Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 21. While you're turning there, I thank the Lord for the blessing
of His Word, for Brother Neal preaching for us last Sunday,
knowing our Lord's Word is not going to return void. It's going
to accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. Hebrews 11.21, by faith, Jacob, when he was
a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning
upon the top of his staff. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You for
the blessed privilege to meet together. Lord, you're able to
bless, and I pray that you'd be pleased to bless this Word
to our understanding. Help us, for Christ's sake. Amen. I guess there cannot be a greater
witness of the sufficiency of God's grace to His people as
when they come to die. Matthew Henry said this, he said,
Faith has its great work to do at the last. To help believers
to finish well. To die in the Lord. so as to honor him by patience
and hope and joy, so as to leave a witness behind them of the
truth of God's word and the excellency of his ways for the conviction
and establishment of all that attend them in their dying moments. The Spirit of God has been pleased
to record in this eleventh chapter three instances of his people
and their faith while they approached the hour of their death. Last
time we looked in Hebrews, we looked at the faith of Isaac
when he blessed Jacob and Esau. He told them, he said, I'm dying. I don't know exactly when the
hour of my death is going to come. But he knew that he was
dying, and he called those boys, and he was going to bless them.
And tonight, we're going to look at the faith of Jacob when he
was dying. And Lord willing, we'll continue
in the next verse, verse 22, which says, by faith, Joseph,
when he died, He was dying. He made mention of the departing
of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his
bones. I pray that the Spirit of God
might be pleased tonight to take these words, comfort our hearts,
and to remind us that he which hath begun a good work in his
people is going to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Faith. Faith from above enables the
believer a triumphant passage from this world into the very
presence of God by sight, seeing Him by sight in the hour of their
death. Our Lord has sent preachers to
comfort his people. That's what he said. Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord. And God's preachers
have a commission from the Lord. I've heard it said, and this
is rightly so, God's preachers prepare God's people to die. That's what we're doing. We walk
by faith. We're dying creatures. We're
all going to go that way. As I've said before, unless the
Lord returns, we're going to die. We're reminded of death
all around us. Even Balaam, false prophet, he
made this statement that every true believer truly rejoices
To know by faith, this is what Balaam said, he said, let me
die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like His. You know, in the hour of our
death, nothing else matters except what thinking of Christ. That's
it. This is a very sobering truth. I heard from the mouth of a believer,
a dying believer, that knew that they were dying. They said this,
I only wish that my whole life had been as wonderful as these
last few months. That's grace. That's grace. Proverbs 4.18 says, But the path
of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day. Right now, we consider this thing
of dying. And truthfully, there are some
unsure things about it. We've never walked that way before,
not personally. We may have witnessed it in others,
but we've never seen it. But when you're faced with the
reality of dying, you want some hope, some true hope, not a false
hope. And I know that we're not always
going to be able to hear the expression of a believer's heart
as they draw near to their departure. But Scripture bears out what
truly happens, what a believer truly feels, what they truly
know, what they truly possess. Now this is what the Word of
God says. And somebody's witness can have
great bearing. You see, you see the grace of
God. You do see it. You do see it.
But here is a more sure witness than even the witness of one
leaving this world. Listen to this witness. Psalm
37, 37. Mark the perfect man and behold
the upright. For the end of that man is peace. You know, if Almighty God gives
a man, gives a woman grace in the hour of their death, they
leave this world rejoicing. Now, Mitch, I know that's so. Almighty God has promised that. Now tonight, I'd like for us
to consider this one verse of Scripture that we just read,
the faith of Jacob at the close of his life. The life of Jacob
was one of many, many trials. Many testings. And here he is
in the twilight of his life. Of all the things, I say this
for all of these, when we look at so many of these saints that
died, and you think back by faith, Jacob. Now of all the things
that were said and recorded of Jacob, Jacob when he wrestled
with the man, the God-man, And the Lord Himself told Jacob,
let me go. The day breaks. I will not let
you go unless you bless me. What's your name, Jacob? Not
anymore. Israel. A prince with God. Jacob. All these truths. But the Spirit of God was pleased
to take this instance right here. When he was dying, when he blessed
both the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff. Now, I want you to turn back
with me. We did this last time, but this is good. Turn with me
to Genesis 48. Genesis 48. I want to read. This is the account
of what happened when Jacob, blessed these two boys, Ephraim
and Manasseh. And let me tell you, just to
bring you right up to date on what's going on right here. Jacob, Joseph's daddy. You remember
when Joseph was taken by his brothers because they were jealous
of him. His daddy had given him a coat
of many colors. And they said, let's kill him. One of his brothers
said, no, let's don't kill him. Let's just sell him to somebody.
