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But I'm excited to finish the book. We're coming to the end of this story here with Joseph and Jacob. But if you look at Genesis 48 verse 1, it 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. The title for the sermon this morning is Manasseh and Ephraim. In fact, this entire chapter, we focus on primarily these two boys. And these two sons are the sons of Joseph. The sons of Joseph. And they receive a special blessing. We find out later that basically Manasseh and Ephraim become named as the tribes of Israel. If you remember the tribes of Israel, primarily they were the children, the direct children of Jacob of Israel. But when it comes to Joseph, there was no tribe of Joseph, as it were. Joseph would have these two sons, these two sons would become two tribes in the land of Israel. And both these tribes would become very great tribes in comparison to some of the other tribes of Israel. So when you look at this, verse number 2, it says, And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee, and Israel strengtheneth 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. So Jacob now just reiterates the story. What we've been reading through Genesis, he now repeats this story unto Joseph. Jacob is coming to the end of his life now. These are some of the last words that he says. And when he says here that God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz, you may remember that Luz was renamed Bethel. The city of Bethel was originally Luz. And Bethel, what was the meaning of Bethel? It meant the house of God. It meant the house of God. And the lesson that we take out of that is that's where God appeared to Jacob. And brethren, that's where God blessed Jacob. And if you want to receive the blessings of God, if you want to be where you can meet God, you need to meet him at the house of God. When it comes to the New Testament, the house of God is a local church. The church is called the house of the Lord or the house of God. And if you want to receive a blessing, you need to be in the house of God. If you want to meet God, you need to be in his house in the New Testament church. But look at verse number 4. Now just a reminder there, I don't want to revisit. We've covered this many, many times as we've gone through Genesis. But who was the seed? The promises were made unto Abraham and to his seed. And then that was passed down to now as we read about Jacob and his seed. And of course that seed in Genesis 3 is Christ. The Bible makes it very clear that the seed is Jesus Christ. So all that would be in Christ would be Abraham's seed or Jacob's seed. And so this promise of this land, this everlasting possession of this land, would not be to a physical nation, but it would be to those that belong to Christ. And of course we are going through the end time series as well. And we know that in the future there is coming a millennial reign of Christ where Christ would rule on this earth. And guess what? That land would be the everlasting possession to Christ and for those that are in Christ. Now verse number 5. Now this is important for you to realize. Don't read over these words. Jacob says that Ephraim and Manasseh were born unto Joseph when? It says before I came unto thee into Egypt. So let's think about the age of Manasseh and Ephraim. This is important because I've heard some unusual teaching, some weird teaching about this. But if Ephraim and Manasseh were born before Jacob came into Egypt, we can roughly tell how old they were. So keep your finger there and go to Genesis 47. Genesis 47, just a previous chapter, and verse number 9. Let's have a look at this. So when Jacob comes to the land of Egypt, and remember he presents himself to Pharaoh, it says here in verse number 9, And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are in 130 years. Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. So how old was Jacob when he came into Egypt? 130, right? That's what I read. 130 years old when he came into Egypt. Now he said Ephraim and Manasseh were born before he was 130, before he came into Egypt, right? Now drop down to verse number 28. Verse number 28. It says, And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years. So the whole age of Jacob was 147 years. So we know as we're reading the next chapter, he's close to his death. How old is he then? 147 years. Even though these chapters are so close together, the period of time that's taken place is 17 years. So if that's the case, just the children, if the children can answer this, alright? Jacob was 130 when he came into Egypt. Manasseh and Ephraim were already born and then he dies when he's 147. How old at minimum do Ephraim and Manasseh have to be? Or how old roughly do they need to be? Just the kids. Who can work that out? Nicholas? At minimum, the youngest has to be 17 or 18 years, okay? And the older one at minimum has to be about 20 years old. Now we could easily say they could be 30 years old. We don't know. But I'm just saying at minimum, these are grown men. These aren't little children, okay? That's the key thing that I want you to notice there. Now, when Jacob says in verse number 5, when Jacob says in Genesis 48, verse 5, when Jacob says about Ephraim and Manasseh, he says, As Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. He says, 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. Jacob is basically saying Ephraim and Manasseh are going to be like my children. Just like Reuben and Simeon were his children, okay? Now, if you can please keep your finger there and go to 1 Chronicles. I just want you to notice what's taking place here. 1 Chronicles chapter 5. 