Joseph 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.”
Jacob is old, sick and nearly blind, and when he sees two young men standing beside Joseph he has to ask who they are. Joseph answers, and Jacob asks for the boys. What follows is the act Scripture later marks as Jacob's great act of faith.
Sons Given by God
Joseph does not say that these are the sons he fathered in Egypt. He traces them back to God, and the names he had given them say the same thing.
G C WillisPharaoh gave Joseph a wife, and God gave Joseph two sons. The oldest was named "Manasseh" ("Forgetting"), because God made Joseph forget his work and sorrow. The younger was named "Ephraim" ("Fruitful"), because God caused him to be fruitful in the land of his trouble.
The word "here" matters. God gave these sons in the land of Joseph's trouble, not after the trouble was over.
Boys with No Natural Claim
By birth the boys belonged to Egypt, not to Abraham. Jacob does not argue the difficulty away. He acts.
J. G. BellettHe then adopts the sons of Joseph. This was needed to give them the rights of children. In a real legal sense they were strangers to Abraham. Their mother was an Egyptian. They were a seed, therefore, whom the law would in its day have put away. But Jacob adopts them. He takes them into the family.
Where the Blessing Comes From
Where does a dying man find anything to give? Not from himself.
Hamilton SmithBut if blessing rests on the promise made sure to Jacob's descendants, then Jacob can claim a blessing for Joseph's sons. Jacob can say, "they shall be mine." He claims them as his descendants and therefore as the heirs to the inheritance.
Dim Eyes, Clear Sight
Jacob's eyes are failing. Yet the record now calls him Israel, and the change of name marks a change in what he sees.
Hamilton SmithAs Jacob he has seen death ending the plans of man. As Israel he looks beyond death and unfolds the purpose of God. But the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. If heavenly things are opening to him, earthly things are fading from him. And so he no longer thinks of the sorrows along the way, but of the goodness of God that had never forsaken him. He acknowledges that God had been better to him than all his natural thoughts.
Grace Decides, Faith Agrees
Read the whole chapter and one pattern runs through it. Jacob's own part is only to agree.
J. G. BellettIn Genesis 48, which follows, we get the one act in his life that the Spirit marks out as the act of faith. See Hebrews 11:21. But the whole chapter is beautiful. All is grace on God's part, and all is faith in the heart of Jacob. It is the proper business and duty of faith to accept the decisions of grace, and that is just what grace is doing here. Grace adopts the sons of Joseph, who had no claim by birth, and takes them into the family of Abraham. Grace gives them the place and portion of the firstborn, the double portion, as though they were Reuben and Simeon. Grace sets the younger of them above the elder.
Bringing Children to Be Blessed
Joseph's part is only to bring the boys. Parents can bring their children to God the same way, and one writer separates two reasons for doing it.
F. B. HoleSuppose we bring them with a desire for their prominence and glory. Suppose we want them distinguished either in this world or the world to come, so that our natural pride and pleasure in them grows. Then we have no ground for expecting the Lord to act. If we bring them so that their desperate need may be met and their blessing accomplished, He will hear us. The varying circumstances on our side will be no hindrance.
Summary
- Given. Joseph calls his sons a gift from God. Their names record what God did in the land of his trouble: He made Joseph forget, and made him fruitful.
- Brought. Jacob asks for the boys to come close before he blesses them. Blessing does not reach them at a distance.
- Adopted. The boys had no legal standing in Abraham's family. Jacob adopts them and gives them the place of the firstborn.
- Blessed. Jacob has nothing of his own to hand over. He can bless because God's promise runs to his descendants, and the boys now count among them.
- Accepted. All is grace on God's side and faith on Jacob's. Faith's one job is to accept what grace has decided.