TRUE BLESSING

 

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.  3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’ 

 

Lesson One:  Joseph is told that his Father was ill so he takes his two sons with him and they visit their dad.  He travels from Avaris to Goshen.  When Jacob was told his son Joseph comes Jacob rallies his strength and sits up on his bed.  Jacob was strengthened with the news of his son.  This often happens because visits encourage, and help people.  Emails letters and telephone calls are good but nothing is better than a one to one visit.  So do that if you can.  People still love a face to face conversation. 

     Now Jacob had some very important and prophetic business this day.  He tells Joseph his history.  Let’s follow it for a moment.  He tells him that the Lord appeared to him in Luz in the land of Canaan.  Luz is also called Bethel.  It was here that Jacob came to know God for himself.  This is where he had his dream of the staircase to heaven and the angels ascending and descending. Here is the scripture.

 

12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it, stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring  15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

 

What a moment for Jacob.  He had a divine experience a face to face encounter.  This happened when he started out and now at the end of his life he is relating this experience to Joseph.  The principle is the same for us.  We have to know God for ourselves.  This is called being born again.  Just because your parents, or family members are saved does not mean you are.  You cannot inherit your faith.  You have to make that personal commitment.  This is one of the biggest myths promoted by people. 

 

     Now there are four promises God gives Jacob. First, I will am going to make you fruitful.  He also like Abraham and Isaac was given the promise of the land of Canaan as an inheritance.  Brothers and sisters in Christ we live in such exciting times because this promise is fulfilled and we are living witnesses to that.  Today the land of Canaan is Israel and Jerusalem is in the hands of the Jewish people. 

He had two wives, twelve sons and one daughter.   By the time he came to Egypt he had 70 people in his family.  Family dinners were quite the affair at Jacob’s place.

      Next, The Lord increased his numbers and in fact God promised his descendants would be like the dust of the earth.  This is why they had come to Egypt and Goshen.  They could increase in numbers. By the time Moses would lead the Exodus, 400 years later they would number in the millions.   The promise also given at Bethel was that they would spread across the four directions and all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Did you know that out of the 900 Nobel Prize winners 20% have been Jewish?  Ten of the 50 richest families are Jewish and in Russia 25% of the richest families are Jewish.  Entertainment, films, theatre, fashion, media and culture is influenced by Jewish people.  The world has been blessed because of the Jacob and his family.  Then of course the Bible was written by Jewish writers.  Our Savior of course was Jewish.  He is the ultimate blessing.  Salvation came though the Jews.  That is why we should be friends and pray for the Jewish people and nation. 

 

     Thirdly, I will make you a community of people or a nation.  It was here in Egypt and Goshen that Jacob, or Israel would become a nation with twelve tribes within the nation.  These four hundred years would be pivotal in the growth and development of this nation.  To grow as people we all need stability peace and protection.  God said at Bethel, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”   Did you know we have the same promise in Matt 28:20, where Jesus said he would be with us even to the end of the age?  God’s people are never alone.  You have divine protection.  God is going to create for you a divine environment where you can grow, develop and become what He designed you to be.  I love this.  This is so good.

     Lastly, He also like Abraham and Isaac were given the promise of the land of Canaan as an inheritance.  God promised that He would bring Jacob back to the land and give it to him as an inheritance.  Jacob may have been in Egypt but he would return.  This is one of the reasons why Jacob asked Joseph to bury him in Canaan.  It was his land of promise.  It was special to him because God had promised it to him.  What is God’s promise to you?  Whatever it is stand upon it and never forget it.  My occupational dream was to be a radio announcer and God has given it to me.  My dream was to have a godly wife, children and grandchildren and He has given it to me.  Ultimately He has given us salvation.  We have heaven as own home.  We are pilgrims passing through, our home is a city whose maker and builder is God.  We will dwell in a city foursquare.  We have divine protection, divine help and wisdom.  Jacob had this promise and here he was relating this promise to Joseph.   Brothers and sisters in Christ we live in such exciting times because this promise is fulfilled and we are living witnesses to that.  Today the land of Canaan is Israel and Jerusalem is in the hands of the Jewish people. 

      

 

5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers.