1 Chronicles chapter 5. Essentially what's going to happen is the blessing that Jacob would have given to Reuben and Simeon. Reuben being the oldest of his children and Simeon being the second oldest of his children. He's essentially saying, instead of giving this blessing that I would have given to Reuben and Simeon, I'm going to give it to Manasseh and Ephraim, is what he's saying, okay? Now, look at 1 Chronicles chapter 5. 1 Chronicles chapter 5, verse 1. This is confirmed for us in the Bible. It says, Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, for he was the firstborn, but for as much as he defiled his father's bed, remember he slept with one of Jacob's concubines, remember one of that? And Jacob was upset at that. So for as much as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel. And the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. So we see here that the birthright that should have been given to Reuben and Simeon, as we see Israel in Genesis, was given to the children of Joseph, okay? So there was a replacement as it were. Now, there was a tribe of Reuben and a tribe of Simeon, but the blessing, the reward, what they would inherit as the tribes would not be given to those tribes. They could have been great tribes. They could have been great tribes that God used, but rather it was passed down to the children of Joseph because of the wickedness that was done by Reuben. And if you remember why Simeon brought up, because Simeon did wickedly as well. You may remember when Shechem wanted to marry their sister Dinah, right? And then Simeon is one of those that goes into that city and kills all the men and takes a spoil of the city unto himself and Jacob is upset about that, upset that they had done such wicked things. And so because of the wicked behavior of Reuben and Simeon, what should have been theirs, the blessing that they should have received was then given to others, to Joseph's two sons. And so Joseph in a sense receives a double blessing, okay, because his two children receive the blessings that should have been given to two other children of Israel. So again, the children are at least 20 years old roughly, you know, if we look at it like that. Now the reason I wanted to cover that with you, again, stay in Genesis 50, but please go to, sorry, Genesis 40, 48, and go to Luke 19, Luke 19, because there's an important principle that I don't hear preached very often that I want you to be aware of. In fact, it's only something I've really come to realize over the last few years, okay. And you know, as believers, you know, salvation, the salvation that God has given us, the salvation that we receive through Jesus Christ is a free gift, right, amen. Jesus did all the work and all we have to do is believe on Christ, receive Him as our Savior, trust Him, receive the sacrifice that He has made, the work that He has done in order for us to go to heaven, in order for us to be saved. Salvation has nothing to do with our personal works, okay. But once we are saved, God wants us to work, does He not? Doesn't He want us to work for His kingdom? Doesn't He want us to reflect Christ in our life and do the will that He has for us? Of course. And God says for the work that we do, He is going to reward us. I mean, there are so many passages about being rewarded. You know, Jesus Christ says that even if you give a cup of water in His name, that you will not lose your reward. So the Bible often speaks about whatever work we do, you know, God is going to reward us in heaven. Some are going to receive a greater reward than others. But that's not to confuse salvation. Salvation is a free gift. We all go to heaven the same way, not by works, but by trusting Christ alone. But then our rewards in heaven is based on how much work, how much we lived for God, what we did in His name. But the Bible also teaches about losing your reward, the ability to lose your reward. And what we're seeing here is that Reuben and Simeon are losing a reward, as it were. You know, a blessing that would come upon their tribes and that reward, since they've lost it because of their wickedness, has been given on to the children of Joseph, okay? And if you look at Luke chapter 19, I won't go through the whole parable, but this is the parable of the pounds. Remember how, you know, we get the story of a man who has servants and he gives them different pounds? And look at verse number 24, Luke 19, 24. It says, Just a quick summary. So, you know, one man was given 10 pounds. He invested, he used those pounds to work for his master, and he would inherit 10 cities, the Bible says. The one that had one pound, instead of serving his master, he hid it. He didn't want to lose his pound, but what we're seeing here is that because he did nothing for God, that the pound that he has and the pound that he would be rewarded with would be given to another. He would be given to that, to the one that had the 10 pounds. Verse number 25, They're saying, Lord, he already has his reward. He's already got it. Why are you going to take that one pound and give it to the other? Verse number 26, Everyone which hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. This is an interesting teaching of the Bible. We know about the rewards. A lot of people know about, you know, God's going to reward us. But if we don't serve him, if we do nothing with our lives, the reward that God would have given you, the blessings that God would have given you will be taken from you and given to somebody that did serve the Lord. Okay. In other words, you know, God has all these rewards in heaven that he wants to give, you know, the maximum reward that's there. And if you don't serve him, if you live a wicked life, you don't live out for God, then you would lose the reward. You don't lose what you attained, but you lose what you could have had. Right. Reuben and Simeon lost what they could have had. And instead of it going to waste, that reward doesn't go to waste, it gets given to that which did serve the Lord. Okay. And so we see this principle being played out for us in the book of Genesis 48. So brethren, listen, I don't want you to lose your reward. Okay. I want you to serve God with what you have. You know, if you started late in life, well, so what? You might be that one that has the one pound because you started late in your life. Okay. But use that one pound. Don't hide it. Use it to serve the Lord so that way your full reward can be given to you in heaven instead of it being given to someone else. Okay. But Jesus Christ is not going to allow his rewards to go to waste. He's going to give it to those that served him for the slack. And look, there are a lot of slack Christians out there. There are a lot of saved people that do nothing for the Lord. That means for those of us that are serving the Lord, we're going to receive some of that extra reward that would have been given to others. Okay. That's the teaching that we get out of here. Back to Genesis 48. We see this playing out in the tribes here. The blessings and Reuben and Simeon, the two elders missing out on what could have been. Okay. But verse number six. Verse number six. Verse number six. It says, And thy issue, which thou begatest 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 Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan by the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephra. And I buried her there in the way of Ephra. The same is Bethlehem. So we get the story here of Rachel passing away. His second wife. Verse number eight. And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? And Joseph said unto his father, These 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. Okay. So we know that, you know, Jacob wanted to bless them, but his eyesight's failing him. He's getting old. And then he realized, Oh, there's other people with you, Joseph. Who are they? And yes, it was, you know, Ephraim and Manasseh there. And so he desires to bless them. But I want you to notice how Joseph responds to his father in verse number nine. His father asks, you know, Who are they? And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons. Look how he responds, whom God hath given me in this place. You know, children are a gift from God. Joseph says, God has given me these children. What an amazing truth, you know. And this should come without saying that, you know, children are a blessing. Children are a gift. Okay. And I'm so sad in the society that we live in because how many people see children as a burden? You know, how many women feel having children, being a mother, is a waste of their life? They think, they've been brainwashed to think that if I just go get a career, if I go make a name for myself, if I go work for some nameless business, that I'm more valuable than if I were to stay home and raise my children. You know, and children are so undervalued. You know, in fact, they are hated by so many Australians that the abortion numbers are 250 aborted children every day. Can you think about that? 250 babies in the mother's womb where they're meant to be protected, where they're being knit together by God himself. Mothers are saying, no, I do not want these children. And they're doing a, you know, wickedness, aborting these children when it's God that gives these children unto us. You know, children are a blessing from God. Please do not become brainwashed by this world. Please, if you're a father, if you're a mother, appreciate what you've been given. It's a gift. How thankful are you for the gift of salvation? You know, don't you just thank God for being saved? Don't you appreciate the gift that God has given you, the sacrifice of his son? Hey, that's a gift of God. You know, children are also a gift of God. They've been given by God. You know, do you appreciate your children? Do you spend time with your children? You know, they're going to grow up, they're going to leave the home one day. And you're going to miss, you're going to regret. If you don't spend your time with your children today, if you don't instruct them, you're going to regret not spending more time with them when they were little. Okay, so please appreciate the gift that God has given you. Verse number 10. I want to stop there because we're talking about children, right? And I want you to notice, and we've seen this many times. How about with Joseph when he revealed himself to his brethren? Didn't he just go and embrace them and weep and kiss them? And when he saw his father, he embraced them and he kissed them. And now when Jacob sees his grandchildren there, what's he doing? He embraces them. He kisses them. You know, brethren, we need to learn, we need to show affection for our families. These men of God, what are they doing? They're showing affection to their families. Okay, they embrace, they kiss. And I don't know because, you know, I come from a South American background, right? I was brought up Chilean, and Chileans are very affectionate, generally speaking, to their children. You know, if you go to Chile, you'll often see fathers just hugging and holding their kids, kissing their kids. I've noticed in Australian culture, this is not that common, right? You know, my kids play soccer, right, with some other kids, you know, some Aussie kids here on the Sunshine Coast. I hardly see parents just hugging their children, embracing them, giving them a kiss. I don't really see that, and I don't know what it is. And we could say, well, it's just a cultural difference, but here's what you need to understand. The Bible is not a cultural book, all right? We see men of God, you know, showing affection to their children, to their wives, to their brothers, to their grandchildren, and look, they're embracing and they're kissing them, all right? Now, I know as my kids grow up and I embrace them