Hebrews Chapter Eleven, Jacob's Benediction

 

Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

 

I find it very interesting how the author avoided the benediction Israel gave his sons on his deathbed, and focused instead on Joseph’s children, or Jacob’s grandsons. Once again, as it was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph’s sons are reversed. Ephraim the younger supplanted Manasseh the elder. Both would become tribes in Israel, and both would remain ethnically intact and accounted for, even during the Great Tribulation, Revelation 7:6, 8. Although Joseph’s name is employed rather than Ephraim’s in that list, we find both tribes alive and well during the Millennial reign of Jesus, as described by the prophet Ezekiel, Ezekiel 48: 4, 5.

Jacob placed his right hand on Ephraim, because in Scripture the right hand always represents strength, for example see Ecclesiastes 10:2. The right hand indicates primacy, and Joseph naturally wanted that blessing to fall on the head of his firstborn, once more indicating how important the right of the firstborn was. Jacob’s blessing consisted of the children becoming abundant nations, and that Israel’s name would adorn them, or be upon them to demonstrate God’s favor and presence in their midst. Though Joseph attempted to amend his father’s seeming mistake, Jacob corrected his son’s assumption, and prophesied about them, while also claiming them for himself, binding their names as tribes in the land of inheritance that God promised to give His people, Genesis 48: 3-6. Jacob worded this in such a way that made it impossible to misunderstand his intentions. Using Simeon and Reuben as examples of his own flesh and blood children, he likens Ephraim and Manasseh to them, and likewise equates their names with an equal inheritance in Canaan, when God visits them and takes them to claim what He promised.

 

The finale of the verse is an amazing depiction of Jacob being humbled by God despite a lifetime of chicanery. The patriarch finally learned how to lean. This is a valuable lesson that all of us that belong to Jesus Christ must learn. Jesus reminds His disciples, “without Me you can do nothing,” John 15:5. Nothing of value to God’s kingdom, that is. If we want to be spiritually vital and useful, abiding in the Lord is utterly necessary, for without that relationship we produce nothing of spiritual worth. Peter wrote, “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you,” 1 Peter 5:7, RSV. The first incident we clearly see of Jacob’s nature rises in Genesis chapter25, with Esau and the infamous stew. We later see Jacob deceive his father, swindle Laban (a fellow swindler, it can be added), and dupe Esau once more after returning home. God visits Jacob in his camp and wrestled with him, it is written, Genesis 32:24. But even the Lord could not overcome Jacob’s persistently stubborn need to be self-reliant, verse 25. So He humbled the patriarch, touching his thigh and ensuring that Jacob would no longer walk upright, but need help walking. This was to be a lesson to impart to Jacob that his ability to walk did not lie in his own wit (which he had plenty of), but in God’s care, which he bargained for rather than gave himself to, Genesis 28:20, 21.

 

Jacob worshiped, it is written, as he leaned, demonstrating that he finally learned that lesson, hard as it was. And it is equally hard for every sinful human being under Heaven. Pride is a terrible thing, and we personally know this quite well. In fact, even at the end of Jacob’s benediction, he steals just a little of the glory, saying, “Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow,” Genesis 48:22. This reminds me very much of what John Bunyan wrote in The Pilgrim’s Progress. When Christian fought Apollyon, the demon accused Christian of, “what thou hast heard and seen, thou art inwardly desirous of vain-glory in all that thou sayest or doest.” Amen. Sadly, John Bunyan knows human nature all too well, expressing our inward desire to be noticed as brilliant, innovative, unique, wise, et al. Moses suffered for this sin when he struck the rock contrary to Yahweh’s command. I suffer from this malady, and pray to be kept from it every time I strive to teach. Jacob succumbed, if just a little, to his fallen nature by snatching at effort rather than providence. We cannot condone, but we completely sympathize, because we endure the same plight. Paul gave a commentary, as it were, on the battle between the Spirit and the flesh, and how we are often a prisoner, torn between what is good, and what feels good, Romans 7:13-24. Nonetheless, Jacob worshiped, entrusting the children—and all of his sons—to the care of God. “God will be with you,” Jacob comforted Joseph at the end, “and bring you back to the land of your fathers,” Genesis 48:21. God is faithful; what He has promised, He will perform.