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Date: 9/14/07
Speaker: Pr. Steve Hwang
Bible Background: Gen 48


Introduction

About three months ago, there was someone shouting “Hallelujah” at 5:00 am in Pastor Hwang’s home. It was his mother-in-law, because she had pain in the foot. Pr. Hwang’s mother-in-law would sometimes crawl around the house instead of walking (because of foot problems). One day, he noticed she longer crawled because his wife bought her a cane with five supporting feet.


Despite her physical weakness, Pr. Hwang’s mother-in-law has walked sturdily in her faith. She has never let go of God despite her old age and her two strokes. The Lord Jesus (has also blessed her) and allowed her to immigrate smoothly and live with her family.


Her faith reminds Pr. Hwang of Jacob’s faith in Gen 47:31, when he “worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.”


This verse paints a beautiful picture of Jacob. Although he didn’t have strong faith in the beginning, he had a very mature faith in the last days. Today, we will study Jacob’s last blessings as recorded in Gen 48.

Thanksgiving

Thankfulness in his last days (Gen 48:1-4)
Gen 48:1-4 - 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 will 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.’


In Jacob’s last days, he spoke of God’s great power. He was barely able to sit on his bed, but the first thing he said to Joseph was how the almighty God had appeared to him at Luz (Bethel). Luz is where he saw the temple of God and the gates of heaven. It is where he made a vow to God: If God allowed him to return with peace and have food to eat and clothes to wear, he would build and altar, sacrifice, and offer either when he returned. Truly, he came back as a whole family (70 people by the time he want to Egypt). Truly God blessed him and multiplied him.

Proclaiming the grace of God (Gen 48:10f)

Gen 48:10, 11 - Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, ”I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”

Jacob knew how to proclaim the grace of God. He never imagined he would be able to see Joseph and his grandsons through Joseph. Even though his past was filled with sorrow, he still talked about the grace of God.

Thankfulness in sorrow (Gen 48:7)
Gen 48: 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).


Rachel died before Jacob. Some translations say that Rachel “died on him.” She died some distance from Ephrath (Bethlehem), so he buried her on the way. This burial was not like Abraham’s burial of Sarah. Jacob did not buy a piece of land to bury Rachel. She was merely buried on the side of the road. This was probably a very sad moment for Jacob because Rachel was the wife he loved most. Still, Jacob mentioned that Rachel “died on him.” For a beloved person to die in your arms is a blessing.


Another interpretation is that Rachel died as a result of Jacob’s words. When Rachel stole her father’s idols, Jacob told her father that whoever had taken the idols would be put to death. Some people say that because of these words, Rachel died early. This was God’s punishment for Rachel’s sin. Sometimes punishment is a blessing, because God will discipline those he loves.

Passing-down Thankfulness (Gen 48:5-6)


Gen 48:5-6 - 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.


“Joseph” means “may the LORD add.” Here, (Chinese version??) Jacob mentions the name of Joseph. He remembers that Joseph’s mother wanted another son. Joseph fulfills this by making the two sons of Joseph his own. These two sons become part of the twelve tribes of Israel. In a sense, Joseph replaces Reuben as the first born. Why did Jacob do this? Perhaps because Jacob remembered Rachel, or because Joseph was able to move his family of 70 to Egypt. Either way, Jacob was thankful to God’s guidance in his last days. He reminisced of God’s blessings toward his family, even though his life was a story of sadness.


Today when we are old, we shouldn’t be like the elderly who are described in 1 Tim, who speak meaningless and bitter words. If Jacob were to bring up his bitterness, he would be able to say a lot. He could have talked about how he was deceived in his marriage, how his daughter was raped, how his sons murdered and forced the family to flee. Despite all this, Jacob only tells of God’s blessings. He feels that the blessings need to be passed down to the next generation.


Psalm 78:4-7 -
4 We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
6 That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;


This passage talks about telling the coming generation about the wonders of the Lord. This way, people won’t forget the works of God.
Why was there the Passover in the Old Testament? God wanted the people to remember how the Lord led them out of Egypt; how God led them through the River Jordan on dry ground.


One day, Pr. Hwang’s son came to ask what kind of blessings there were in the family. This was because during SSC, the students learned about how to pass faith down to the next generation. This reminded Pr. Hwang of the time he asked his grandma how she received the blessings of God. He regrets not recording the interview, because she spoke for a whole afternoon.


An Elder in our church also attempts to pass down his blessings by writing the book, “Seeing God with My Own Eyes.” The book is filled with the miracles that God had shown him.


We should be like Jacob in our last days and pass down the work of God.

Blessing
Blessings show love to grandchildren (Gen 48:8-10)


Gen 48:8-10 - Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.


