I remember when I was a boy, watching my brother open his presents on his birthday, and liking what he got, and then beginning to feel more and more sorry for myself, that I didn’t have presents. And I watched this play out with my own children, as one watched the other open presents until eventually a frown appeared with the wail, “It’s not fair!” Now what did my parents do, and what did we do? Well, the child wallowing in self-pity didn’t receive a special present to make him or her feel better. Instead, we taught the lesson, “Today is your brother’s birthday! Today is your sister’s birthday! It’s not your day! It’s hers. It’s his! It’s the day we bless this person.”

What we were trying to teach in that moment is that blessing has nothing to do with fairness and justice, and everything to do with love. When it is that child’s birthday, it’s her day, and no force in the universe can make it the other child’s birthday. This is the day to rejoice and bless that child, as an act of love. Blessing is not about merit, right, justice, equality, fairness. It’s about the freedom of the blesser to bless.

God teaches throughout Scripture that His blessing, His favour, is not something we earn. It is not something one man can be worthier of. Nothing in us can move God to love us more than others, or less than others. When God blesses, it is an act of uncompelled, free, mercy.

The graciousness of blessing, or the blessing of grace is seen very clearly in the last part of Genesis 47 and through chapter 48, and Jacob on his deathbed calls for Joseph, and then later, blesses Joseph’s sons. We begin with Jacob’s last request.

Jacob’s Last Request

So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.

When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt,

“but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

In the middle of those harsh famine years, Jacob was fairly sure his life was going to end at 130. But nourished by the very best of Egypt, and sustained by God, Jacob lives another 17 years. But somehow, this old saint of God began to know that the end of his race was in sight, and he calls for the son he trusts the most.

He asks him to make a vow, using a very intimate gesture that in the Middle East signified that you were promising not only now, but to the descendants, promising to the descendants yet to come that you would keep this oath.

For what does Jacob invoke such a serious oath, and with the son whom he can trust above all others? Why is he so in earnest?

His request is, don’t bury me in Egypt, but transport my body back up to Canaan, and bury me with Abraham, and Isaac. Jacob is referring to one of the small parts of Canaan that is actually owned by Israel at this time – the cave at Machpelah. Abraham bought that land from a Hittite named Ephron, and that’s where he buried Sarah, it’s where Isaac and Ishmael buried him, it’s where Jacob and Esau buried Isaac, and we learn it is also where Jacob buried Leah.

Now you have to step back and ask yourself, aside from the family connection, why is Jacob so insistent on this point? Jacob is living in a land that had made an art form of burials. Egypt is the land of tombs, of sarcophagi, of embalming. Jacob could probably get a gold-encrusted sarcophagus, a tomb decorated with gorgeous hieroglyphics, possibly a boat, as the Egyptians gave to their wealthy dead to see them on their journey in the underworld. Why would Jacob want a dusty cave in Canaan, surrounded by Canaanites?

The answer is, Jacob treasures the promises of God above worldly rewards. God tied the promises to Abraham to the land, and there is no fulfillment of descendants and blessing, if there is no land. And in being buried in Canaan, Jacob is saying, I am no Egyptian. I have not been naturalised into this country, though I have been here for 17 years. I am a Hebrew, and God promised He would bring me and my descendants back in the land. Wanting to be buried there signifies his deep identification with the Abrahamic covenant, his faith in God.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Heb. 11:13)

Joseph promises, but Jacob insists that Joseph swear, and vow to do it. Only when Joseph does that, does Jacob content himself, and relax.

Joseph Appears Before Jacob

A short while later, the sad day came, when Jacob sensed the end was near, and he had to apportion the blessings with his sons, before he died. Undoubtedly he sent a messenger.

Genesis 48:1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.

Then 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 multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

Joseph, who is living some distance away from his father and brothers, hears that Jacob is sick, and he understands the end is near. He takes his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and travels out to Goshen. You might think that Manasseh and Ephraim were boys, but remember that they were born before Jacob arrived in Egypt, and Jacob has been in Egypt for seventeen years. These boys are probably around nineteen and twenty.

And I want you to think about the kind of lives Manasseh and Ephraim have lived. They were born in a palace, and have lived the life of opulence and royalty. Their life in Joseph’s estate couldn’t be more different to the life of their cousins and uncles, living as shepherds out in the fields of Goshen.

They’ve enjoyed every comfort and convenience that Egypt has to offer. You have to wonder what these immaculately groomed young guys thought of their grandfather and their uncles, with their scraggly beards, their sun-bronzed skins, their shepherd attire. And particularly as they went into their teen years, they would have felt an identity crisis, torn between Egyptian aristocracy, with all its cultured finery and this life of pilgrim shepherds, following the God of Abraham.

So now, they appear before this grand patriarch, in all his humble dignity. The very first thing Jacob does when Joseph arrives with his sons is to sit up, and recite God’s promises to him. He does not talk about what he has done, but what God said when He appeared to Him at Bethel, where God repeated the promises of the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob. God promised descendants, and God promised land. Jacob is reminding Joseph that the promises God made are land promises. And that’s going to become important because He is about to give the inheritance blessing.

