the birthright continued
God appeared to Jacob, name was changed to Israel (Genesis 35:11).
The next legal inheritor of the birthright was Reuben, firstborn son of Israel,
by his first wife, Leah. But Reuben, like Esau, lost it. And Joseph, 11th-born
of Jacob, but firstborn of Rachel, his second and truly loved wife, received it.
The birthright belonged, legally, to Reuben, not Joseph. It is related in 1 Chron 5:1-2
how it fell to Joseph: “Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the
firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto
the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after
the birthright [or, rsv, “so that he[Reuben] is not enrolled in the genealogy according
to the birthright”].
For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler;
but the birthright was Joseph’s).”
So at this point the two divisions of the Abrahamic promises—
the birthright, involving material and national promises, and the
scepter, including the kingly and spiritual promises were separated.
The birthright, including the Promised Land now called Palestine, the
assurance of multitudinous population, material and national prosperity,
dominance over other nations, was now given to Joseph and his sons.
This birthright was not to be inherited by all the tribes of Israel! It was
not given to the Jews! Only a part of the Israelites—the descendants
of Joseph—was to inherit these tremendous national promises!
These material promises for this life, then, belonged to an altogether different tribe
among the children of Israel than the scepter promise of the kingly line culminating
in Jesus Christ, which spiritual promise belonged in the tribe of Judah!
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At the time of Jacob’s death, he and his sons were living in Egypt.
51And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he,
hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.
52And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me
to be fruitful in the land of my affliction
And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land
of Canaan, and blessed me, And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful,
and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this
land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 48:2-4).
Nothing whatsoever is said about all the families of the Earth being blessed
in his seed—the one seed. Nothing is said about kings. Nothing is said about
spiritual blessings whatever. These promises are those of the birthright.
These promises are of multiple seed—a multitude of people—and possession
of the Promised Land.
“And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were
born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into
Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine”(verse 5).
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The birthright, remember, belongs legally to the firstborn, unless altered by divine
intervention. The inheritor of the birthright, in receiving the blessing conferred upon
him, should have had Jacob’s right hand resting upon his head. That is why “Joseph
took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in
his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him” (verse 13).
Manasseh’s name is mentioned first, because Manasseh was the elder. But old Jacob
now mentioned the name of Ephraim first. Here we see supernatural guidance!
and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (verses 14-16).
Israel did not confer this blessing on just one, but on both—“Bless the lads,”
he said. This blessing went upon them jointly. “Let my name be named on them”
was part of this blessing. His name was Israel. Hence, it was the descendants of
these lads, not the descendants of Judah, or the Jews, who were named Israel.
the name Israel was to be indelibly stamped on Ephraim and Manasseh!
Ephraim and Manasseh together received the right to the name Israel.
It was to become the national name of their descendants.
And their descendants were never Jews!
Together the descendants of these two lads, Ephraim and Manasseh, were
to grow into the promised multitude— the nation and company of nations.
“Not so, my father,” said Joseph, “for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand
upon his head. And his father refused, and said,people, and he also shall be great:
but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become
a multitude [or,company] of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In
thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh:
and he set Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:18-20).
The “company of nations” is to grow out of Ephraim.
The descendants of these lads should remain together, and together grow
into a great multitude, then become separated, Manasseh becoming a
great nation, and Ephraim a still greater company of nations.
The promise of a future great nation and a company of
nations, together great for multitude, rich in national material
prosperity, possessing the “gates” of the Earth’s other nations,
applies solely to these lads and the two tribes which sprang from them.
“And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together,
that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. … Judah,
thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck
of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped
down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver [margin, ruler’s staff]
from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall
the gathering of the people be” (Genesis 49:1, 8-10).
The Hebrew word here translated Shiloh means the Messiah, the Prince of
Peace, or the one “seed” of Abraham. At the second coming [Shiloh] appear.
Regarding Joseph, the combined Ephraim-Manasseh tribes, at this present day,
Israel prophesied: “Joseph is a fruitful bough [here is pictured the birthright promise
of multitudes in fulfillment], even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches [margin,
daughters] run over the wall” (verse 22).(verses 25-26).
The descendants of Joseph, possessing these birthright promises— to
become numerous, to colonize, thus spreading to the “north and the south,
and east and the west,” until they encircled the globe, to possess the “gates”
of enemy nations—never returned to Jerusalem from Assyria, where they
were driven with the 10 tribes after 721 b.c.,and were never again mixed
with Jews from that time.
Here are promises and prophecies which never have been fulfilled by the Jews,
by the Church, by the American Indian, or any other fanciful counterparts
of modern Israel. But they are being fulfilled today if the Word of God is to stand!
recap of God’s Promises to Abrahams seed, or physical descendants
¦Genesis 12:1-2 | God promises Abraham that his descendants will become a great nation.
¦Genesis 17:1-6 | God promises Abraham will be a father of many nations, not just one.
¦Genesis 22:16-18|the birthright nations will possess the gates (access points) of their enemies.
¦Genesis 26:3-5 | God promises the birthright nations will multiply as the stars of heaven.
¦Genesis 27:26-29 | the birthright nations will become wealthy and rule over other nations.
¦Genesis 28:13-14 | the birthright nations will spread worldwide.
¦Genesis 35:11 | the birthright nations will become “a nation and a company of nations.”
Genesis 48, Abraham’s grandson Jacob—whom God renamed Israel—
specifically assigned his name to Ephraim and Manasseh,
saying that one of these descendants would become a “great” people,
and that the other would become a “multitude of nations” .