In Gen 48, Jacob is referred to as “Israel,” which means “prince.” In his last days, his life was very complete. Here, Jacob wants to bless Joseph’s sons. Blessing is a display of love. Because he loved Joseph’s sons, he wanted to bless them.


v.10 paints a very beautiful picture between Jacob and his grandsons. The Lord Jesus also embraced children and laid his hands on them when he was in the world. It is harder for Asians to show this type of physical love, but we know how to hold babies when they cry. When we show physical love to a small baby, we give them security. Jacob knew how to embrace children and kiss them. He blessed his grandchildren as though he was blessing his own children.


Blessings show love to Joseph (Gen 48:15-16)


Gen 48:15-16 - And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”


Here, Jacob blessed Joseph, but laid his hands on the heads of the two grandchildren. He took the two grandchildren as his own children because he made Joseph the firstborn and gave him a double portion. Today, parents love their children more than themselves, so they are happiest when their kids are blessed.


Blessings show fulfillment of God’s will (Gen 48:18-20)


Gen 48:18-20 - And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ’May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.


Jacob couldn’t see well (v13), so Joseph placed his older son on Jacob’s right side, and the younger on Jacob’s left. However, Jacob crossed hands when he gave the blessing. The Bible says that Joseph was not happy about this and wanted to move Jacob’s hand. Jacob replied, “I know, my son.” This shows how Jacob’s faith was firm. He went from “I do not know” to “I know.” Back then, when God gave him a vision, he woke and proclaimed that he didn’t know he was at the gates of heaven. He had a very fuzzy faith and didn’t know God clearly. Now, he was very clear of what he was doing.


Did God move him to do so? We do not know. But we do know that the Bible does have a strange pattern of blessing the younger over the older. For example, out of the brotherly pairs, the younger was chosen over the older: Cain & Abel, Ishmael & Isaac, Jacob & Esau. When Judah had twins through Tamar, Perez was chosen over Zerah (older) and became the ancestor of David. Pr. Hwang does not know why people tend to favor the first-born, but God looks at what man does not see. Likewise, Jacob did not pass down blessings according to what was normally done in the world. Today, we also need to know and understand the will of God as Jacob did.


Jacob’s blessings come true (because they fulfilled God’s will (?))
Ephraim & Manasseh became great after 400 years
Josh 17:17 - And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph--to Ephraim and Manasseh--saying, “You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot,


Ephraim became greater than Manasseh
Gen 48:19b - Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.”


In Moses’ blessing, Ephraim was in the 10,000’s, Manasseh was in the 1,000’s.


Deut 33:17 - In majesty he is like a firstborn bull;
his horns are the horns of a wild ox.
With them he will gore the nations,
even those at the ends of the earth.
Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim;
such are the thousands of Manasseh.”


Today, we need to understand how to bless like Jacob. The older need to bless the younger. We need to bless the younger generation before we leave the world. Isaac blessed Jacob, and Jacob blessed Joseph’s two children. Jesus also blessed the disciples before ascending to heaven.
Luke 24:50:51 - And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.


Instructions to the Younger Generation
Jacob did not show fear of death
Calm instructions
Gen 47:30 - but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” ”I will do as you say,” he said.
Gen 49:29 - Then he gave them these instructions: ”I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,


We should not be afraid of death and instead talk about it.
As Jacob believed, we only fall asleep when we die. One day we will awake.
Example: One brother too his family to Rose Hills and bought burial plots for the elders in his family. He asked the elders if they wanted to see the land but they didn’t want to. They didn’t want to accept the idea of dying.
We need to go beyond the old concepts of death and instruct the next generation what to do. We need to pass down God’s will to the next generation (Gen 48:2).


When we don’t fear death, we can express God’s wishes
Joseph’s coffin was also not buried in Egypt. Why? The reason is closely related to Jacob’s instructions. If we did a search in Egypt for Joseph’s mummy, we will not find it. He also made arrangements for the next generation (to take is body out of Egypt).


Other Examples:

David instructed the next generation. He told Solomon to never depart from the words of God.
When Abraham Lincoln’s mother was about to die, she made him swear on the Bible never to leave the words of God.
There was a mother in San Jose church. Before her death, she became zealous for the Lord. However, prior to that, she had left church. As a result, her kids didn’t attend church any more. Before she passed away, she made her children promise to go to church. Thank God they now attend.


Instructed last wishes
Gen 47:29 - When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, ”If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,


Here, Jacob instructs his own wishes. He tells Joseph where he wants to be buried, since Joseph probably had the most authority in the family. He repeats this again to his other children.


We should not be like those in air disasters. For example, if we are on the plane and an engine fails, it may be too late to text message our children our love, how to use our money, etc. Don’t postpone; take the opportunity to make arrangements.

Conclusion


Jacob worshipped God and spiritually cultivated himself in the last days. He knew how to give thanks to God, give blessings to his descendants, and make arrangements for his last days. May we learn from Jacob’s old age.