A Grand, Witty, Blessing

Reading:   Genesis 48

Jacob, er, uh, Israel...okay listen, I know there has been confusion among the tribes of my family, my children and wife that is, as to whom I am talking about - please understand that when the name "Jacob" or "Israel" is used, in my blog or in scripture, it references the same individual, the father of twelve sons (AKA: The Twelve Tribes of Israel), and son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham.  Jacob and Israel are the same!

When Jacob meets the two sons of Joseph he is overjoyed and sits them down to bless them...

GENESIS 48:14, 17-19

14    And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.  

17    And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. 

18    And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. 

19    And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. 

This is the first instance where we see Joseph act in a way unbecoming, a little pride showing through  .  He questions the placement of his father's hands in regards to blessing his boys; the right hand should have been on the oldest, Manasseh, but Jacob placed it "wittingly" on Ephraim's head.  Joseph was a little frustrated with the oversight and tried to correct his senile old father but Jacob refused and somewhat rebuked his son by saying, "I know what I am doing."

This is an interesting situation because when Jacob was a younger man he too was given the blessing of the firstborn though he was not (Gen. 27).  Esau, Jacob's older brother, should have been given the greater blessing but, with guidance from his mother, Jacob snuck in and pretended to be Esau.  His father, Isaac, feigned ignorance due to his blindness but I am sure he was aware that it was Jacob, not Esau, that he was blessing.  I'm not sure why Isaac didn't admit to that fact, maybe he was directed by God not to because it would incite a treacherous reaction from Esau, who knows, bottom line is that Isaac knew what he was doing, as did Jacob.

~Kipling