Genesis 48:18

Genesis 48 gives us another example of the seductive power of what we can see. It is a wonderful thing to see faith, the invisible power, winning in Jacob over everything that marked his earlier up-and-down history. We watch him rise above nature and its claims, as he lays his hands on the head of Ephraim, the younger of Joseph's two sons, guiding his hands knowingly. Yet the snare of the visible is just as clear, seen in Joseph's displeasure and dissatisfaction.

Joseph lets his natural thoughts govern him. He does not discern the sovereignty of God, who blesses according to His purpose. So he protests against Jacob giving first place to the younger son. Jacob, however, will not give way to Joseph's natural wishes. He is perfectly aware of the course he is taking. He can say, "I know it, my son, I know it." He is not only acting according to the mind of God. He is doing it with understanding. His spiritual vision was never brighter than at the moment when his natural vision had become dim with age.

Joseph, the interpreter of God's ways to Pharaoh, could not in this case see as clearly as Jacob. It needs an exercised soul, as well as a spiritual gift, to see clearly the way of grace. Joseph stands far above his father Jacob, both in gift and in moral worth. But Jacob had been well sifted, and had learned by experience his need of grace. A parent's fondness, the right of the firstborn, and things like these can fill the mind, even where there is a real gift from God.

Though Joseph may plead for Manasseh, Jacob puts the blessing on Ephraim. This is God's way: to set the younger above the elder. So all blessing may come through the grace of God, and not through the rights, or the claims, or the efforts of nature. At the end, Jacob's whole boast and confidence is in the sovereign grace of God.

Jacob was clear where Isaac had been dim. He was clearer even than Joseph, to whom God had given deeper insight into divine things than to any other man of God. What deep self-judgment must have passed through Israel's spirit! He was looking back on the blessing he had once stolen by his own scheming. Could the Lord not have crossed Isaac's hands to make good His promise to Jacob? He could have done it to His own glory, and without His servant's shame. How sad not to have trusted Him!

Here we may see a picture that has meaning for us. The name Manasseh means Forgetting, which points in a negative direction. Ephraim means Fruitful, which is positive in character. The first man and his race are negative as regards God, the complete denial of all His thoughts. In Christ, the Second Man, is the Yes and Amen to all God's thoughts, and all fruitfulness is found in Him. He is indeed the Man of God's right hand. It is a great day in the spiritual history of each of us when we gladly agree that the Second Man has displaced the first. Then we turn away from self-seeking to find our all in Christ.

If we are surprised as Joseph was, the reply is, "I know it, my son, I know it." That answer is absolute. We must submit whether we understand how it works or not. At the same time, later events often show us wise reasons for what seemed strange in that action.