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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XLVIII.
The time drawing nigh that Israel must die, having, in the former
chapter, given order about his burial, in this he takes leave of
his grand-children by Joseph, and in the next of all his children.
Thus Jacob’s dying words are recorded, because he then spoke
by a spirit of prophecy; Abraham’s and Isaac’s are not. God’s
gifts and graces shine forth much more in some saints than in
others upon their death-beds. The Spirit, like the wind, blows
where it listeth. In this chapter,
I. Joseph, hearing of his
father’s sickness, goes to visit him, and takes his two sons with
him,
II. Jacob solemnly adopts his two sons, and takes
them for his own,
III. He blesses them,
IV. He explains and justifies the crossing of his hands in
blessing them,
V. He leaves a particular legacy to
Joseph,
| Jacob’s Last Illness. | B. C. 1689. |
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1 And it came to pass after these
things, that one told Joseph,
Behold, thy father is sick: and he took
with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And one told Jacob, and
said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh
unto thee: and Israel strengthened
himself, and sat upon the bed.
3 And
Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty
appeared unto me at Luz in the land
of Canaan, and blessed me,
4 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.
5 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.
6 And thy issue, which thou
begettest after them, shall be thine,
and shall be called after the name of
their brethren in their inheritance.
7 And as for me, when I came from
Padan, Rachel died by me in the land
of Canaan in the way, when yet there
was but a little way to come
unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in
the way of Ephrath; the same is
Beth-lehem.
Here,
I. Joseph, upon notice of his father’s
illness, goes to see him; though a man of
honour and business, yet he will not fail to
show this due respect to his aged father,
v. 1.
Visiting the sick, to whom we lie under
obligations, or may have opportunity of doing
good, either for body or soul, is our duty.
The sick bed is a proper place both for
giving comfort and counsel to others and
receiving instruction ourselves. Joseph took
his two sons with him, that they might receive
their dying grandfather’s blessing, and
that what they might see in him, and hear
from him, might make an abiding impression
upon them. Note,
1. It is good to acquaint
young people that are coming into the world
with the aged servants of God that are going
out of it, whose dying testimony to the
goodness of God, and the pleasantness of wisdom’s
ways, may be a great encouragement
to the rising generation. Manasseh and
Ephraim (I dare say) would never forget
what passed at this time.
2. Pious parents
are desirous of a blessing, not only for themselves,
but for their children. “O that they
may live before God!” Joseph had been,
above all his brethren, kind to his father, and
therefore had reason to expect particular
favour from him.
II. Jacob, upon notice of his son’s visit,
prepared himself as well as he could to entertain
him,
v. 2.
He did what he could to
rouse his spirits, and to stir up the gift that
was in him; what little was left of bodily
strength he put forth to the utmost, and sat
upon the bed. Note, It is very good for sick
and aged people to be as lively and cheerful
as they can, that they may not faint in the
day of adversity. Strengthen thyself, as
Jacob here, and God will strengthen thee;
hearten thyself and help thyself, and God
will help and hearten thee. Let the spirit
sustain the infirmity.
III. In recompence to Joseph for all his
attentions to him, he adopted his two sons.
In this charter of adoption there is,
1. A
particular recital of God’s promise to him,
to which this had reference: “God blessed
me
(v. 3),
and let that blessing be entailed
upon them.” God had promised him two
things, a numerous issue, and Canaan for an
inheritance
(v. 4);
and Joseph’s sons, pursuant
hereunto, should each of them multiply
into a tribe, and each of them have a
distinct lot in Canaan, equal with Jacob’s
own sons. See how he blessed them by
faith in that which God had said to him,
Note, In all our prayers, both
for ourselves and for our children, we ought
to have a particular eye to, and remembrance
of, God’s promises to us.
2. An express
reception of Joseph’s sons into his family:
“Thy sons are mine
(v. 5),
not only my grand-children,
but as my own children.” Though
they were born in Egypt, and their father
was then separated from his brethren, which
might seem to have cut them off from the
heritage of the Lord, yet Jacob takes them
in, and owns them for visible church members.
He explains this at
Let my
name be named upon them, and the name of
my fathers; as if he had said, “Let them
not succeed their father in his power and
grandeur here in Egypt, but let them succeed
me in the inheritance of the promise
made to Abraham,” which Jacob looked
upon as much more valuable and honourable,
and would have them to prize and
covet accordingly. Thus the aged dying
patriarch teaches these young persons, now
that they were of age (being about twenty-one
years old), not to look upon Egypt as
their home, nor to incorporate themselves
with the Egyptians, but to take their lot
with the people of God, as Moses afterwards
in the like temptation,
And because it would be a piece of self-denial
in them, who stood so fair for preferment
in Egypt, to adhere to the despised
Hebrews, to encourage them he constitutes
each of them the head of a tribe. Note,
Those are worthy of double honour who,
through God’s grace, break through the
temptations of worldly wealth and preferment,
to embrace religion in disgrace and
poverty. Jacob will have Ephraim and
Manasseh to believe that it is better to be
low and in the church than high and out of
it, to be called by the name of poor Jacob
than to be called by the name of rich Joseph.
3. A proviso inserted concerning the children
he might afterwards have; they should
not be accounted heads of tribes, as Ephraim
and Manasseh were, but should fall in with
either the one or the other of their brethren,
v. 6.
It does not appear that Joseph had
any more children; however, it was Jacob’s
prudence to give this direction, for the preventing
of contest and mismanagement.
Note, In making settlements, it is good to
take advice, and to provide for what may
happen, while we cannot foresee what will
happen. Our prudence must attend God’s
providence.
4. Mention is made of the
death and burial of Rachel, Joseph’s mother,
and Jacob’s best beloved wife
(v. 7),
referring to that story,
Note,
(1.) When
we come to die ourselves, it is good to call
to mind the death of our dear relations and
friends, that have gone before us, to make
death and the grave the more familiar to us.
See
Those that were to us
as our own souls are dead and buried; and
shall we think it much to follow them in the
same path?
(2.) The removal of dear relations
from us is an affliction the remembrance
of which cannot but abide with us a
great while. Strong affections in the enjoyment
cause long afflictions in the loss.
| Jacob Blesses the Sons of Joseph; Jacob’s Dying Prophecy. | B. C. 1689. |
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8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons,
and said, Who are these?
9 And
Joseph said unto his father, They are
my sons, whom God hath given me
in this place. And he said, Bring
them, I pray thee, unto me, and I
will bless them.
10 Now the eyes of
Israel were dim for age, so that he
could not see. And he brought them
near unto him; and he kissed them,
and embraced them.
11 And Israel
said unto Joseph, I had not thought
to see thy face: and, lo, God hath
showed me also thy seed.
12 And
Joseph brought them out from between
his knees, and he bowed himself
with his face to the earth.
13 And
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.
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.
15 And
he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before
whom my fathers Abraham and
Isaac did walk, the God which fed me
all my life long unto this day,
16 The
Angel which redeemed me from all
evil, bless the lads; 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.
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.
20 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.
21 And Israel said
unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God
shall be with you, and bring you again
unto the land of your fathers.
22 Moreover I have given to thee one
portion above thy brethren, which I
took out of the hand of the Amorite
with my sword and with my bow.
Here is,
I. The blessing with which Jacob
blessed the two sons of Joseph, which is the
more remarkable because the apostle makes
such particular mention of it
(Heb. xi. 21),
while he says nothing of the blessing which
Jacob pronounced on the rest of his sons,
though that also was done in faith. Observe
here,
1. Jacob was blind for age,
It is
one of the common infirmities of old age.
Those that look out at the windows are darkened,
Eccl. xii. 3.
It is folly to walk in the
sight of our eyes, and to suffer our hearts to
go after them, while we know death will
shortly close them, and we do not know but
some accident between us and death may
darken them. Jacob, like his father before
him, when he was old, was dim-sighted.
Note,
(1.) Those that have the honour of
age must therewith be content to take the
burden of it.
(2.) The eye of faith may be
very clear even when the eye of the body is
very much clouded.
2. Jacob was very fond of Joseph’s sons:
He kissed them and embraced them,
v. 10.
It is common for old people to have a very particular
affection for their grand-children, perhaps
more than they had for their own children
when they were little, which Solomon
gives a reason for
Children’s
children are the crown of old men. With
what satisfaction does Jacob say here
(v. 11),
I had not thought to see thy face (having many
years given him up for lost), and, lo, God has
shown me also thy seed! See here,
(1.) How
these two good men own God in their comforts.
Joseph says
(v. 9),
They are my sons
whom God has given me, and, to magnify the
favour, he adds, “In this place of my banishment,
slavery, and imprisonment.” Jacob
says here, God has shown me thy seed. Our
comforts are then doubly sweet to us when
we see them coming from God’s hand.
(2.) How often God, in his merciful providences,
outdoes our expectations, and thus greatly
magnifies his favours. He not only prevents
our fears, but exceeds our hopes. We may
apply this to the promise which is made to
us and to our children. We could not have
thought that we should have been taken into
covenant with God ourselves, considering
how guilty and corrupt we are; and yet, lo, he
has shown us our seed also in covenant with him.
3. Before he entails his blessing, he recounts
his experiences of God’s goodness to
him. He had spoken
(v. 3)
of God’s appearing
to him. The particular visits of his
grace, and the special communion we have
sometimes had with him, ought never to be
forgotten. But
he mentions the
constant care which the divine Providence
had taken of him all his days.
(1.) He had
fed him all his life long unto this day,
v. 15.
Note, As long as we have lived in this world
we have had continual experience of God’s
goodness to us, in providing for the support
of our natural life. Our bodies have called
for daily food, and no little has gone to feed
us, yet we have never wanted food convenient.
