(Deuteronomy 4:2 [KJV]) Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you.
(Proverbs 30:5, 6 [KJV]) Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
(Isaiah 28:10 [KJV])
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
(Isaiah 28:13 [KJV])
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
(2 Peter 1:20 [KJV])
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
All of the studies, book or topical, found here, are done with research with mainly two things: The KING JAMES BIBLE and a plain old, 1828 Webster's Dictionary. Why? Outside of actually studying secular and Jewish history, archaeology, one needs nothing more. You do not need foreign, dead languages that no one speaks, lexicons, concordances or commentaries, because they differ not only with one another and with the KING JAMES BIBLE, but they create division, confusion, debate, and unbelief. We do not need them. That Word of God written and preserved for us in our own language is supposed to be enough, like the Old Testament was for the Jews, and the New Testament for the early Christians in Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, etc. There are studies within as tangents on words, subjects found within the two testaments, as to broaden the scope of the study, to learn more, deeper truths. This is not an intellectual site with PhDs, theologians, and no worldly wisdom.. Check everything out, everything. Not just here, but with everything you read and see and hear. Be Bereans:
(Acts 17:11 [KJV])
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Always research for yourself, use all of the context, and never privately interpret!
Genesis Chapter 48: THE DEATH OF ISRAEL, THE MAN; THE BIRTH OF A GREAT NATION
(Hebrews 11:21 [KJV])
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Jacob declares Ephraim and Manasses to be his, which makes them tribes of Israel, which was so for the entire rest of Scripture, except that Ephraim is not literally listed among the tribes in Revelation, among the 144,000, 12,000 from each tribe. Joseph himself is apparently standing in for his brother somehow. It does not say. Jacob not only gets to see his long thought dead son Joseph, but his grandchildren for the first time, Ephraim and Manasses. In this blessing, Joseph is included, getting more land tan the rest of the brethren, probably because he was lost and now is found.
(Genesis 48:1 [AKJV/PCE])
And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
In the end, Revelation chapter seven lists twelve tribes namely Juda, Reuben, Gad, Aser, Nepthalim, Manasses, Simeon, Levi, Isaachar, Zabulon, Joseph, Benjamin
Ephraim is absent, Joseph, Manasses and Benjamin present, Manasses being the elder son
The listings of the twelve tribes alters through the Scriptures, Genesis to Revelation, perhaps according to faithfulness and obedience, perhaps due to God's simply exercising His Sovereignty; He owes us no explanation
(Genesis 48:2 [AKJV/PCE])
And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
Being the favored son, Joseph gets this sort of attention, even when he did not ask for it
The very mention of his name seems to give strength to Jacob, even now in his last, weakest moments of his long life
No mention of Manasses and Ephraim yet
(Genesis 48:3-4 [AKJV/PCE])
And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
Luz is Bethel
The promise was given to Abraham, through Isaac only, down to Jacob and his twelve sones, the promise of land, a great nation coming from their descendants
That promise is forever and was dependent only on God keeping it, not Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or the twelve sons, the twelve tribes
ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB: ISRAEL
One promise, many heirs, much land, forever
(Genesis 12:1-3 [AKJV/PCE])
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
(Genesis 28:3-4 [AKJV/PCE])
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
(Genesis 35:11-12 [AKJV/PCE])
And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; nd the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
(Hebrews 11:8-9 [AKJV/PCE])
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
(Genesis 48:5 [AKJV/PCE])
¶ And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Jacob has adopted them, and considers Ephraim first, before Manasses, and he is lifting them up as his own two sons
This is perhaps because, when reunited, these were the only two sons Joseph that we know of
Firstborn is not always the firstborn, but rather a title of privilege, awarded, not natural in succession
(Genesis 48:6 [AKJV/PCE])
And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
If Joseph had more children, they are ever mentioned
(Genesis 48:7 [AKJV/PCE])
And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Beth-lehem.
Rachel still has a place in his heart, despite the years since she is gone
Rachel gave Jacob his favorite sone, his favored sons Joseph and Benjamin
Rachel did this by faith, having previously been barren, then not seeing them grow, because she died when they were born, God making it all even possible at all that they were born
(Genesis 48:8-9 [AKJV/PCE])
And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Not having seen the sons, just hearing their names, knowing they were from Joseph until now, Jacob is probably very happy to ask
Joseph hereby acknowledges the source Who is God for these sons, not himself, not his wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On
He has heard of them, mentioned them in a pre-blessing, but has not seen them fully yet anyways, with his dim eyes
(Genesis 41:45 [AKJV/PCE])
And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
(Genesis 48:10 [AKJV/PCE])
Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
From this, one could and would likely conclude that the blessings were switched because of it, but that is not so, as one sees when this all happens
(Genesis 48:11 [AKJV/PCE])
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
A double blessing from God! This is a dream better than the ones he has had, because it is reality, not a dream, and come true to pass!
(Genesis 48:12-13 [AKJV/PCE])
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And 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 unto him.
The honor of having your father see his grandchildren for the first time, after so much time, being thought dead, gone forever
Our God is the God of the Resurrection
(Genesis 48:14 [AKJV/PCE])
And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Here again Jacob is called Israel, perhaps because the blessings he is about to pronounce is for the nation, the tribes (they are), not just the descendants presently before him
Israel has crossed both his arms and his hands, to bless according to what God wants, not what he himself may want and might think is proper, not what Joseph wants and thinks is proper, not because of custom, not not because of tradition, but by faith
(Genesis 48:15-16 [AKJV/PCE])
¶ And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
This blessing is the promise to the nation of Israel, passed down, given by God, perpetuated by God, merely repeated, expressed by Israel
The primary, most blessed blessing, was to go to the firstborn, the second after, but Israel reversed it, because of God's Sovereignty through Jacob, Israel
(Genesis 48:17-18 [AKJV/PCE])
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
Joseph dos not yet understand all that God wants to do here, so he is trying to correct what he percieves to be an error, thinking that Israel's eyesight cause the oversight
It is not his eyesight, not an oversight, it is a foresight for the nation of Israel, by God
Joshua was from Ephraim, conquering in the Name of the LORD
APPLICATION: God does not care about which child is first and oldest, which man has a natural talent to teach, to minister in the world; He cares about who walks with Him and gives Him the Glory. This is the natural man versus the spiritual man. God can use whoever he wants; He uses those who walk with Him. Else, through natural talent, we would have had a revival in the land years ago, a true, Scriptural revival, not one that brings wealth to a "famous evangelist".One revival, lasting for a long time, a true one.A revival does not last for only weeks after the arena closes, the statium is emptied out, the great hall is void for a short time, the money taken, the "faith evangelist" or some other modern name
(Genesis 48:19 [AKJV/PCE])
And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
This is a prophecy from God, not Israel
He shall become a people, just a great people, just not as great as Ephraim, due to God's Sovereign plan for the nation, throughout history, Genesis 12:1 to the end of Revelation 22:21
(Genesis 29:24 [KJV])
And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.
JACOB, LABAN, LEAH, RACHEL
(Genesis 29:25-26 [KJV])
And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
(Genesis 48:20 [AKJV/PCE])
And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
The tribe of Joseph is in Revelation seven, which would represent Manasses
(Genesis 48:21 [AKJV/PCE])
And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
Joseph, taken out, will return home, as a great nation
(Genesis 48:22 [AKJV/PCE])
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
This taking of the land here is unrecorded in the Word of God, so Israel mentions it here
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