Turn with me, if you would, to
Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. This verse is our text for the
morning. Verse 21. By faith, Jacob, when he was
a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning
upon the top of his staff. This is a special story. This is a special story. I know
that every word in this book is special. every single word. But there is something very endearing
about this story. I read this last week. And as soon as I read it, I became
so sentimental. It was very nostalgic to me,
very, very sentimental. I just had a moment to enter
into some things and This is special. This is so special. This story makes me want to be
in the moment and appreciate life. It makes me want to be in the
moment and appreciate life. It makes me want to appreciate
the blessings that God gives to us in this life. I have three
of them sitting right here. It makes me want to appreciate
the blessing of life. And we know who that is. But this is so sentimental and
I want to show you just for a moment what I entered into. OK, we're
going to begin this. By looking at the life of Jacob,
through this moment, through this one moment. Hebrews 11 right
here, we've been going through this, it mentions Abraham, that's
Jacob's grandfather. And it mentions some of the things
that he endured in this life. And Hebrews 11 mentions Isaac,
that's Jacob's dad. Some of the things that he endured.
in this life. And now it says that Jacob is
at the end of his life. His time is done. His trials are over. And he is
leaving this world blessing. Worshipping. And leaning. That's how he's leaving this
world. Here he is dying. And the Lord has revealed to
us some of the things he had to go through while he was on
this. Earth and here he is leaving this world, blessing, worshiping
and leaning. And I believe what makes this
so sentimental to me is seeing through Jacob how the trials
of this life cannot undo God's promises to his people. No matter
how great the trials are, No matter how great the trials are,
they cannot undo the promise of God to his people. We see
that Jacob was kept all the way to the end. Wouldn't you love
to be kept all the way to the end? Not just for a while, but all the way to the end. Not
just during the good times, but all the way to the end. Wouldn't
you love to be kept all the way to the end? Last day. Wouldn't you love to be kept
all the way to the first day? That'd be wonderful, wouldn't
it? God would keep me all the way to the first day. Well, Jacob was kept all the
way to the end, and at the end of his life, God, by faith, caused
Jacob to bless his grandchildren. And he did that, our Lord did
that to show us the blessing that we have from God our Father
through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the whole point of this.
The blessing that he gave to them shows us our own blessing. All right, now we just read it.
It's in Genesis 48. Turn with me over there to Genesis
48. Genesis 48, verse one says. 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. And one told Jacob and said,
Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel strengthened
himself. That's Jacob. God changed his
name to Israel and he's referred to by both names throughout this.
Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed. Now here, Jacob
is dying. He is 147 years old. 147. He's been living on this earth
going through the trials of life now for 147 years and he musters
up his last ounce of strength to sit up on the side of his
bed to tell his son goodbye. That's what's going on right
here. Jacob loved Joseph. Joseph is his son, Abraham's
great grandson, Isaac's grandson. Jacob loved Joseph. He always loved Joseph. He never stopped loving him,
even when he was gone. Could we? Could we ever stop loving our
children? Man, he loved him. Jacob made him a coat of many
colors. You remember that story? Made
him a coat of many colors and his brothers got jealous and
they sold him into slavery. And then they told Jacob that
he was eaten by a wild animal. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Put yourself in Jacob's shoes. Can you imagine? Here, though, at the end of Jacob's
life, God revealed his purpose in it. God made Jacob wait all
the way to the end. I don't know how many years it
was, but Jacob thought that's how it was for all those years.
And God made him wait till the end of his life to see the good
come out of that evil. He didn't know till the very
end, but now he's reunited with this precious son of his. And
Joseph brought Jacob to Egypt. There was a famine in the land
and Joseph said, you and all my brothers, you come here and
I'll take care of you. Joseph brought Jacob to Egypt
to care for him in the last days of his life. And now Joseph is
coming to see him. And Jacob gives it all he has
so he can sit up on the side of his bed and tell this precious
son goodbye. What we have right in this chapter
is a little snapshot of Jacob's life. We're led into a moment,
just a little snapshot of the reality of his life. And in seeing
his pain and in seeing his heartache, we get a snapshot of our own
life. We can completely relate to this.
