly undeserved. God cannot be held accountable for whom he blesses. The parable of the labourers in the vineyard [Matt.20.1-3] was told to drive home this point.

Labourers who had agreed to work a whole day work for a whole days wages, were extremely annoyed when those who had laboured for only an hour in the cooler part of the day received precisely the same wage!

Blessing for Joseph’s Sons

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How did the vineyard owner reply to their criticisms? Matt 20:13-16“ ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last. "

There is a latent belief in many people’s hearts that they deserve the blessing of God. Remember that it was Israel's failure to admit that God's choice of her was a act of pure grace and not something she deserved, which fuelled her arrogance and caused her to proudly strut upon the world's stage thinking herself superior to all other nations.

Blessing for Joseph’s Sons

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God's sovereign choice carries great encouragement. He chooses the unlikeliest of people to advance his purposes. Joseph a despised callow youth was chosen of God to be the deliverer of his people.

David the youngest in his family was not highly regarded by his brothers but God chose him to be the greatest of Israel's kings.

Moses who was inarticulate was chosen to be deliverer and leader of God's people.

Gideon, the original jelly baby man, was chosen by God to lead a handful of men into battle against a vastly superior Midianite force.

Blessing for Joseph’s Sons

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God will use and exalt men and women despite their family background and natural gifts and personality. God chooses:“the foolish things of the world to shame the wise... the weak things of the world to shame the strong... the lowly things of the world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him”. 1Cor.1.27-29

There is also a warning associated with God's sovereign choice to bless. We dare not presume upon it or take it for granted. At that point the blessing of God is withdrawn - Israel would discover this to her cost.

Blessing for Joseph’s Sons

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In the course of his blessing Jacob in v15 describes God as his Shepherd. This is the first time in scripture that God is called Shepherd. It forms the seedbed for the development of this designation of God throughout the rest of the Bible. Jacob was himself a shepherd and therefore knew precisely what he was doing when he described God as his Shepherd. He knew just how difficult the task of shepherding was cf Gen 31.38-42

God as Shepherd

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We find a more comprehensive account of the difficulties involved in shepherding in a book by Philip Keller entitled 'A Shepherd looks at the 23rd Psalm'. He shows how sheep fail to take care of themselves, ‘they require more than any other class of livestock endless attention and meticulous care'. Sheep are timid and easily panicked.. a stray rabbit can stampede a flock. Sheep are cruel and competitive. The larger and stronger will take the best grazing spots and drive others from it. Sheep are prone to parasites and insects and have no defence mechanisms against them. If sheep are not systematically moved from pasture to pasture, and the land cared for, then the flock will languish.

God as Shepherd

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The shepherd does not have regular working hours. He is on duty day and night battling one enemy after another. Jacob knew all this and it is in the light of this knowledge that he says, “God has been my shepherd.” Jacob had learned the folly of self-shepherding and had discovered his need of God to keep, protect and guide him. He had benefited from the amazing patience of God when he had gone astray and it is this great Shepherd of the sheep whom Jacob now commends to Joseph's sons.

God as Shepherd

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Jacob says, 'May he bless these boys' v16. He knew that if God cared for them as he had cared for him then that is the best he could ask for them. Such was Jacob's understanding of the enormity of God's grace and the lavishness of his provision that in these simple words he had said all that needed to be said. All else flowed from this fountain of grace. Parents can have all sorts of ambitions for their children and on their wedding day wish them, 'Health wealth and happiness’.

But this falls short of God's blessing! Nothing can compare with that! What use is health, material prosperity and transient happiness without the blessing of God?

God as Shepherd

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Jacob’s words to Joseph in v21 are remarkable. “I am about to die but the Lord will be with you”. The same God who had been with Jacob when he left his parent’s home and entered the desert wastes on his way to Uncle Laban's. The terror he felt is something that many people today can identify with. Inthat condition Jacob had met with God at Bethel who had said to him, 'I amwith you and will watch over you wherever you go’. And Jacob's response to this revelation is recorded for us, he said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place and Iwas not aware of it. How awesome is this place'.

When God promises to be with us he does not withdraw that promise. The calling of God is without repentance. Once God commits himself to us in grace and salvation he does not stand down.

God With Us

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But God was not only with Jacob when he did not realise it. He came to Jacob to assure him of his presence when faced with danger when he was told to return to Canaan in 31.3. There were plenty of dangers ahead, Laban, Esau and his 400 armed men, the Canaanites after the destruction of Shechem… Christians are often aware of particular dangers sitting on distant horizons. Things that ought to have terrorised them. As they look back on these dangers and ask, “How did I survive them?” Quite simply, God's presence is a protecting wall of fire around his people! Zech 2.5

God With Us

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Jacob uses his experience of God’s presence to encourage his son, 'I am about to die but God will be with you'. Jacob knew how keenly Joseph would feel the severing of their special bond. Jacob is saying, “though you will be separated from my presence by death there is nothing at all that will separate you from God's presence in time or in eternity”. No more comforting words can be spoken by one believer who is about to be separated from another. Believers may say, “I depended upon my mother or my father for advice, encouragement, and company... but now they are dead I am bereft of these things”.

You need these words emblazoned on the walls of your heart: …………

God With Us

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When the risen Jesus was about to his disciples who longed for his tangible physical presence with them, he addressed their sense of loss with these words, ' I am with you always even to the end of the age’. Matt.28.20. Jesus, made it clear that nothing could sever the believer from the presence of the living God.Paul asks, “what shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 8.38-39Hallelujah!

Conclusion

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