His Choice

DEVOTION

GENESIS

HIS CHOICE

Gen 48:8-14

8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, "Who are these?" 9 "They are the sons God has given me here," Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them." 10 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. 11 Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too." 12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel's knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel's right hand, and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

NIV

After Jacob reminds Joseph of the life and death of his mother and recounts the promise God made to him regarding becoming a great nation and the land that his descendants will inherit, he makes the proclamation about Joseph’s two sons. He informs Joseph they will be reckoned as his and by doing this Joseph will in essence receive the double portion of the inheritance. Now even with his failing eyes he notices two young men who are with Joseph. He inquires as to who they are and Joseph tells them they are his two sons, the one that you consider to be yours, that you will give an inheritance to. What a wonderful statement Israel makes next. He is so pleased how his life had turned out. First he thought he would never see Joseph, his beloved son, ever again, and yet here he is with him in Egypt. His son had become a very important person and in fact was responsible for saving the life of Israel and all his family. It is almost the same as the life of Jesus. Joseph was not accepted by his own, in fact, they try to do away with him. But he rose in power to the second in command next to the king. Although Jesus is God, he always lived as the second in command so to speak. He always gave all authority to the Father. By his death and resurrection he saved the lives of those who become the Fathers family through faith. Israel must have felt so blessed to not only have seen Joseph but to be able to see his children as well. What a blessing in life to be able to watch our children grow into adults and have children. To watch and enjoy the lives of our grandchildren and some of us have the blessing of seeing great grandchildren, while a few even see great-great grandchildren. However our lives certainly are different than the lives of Jacob and Joseph. The world is far different and much larger, yet smaller due to the communication means we have today. Families might be spread all over the globe, and we may not be able to physically put our hands on the heads of those whom we bless with our last words. Here Joseph expects his father to bless his firstborn as the firstborn, but Israel crosses his hands and puts his right hand on the younger son. Did Joseph not realize he was being blessed as the firstborn instead of Ruben? So why did he expect his firstborn to be receive the firstborn blessing? We are going to see this conversation next, but for now let us consider the fact the father has the choice whom he blesses with what blessing. Is this not our lot? Our heavenly Father has the choice whom he will bless with what blessing. True he has blessed us all through Jesus Christ. He has given anyone who accepts his blessing of Jesus eternal life. There is not distinction, he shows no favoritism when he comes to salvation. However, we have to acknowledge that some believers seem to have special blessings in this life that others may not. There appears to be an inequality in the manner of lifestyle among believers. Is this due to different blessings from our Father? We certainly have a wide variety of gifts or talents in this life. Some are talented artists, both in the visual expressions and in the expressions of sound. Some are gifted with a great deal of intellectual understanding in so many different areas of life. Some are blessed with the ability to gain much wealth while others seem to struggle to simply get by. There is so much diversity in the body of Christ. Is it strictly due to the providence of God or do we sometimes walk our own path more than his? We could certainly say Joseph did not walk his own path. It seems he always was at the mercy of others, always being handled by others. His life was never his own, he had a destiny to fulfill, one that God gave him in a vision. Yet he did not cause it to be. Are we living according to the providence of God or by the power of our own efforts? Are we being directed by the hand of God? It would seem that is the general consensus of most believers. But we cannot live according to the consensus of most believers, for we must live according to his plan for our life. He may very well call some to this and others to that. He may very well give one blessing to one and another blessing to another. He is God, he can do whatever he decides. Israel had decided to which son of Joseph’s his right hand will rest. God also decides. We have the confidence God will bless us with what he will bless us with. His blessing will be upon us all the days of our life. Seeing our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren is truly a great blessing in itself, as he blessed Israel. We will see how much he blessed him in the blessing that is to come upon Joseph and his sons. It will remind us of the song, “Count your blessings, name them one by one” We can reflect over the years and do exactly that. This should inspire us, to give us confidence in the hand of God. Walking with Jesus means just that. We do not walk alone nor do we walk ahead, but we walk with him as he leads us in the path of righteousness. He has the choice as to where we walk.