He that has fed us all our life long surely
will not fail us at last.
(2.) He had by his
angel redeemed him from all evil,
v. 16.
A great deal of hardship he had known in his
time, but God had graciously kept him from
the evil of his troubles. Now that he was
dying he looked upon himself as redeemed
from all evil, and bidding an everlasting farewell
to sin and sorrow. Christ, the Angel
of the covenant, is he that redeems us from
all evil,
Note,
[1.] It becomes
the servants of God, when they are old
and dying, to witness for our God that they
have found him gracious.
[2.] Our experiences
of God’s goodness to us are improvable,
both for the encouragement of others to
serve God, and for encouragement to us in
blessing them and praying for them.
4. When he confers the blessing and name
of Abraham and Isaac upon them he recommends
the pattern and example of Abraham
and Isaac to them,
He calls God the
God before whom his fathers Abraham and
Isaac walked, that is, in whom they believed,
whom they observed and obeyed, and with
whom they kept up communion in instituted
ordinances, according to the condition of the
covenant. Walk before me,
ch. xvii. 1.
Note,
(1.) Those that would inherit the blessing of
their godly ancestors, and have the benefit
of God’s covenant with them, must tread in
the steps of their piety.
(2.) It should recommend
religion and the service of God to us
that God was the God of our fathers, and that
they had satisfaction in walking before him.
5. In blessing them, he crossed hands.
Joseph placed them so as that Jacob’s right
hand should be put on the head of Manasseh
the elder,
But Jacob would put
it on the head of Ephraim the younger,
This displeased Joseph, who was willing to
support the reputation of his first-born, and
would therefore have removed his father’s
hands,
But Jacob gave him to
understand that he know what he did, and
that he did it not by mistake, nor in a humour,
nor from a partial affection to one
more than the other, but from a spirit of prophecy,
and in compliance with the divine
counsels. Manasseh should be great, but
truly Ephraim should be greater. When the
tribes were mustered in the wilderness,
Ephraim was more numerous than Manasseh,
and had the standard of that squadron
(Num. i. 32, 33, 35; ii. 18, 20),
and is named first,
Joshua was of that tribe, so
was Jeroboam. The tribe of Manasseh was
divided, one half on one side Jordan, the
other half on the other side, which made it
the less powerful and considerable. In the
foresight of this, Jacob crossed hands. Note.
(1.) God, in bestowing his blessings upon
his people, gives more to some than to others,
more gifts, graces, and comforts, and more
of the good things of this life.
(2.) He often
gives most to those that are least likely. He
chooses the weak things of the world; raises
the poor out of the dust. Grace observes
not the order of nature, nor does God prefer
those whom we think fittest to be preferred,
but as it pleases him. It is observable how
often God, by the distinguishing favours of
his covenant, advanced the younger above
the elder, Abel above Cain, Shem above
Japheth, Abraham above Nahor and Haran,
Isaac above Ishmael, Jacob above Esau;
Judah and Joseph were preferred before
Reuben, Moses before Aaron, David and
Solomon before their elder brethren. See
He tied the Jews to observe
the birthright
but he never
tied himself to observe it. Some make this
typical of the preference given to the Gentiles
above the Jews; the Gentile converts were
much more numerous than those of the Jews.
See
Thus free grace becomes
more illustrious.
II. The particular tokens of his favour to
Joseph. 1. He left with him the promise of
their return out of Egypt, as a sacred trust:
I die, but God shall be with you, and bring you
again,
v. 21.
Accordingly, Joseph, when he
died, left it with his brethren,
This
assurance was given them, and carefully preserved
among them, that they might neither
love Egypt too much when it favoured them,
nor fear it too much when it frowned upon
them. These words of Jacob furnish us with
comfort in reference to the death of our
friends: They die; but God shall be with
us, and his gracious presence is sufficient to
make up the loss: they leave us, but he will
never fail us. Further, He will bring us to
the land of our fathers, the heavenly Canaan,
whither our godly fathers have gone before
us. If God be with us while we stay behind
in this world, and will receive us shortly to
be with those that have gone before to a better
world, we ought not to sorrow as those that
have no hope.
2. He bestowed one portion
upon him above his brethren,
The
lands bequeathed are described to be those
which he took out of the hand of the Amorite
with his sword, and with his bow. He purchased
them first
and, it
seems, was afterwards disseized of them by
the Amorites, but retook them by the sword,
repelling force by force, and recovering his
right by violence when he could not otherwise
recover it. These lands he settled upon
Joseph; mention is made of this grant,
Pursuant to it, this parcel of ground
was given to the tribe of Ephraim as their
right, and the lot was never cast upon it;
and in it Joseph’s bones were buried, which
perhaps Jacob had an eye to as much as to
any thing in this settlement. Note, It may
sometimes be both just and prudent to give
some children portions above the rest; but a
grave is that which we can most count upon
as our own in this earth.
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