Chapter Overview
Race, Not Grace
Birthright Never Given to the Jews
Grace Requires Conditions
What the Birthright Conferred
The Birthright Denied to Ishmael
Esau Sells the Birthright
Jacob's Deception
What the Birthright Included
Prophecy for Turkey
The Lesson for Us
Reuben Lost the Birthright
Birthright to Joseph's Sons
Name Israel Given to Joseph's Sons
Jacob Crosses Hands
Prophecy for Today
Promised to Joseph
Now we come to a most vital distinction, and a bit of
Bible truth known to but a very few. Very few, indeed, have ever
noticed that the promises to Abraham were twofold. But the
Bible itself makes sharp distinction between these two phases of the promises.
The spiritual promises - the promises of the "one
seed," Christ, and of salvation through Him - the Bible calls the sceptre.
But the material and national promises relating to many nations, national
wealth, prosperity and power, and possession of the Holy Land, the Bible
calls the birthright.
Let us understand the meaning of the terms:
"Birthright: native right or privilege" - Standard
Dictionary; "any right acquired by birth" - Webster's. A birthright
is something which is one's right, by birth. It has nothing to do
with grace, which is unmerited pardon and a free gift which is not one's
right. It has to do with race, not grace. Birthright possessions
are customarily passed down from father to eldest son.
"Sceptre: kingly office; royal power; badge of
command or sovereignty" - Standard Dictionary. The promised kingly
line culminates in Christ, and involves grace to all.
We have seen how both sets of promises, right to
birth and gift of grace, were unconditionally made by God to Abraham.
Both the birthright and the sceptre were repromised by the Eternal to Isaac
and to Jacob. But the fact that should open your eyes, as a joyous
truth newly discovered, is that from that point these two sets of promises
became separated! The sceptre promises of the kingly line culminating
in Christ, and of grace through Him, were handed on to JUDAH, son of Jacob
and father of all Jews. But the astonishing truth is that the birthright
promises were never given to the Jews!
Let that be repeated! Realize this!
The birthright promises were never given to the Jews!
Turn to these passages - read them in your own
Bible!
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah. . ."
(Gen. 49:10).
". . .But the birthright was Joseph's" (I Chron.
5:2).
Of course it is well understood that the sceptre
went to Judah and was handed down through the Jews. King David was
of the tribe of Judah. All succeeding kings of David's dynasty were
of the House of David, tribe of Judah. Jesus Christ was born of the
House of David and the tribe of Judah.
Another eye-opening truth completely unrealized
by most people today is the fact that only a part of the "children of Israel"
were Jews.
Read that little understood fact again!
The full explanation and proof of this must be
reserved for Chapter VI. Only those of the three tribes of Judah,
Benjamin and Levi were Jews. While all Jews are Israelites, most
Israelites are not Jews!
So understand! The birthright promise did
not pass on to the Jews! But the sceptre - the promise of Christ
and of grace - was passed on to the Jews! "Salvation," Jesus said,
"is of the Jews"! (John 4:22.) "The gospel of Christ," wrote Paul,
"is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
JEW first, and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16). The promises of grace
were handed down through JUDAH!
But the promises which the Bible terms the "birthright"
have not been understood at all. Few have ever noticed that God made
any promises to Abraham other than the sceptre. Few know what is
in the Bible!
Birthright Never Given to the Jews
Fewer still have understood that these great national
material promises were never given to the Jews! The astonishing and
vital fact that many have overlooked is "the birthright is JOSEPH'S."
And, as we shall see later, neither Joseph nor his descendants were Jews!
Astounding as it may be, it's true!
This knowledge about the birthright is the pivot
of this entire truth which will prove the key to the understanding of all
prophecy! It's of supreme importance that you get this clearly in
mind!
"Birthright," as defined above, includes only that
which comes by right of birth. No one can receive eternal life as
a right, from natural birth. If it were our right, inherited by birth,
it would not be by grace. Salvation comes by grace - God's gift,
by undeserved pardon - unmerited favor. We can receive only material
possessions as a right by birth. And when that right is passed down
through generations to ever-multiplying descendants, it finally devolves
into a NATIONAL inheritance. It confers only material possessions,
power, or position. It does not bestow spiritual blessings.
It is a matter of race, not grace!