Jacob Adopts Ephraim and Manasseh

“And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

“Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

Jacob is here adopting Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons. He is elevating them from grandsons to the status of sons. In so doing, Jacob is giving Joseph the double-portion of the firstborn. You remember that Reuben forfeited that right through his immorality, and Joseph received it. This is how Jacob gives the double portion to Joseph: he essentially now has thirteen sons to divide up the inheritance, with Manasseh and Ephraim. He makes it very clear, because he names the two current oldest sons – Reuben and Simeon. Manasseh and Ephraim can now call Jacob father. From now on, there will be no tribe of Joseph, but two tribes – the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. If Joseph has any more children, they will not be Jacob’s, but remain Joseph’s, and their privileges and blessings will come from Ephraim and Manasseh to them.

Jacob then again goes back to talking about the importance of the land.

“But as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

Now the adoption ceremony is about to begin.

Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”

Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”

Jacob is nearly blind, but that is not why he asks, “Who are these?” He has known Ephraim and Manasseh for seventeen years. They may not have lived with him in Goshen, but you can be sure he has seen them from time to time. In asking, “Who are these?”, he is really beginning the adoption ceremony, the way I will ask, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” This is ceremonial and formal.

Joseph’s response is ceremonial: these are my sons, that God has given me. Jacob asks them to be brought forward to the bedside. He can hardly see, but as they come up, he hugs them, kisses them.

And then comes this touching moment, when Jacob, with heartfelt sincerity and gratitude feels the joy of this moment. He thought Joseph was dead for twenty years. Not only was Joseph alive, and he got to see him again, but he lived nearly twenty years after that and has gotten to see Joseph’s sons. Notice how often God is mentioned in the conversation between Jacob and Joseph. God appeared to me. God gave me these sons. God has shown me your offspring.

Jacob Chooses Ephraim Over Manasseh

So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.

And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him.

Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

Verse 12 can sound as if there are two toddlers beside Joseph’s knees, but the knees here are Jacob’s, and it seems to mean that they were standing beside Jacob’s knees next to the bed, and now he has them all kneel before Jacob, but not before Joseph carefully arranges them. The right hand is the hand of blessing, so Joseph must make sure that the right hand lands on Manasseh’s head, the head of the firstborn, so he positions him on his left, and on Jacob’s right, and then Ephraim, the younger on his right, on Jacob’s left.

Joseph is sure he has set everything up to make sure it works out, but for once in his life, he does not see the deeper spiritual reality about to play out here.

Jacob is not so blind that he cannot make out who is who. He knows where Manasseh is and he knows where Ephraim is, and he deliberately crosses hands, putting his right hand over on the younger Ephraim, and putting his left hand on the firstborn, Manasseh.

And before Joseph can stop him, Jacob launches into his blessing of Joseph by blessing these two.

And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,

The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

Now notice this blessing names God three times, which is significant, because elsewhere in the Old Testament, we see God invoked three times, such as the Shema, the Aaronic blessing. He is going to say God in three ways, and then pronounce the blessing. First, God is the God who revealed Himself to Abraham and Isaac, who they came to know through personal salvation. Second, God is the God who provided for him his whole life. Third, God is that Angel who redeemed him from all evil. Now the word for angel simply means messenger. But in Genesis, we meet someone called the Angel of the LORD, who not only speaks for God, but He also speaks as God. This Angel wrestled with Jacob, and Jacob named the place of that encounter, Peniel, the Face of God.

Even here, in a dim way, Jacob is aware of the fact that there is some way in which God is more than One, that there is God who makes the covenant, God who manifests Himself and redeems, and God who blesses.

In the threefold name of this God, Jacob blesses Manasseh and Ephraim, and prays that they would carry the name of their ancestors, and grow into a great nation.

Joseph thinks that Jacob is making a mistake due to age and failing eyesight. Joseph is a traditionalist, he respect the law of primogeniture, that the firstborn gets the right of succession.

Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for 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 also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying,`May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!'” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Here for the only time in his life, someone is seeing more and further than Joseph is. Joseph tries to physically re-direct his father’s hands, only to be rebuffed. Jacob tells Joseph, “I know whom I am blessing with what hand. Yes, your firstborn Manasseh will also be a great nation, but Ephraim will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” Jacob, through special revelation, knows something that Joseph doesn’t. Ephraim will grow larger, and be more blessed than Manasseh. A special favour is on Ephraim, and Jacob knows what will result from this grace.

He blesses them both, but notice the end of verse 20 – this he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Now what is happening here?

We have seen this pattern many time before. The firstborn was Cain, then Abel. Cain kills Abel, and then Seth is born to replace Abel. Who receives the blessing between Cain and Seth? Seth, the younger. Abraham’s firstborn is actually Ishmael, and Isaac his first from Sarah. But who receives the gracious inheritance? Isaac. Isaac has two sons, Esau, the firstborn, and Jacob the second. Esau sells his birthright, and Jacob deceives Isaac, but the end-result is still that Jacob, the younger is favoured over the older. Out of Jacob’s twelve sons, Reuben is first, Joseph is the eleventh. But Joseph takes Reuben’s place after Reuben forfeits it. What does this pattern mean?

Even though there is clearly human responsibility, the principle is that grace does not have to follow any human convention. Grace does not have to respect the birth order. You don’t earn grace by being born first, nor is it a right that comes to you. Grace does not have to respect age, bloodlines, family history, tradition, or even track record. Grace is not only free for the recipient, but the giver of grace is free, not constrained. He is not bound by duties, by obligations, by favours owed, by any debt. The freedom of grace is the freedom to give it, not because of what someone has done, but even in spite of what they have done; not because of who they are, but in spite of who they are.

Look at what Paul writes in Romans 9.

And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac

(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),

it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”

As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!

For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. (Rom. 9:10-16)

In this passage, Paul is proving that even when Israel has rejected Jesus as Messiah, God can still faithfully preserve His promises to Abraham by choosing people out of Israel by grace. God did not need the co-operation of Israel to keep His promises to Israel. The freedom of grace is to bless whomever He wants, even when it inverts the order.

The proof of that is choosing the younger over the older, choosing one and rejecting the other. God does not need the birth order. God’s grace is not bound by anything. It is as free as He is. God can lavish His love and kindness on whomever He wants.

Is that unfair? No. Justice is fair. Not getting justice would be unfair. God makes sure there is justice by the presence of two places: Calvary, and Hell. Mercy is beyond fairness. Mercy is goodness to those who don’t deserve it. And once justice has been met, the territory beyond justice is free grace, where God can lavish this on whomever he wants, however He wants.

Why was Ephraim chosen over Manasseh? Had he done better? Had Manasseh done evil? Was Ephraim a worthier man? No. It was just one more illustration of the principle of grace. Not by works. Not by birth. Not by race. Not by earthly inheritance. Not by tradition. By God’s uncoerced blessing.

Do you know that the New Testament teaches exactly this truth that blessing is gracious, free, and unearned?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we

should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus

to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. (Eph. 1:3-6)

We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Why? Because like Isaac, Like Jacob, like Joseph, like Ephraim, we have been chosen, out of unearned, free grace. If today you believe in Christ, and love Him, then that is not because of your Christian family, because of your godly parents, because of your sharp and enquiring mind, because of your moralistic approach to life.

No, there was someone, who from a human point of view was a nicer, kinder, seemingly worthier recipient of salvation than you, but God crossed his arms and put His hand on your head instead.

Oh, the marvelous liberty of God to show mercy to whomever, and however He wants to!

You see, we are free agents. But I do not rejoice in my free agency, because I know where my freedom would have taken me. I rejoice in free grace. I rejoice in God’s freedom.

If you believe two things: that God’s love comes first, and that God’s love for you became the cause of your love for Him, then you really already believe in the doctrines of grace.

But the story doesn’t end there. Because as Ephraim and Manasseh got back on their chariots, and did the long ride home to the city, they had a choice. Jacob had just blessed them both, and promised them many descendants, and a great portion in the Abrahamic covenant.

But that would mean embracing the shepherd-people of Goshen as their own people. It would mean forsaking the pleasures of Egypt. These promises had been made to them, but did they want them?

Manasseh and Ephraim’s descendants would have to leave the city, and go out, out to the despised shepherds and animal herders. And they did so, because Manasseh and Ephraim are soon numbered among the tribes of Israel. The blessing was gracious and unconditional, based on free grace. Their response of faith was a necessary means of that grace coming to fruition in their lives.

If God has laid His hands on you, and drawn you, then he has given you exceeding great and precious promises, of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, reserved in Heaven for you. Great promises of eternal dwellings as the Bride of Christ. But for that to be yours, you must embrace this Shepherd Jesus, with His shepherd-people as your own. You must forsake this world as your primary allegiance, forsake a life lived for self, and as Hebrews says,

Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. (Heb. 13:13-14) in the place of shame.

If the great promises of God are for you, then you must respond in faith. If God has placed His hand on your head, then you must repent and believe. How do you know if you are chosen? If you have felt the drawing hand of the Holy Spirit, leading you to Christ, and you have yielded and confessed Christ, and been born from above, then you are chosen. What if I have said no? Well, if you keep saying no, and die in your sins, then you were not chosen. Isn’t it amazing how people will tie themselves in knots about whether God has chosen them or not, and thereby keep postponing their decision of choosing God? Choose ye this day whom ye will serve! Hear the call of God, and come!

See the outstretched hands of God, welcoming you into everlasting peace. Come, forsake the world and self, and don’t postpone it.

If you will not freely accept His invitation today, you will not be able to blame his free grace in the future. Today is the day of salvation.