I will be honest with you. I’ve struggled with Jacob’s character during this study of Genesis. He was not an easy person to like, and as the story progressed, I found him to be more and more complicated. Thankfully, Jacob’s failings and weaknesses didn’t surprise God, nor do mine.
That’s another problem with Jacob—the more I watched him, the more I identified with him, and that bugged me to no end! So, I’m grateful, as we are nearing the end of this amazing book and nearing the end of Jacob’s life, that we can see a depth of faith and maturity of spirit not evident in previous chapters.
Moving into chapter forty-eight, we are made aware, along with Joseph, that his father is ill. Joseph seems eager to bring his two sons to the patriarch before it’s too late. Jacob, aware of the role Joseph has played in saving the family from famine, wants to give his sons a special blessing. I love what he tells his favored son:
“I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”
Genesis 48:11 ESV
As we prepare to look at our gem for the day, Jacob reaches out his hands to bless the boys. Yet, instead of doing what’s expected, he crossed his arms and placed his right hand of blessing on Ephraim, the younger, and thus put his left hand on Manasseh, the firstborn. We shouldn’t be surprised that Jacob would do for his grandsons what was done for him all those years ago. It’s just a reminder that God’s ways are not like men’s ways. Now to our gem:
And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
Genesis 48:15-16
The God of my fathers.
There are three ways Jacob describes God in this blessing, and they illustrate a depth of maturity and faith in this complicated man’s life. He recognizes God as the same of his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham. The God who revealed himself to Abraham, who chose him and his family to be his own and set apart as a blessing to the nations, this was the God he trusted and served.
Jacob is passing on a heritage of faith to his grandsons. He is recognizing all that God had done in the lives of his father and grandfather, and now wanted to make sure that his sons and grandchildren were also aware of the God he worshipped, and would pass on this heritage of faith to their children.
The Shepherd.
This is the only place, except for verse twenty-four in the next chapter, where the description of God as shepherd is used in the book of Genesis. It is an intimate, royal metaphor for God, and reveals a deep, abiding relationship between Jacob and the Almighty.
The fact that he uses the shepherd as a descriptor for God, shows us that Jacob had learned a lot from his years of caring for flocks. Whether in the Promised Land or the land of exile in Egypt, the Shepherd God had protected his small flock of Israel. He guided them, put a hedge around them to keep them safe, and never let them wander far from his perfect plan. Of course, we know that this picture of God as shepherd would be used through the writings of the Shepherd-King David, in the words of the prophets, and ultimately in the example and words of The Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus.
The Angel.
Jacob was intimately related to the Angel of the Lord, after having wrestled with him before facing his brother Esau in chapter thirty-two. He would have known about how the Angel of the Lord appeared to his grandfather Abraham during the trial of sacrifice. That same Angel appeared to him as well, during his years of service to his father-in-law, Laban, helping him to know how to build up his flocks.
In this blessing, Jacob acknowledges the angel as the one who redeemed him from all evil. Only God can redeem, and this angel is God himself, and for many seen as a pre-incarnate christ. He first revealed himself to the most unlikely of persons in chapter sixteen, when he spoke to Hagar by a spring of water.
Follow this God.
This word-picture of the God he served is passed on from Jacob through his blessing to his grandsons. He wants them to know not only about this God but that their grandfather believed in him as well. “Let my name be carried on,” he said. From that point on, we would know God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This would be the God of the people of Israel and the God who would ultimately send his Son, the Incarnate christ, to fulfill his plan of redemption for all nations.
Do you follow this God? Are you passing down to your children and grandchildren the story of a heritage of faith? I pray that your name will be carried on as one attached to God.
Grace and Peace
Missed Chapter 47? Read it HERE. To start the series from the beginning, click HERE.
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