Great Moments in Bible History
Number 52
A Snapshot of a Life
If you had to pick one event from your whole life that sums up that life, what would it be? That is not an easy task, because lives are complicated. The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews set himself that task in Hebrews 11. Beginning with Abel (whose story is told in Genesis 4) he went through a number of great people that we have studied about in this series. In each case, he picked one event from their life and showed that faith was the principle that person lived by. With some of those characters, the task was quite easy. We know so little about Abel, for example, that there is really only one choice. “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts” (Hebrews 11:4). The same is true of Noah—he built an ark. When he gets to Abraham, though, he has a lot more to choose from. The author of Hebrews made an exception for Abraham and chose two different events from his life. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance” (verse 8), and, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac” (verse 17). Those two stories certainly mark the high points in Abraham’s life of faith.
We have been studying Jacob’s life since chapter 25 (over 20 chapters ago). We have a lot of material to choose from. Of course, some of his stories (just like some of Abraham’s) demonstrated a lack of faith. We think of the time he deceived his father into thinking he was Esau so his father would give him the blessing he had planned to give to his older brother. Not exactly a faith-inspiring story!
The story the Hebrews writer chose to use for Jacob comes from the chapter we are studying in today’s issue—Genesis 48. Here is how that writer summarized Jacob’s life: “By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff” (Hebrews 11:21). To us that hardly sounds like a story worthy of the list of heroes of faith. I can think of many people in the Old Testament who did much greater things than that. But when we think like that, we show that we do not really understand faith. Faith is not primarily doing great things. Faith is trusting in God. It is basing our entire lives on Him. Certainly, it causes us to do things. Anyone who has lived by faith for very many years can point to times in their lives when they did something quite difficult—perhaps even something they did not want to do—solely because they knew that was what God expected of them. But doing great things is not all there is to faith. Our very purpose in life—what we live for, what we look forward to—is completely different from our purpose before we had faith. People who do not live by faith cannot even understand these things.
In the next article we will look at how faith shaped Jacob’s view of the future as he lay on his deathbed, hardly able to do much more than talk.
God is the Main Character
Jacob’s deathbed scene in Genesis is the longest deathbed scene in the book. It is told in Genesis 48 through 50. In chapter 48 it involves Joseph and his children. “After this, Joseph was told, ‘Behold, your father is ill.’ So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And it was told to Jacob, ‘Your son Joseph has come to you.’ Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed” (Genesis 48:1-2). (Remember that Jacob was also called Israel. This passage uses both names.)
Jacob’s first statement to Joseph and his sons shows how centered his life was on God. “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’” Jacob referred to a promise God had made many years earlier, but which He had not yet fulfilled. By this time it was obvious to Jacob that the promise would not be fulfilled in his lifetime. His primary concern on his deathbed was that his children and grandchildren would hang onto those promises after he was gone.
“And he blessed Joseph and said, ‘The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth’” (verses 15-16).
Jacob referred to God as his shepherd. Jacob himself had been a shepherd all his life. He knew what it meant to guard his sheep from attackers and lead them to pastures where they could feed. That’s what he saw God doing for him all his life. Jacob saw himself as just a helpless sheep. God was the one doing the hard work in his life.
More than most of the characters we have studied in Genesis, Jacob had really learned how helpless he was in the midst of the trials of life. He had begun his life as a manipulator, working the things (and people) around him to his favor. But gradually God had shown him that he was not able to control his life. In verse 7 he mentioned the tragic loss of his favorite wife Rachel who died giving birth to her second son. Later, Joseph, the older son of Rachel had disappeared, seemingly eaten by a wild beast. Over and over in his life Jacob had been buffeted by events that he could not control. He was certainly not able to shepherd himself. Looking back on his life he sees that it was God who was in control. Even in tragedies like the loss of his favorite son, he eventually learned that God was working things out to bless Jacob and his family, just as He had promised.
At the end of his life he wants to pass on that blessing to his children and grandchildren.
The Last Shall be First
Just before Jacob blessed Joseph’s two sons, Joseph had carefully placed them so that the older son Manasseh would stand facing Jacob’s right hand, while the younger son Ephraim would be at Jacob’s left. But his father deliberately crossed his hands, putting his right hand on the younger son’s head and his left hand on the older son—the one who should have received the greater blessing. That did not please Joseph. He grabbed Jacob’s right hand and tried to move it from Ephraim to Manasseh’s head, explaining that Manasseh was the older.
“But his father refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.’ So he blessed them that day, saying, ‘By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, “God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.”’ Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis 48:19-20). Hundreds of years later, Jacob’s prophecy was fulfilled as the tribe of Ephraim became a leading tribe in Israel while that of Manasseh did not.
It is interesting that this same role reversal had taken place with Jacob himself. He was the younger of the twin boys belonging to Isaac and Rebekah. Before they were even born, God told Rebekah that “the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). Hundreds of years later it happened again when God picked David to be king. He was the youngest of eight brothers.
Jesus applied this same principle to us today when He said, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:30). We humans like to think that we deserve special places because of who we are. “I’ve been a Christian for 50 years, therefore...” Yet how often does God use someone much younger in the faith to accomplish His work? “My parents and grandparents were faithful Christians.” But how often do we see God using someone who came from a family that knew nothing of God?
Just like with Jacob and his family, God is the one in control. He is the one who decides who will get the greater blessing. He is the shepherd. We are just His sheep.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible.