YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

We learned in the last lesson how Pharaoh saw "god-like power of life and death" in Joseph. He showered him with physical things. One of those things was a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.

Before the famine arrived, Joseph and Asenath became proud parents of two boys. Joseph named the oldest boy Manasseh, which means "Made to Forget." The second son was named Ephraim which means "Fruitful."

As Joseph's interpretation of the dream said,” a severe famine came all over the world and Joseph opened up the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians and to those from other lands who came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph. This famine was used to get Joseph back with his brothers who sold him into Egypt and his 130 year-old father, Jacob.”

Seventeen years later, the word came to Joseph that his father was failing rapidly. So he took his sons and went to visit Jacob, his father. This is a very important part of history and prophecy. After Joseph and the sons arrived, Jacob said: "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, 'I will make you a great nation and I will give this land of Canaan to you and to your children's children, for an everlasting possession.' And now, as these two sons of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived, I am adopting them as my own, and they will inherit from me just as Reuben and Simeon will. But any other children born to you shall be your own, and shall inherit Ephraim's and Manasseh's portion from you." (Genesis 48:3-6, TLB).

By now Jacob was half-blind. What he was about to do had such important implication that he needed confirmation that these two boys were really Joseph's before he proceeded. Joseph affirmed that they were. And Jacob asked Joseph to bring the boys to him. "Joseph took the boys by the hand, bowed deeply to him, and led the boys to their grandfather's knees - Ephraim at Israel’s left hand and Manasseh at his right. But Israel crossed his arms as he stretched them out to lay his hands upon the boys heads, so that his right hand was upon the head of Ephraim, the younger boy, and his left hand was upon the head of Manasseh, the older. He did this purposely.

"Then he blessed Joseph with this blessing: 'May God, the God of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, the God who has shepherded me all my life, wonderfully bless these boys. He is the Angel who has kept me from all harm. May these boys be an honor to my name and to the names of my father Abraham and Isaac; and may they become a mighty nation" (verses 15-16 TLB).

This upset Joseph because Jacob had laid his right hand on Ephraim's head and his left hand on Manasseh's. So he tried to change his father's hands, explaining that Manasseh was the firstborn. But Jacob knew what he was doing because God was guiding him. He explained to Joseph that Manasseh would become a great nation, but that Ephraim would become greater and actually be a group of nations. So this blessing put Ephraim before Manasseh.

If you looked around the world today, where would you find the single greatest nation on the face of the earth? Does the United States of America come to mind? Where do you see the greatest group of nations on the face of this earth? Would the British Commonwealth of Nations fit this bill. Great Britain doesn't hold the power in the world that it once had. They had a saying that, “The sun never sets on the British Empire." And it didn't. There was always a nation in that Empire where the sun was shining.

There is no way that every person in the United States is a descendant of Manasseh with all the ethnic mix in this country. Nor is every person in Great Britain a descendant of Ephraim. But these two nations certainly fit the type of what God promised to these two boys.

Notice in Genesis 49:22-26 what will happen to Jacob "in the last days" (v. 1). As you read this keep in mind that Joseph was Jacob's son and the blessings were passed down through Ephraim and Manasseh. "Joseph is a fruitful tree beside a fountain. His branches shade the wall. He has been severely injured by those who shot at him and persecuted him, but their weapons were shattered by the Mighty One of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel (Christ).

"May the God of your fathers, the Almighty, bless you with blessings of heaven above and of the earth beneath - blessings of the breast and of the womb, blessings of the grain and flowers, blessing reaching to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills. These shall be the blessings upon the head of Joseph who was exiled from his brothers (sold to be a slave in Egypt).”

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). God keeps His promises. So somewhere on the face of the earth are the descendants of Sons With A Promise. They are receiving all of the blessings that God promised to them. Where do you think they are? Call 1-888-BIBLE 44 and ask for a FREE program titled “Who's Who in Prophecy" and tell them that you are a YEA student. Then listen to this program.