 

Lesson Two:  This is a divine moment and a moment in history.  Joseph’s two boys are about to become greater than they ever thought they were going to be.  Jacob is claiming Ephraim and Manasseh as his own.  They will be included in his immediate family.  So this is why when the people came out of Egypt 430 years later.  The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were included.  These tribes would be given territory and have a promise given to them.  So this is a moment of destiny, of divine promise and inheritance.  These boys were elevated.  Basically, Jacob adopts the boys and gives them equal status with his other children.  They are like Reuben and Simeon.  They have all the rights and status of sons.  This would be significant to their future and the future of their descendants.  Joshua was Ephraim and the conqueror of Canaan. 

     This next statement is so powerful.  Now I have been reading the bible for 45 years, read it a hundred times, preached on the life of Joseph many times but I got the full revelation yesterday.  Jacob states any children born to you will be yours.  The territory they inherit will be reckoned under their brothers.  It is obvious that Joseph had other sons because the tribe of Joseph is mentioned in the book of Revelation.  It replaces Ephraim because it was eliminated along with Dan because of the calf worship instituted by Jeroboam.  It is just like satan to desecrate later the very spot was Jacob has his encounter with God with idol worship.  Bethel was where the calf worship was started.  Joseph other family would prophetically become a tribe in the future.  Joseph and Levi would replace Ephraim and Dan.

 

7 As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

 

Lesson Three:  Now this statement is a moment of sentimentality for Joseph and Jacob but also to tell Ephraim and Manasseh what happened to their grandmother.  Your grandmother whose name was Rachel died while in the land of Canaan.  Jacob relates to his great sorrow buried her by the road at Ephrath or Bethlehem.  In fact the tomb is still there and visited by thousands each year.   I can see the tears welling up in the eyes of Jacob and Joseph as they relate what happened to this wife, mother and grandmother. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin.  She named him Benoni, which means the son of my sorrow.  Jacob changed his name to Benjamin which means my right hand.   She never got to see these two boys standing beside Jacob’s bed.  I can see the pain, hurt, sorrow and love in their eyes as they relate this.  Joseph grew up without a mother after this.  There are a lot of tragedies in life.  Regrets and moments of missed opportunities.  Jacob wanted these boys to know what they were being elevated into.  He wanted them to know their family history.  Many people want to know their family history.  We have websites, TV programs and businesses that cater to this.  Where we come from and who we are, is important.  This was a moment of family history for the boys.  He was also saying, “If you boys get back to Canaan visit grandma’s grave and here is where it is.”  Now just a quick note.  The boys are in their mid-twenties when this happened.  Jacob is looking at two adult children not little boys as some people imagine.  They need this moment because they grew up in Egypt.  They were sons of a Hebrew dad and an Egyptian mother.  They had grown up in the lap of luxury and they were Identified as Egyptian.  All they knew what Egypt.  They also needed to know that where they lived, how they dressed, the friends they had were not the whole story.  They needed to know their Hebrew Heritage.  This was important to Joseph and Jacob.  They needed to know they were not just Egyptian but Hebrew as well.  They would also get all the blessings and inheritance of being Hebrew.  It is the same with us where we lived, how we dress, the vocation we have and the family we have is not the entire story.  As a Christian, child of God you are entirely defined by your nationality, language and skin color.  Listen to what the Bible says you are/  You are a victor, conqueror, overcomer, royal priesthood, holy nation, unique individual.  You are the church, body of Christ, child of the light, beloved, family of God.  You have all the promises, in heritage and privileges of heaven.  Now as I close today I want to remind you that you must take every moment that you have with family and friends as special.  Rachel never got to see her children grow up, she never saw this moment.  Tragedy happens and life is so uncertain.  You could be here this Sunday and gone the next.   Make the most of every meeting, encounter and time you have with others.  Make every word and gesture count for good.  Leave no hurt, bitterness, pain or sorrow not dealt with.  Walk in love, acceptance and forgiveness.  This is one reason for forgiveness.  Once someone is gone you will never be able to right the wrong and say what you wanted to say.  Tell people how much you love them and how much they mean to you while their eyes can see and ears can hear it.  I have heard so many times at so many funerals.  I wish I would have to them what they really meant to me.  Do it today.