JOSEPH #27 | JOSEPH IN EGYPT #9 | WHY IS THE BLESSING OF EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH RECITED UNTIL TODAY?

Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3623

JOSEPH #27

JOSEPH IN EGYPT #9
WHY IS THE BLESSING OF EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH RECITED UNTIL TODAY?

There are two reasons:

1. The early generations of Jews – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – raised their children primarily in the Land of Israel. 

But due to famine, Jacob and his family moved to Egypt. 

The next generation would grow up surrounded by pagan immorality.

The challenge was to survive as Jews in the midst of all the distractions of diaspora life.

Throughout the ages, Jewish parents have prayed that their children withstand the temptations of exile, and keep a strong, proud Jewish identity.

So it became a beautiful custom for parents to bless their children at the start of the Friday night Shabbat meal. 

Girls receive the blessing: “May God makes you like the matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.” Boys, meanwhile, are blessed “to be like Ephraim and Menashe.”

2. For believers, there is the prophetic revelation of what the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh means.

Ephraim and Menasseh were the first set of Jewish brothers who did not fight.

1. Abraham’s two sons – Isaac and Ishmael – could not get along, and their disagreement forms the basis of the Arab-Israeli conflict until today.

2. The next generation – Isaac’s twin sons, Jacob and Esau – were so contentious that Esau repeatedly sought to kill Jacob and instructed his descendants to do the same. 

3. The next generation was contentious as well: Jacob’s sons sold Joseph into slavery.

4. Ephraim and Menasseh represent a break from this pattern.

This explains why Jacob purposely switched his hands, blessing the younger Ephraim before the older Menashe. 

Jacob wished to emphasize the point that with these siblings, there is no rivalry. (see Genesis [48:13]-14)

What can we conclude from today's lesson?

God's way is definitely higher than ours. 

Here is Joseph's case, his half-Egyptian sons give hope that the Gentiles one day will be accepted as partners of the commonwealth of Israel.

The blessings on Ephraim and Manasseh are not one-offs - limited only for their lifetimes - since patriarchal blessings are meant to last throughout the generations.

1.For Jews their names evoke faith in their one true God even if they are surrounded by predominantly pagan cultures. 

It’s no wonder that the blessing that Jacob gave Joseph’s children has stayed with us: these two boys who grew up in Pharaoh’s palace yet never forgot their father’s home, family, and teachings; who could walk the line between acceptance in another society and maintaining their core identity.

2. For believers the blessing of their names encourages us to believe that one day Jews and Gentiles will unite and attain the elusive goal of world peace under Yeshua our Messiah ( the Prince of Peace ).

Indeed, there is no greater blessing than peace among siblings. The words of King David ring true: “How good and pleasant is it for brothers to sit peacefully together” – Hiney ma tov u’ma’nayim, shevet achim gam yachad (Psalms 133:1). 

It is with this thought that parents bless their children today.