Sold him to a caravan going to Egypt. Let's just take his coat
that daddy gave him. Let's kill an animal, put some
blood on it, tell him that an animal got him. We're real sorry. But Joseph goes into Egypt. And there he's put in Potiphar's
house, overseeing Potiphar's house. Potiphar's wife tries
to seduce him. Joseph said, how can I do this
thing? Sin against God. And Potiphar's
wife tells a big lie. They take Joseph and throw him
in jail. In time, the Lord delivers him
out of jail and raises him up to second in command. There in
Egypt, over the granaries, you know, the distribution of the
corn and everything. Well, here's his daddy. You know,
here's his daddy back, you know, their home. And providentially,
the Lord sends His brothers in and Joseph sees them. He knows
who they are. He reveals Himself unto them. They are welcomed back. They
finally come into Egypt and live there. But what happened was
Joseph, Jacob's son, married an Egyptian woman. Joseph had
two boys by that Egyptian woman, Manasseh and Ephraim. And now
here we are. Joseph is living in Egypt with
these two boys. They are Hebrew slash Egyptian
boys. Ephraim and Manasseh. Genesis 48. 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, and one
told Jacob, And he said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee,
and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. 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. 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." Now let me tell you what just
happened. Jacob just literally adopted
those two boys. He said, these boys are mine. Just like Reuben and Simeon,
his actual physical sons, he took them, he adopted them. These boys right here, Ephraim
and Manasseh, these are going to be two of the heads of the
twelve tribes of Israel. And it's a beautiful picture
of adoption and stuff like that. There's a picture of the gospel
right there. But what he did was he took them. He's going to bless these two
boys just like he would bless his own sons. And he said in
verse 6, "...I issue which thou begettest after them shall be
thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in
their inheritance." And as for me, When I came from Paden, 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 as Bethlehem, and Israel beheld
Joseph's sons and said, Who are these? 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. Now the eyes of Israel were dim
for age, so that he could not see. So he brought them near
unto him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel
said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face, and, lo, God
hath showed me also thy seed. And Joseph brought them out from
between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the
earth. 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. 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. And he blessed Joseph, and he
said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the
God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel
which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name
be named on them in the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And
when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the
hand of Ephraim. It displeased him. And he held
up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's
head. And Joseph said unto his father,
Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put thy right
hand upon his head. 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. 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. And Israel said unto Joseph,
Behold, I die, but God shall be with you, and bring you again
into the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to thee
one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the land
of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow." Joseph's dad, the one that was
dying. By the grace and mercy of Almighty
God, he himself was one that cherished
the birthright that his brother Esau despised. Now the one that
crossed his hand and put his hand on the younger, of the two
of Joseph's boys. He himself had been blessed also,
being the younger. God had given him the birthright
and the blessing. Though the means by which Jacob
actually procured that blessing, I know this, humanly speaking. It's a marvel of God's grace. I see in Jacob, in Rebekah, his mother. But for
the grace of God, we would all be Sodom and Gomorrah. What they
did, no one could justify. Lying, but it was God's purpose
that Jacob was going to receive that blessing. And Ephraim, the
younger of Joseph's boys, was also going to receive the blessing. And now, here is Jacob blessing
these two boys. And the Scripture sets forth
in chapter 48, verse 15, it says, When he came time, To bless. It says in verse 15,
and he blessed Joseph. Jacob blessed Joseph. Joseph was not Jacob's firstborn
either. Reuben was. But Reuben had been
passed over. Here is Reuben. That's Jacob's
oldest boy. Jacob. Next. And the scripture
says that God was pleased to pass by Reuben, the older of
Jacob. So now you're seeing, here's
Isaac, the younger. Jacob, the younger. Blessing. Genesis 49-3. This is what happened. Reuben. Thou art my firstborn,
my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of
dignity, and the excellency of power." Unstable. Here's Jacob. And here's the blessing that
Jacob gives his older son. He said, Your unstable is water.
Thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy father's
bed, and there defilest thou it. He went up to my couch."