There is another distinction between a birthright
and grace we ought to understand. A birthright, as before stated,
is normally passed on from father to eldest son. There are no conditions
which the recipient is required to meet. The son does nothing to
qualify for it. He receives it as his right for no other reason than
that he happened to be born his father's son. He has a right to it
without earning it or qualifying to be worthy of it. He could, however,
disqualify himself to keep, or even to receive it.
But the gift of immortality received by grace does
have qualifying conditions! It is not your right, nor mine, to receive
the gift of eternal life - to be actually born as God's son - literally
a member of the God FAMILY! Think what conditions would result if
it were! A rebellious, defiant, hostile, God-hating criminal or atheist
could shake his fist at God and say: "Look, God! I hate you.
I defy you! I refuse to obey you! But I demand your gift of
eternal life! It's my RIGHT! I want to be born into your divine
family - to receive all the vast POWER of a son of God, so I can use that
power to oppose you! I want to make your family a house divided against
itself. I will cause friction, hostility, hatred, unhappiness among
all your children! I demand that POWER, as your gift, as my right,
so that I may abuse that power - use it for EVIL!"
Most professing "Christians" - and many teachings of what
is called "traditional Christianity" - say there are no conditions, nothing
that we must do to receive God's glorious grace. They deny that God
requires obedience to His law! They twist the truth around by saying
that would be earning one's salvation! They do demand it of God,
while they still rebel against His law and refuse to keep it!
Think where that would lead! Understand this!
Eternal life is, indeed, God's free gift. You can't earn it!
But it is not your right! You cannot demand it of God as your right,
while you defy God, rebel against His government, refuse to let Him rule
your life His way!
Therefore God has imposed CONDITIONS! Those
conditions do not earn you a thing! But God gives His Holy Spirit
to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). He does not pay it - but the passage
speaks of the Holy Spirit which "God hath given to them that obey Him."
It is still a free GIFT!
A rich man might have seven men standing before
him, and say: "I will give, as my free GIFT, $1,000 to any or all of you
who will step forward to receive it." Their stepping forward does
not EARN it. It is merely the condition required to receive the free
GIFT.
The word "grace" means unmerited, undeserved pardon!
God pardons those who REPENT! And "repent" means to turn from rebellion,
hostility, disobedience. "Repent" means to turn to obedience to God's
law. The fact that God chooses not to give this wonderful gift -
this gift of immortality, which carries with it divine power - to those
who would misuse it for harm and evil; the fact that He chooses to give
it only to those who will rightly use it - does not mean it comes by works
instead of grace. If there were no conditions, then everyone could
demand it - and it would be received as a right by birth, instead of by
grace!
The very fact of grace makes necessary God's required
qualifications. But it still is an undeserved GIFT! Obedience
does not earn anything - that is only what we owe to God. A birthright
requires no qualification. It is a right by birth.
Just what special material inheritance was passed on by
the birthright few have understood. yet it conferred the richest,
most valuable material inheritance ever passed from father to son - the
most colossal wealth and power ever amassed by man or empire! The
magnitude of this birthright is staggering!
It includes all the first phase of God's tremendous
promises to Abraham. This legacy guaranteed on the authority of God
Almighty, unconditionally, multitudinous population, untold wealth and
material resources, national greatness and world power!
Not only had God promised that a world-dominant
nation and a company, or commonwealth, of nations whose peoples descended
from Abraham would be as populous as the grains of sand of the seashore
- as the stars in multitude; not only did He promise they should possess
the gate (Fenton translation: gates) of enemy nations, which alone signifies
world dominance and power; but the birthright finally included vast material
wealth and unlimited national resources. That was made plain in the
blessing given to Jacob, as we shall soon see.
The Birthright Denied to Ishmael
Except in cases of divine intervention, which occurred
three times, the inheritance of the birthright fell automatically to the
eldest son in each generation.
Isaac was chosen by the Eternal to inherit both
the sceptre and birthright. Abraham had other sons. Ishmael
was the eldest. But God chose Isaac, and "Abraham gave all that he
had unto Isaac" (Gen. 25:5). Isaac, however, was Abraham's firstborn
lawful son. Ishmael was the son of Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian handmaid.
Abraham loved Ishmael and desired for him to have
the birthright. "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might
live before thee!" (Gen. 17:18.)
Sarah his wife was barren. "And God said,
Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his mane
Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,
and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I . . . will make
him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly . . . and I will make him
a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac . . ."
(verses 19-21).
Regarding the future nation to spring from Ishmael,
the angel of the Eternal had said to Hagar: "He will be a wild man; his
hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he
shall dwell to the east [correct translation] of all his brethren" (Gen.
16:12).
Two clues are given here: 1) Ishmael's descendants
were to become a great nation but the birthright nations were to be greater;
and 2) they were to dwell to the east of their brethren - that is, of Isaac's
descendants who had the birthright. The children of Ishmael have
become the Arabs of today. The nation and company of nations who
hold the birthright must, therefore, be larger, wealthier, more powerful,
and must be found geographically west of the Arab nations.
Abraham was the human type of God the Father, and
Isaac of Christ. There are many parallels. Space prohibits
expounding them here, except to note that if we are Christ's we are Abraham's
children (Gal. 3:29), and Abraham is the "father of the faithful" (see
Gal. 3:7); that Abraham was called on to be willing to sacrifice his only
(legitimate) son (Gen. 22:2) even as God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus
Christ, for the sins of the world; that Isaac's wife Rebekah is a type
of the Church, and she had to fall in love with him and accept him as her
husband before she saw him with her eyes; and that Isaac was born by promise,
and by a miracle from God, even as Jesus was miraculously born of the virgin
Mary.
Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau
was the firstborn, and therefore the legal inheritor of the birthright.
But Esau undervalued it and sold it to Jacob.
God had chosen Jacob to possess these promises before
the twins were born. But Jacob, influenced by his mother instead
of waiting on the Eternal, resorted to deception and took it from Esau.
The Eternal had said to Rebekah, regarding Esau
and Jacob, that they were the beginning of two nations - "two manner of
people . . . the one people shall be stronger than the other people," said
God, and the elder shall serve the younger" (Gen. 25:23).
Their descendants, then, were to become two different
types of people. The story of Jacob's premature and deceptive acquisition
of the birthright continues, in Genesis 25:27-34.
"And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter,
a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved
Jacob. And Jacob sod pottage [boiled porridge - Fenton's translation]:
and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob,
Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore
was his name called Edom."
"Edom" means, literally, "red soup," and is so
translated in the Fenton version. It will prove another "key" to
Bible understanding for the reader to carefully fasten in his memory the
fact that "Edom" refers to ESAU. Many prophecies pertaining to the
present and future employ the name Edom. They cannot be understood
unless it is realized that they refer to the descendants of Esau, primarily
the Turkish nation today.
"And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall
this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he
sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils;
and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised
his birthright." Later, Jacob subtly took from Esau his blessing.
The story of this deception is found in Genesis 27.
It was at a time when Isaac was old, his eyesight dimmed
with age. Nearing the end of his life, he called Esau and requested
that he go to the field and hunt for venison, prepare it and bring it to
him. He would then bestow the blessing confirming the birthright.
But Rebekah overheard, and sent Jacob quickly for
two kids of the goats. These she prepared in the same tempting way
that Isaac loved his venison. Then she took some of Esau's clothes
and put them on Jacob. Now Esau was very hairy, while Jacob was smooth,
so Rebekah carefully placed the skins of the two kids upon Jacob's hands,
arms, and smooth part of his neck.
In this disguise, with his imitation venison, Jacob
went in to receive his father's blessing. "And Jacob said unto his
father, I am Esau thy firstborn" (Gen. 27:19).
Isaac was surprised he had found the venison so
quickly and became suspicious. Jacob lied again, asserting the Eternal
had brought the venison to him. Isaac detected the voice was that
of Jacob.
"And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee,
that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The
voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And
he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's
hands: so he blessed him" (verses 21-23).
Now notice carefully what that blessing included!
"And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near
now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him: and he
smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell
of my son is as the smell of a field which the Eternal hath blessed: Therefore
God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty
of corn and wine [Fenton's translation: increase and possession]: Let people
serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth
thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee" (verses 26-29).
Note it! Materialistic promises, national
in nature, every one! Not one of them pertaining to salvation.
None having to do with life after death. Nothing spiritual here!
All pertaining purely to this present fleshly life! NATIONAL prosperity
- rainfall, plenty of corn and wine, the fatness of the earth, or, as the
margin reads, the fat places of the earth - increase and possession.
"Nations shall bow down to thee!" "Let people serve thee."
