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(1) Walk Thru The Word for Today: Gen 48: 1-7
(Jacob Adopts Mahasseh & Ephraim As First Born Sons & Tribes of Israel.
Joseph’s Later Children = The Tribe of Joseph)
1After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’ 5And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 6And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
(2) Walk Thru The Word for Today: Gen. 48: 8 – 14 (Jacob Cross-Blesses Joseph’s Boys, Signifying God’s Sovereignty of Choosing Whom He Blesses) 8When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” 10Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 1
(3) Walk Thru The Word for Today: Gen. 48: 15–18 (ESV)
(Jacob Blesses Ephraim, The Younger Over Manassaeh, The Older)
15And he blessed Joseph and said,
“The God before whom my father’s Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;
and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my father’s Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.”
(4) Walk Thru The Word for Today: Gen. 48: 19–22 (ESV) (The Ephraim & Manasseh Will Be Examples Of Those God Blesses)
19But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” 20So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, “God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
(5) Walk Thru The Word for Today:
Gen. 49: 1-4 (Jacob Prophesies The Future of Israel’s 12 Tribes Sons)
1Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. 2“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.
(6) (Yellow – Not In Your Notes)
The New Testament explains God’s principles.
The Old Testament shows us the processes of how those principles work in our lives!
- The Old Testament traces a family bloodline to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- God nurtures that family into a nation, and society that will receive and safeguard His Word.
- God’s Old Testament Word points to and prepares us for His Messiah!
- The Old Testament uses the members of that bloodline as the primary examples to demonstrate how God works in the lives of His people then and now.
- The New Testament shows how Christ fulfills the Old Testament through His redemptive “Born Again” experience, and how God uses the transformed disciples to spread the Gospel and explain God’s principles that transform our lives and civilization!
(7) Message map: Series: #13 Bouncing Back From Betrayal!
Gen. 48—49 “Prophecy Proclaims Israel’s tribal History As well as our Predestined Success! ”
- Jacob Adopts Ephraim & Manasseh & Elevates The Younger Above The Older
- Reuben Is Ruined, Repents & Partially Is Restored
- Simeon Suffers Loss (is slain) In The Wilderness
- Map Shows E & M Replace R & S as 1st Borns
- The Levites Will Lead The Religion
- Judah is Jumped Ahead of His Brothers
- Dan Is Designated To Judge
- Accessing Our Adopted & Predestined Roles
(8) Gen. 47: 5-6 (Jacob Adopts Mahasseh & Ephraim As First Born Sons & Tribes of Israel) (The Cross-Blessing Sovereignty of God)
Jacob Adopts Mahasseh & Ephraim Gen. 47:5-6 when Jacob says, …
5And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
During the blessing, Jacob put Ephraim, the younger before Manasseh, the older, just as he, Jacob was the younger and was blessed over his older brother Esau.
(9) Gen. 48: 5 & 20 (Ephraim of Joseph Will Be Ten Thousands)
Gen. 48: 5 & 20 The5And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 20So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh
Deut. 33:13-16 13“And of Joseph he said, “Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above…16with the best gifts of the earth … May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers. 17A firstborn bull—he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
- Numbers 1:33 those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.
- Numbers 26: 37 …the sons of Ephraim were listed, 32,500.
The Life & Times of Ephraim
- In Judges 8:1 the Ephraimites were angry with Gideon for not initially calling for their help in battling the Midianites.
- In Jud 12: 1-6 Ephraim’s pride sparked rebellion against Jephthah after he defeated the Ammonites without them, and 42,000 Ephraimite warriors died
- Ephraim becomes representative of the ten disobedient tribes the Northern Kingdom (Ezekiel 37:16; Hosea 5:3), AKA “Israel,” which was taken into captivity by the Assyrians in 722 BC (Jeremiah 7). The Southern Kingdom, also known as Judah, was conquered by the Babylonians nearly 140 years later (586 BC).
(10) Gen. 48: 5 & 20
(Manasseh, the Older of Joseph Will Be Only Thousands)
Gen. 48: 5 & 20 The5And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 20So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh
Deut. 33:13-16 13“And of Joseph he said, “Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that crouches beneath, 14with the choicest fruits of the sun and the rich yield of the months, 15with the finest produce of the ancient mountains and the abundance of the everlasting hills, 16with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwells in the bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers. 17A firstborn bulk—he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” [bctt tweet=”Deut. 33:13-16 13“And of Joseph he said, “Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that crouches beneath, 14with the choicest fruits of the sun and the rich yield of the months, 15with the finest produce of the ancient mountains and the abundance of the everlasting hills, 16with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwells in the bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers. 17A firstborn bulk—he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”” username=”LibertyCF3″]
Numbers 1:33 f33those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.
Numbers 26:37 …37…the sons of Ephraim were listed, 32,500. . …
- Numbers 1:35 those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.
- Numbers 26:34 These are the clans of Manasseh, and those listed were 52,700
- This tribe prospered and grew in the wilderness by a whopping 20,500 men, age 20 and above, who were able-bodied for the military, not counting women, children and some disabled.
The Life & Times of Manasseh
- AKA the “half-tribe” of Manasseh, because some of them chose to settle east of the River Jordan (Numbers 32:33; Joshua 13: 29–31), for the lush land to raise their flocks. The rest of the tribe settled west of the Jordan, in Canaan, following Joshua’s command to enter and possess the Promised Land. As is evident throughout Scripture, God endows His children with the freedom to choose.
- Manasseh disobeyed God by failing to destroy the Canaanites and also the Perizzites and Rephaites”.
They lacked faith God would use them to overcome a seemingly invincible foe. (Josh17:12-18).
- God was Faithful to Manasseh, as Gideon objected that his “clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family” and put out fleeces (Judges 6).
- The daughters of Manasseh’s great-great-grandson, Zelophehad, died without sons, before entering the Promised Land, and his daughters petitioned Moses, to receive their deceased father’s property, to which the Lord agreed and developed rules to keep property within a family (Numbers 27:1–11).
(11) Gen. 49: 3-4 (Reuben Is Ruined, Repents & Partially Is Restored) Deut. 33 1This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2He said,
Gen. 49: 3-4 (ESV) Reuben Ruined His First Born Position)
3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the first fruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. 4Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it…!
Deut. 33 1This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2He said, 3“Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few.
- Numbers 1:21 those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.
- Numbers 26: 7 …the clans of Reuben, and their registration numbered 43,730.
- Gen 35:22 Reuben tried to replace his dad, as leader of the clan, by sinning with Bilhah, so he ruined & is rejected from his firstborn position.
- Gen 37:21-22 & 30 Reuben repented of sinning & hurting his dad, and tried to rescue Joseph; pledged to return with Benjamin in Gen 42:22-23 and admonished his brothers for not listening to him when he tried to rescue Joseph.
- Reuben is partially restored by not sinning again! The clan only loses 2,770 people in the 40 years of wandering the wilderness!
(12) Gen. 49: 5-7
(Simeon Seems Ruined Over The Deception & Slaying At Shechem)
Gen. 49: 5-7 5“Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. 6Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. 7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
Deut. 33 Does not mention Simeon.
- Numbers 1:22-23 22Of the people of Simeon…, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: were 59,300.
- Numbers 26: 14 … the clans of the Simeonites, 22,200. (-37,100!)
- Gen 34:25-26 Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took swords to Hamor and his son Shechem and rescued Dinah out of Shechem’s house.
- Gen 42:24 Joseph took Simeon from them [his brothers] and bound him before their eyes (perhaps because he did not trust this particularly ruthless brother with Benjamin).
- There are no prophets, priests nor princes (kings) of the tribe of Simeon, so Israel indeed receives no council from them. Simeon is not mentioned in the victory song of Deborah in Judges 5.
(13) Gen. 49: 5-7 (Levites Will Be Scattered For the Slaying At Shechem, Yet they Are Redeemed To Lead The Religion)
Gen. 49: 5-7 5“Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. 6Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. 7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
Deut. 33: 8-11 8And of Levi he said, “Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim (elements of seeking God’s direction) [because] they sided with God & Moses at the quarrel at the waters of Meribah during the Exodus; 9who said of his father and mother, ‘I regard them not’; he disowned his brothers and ignored his children.
For they (the Levites) observed [God’s] word and kept [His] covenant. 10They shall become teachers who teach Jacob God’s rules and Israel God’s law; they shall minister at before God’s alter and put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar. 11Bless, O LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
Note: The Levites at Massah fulfilled the mandate Jesus gives for discipleship in Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” The Levites stood against their family members to stand with Moses!
In Exodus 17: 7 “…he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD [because they wanted water].”
Christ qualifies this discipleship call from another perspective in Mathew 10:37 & Luke 14:26 — “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- Mathew 10:37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
- Numbers 1: 47-54 47But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 49“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.
- 52The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. 53But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses. Levites are a buffer between God and the congregation.
- Number 1 does not list Levites
- Numbers 26: 57-62 62And those listed were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward. For they were not listed among the people of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel. The Lord is their inheritance.