Now, when did that happen? Well, Genesis 35, 21, 22 says
this is what happened. And Israel, Jacob, journeyed,
spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar, and it came to pass
when Israel dwelt in that land that Reuben, his oldest boy,
went and lay with Bilhad, his father's concubine, and Israel
heard it." Here is Jacob now blessing Joseph instead of Reuben,
his older. And it was God's choice that
he would receive the blessing, that Joseph would receive it. Here is 1516, Genesis 48, 1516. And he blessed Joseph and he
says, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the
God which fed me all my life, all my life long to this day,
the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, let
my name be named on them. In the name of my fathers Abraham
and Isaac, let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the
earth. In blessing Joseph instead of
Reuben, the older, Jacob, Israel, set forth that he never forgot
God's mercy to him in redemption. The angel of the covenant, an
angel which redeemed me from all evil, Jacob's faith, was
in Christ. And by faith, Jacob was going
to bestow the blessing upon Joseph, reminding him of God's mercy,
God's choice, God's purpose, God's sovereignty to His people. Almighty God shows mercy to whomsoever
He will. Numerous times we're seeing right
here, God was pleased Not to have the blessing on the elder,
but on the younger. Not to have the blessing on the
one that traditionally would be receiving the blessing. Now
we come with all of that background bringing us right up. Now we
come to the actual blessing of the sons of Joseph. Joseph started
by saying in Genesis 48, verse 5, he says, Thy two sons, Ephraim
and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt
before I came unto thee unto Egypt, they are mine, as Reuben
and Simeon. They shall be mine." Here again
reminding us that Almighty God adopts His people. They are His. They are mine. called by His grace, blessed
in Christ, adopted with a sure inheritance. That's one of the
things that I found out about adoption. Whenever a child is
adopted, there's a brand new birth certificate issued. New
names. New father. New mother. Whatever. The adopting parents. That birth
certificate says this is who they were born to, right here.
An inheritance is guaranteed to them. Guaranteed. Here, Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph's
sons, adopted by Jacob, by Israel, the prince with God, and named,
the Scripture says, with the sons of Jacob to be the heads
of the twelve tribes who would actually possess the land of
Canaan. Joseph brought those two boys,
his two boys that were born to him in Egypt. He brought them
to Israel, his father. He placed them before Israel
in the position that he thought, that Joseph thought, that his
daddy would just naturally reach out and place his hand. He thought
that this is going to be the Manasseh, the one right there
by my daddy's right hand. That's the one that's going to
get the blessing. But Jacob crossed his hands. He put his right hand,
not on the eldest, but he put his right hand upon the younger,
the one that God had chosen. to receive the greater blessing. Guided by God's Spirit, Almighty
God had revealed to Jacob exactly what to do. He crossed his hands
and he placed his hand on the one of God's choosing. And Joseph tried to remove his
daddy's hands, but his father would not. changed the position
of his hands. He said, Dad, you're putting
your hand on the wrong one. You're putting your hand. He
said, my son, I know it. I know it. The boy told him.
By revelation from Almighty God, his hands were guided, the Scripture
says, wittingly. That is, made his hands to understand
by faith Jacob placed his hands where his eyes could not see.
His eyes were dim, but his spiritual discernment wasn't. The Scripture
sets forth back in Hebrews 11, verse 21, it says, By faith Jacob,
when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph. We walk by
faith. Knowing by spiritual sight, we
know, we walk in the light that we have. Faith has an object. We have God's Word. When we walk
by faith, people think that faith is something that's just blind,
unknown, unknowing, unknown. Jacob knew his hands were guided
wittingly with understanding, spiritual understanding. And
though Joseph had it in his mind, Manasseh is the one that is to
be blessed with the greater of the blessing. God Almighty had
not given Jacob that direction, and Jacob by faith crossed his
head. Jacob wouldn't have done that
unless the Lord had revealed that to him. Here was Jacob,
an old man, dying. A prince with God, by faith,
acting. And Joseph, the daddy of those
two boys, was made to behold God's providence, and God's choice,
and God's purpose. And Jacob was directed by God. And though his beloved son, Joseph,
desired his firstborn to receive the blessing, We're taught again,
we ought to obey God rather than men. I know, humanly speaking,
that Joseph, for the moment, for a moment, in the passion
of the moment, based on the words that he said, based on what he
tried to do, trying to get his daddy to move his hand, he wanted
his will to be done. But his daddy, Jacob, He placed
his hands just exactly where God told him to place them. And by faith, the Scripture says,
when he was dying, he blessed both the sons of Joseph. Worshiping God. Believing God. Trusting God. I wouldn't want to needlessly
disappoint just like this dad right here. I don't think any
dad, any parent would needlessly want to disappoint their children.
Do anything to hurt them or disappoint them or anything. I don't believe
they would. But when it comes to believing God, when it comes
to walking before God, when it comes to worshiping God. Truly,
we follow Him. We walk after Him. And the Scripture
says, when Jacob was dying and blessed both those boys, the
son of Joseph, he was worshiping God, and I love this last part,
leaning upon the top of his staff, the staff of his assurance, the
Lord Jesus Christ, resting in Him, believing Him and trusting
Him. Can you imagine coming to the
end of his life? I'm getting ready to leave this
world. I'm getting ready to die. And he was in just another chapter
or two. He died. Here's a man that God
Almighty had taught all these years, kept, And in the dying
hours, God Almighty told him his will. And Jacob obeyed. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake.