Joseph, Part 2: The Heritage of Joseph

Abraham was the father of Isaac, who was the father of Jacob, the father of Joseph. God gave Jacob the name Israel.

When Abraham was about 75 years old, God made him two promises:

[1] I will make thee into a great nation… [2] and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Gen. 12:2, 3

The first of these promises made by God to Abraham was physical, one of race: his descendants were to become a great multitude, a chosen nation. The second promise was spiritual, a promise of grace: all the people of the world are to obtain their blessings through the seed of Abraham. The Apostle Paul, in the third chapter of Galatians, says that this spiritual promise is fulfilled in Christ. Gal. 3:8-14 [These two blessings reflect a continuing principle: God always provides two witnesses to the world, one material and one physical. Jesus verified this principle when He said, “…even if you do not believe Me [My words], believe the works [that I do]… John 10:38]

From earliest times, a birthright blessing was passed down by a father to a firstborn son. This birthright brought with it the honors and authority for leadership of the family.

Now, Jacob’s firstborn son Reuben had claim to the birthright of Israel,

…but, forasmuch as he defiled his fatherʼs bed [he “lay with Bilhah, his fatherʼs concubine,” Gen. 35:22], his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph… 1 Chr. 5:1

At that time the portion of the birthright, together with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the sons of Reuben, …and the birthright was given unto Joseph, the kingly office to Judah, and the priesthood unto Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father’s bed. Jasher 36:15

Joseph, the new birthright holder, had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Manasseh was the firstborn. Near the end of Jacobʼs/Israelʼs life, however, he adopted Josephʼs two sons as his own:

And Jacob said unto Joseph…thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh…are mine; as Reuben and Simon, they shall be mine. Gen. 48:3, 5

Notice that in these words, Israel spoke the name of the younger Ephraim first. Notice also that Ephraim and Manasseh were to be to Israel “as Reuben and Simon”: that is, as his firstborn and secondborn. Ephraimʼs elevation to the position of firstborn was confirmed a few moments later, when Joseph brought Manasseh toward Israelʼs right hand, and Ephraim toward his left hand. (So Ephraim was at Joseph’s right hand.) Israel crossed his hands, so he could place his right hand on Ephraimʼs head, and his left hand on Manassehʼs:

And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him… And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [Manasseh] is the firstborn: put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it…but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become the fullness of the nations. [Hebrew, וְזַרְעֹו יִהְיֶה מְלֹא־הַגֹּויִם; the Greek Septuagint has, kαι το σπέρμα αυτού έσται εις πλήθος εθνών: and his seed will be in (or, among) a multitude of nations. The KJV mostly follows the Septuagint; but see Rom. 11:25 in Part 3, where the Greek follows the Hebrew text.] Gen. 48:17-19

The LORD acknowledged Ephraimʼs primacy over a thousand years later in this word through the prophet Jeremiah:

Thus saith the LORD… I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Jer. 31:7, 9

When Israel laid his hands upon the heads of Ephraim and Manasseh, he blessed them with these words:

God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk…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 they shall grow into a multitude [lit., they shall spawn like fish to an abundance] in the midst of the earth. Gen. 48:15-16

By these words, the descendants of Joseph received the first promise that God made to Abraham, to Isaac (Gen. 26:2-4), and to Jacob (Gen. 28:13-14): the promise to become a great nation. The tribes of Joseph (including those who later joined with them) came to be called Israel in later years, just as was promised by the patriarch Israel.