When Esau returned and found how Jacob had supplanted
him, he was very bitter. He pleaded for a blessing, too. But
Isaac could not retract the blessing given to Jacob. So he passed
on to Esau the following prophecy:
"Behold, thy dwelling shall be [correct translation:
away from] the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;
and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall
come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his
yoke from off thy neck. And Esau hated Jacob . . . " (verses 39-41).
In verse 39, quoted above, the Hebrew preposition
min should be translated "from" or "away from" not "of." Actually,
the prophesied lot of Esau was more of a curse than a blessing. The
Revised Standard Version translates it: "Behold, away from the fatness
of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on
high." Moffatt renders it: "Far from rich soil on earth shall you
live, far from the dew of heaven on high." Actually, the Hebrew words
convey the dual meaning, and both have happened to Esau's descendants.
The sparse records of history, with other proofs, show
that many of the descendants of Esau became known as Turks. Therefore
we must remember that all prophecies pertaining to the latter days referring
to Edom, or Esau, refer generally to the Turkish nation.
In Isaac's dying prophecy, he foretold that Esau's
descendants would come to a time when they should have dominion, and then
break the yoke of the Israelites from off their necks. That has happened.
The children of Israel, through sin, were driven out of the promised land
that belonged with the birthright. The Turks came to power and dominion
and for many centuries possessed that land. Those descendants, the
Turkish people, occupied Palestine 400 years before Britain took it in
1917. Esau's descendants always have lusted for that land, central
promise of the birthright! The Turks have truly lived by the sword!
But let's return to our story. Before Jacob was
born, God had spoken to his mother and revealed to her that Jacob should
receive the birthright. Instead, however, of waiting for the Eternal
to bring this about in His own way, she schemed with Jacob to take it by
lying and deception.
There is a lesson here for us today. As Isaac
is, in a sense, a type of Christ, so Rebekah is, in a sense, a type of
the Church, in which still dwells weakness and carnality.
Sometimes we become too much in a hurry.
We ask the Almighty for things He has promised in His Word. Then
we try to dictate to Him just how and when it shall be accomplished!
We need to learn to "wait upon the Lord." He always does things in
His way, and in His own time. And He distinctly tells us that His
ways are not our ways! Once we commit a thing to the Almighty, let
us have not only the trust, but the respect, for the One so great, that
we will leave the matter in His hands.
Had Jacob trusted the Eternal instead of taking
this into his own hands in a wrong way, the birthright would have come
to him more honorably. Under the circumstances, Jacob, which name
means "supplanter," had far more difficulty securing God's blessing upon
the precious possession than his predecessors.
But after years of trial and test - after finally
wrestling all night with the angel (Gen. 32:24-29) - after confessing his
name as "supplanter" - God bestowed His blessing upon Jacob, took away
his reproachful name, and gave him a new, untainted name, ISRAEL - which
means "prevailer," or "overcomer with God."
And thus we see that through Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, the promises were handed down to one man at a time. There
was no branching out toward national growth until the days of Jacob.
For three generations it had been a "one-man nation." But Jacob had
twelve sons, and through them the future great nation and company of nations
were started on their way.
The next legal inheritor of the birthright was Reuben,
firstborn son of Israel, by his first wife, Leah. But Reuben, like
Esau, lost it. And Joseph, eleventh-born of Jacob, but firstborn
of Rachel, his second and truly loved wife, received it.
The birthright belonged, legally, to Reuben, not
Joseph. It is related in I Chronicles 5:1-2 how it fell to Joseph:
"Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn;
but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given
unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to
be reckoned after the birthright [or, RSV, "so that he (Reuben) is not
enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright"]. For Judah
prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the
BIRTHRIGHT WAS JOSEPH'S)."
So at this point the two divisions of the Abrahamic
promises - the birthright, involving material and national promises, and
the sceptre, including the kingly and spiritual promises - were separated.
It is of first importance to keep in mind that
the birthright, including the promised land now called Palestine, the assurance
of multitudinous population, material and national prosperity, dominance
over other nations, was now given to JOSEPH and his sons.
Mark that well! This BIRTHRIGHT was not to
be inherited by all the tribes of Israel! It was not given to the
Jews! Only a part of the Israelites - the descendants of Joseph -
was to inherit these tremendous national promises!
These material promises for this life, then, belonged
to an altogether different tribe among the children of Israel than the
sceptre promise of the kingly line culminating in Jesus Christ, which spiritual
promise belonged in the tribe of Judah!
These national promises of the multitudinous seed
then became the possession of an altogether different tribe than the promise
of the one seed, Christ, who sprang from Judah! This fact of the
two sets of promises, stressed in the preceding chapter, ought to be plain
and clear to every reader by now.
Fix it permanently in mind. It is one of
the vital keys to Bible understanding!
At the time of Jacob's death, he and his sons were
living in Egypt. We assume, of course, that you are familiar with
the story of how Joseph was sold by his brothers into Egypt; of how he
there became food administrator and prime minister, next under the king
and in actual rule of the nation; of the seven years of plenty, followed
by seven years of famine, in which food had been stored only in Egypt under
Joseph's supervision; of the visit of Joseph's brothers to Egypt in quest
of food, and how Joseph induced them to bring their father and brother
Benjamin down to Egypt; and finally, of the dramatic revelation of Joseph's
identity to his brethren, amid weeping and rejoicing.
And how prophetic that was! As we shall see,
Joseph, in his descendants, shall soon once again have his true identity
revealed to his brothers - and to the world. And how hidden from
the world is that identity now!
And now the time came to pass on the birthright to another
generation. Let us re-create the dramatic scene.
It occurred in Egypt, after Joseph had succeeded
in having his father brought there, as well as all his brothers.
Joseph, remember, was prime minister of the nation.
It was reported to Joseph that Jacob, his father,
was ill. He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, sons
of an Egyptian mother, and hastened to the dying patriarch's beside.
"And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon
the bed. 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 will make of thee a multitude
of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting
possession" (Gen. 48:2-4).
Notice carefully these promises!
The birthright is about to be passed on to another
generation. Notice that nothing whatsoever is said about all the
families of the earth being blessed in his seed - the ONE seed. Nothing
is said about kings. Nothing is said about spiritual blessings whatever.
These promises are those of the birthright. These promises are of
multiple seed - a multitude of people - and possession of the promised
land. Now let us continue.
"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" (verse 5).
Thus did Jacob adopt Joseph's two sons, making
them, legally, his own sons. This, no doubt, was done because they
were half-blooded Egyptians. Israel made them his own adopted sons,
so the birthright could be passed on to them. Notice, too, that in
the first verse of this 48th chapter of Genesis, Manasseh's name is mentioned
first, because Manasseh was the elder. But old Jacob now mentioned
the name of Ephraim first. Here we see supernatural guidance!
Jacob said to Joseph: "Bring them, I pray thee,
unto me, and I will bless them. Now the eyes of Israel were dim for
age, so that he could not see" (verses 9-10).
The birthright, remember, belongs legally to the
firstborn, unless altered by divine intervention. The inheritor of
the birthright, in receiving the blessing conferred upon him, should have
had Jacob's right hand resting upon his head. That is why "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" (verse 13).
Name Israel Given to Joseph's Sons
But once again the Eternal intervened in conferring this
momentous birthright! Jacob, though blind so he could not see the
lads before him, crossed his hands, "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. 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"
(verses 14-16).
Let who grow into this promised multitude?
Let whose descendants become that numerous seed, which shall number into
billions? Not Judah, the father of the Jews - note it! - but EPHRAIM
AND MANASSEH! Why have the eyes and understanding of church leaders
and Bible students been blinded to this plain fact of Scripture?
Notice, Israel did not confer this blessing on
just one, but on both - "Bless the lads," he said. This blessing
went upon them jointly. "Let my name be named on them" was part of
this blessing. His name was ISRAEL. Hence, it was the descendants
of these lads, not the descendants of Judah, or the Jews, who were named
ISRAEL. How clear it is that the name ISRAEL was to be indelibly
stamped on EPHRAIM and MANASSEH!
A shocking fact - and yet plainly proved, right
before your eyes! And remember, this scripture needs no "interpretation"
or "special meaning" or "hidden symbolism" for you to understand!
Here is the plain, simple statement that Jacob's name, which was changed
to Israel, would become the very POSSESSION and property - the label on
the peoples of Ephraim and Manasseh!
WHO, then, according to your Bible, is the real
Israel (racially and nationally) of today?
Ephraim and Manasseh!
Ephraim and Manasseh together received the right
to the name ISRAEL. It was to become the national name of their descendants.
And their descendants were never Jews! Fix this fact firmly in your
mind!
Thus it is that many of the prophecies about "Israel"
or "Jacob" do not refer to Jews or to any of the nations that are today
the descendants of the other tribes of Israel. Mark that well!
Few, indeed, are the clergymen, theologians, or professed Bible scholars
who know that today. Many refuse to know it!
Together the descendants of these two lads, Ephraim
and Manasseh, were to grow into the promised multitude - the nation and
company of nations. These national blessings are poured upon them
jointly. These are the collective blessings which the lads together
received - but not the other tribes!
But at this juncture, Joseph noticed that Jacob's right
hand was not resting upon the head of the firstborn. He endeavored
to remove it.
"Not so, my father," said Joseph, "for this is
the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused,
and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he [Manasseh] 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 [or, COMPANY]
of nations. 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" (Gen. 48:18-20). Here the promises are no longer
collective, possessed jointly. Jacob now was prophesying as to the
blessings of each, individually.
As we have seen from the preceding chapter, the
numerous seed was to become "a nation, and a company of nations."
Now we see that the "nation" to become truly great is to spring from the
seed of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. The "company of nations" is
to grow out of Ephraim. Notice that, before dividing the promises,
this prophetic blessing indicated plainly that the descendants of these
lads should remain together, and together grow into a great multitude,
then become separated, Manasseh becoming a great nation, and Ephraim a
still greater company of nations.
Here, then, is yet another detail of the future
national characteristics of these people. We must not look for the
fulfillment among the sons of Judah. Nor among descendants of any
other of the twelve tribes.
The promise of a future great nation and a company
of nations, together great for multitude, rich in national material prosperity,
possessing the "gates" of the earth's other nations, applies solely to
these lads and the two tribes which sprang from them.
We might add here, too, that the tribes of Ephraim
and Manasseh never became such in the times of Bible history. Some
might suppose the house of Judah was the nation, and the ten tribes, the
company of nations. But none of these promises went to Judah.
Nor were they to be fulfilled in any of the other tribes, save Joseph's
double portion, the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh!
It was Ephraim who was to become the company, or
multitude, of nations, and Manasseh who was to become the great single
nation. And these promises never were fulfilled in them, in times
of Bible history. If these promises ever have been fulfilled, we
must look for their fulfillment between the close of Bible history and
the present!
While still in the spirit of prophecy, Jacob called his
twelve sons together to tell them what their posterity should become "in
the last days."
Here are prophecies which should assist us in identifying
the tribes of Israel today - for surely these are the last days!
We shall here take space to consider only the destiny of Judah and of Joseph.
Joseph's descendants were actually divided into two tribes, Ephraim and
Manasseh, and usually are called by those tribal names instead of the name
"Joseph." The fact that these tribes are here spoken of as "Joseph"
plainly indicates that the prophecy applies jointly to Ephraim and Manasseh.
"And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather
yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in
the last days . . . . Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise:
thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall
bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my
son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an
old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver [margin, ruler's staff] from between his feet, until
Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" (Gen. 49:1,
8-10). The Hebrew word here translated Shiloh means the Messiah,
the Prince of Peace, or the one "seed" of Abraham. (See Young's Analytical
Concordance to the Holy Bible.)
Regarding Joseph, the combined Ephraim-Manasseh tribes,
at this present day, Israel prophesied: "Joseph is a fruitful bough [here
is pictured the birthright promise of multitudes in fulfillment], even
a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches [margin, daughters] run over
the wall" (verse 22).
In other words, in the last days we are to find
the children of Joseph a numerous people, a great nation and a company
of nations, whose daughters, or children, shall "run over the wall" - that
is, run over, or past, the nation's boundary - in other words, be a colonizing
people! Further, in the prophecy for Joseph for these "last days":
". . . the Almighty . . . shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of
the womb: the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings
of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they
shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that
was separate from [margin: is prince among] his brethren" (verses 25-26).
We shall see that these descendants of Joseph,
possessing these birthright promises - to become numerous, to colonize,
thus spreading to the "north and the south, and east and the west," until
they encircled the globe, to possess the "gates" of enemy nations - never
returned to Jerusalem from Assyria, where they were driven with the ten
tribes after 721 B.C., and were never again mixed with Jews from that time!
Here are promises and prophecies which never have been fulfilled by the
Jews, by the Church, by the American Indian, or any other fanciful counterparts
of modern Israel. But they are fulfilled today if the Word of God
is to stand!