In his dying moments, he told Joseph, here they are. They're
coming together for this meeting. He sits up on the bed. He's dying. And he told Joseph in his dying
moments about his mother, Rachel. See, Joseph was gone. He said,
I want to tell you about your mother. Verse seven. He said, and as for me, when
I came from Padan, Padanaram, Rachel died by me in the land
of Canaan, in the way, when yet there was but a little way to
come unto Ephrath. He said, we were almost there.
We were almost there. We had just a little bit farther
to go, and she didn't make it. Jacob loved Rachel. Oh, Jacob loved Rachel. He wanted
to marry her. Rachel's father said, if you
want her, you're going to have to work for me for seven years
to earn her. Jacob said, I'd be happy to. So he did. At the end of seven
years, Rachel's father didn't believe it was right for her
to be married before her older sister. So he tricked Jacob. He tricked the trickster. And he gave Jacob Leah instead. And then the next morning, Jacob
realized this is not Rachel. This is Leah. So he went to her
father and he said, I want Rachel. I have to have Rachel. And he
said, if you want Rachel, you're going to have to work for me
for another seven years to earn her. And he said, I'd be happy
to. And I love how it says in Genesis
29, those seven years seemed unto him, but a few days for
the love he had to her, nothing. Seven more years, no problem.
Oh, I love her. Finally, the seven years passed
and he married her, but she was barren. She couldn't have any
children. Leah was having all the children. Reuben, Simeon, all these children
were being born. Rachel couldn't have any children.
So Jacob entreated the Lord for her. The Lord heard him. The Lord blessed her and he gave
her a son, Joseph. That's why Jacob loved Joseph
so much. It's because Rachel was the wife
of his heart and Joseph was the son that she gave to him. His
jealous stepbrothers sold him and he was gone. The Lord blessed
Rachel again with another son, Benjamin. Rachel was due here. She is pregnant
with Benjamin. And she was due. It was time
for her to deliver. And Jacob was trying as hard
as he could to get to Ephrath. She's about to deliver this child.
Can't you see the fear in the man? I've got to get to Ephrath. He didn't make it. She went into
labor before they could get there. Benjamin was born but the Lord
was pleased to take her in the process of delivering him and
that crushed Jacob. That's why he held on to Benjamin
so tightly. He had Joseph and Joseph was
gone and now he had Benjamin and he held on to Benjamin so
tightly. And in verse seven, Jacob said, 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 under Ephrath. And I buried her there in the
way of Ephrath. The same is Bethlehem. It's also called Bethlehem. Now, how sweet is it that in
the midst of that horrible, tragic story, our God gives us a little
reminder of our dear Savior. She died and she was buried in
Bethlehem. The very place that her and Jacob's
and our dear savior was born. I've envisioned this moment,
this meeting between Jacob and Joseph is this last dying moment. I put myself in the heart and
mind of Jacob. Could you imagine this moment
after all this, after all this, I can see him sitting on the
side of this bed, taking it all in. Just taking a moment, a quiet
moment, a thought filled moment, a thankful moment. I can see him not saying too
much. periods of silence, just looking
at Joseph. After all this has gone down,
after all this has happened, look how the Lord made it to
be in the end. There's my son. Verse eight, he said, Israel,
Jacob said, Israel beheld Joseph's sons. And he said, who are these?
Can't you see a grandfather saying, and who are these little fellas?
Verse 12 says they were between his knees. Each little boy was
hanging onto a leg between his knees. Verse nine in Joseph said
unto his father, they are my sons whom God hath given me in
this place. And he said, bring them and I
bring them. I prayed the unto me and I will
bless them. 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. And Israel
said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face, and lo, God
hath showed me also thy seed. He said, I thought I was never
ever going to get to see your precious face ever again. And
God has not only let me see your face, He's let me see your children. Jacob is happy. So happy, thankful
and happy. Verse 12, And Joseph brought
them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his
face to the earth. Now, Jacob is about to bless
them. He's about to bless them with
the same blessing that he received. The same blessing Jacob received. This is the same blessing that
every child of God receives. May every single one of us Even
me, even me, let that blessing fall on me. Every one of us. It begins in verse 3. And Jacob
said unto Joseph, God Almighty, That's where it begins. Here
he is sitting on the side of this bed. Joseph comes in. Jacob
has something to say to him. And he said, God almighty, God's
blessing begins with God almighty. Isn't that right? If anybody
is going to be blessed of God, if a center like Jacob and a
center like you and me, if we are going to be blessed, That
blessing must start with God Almighty. It doesn't start with
me asking for a blessing. It doesn't start with me earning
a blessing. It doesn't start with me at all.
It starts with God Almighty. It starts with It comes from,
it is performed by God Almighty, all spiritual blessings. Verse three says, And Jacob said
unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of
Canaan and blessed me. Jacob said, that's how it happened. That's how this blessing happens.
He said, God Almighty came to me and blessed me. He didn't
ask me to cooperate with Him. He didn't ask me if I was willing
to receive His blessing. God Almighty came to me and He
blessed me and it was done. Salvation is of the Lord. Verse
4, And He 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." Jacob said, here is the blessing. God Almighty
said, I will, I will, I will, I will, and you shall. He said,
that's the blessing. God came to me. I didn't come
to him, he came to me at Luz, where I was, and God blessed
me. He said, I will and you shall. God Almighty started the work
and God Almighty will finish the work. And Jacob said to Joseph
in verse 5, Now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were
born unto thee in the land of Egypt, behold I before I came
unto thee into Egypt are mine. As Reuben and Simeon, they shall
be mine. He said, they're now mine. This is the blessing. They're
now mine. They're mine. They're not yours. They're mine. What he was saying was, I'm adopting
them. Those two boys right there, I'm
adopting them. They're mine. As Reuben and Simeon are mine,
Reuben and Simeon are my very own actual sons. Those two boys
right there are my very own actual sons. They're mine. I'm giving them the blessing
of adoption. Is that not the blessing that has been given
to every single child of God? God Almighty says to the recipient
of His blessing, He says, in the same way that Jesus Christ
is my well-beloved, only begotten Son, so are you. So are you. You're mine. You're a son of God. That's amazing. Here's the blessing. You're a
son of God. You're an actual son of God.
What a blessing. Verse 6, he said, In thy issue
which thou begittest after them, whatever children you have after
them, after these two boys, shall be thine and shall be called
after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. What he's
saying is I'm putting a difference. Here's the blessing. I'm putting
a difference. I am choosing whom I will. These are mine and only these
are mine. The others can have whatever
inheritance the world has to offer. But these that I have
chosen, they're going to receive an inheritance directly from
me. And they did. This is wonderful. Ephraim and Manasseh, were both
named among the tribes of Israel. None of the other grandsons were. When the land was doled out,
we went through Joshua, when that land was doled out, Ephraim
and Manasseh got the exact same portion as every other child
of Israel. Reuben got a portion, Simeon
got a portion, Ephraim got a portion, Manasseh got a portion. The blessing of God Almighty
to His people is we have been made to be joint heirs with Christ. I mean joint heirs. God Almighty
says the same inheritance Christ gets, you get the same one. verse 13 and joseph took them
both now see if you can picture this in your mind 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." Joseph did that because Manasseh
was the oldest and he thought that the birthright blessing
should go to him. That right hand birthright blessing
should go to him. Verse 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 willingly,
for Manasseh was the firstborn. He crossed his hands. He stretched
his hands out on both of these two boys. Now watch verse 15.
And he blessed Joseph. That's my favorite part. He blessed Joseph. Joseph is a picture of Christ
bringing his people to the Father for all of these spiritual blessings. And Jacob put his hands on these
two boys and he blessed Joseph. All of the blessings that we're
ever going to receive from God are only going to come through
Christ. Only through Christ. He is the
blessed one of God. He must be blessed first. He must be. Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, unto thy name give glory. Every spiritual blessing
of God is in him. Verse 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."
He said, God has sustained me and kept me to this point. That's
the blessing. God is going to sustain you and
keep you all the way to the end. If you're in Christ, all the
way to the end. Verse 16, and he said, the angel
which redeemed me from all evil. He said, the same God that kept
me, redeemed me. paid my price. Christ wouldn't come to the cross
for 2,000 more years. But in faith, Hebrews 11 says,
by faith. Faith looks to Christ. By faith,
he said, I am redeemed by love divine. Glory, glory, Christ
is mine. All to him I now resign. I've
been redeemed. That's what he told them. I've
been redeemed. The same God that redeemed me redeemed you. Verse
16, the angel which redeemed me from all evil blessed 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. The same Lord, the same Christ
that blessed me blessed these lads. And he said, may my name
be upon them. What was his name? It was sinner,
but God changed it to Prince with God. Jacob said, Oh, may
that be named on these two boys. Verse 17. 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. Jacob knew from his own experience. See, Jacob received this blessing
too. Jacob had this same blessing bestowed on him. And he knew
from his own experience that God's birthright blessing always
goes to the unworthy one. Always. If the blessing is going
to be bestowed, it's going to go to the unworthy one. He said,
I didn't deserve it, neither does he, and neither do we. We don't deserve it. It's what
makes it such a blessing. Verse 20 says, And he blessed
them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God
make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh. Oh, may God make us to be as
Ephraim and Manasseh. May God bless us. May he choose
us. May He come to us, adopt us,
keep us, redeem us, shed His grace on us. He said in verse
20, He said, Ephraim before Manasseh, and then verse 21, Israel said
unto Joseph, Behold, I die, but God shall be with you and bring
you again unto the land of your fathers. God started the work,
God will finish it. God will finish it. And then
he said something to Joseph in verse 22, that's the greatest
blessing a sinner could ever hear. This is the greatest blessing
a sinner could ever hear. Joseph, representing the Lord
Jesus Christ, it was said to him, verse 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. He said, I'm giving something
to you that I am not giving to any of your brethren. They get everything you get,
except for this. It was a piece of land, a piece
of land that had to be fought for. A great battle took place
so that this portion could be given to him. And this is what
Joseph did with it. Look at Genesis 50. Genesis 50 verse 24 says, And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I die. And God will surely visit you
and bring you out of this land unto the land, which you swear
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." They're in Egypt. And
he said, I'm dying, but God's going to bring you out of Egypt.
Verse 25, and Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel.
He said, you make a promise to me. saying God will surely visit
you and you shall carry up my bones from hence. Don't leave
my bones here in Egypt. Now turn with me to Joshua 24.
Just after Deuteronomy. Joshua 24. Verse 32. And the bones of Joseph, which
the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they
in Shechem in a parcel of ground, which Jacob bought of the sons
of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. And it became the inheritance
of the children of Joseph. Joseph was buried in that portion
of land. buried in the portion that his
father gave to him. And God the Father said to his
people, you are joint heirs with Christ. You're joint heirs with
Jesus Christ. Everything he gets, you get,
except that grave. That's his. That's his alone. That battle was his. The grave
was His. Victory over the grave is His. Isn't that right? It's His alone. But the Father has said that
battle, that grave, and that victory has become the inheritance
of all the children of Joseph. He received it. He endured it
alone. But we all inherit the blessing
of it with Him. Every single one of us. May God
cause us to be as Ephraim and Manasseh. May God cause us to
be as Ephraim and Manasseh. Even us, Lord. Even us. Let the blessing fall on us,
please. All right, let's sing that. Let's
all stand together.