- All males at least one month old are counted because they don’t go to war, and so age and physical ability are not a factor.
(14) Gen. 8-12 (Judah Is Jumped Over His Older Brothers)
Gen. 49: 8-12 8“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. 9Judah is … as a lion … 10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff (lawgiver) from between his feet, until tribute (Shiloh = Messiah) comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. 12His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
NAS Gen 49: 8-12 8“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. 9“Judah is … as a lion, 10“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh (The Messiah) comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 12“He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. 13“His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.
Deut. 33:7 says of Judah — 7And this he said of Judah: “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people. With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries.” Another way of expressing this is: “He fights for his cause with his own hands, LORD, And help them against their enemies.”
- Numbers 1:27 Of those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.
- Numbers 26: 22 … the clans of Judah as they were listed, 76,500.
The Life & Times of Judah who transitions through …
- Repentance — that leads to salvation. (2 Cor. 7:10)
- Redemption, Judah Transforms from Bargaining to sell Joseph for gold in Gen. 37: 36 To Bartering himself for Benjamin in Gen. 44: 32-34.
- Restoration (renewal) Judah transitions from abandoning/forsaking/rebelling against his family and his call that led to the entanglement with Tamar in Gen 38, to being restored to take responsibility as the leader of Israel, who precedes the family to Egypt to establish a beachhead in Goshen.
(15) Gen. 49: 16-18 (Dan Is Designated As A Judge of His People)
Gen. 49: 16-18 16“Dan shall Judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan perhaps may not produce the best of judges, since Samson was of Dan Judges 13:2-25)
17Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls backward.— not forward, indicating Dan will be a stumbling block for Israel.
Dan may be too independent a judge, as …
Deut. 33:22 … “Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps from Bashan.” (Psalm 22:11-13…11Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 12Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.… strong bulls of Bashan oppose Christ? Perhaps they were judges called Scribes and Pharisees)
- Numbers 1:38 from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 39those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.
- Numbers 26: 42-43 … 42These are the sons of Dan according to their clans: of Shuham, the clan of the Shuhamites …listed, were 64,400. …
The Life & Times of Dan
- Dan Initiates Idol Worship in Israel in Judges 18: 1-30. “There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, (graven image).
- Perhaps Duet 33: 22 & Ps. 22:12-13 indicate Danites might be overly represented amongst the Scribes and Pharisees.
- Dan is omitted from the tribal list in Rev 7:4-8, so many early Christian Fathers (Irenaeus, Ambrose, Augustine, Theodoret) surmised the Antichrist should spring from that tribe.
(16) Yellow Table (Read Slide)
Israel’s Tribal Numbers in Numbers 1 & 26 (By Birth Order)
(17) The 12 Tribes Ephraim & Manasseh are Adopted/inteGrated into the Kingdom
We may not feel we are out of position to be chosen to serve God, because we …
- are in the wrong place, such as in Egypt, far away from the Promised Land where God’s Patriarchs are, like Mannasseh & Ephraim
- were born at the wrong time, or the wrong birth order
- have been born with a crummy disposition/personality, given to a whining and complaining negativity that we realize has set us back, caused us to miss opportunities for ministry, business, relationship building etc.
- have been willfully disobedient
- been betrayed, double crossed, tricked etc…
(18) Eph. 1: 3-7 (ESV) (Adopted Children Are Not 2nd Class Children)
Eph. 3: 1-7 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us (b) for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Children Adopted by God are …
Blessed in Christ — with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. “In the heavenly places means…From Eph 3: 1-7 we see we are …
- Placed/Positioned in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. “In the heavenly places means… 1 Corinthians 2: 9-10 = from The Holy Spirit we get the resources we need to live by the Spirit.
- Predestined — which means our success is established in advanced. 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
- Purposed — through redemption to fulfill God’s Will to the praise of His grace.
God teaches us these lessons from the tribes, such as …
Reuben demonstrates that through repenting of sin we salvage & restore what otherwise would be lost. 
Restoration Requires a) Stopping, b) Dropping & c) Rolling Back To God
What call would we answer, if we knew
- a) God was with us, ensuring our success and b) He’s ensuring we cannot fail?
(19) Let’s Pray that God ReAwakens, ReInvigorates & ReEstablishes Us in Our Calls In Christ!
Let’s Pray: God give us the mercy to discern Your Will in our lives, and grace to go about doing Your Will Your Way!
Graciously lead us down our predestined paths You’ve prepared for us in advance for our success and Your glory! [email-download-link namefield=”YES” id=”296″]
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