and I kiss them, they're like, Dad, okay, okay, you know, I know you love me, you know. Eventually, they kind of grow out of it. I understand that, right? But, you know, this is something we should try to put into our lives. We should show that we, not just that we love our children and our family, that we love them, but we should show a bit of that physical love. You know, when I see my brother in America, you know, growing up with my brother, I don't think we've really hugged much or anything like that, you know. Growing up with my brother, I'm going to see him every day. Why would I do that? But the few times that I see my brother in America, which might be once every few years, you know, when I first see him, we can't help but embrace, you know. And as I leave for the airport, you know, we can't help but embrace and shed some tears because we know we probably won't see each other for a few years, all right? I mean, this is just, you know, this should come out of your natural self that you would love and embrace. And I believe this is so important because when your children know that you love them, when they can recall the memories where you've embraced and you've hugged and you've kissed them, it's going to give them confidence in life. You know, it's going to make them realize, you know, give them validation of their worth in your eyes as parents. You know, one great sadness that I see in our world today is people that are constantly seeking approval for their parents. You know, telling me, you know, my father, you know, just didn't, you know, I feel worthless in my father's eyes or, you know, I wish my mother or my dad, you know, gave me more attention. I wish they validated me more. You know, I wish they didn't criticize me all the time. And, you know, this is something that starts with children, but then when they're lacking that validation, they don't have the confidence in themselves because they didn't receive it from their parents. And they grew up into adults that are very insecure adults, very insecure, sometimes even looking for a father figure or a parent figure in their lives that is not their own. You know, it's a sad thing when I see adults struggling with identity, you know, struggling with knowing who they are and what value they hold within a family system. And so, Brevin, I just encourage you to, you know, if you have children, show them affection and make sure they know that you love them. Make sure they get to the point where like, Dad, okay, okay, I've had enough. I know you love me. You know, get to that point because I think it's such an important thing. We see this many times spoken of here in the Bible. And, you know, God doesn't put this stuff in there for no reason. Obviously, it's important that he repeats these same things over and over again. And, look, if you're an adult and you're someone that can say, look, I just didn't get the affection that I needed for my parents growing up and it has made me an insecure person, look, you can't go back and change that, obviously. You can't go back and change the past. But here's the thing. If you're saved, if you're a child of God, you have a Heavenly Father. And that Heavenly Father will show you affection. The Heavenly Father has shown you love by sending his own son. So, look, you can't change the past. Stop seeking validation from your parents. It's not going to happen now. But you can seek validation from God. You are so valued to him that he would send his only begotten son to die in your place to take your sins. So, you are of high value to God the Father. You know, if you didn't get it growing up as a child, then seek your validation and your confidence in God himself. You know, and overcome those insecurities that you have in your life. Verse number 11. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face, and lo, God have showed me also thy seed. Hey, what is Jacob rejoicing in? Obviously, he thought he lost Joseph. He thought Joseph had passed away. And so he's so happy to have seen Joseph once again. But not only that, he says, God have showed me also thy seed. God has also showed me your children. God has also showed me grandchildren. And you know, I don't know exactly what it is because I'm not a grandparent. But you know what? There is something special about being a grandparent. There is something special about not just seeing your own children grow up, but then seeing your grandchildren growing up. There's something unique about that. I don't know what that is just yet. One day I'll experience that, you know, God willing. But if you can keep your finger there and go to Proverbs 17. Go to Proverbs 17. Verse number 6. Proverbs 17 verse 6. The Bible reads, look at this. Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children are their fathers. So when it comes to children's children, grandchildren, the Bible says these are the crown of the old men. Hey, you know, a crown is, you know, a symbol of authority, of power, of prestige. You know, when it comes to grandchildren, grandparents look at those grandchildren, it's like they're wearing a crown. It's like they're a king of their own kingdom, right? They can see that, you know, their fruitfulness of having children has passed on, has continued. Sometimes I have my parents come from Sydney to visit us. It's almost like they're more excited to see the grandchildren than they are to see me, right? And so be it, you know, because they are a crown unto them. You know, I think it's important, you know, if you have children, I do believe it's important that they are not restricted from seeing their grandparents, okay? Go to Proverbs 13. Proverbs 13. And while you turn to Proverbs 13, I'll just read to you from Psalm 128 verse 4. It says, You know, if you feel the Lord, God's going to bless you. How is he going to bless you? Verse number 5. Verse number 5. You know, there's a blessing that comes from God. If you've seen your children's children, that's a blessing from God. He wants you to be blessed. He wants you to rejoice in knowing your children's children. The way the Bible puts this stuff, you know, it's amazing. You guys are in Proverbs 13. Look at verse number 22. Proverbs 13, 22. It says, Okay, but just the first part there. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children. Now, we could say this is financial, but you know, there's a more important inheritance, and that is the inheritance of a Christian faith, the inheritance of a Christian family. And you'll soon see that it is the grandparents' responsibility to train up their grandchildren, not just the parents' responsibility, but also the grandparents' responsibility to train up their children to know the Word of God, to know Jesus Christ as Savior. And so a good man will leave an inheritance. A good man is thinking about their grandchildren. I'm thinking, how can I leave an inheritance all the way, not just to my children, but to my children's children? And if you can go to Deuteronomy, please. Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6. And while you're turning there, I'll just read to you from Genesis 31. You may remember the story of Jacob and Laban, you know, how they had that conflict, and Jacob tried to run away from Laban, and they were both wrong. Neither were right in how they handled this situation, if you remember the sermon back then. But when Laban confronts Jacob, he says in verse number 28, Genesis 31, 28, he says, And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters, thou hast now done foolishly in so doing. And of course the sons and daughters he's referring to are his grandkids, because by then, you know, and so, you know, Laban says to Jacob, You've been foolish. You've not allowed me to see off my grandkids, to kiss my sons and daughters one last time before you left. And yeah, the Bible tells us that, yeah, Jacob had done right here. You know, that neither Laban had done right, but neither had Jacob. But you guys in Deuteronomy chapter 6, Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 2, actually, sorry, there was one point that I wanted to mention there, with Laban and Jacob, is that Jacob tried to prevent grandparents' access to the children by running away, in a sense. And I want to cover that soon. But look at Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 2. It says, God here speaking to Israel, it says that Thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I commanded thee. All his statutes and commandments of God. They're in the Bible. They're in the Word of God, right? So it's telling the Israelites, you've got to keep the commandments and the statutes. But then it says this, which I command thee, thou and thy son, and thy son's sons, that's your grandchildren, all the days of thy life, that thy days may be prolonged. So God wants to make sure that you keep the commandments of God, that you know the commandments of God. He wants to make sure that your children keep the commandments of God and that your grandchildren keep the commandments of God. Go back two chapters now. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 8. Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 8. The Bible says, And what nation is there so great, and have statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. Look at this. But teach them thy sons and thy son's sons. So parents, what's your job? To keep the commandments of God, yes, but to teach your children. And if you're a grandparent, guess what else? Say, Oh, my children have left the home. They've grown up. Well, then teach your children's children. Teach your sons' sons. Teach your grandchildren the commandments, the laws of God. You know, next time you see your grandkids, ask them, have they read their Bibles? Ask them if they know Jesus Christ as Savior. You know, teach them the word of God so they can live, you know, to some extent, a righteous life within this wicked world that's here. So it is the grandparents' responsibility. Also, as the parent is, to teach the grandchildren, okay? So grandparents, you know, you've got a big responsibility, you know, to teach your grandkids. But I wanted to just pause there and notice how Jacob had done foolishly by preventing Laban from seeing off his grandchildren, okay? Now, was Laban a Christian man? No, he had other gods. He worshiped other gods, okay? And yet, God still came to Laban in a dream, if you remember the story, and told him that basically Jacob had done neither good nor bad. You know, it's just a family problem that had occurred between these guys. And, you know, Laban was restricted from seeing his grandkids in that sense that Jacob had stopped them. And I often think about, because I get this question asked quite a few times from different people. And, you know, it's not always the grandparents. It's just it could be other people in the family. And they'll say, you know, I've got, let's say, you know, I've got a brother. My children have an uncle who's just worldly. Maybe he's a smoker. Maybe he's an alcoholic. You know, and I really don't want my kids, I don't want my kids seeing that. I don't want them to be influenced. And I understand the concern. I've got ten kids. I understand the concern, you know, of your kids being influenced in a bad way. Or, you know, my children have a grandparent. You know, my mother or my father, you know, they're wicked. You know, they let off the F-bombs and, you know, they cuss and, you know, should I allow my children to be within their midst and to, you know, because I'm afraid they're going to be influenced. Unless that family member is reprobate, okay, let's put it this way. Unless that family member is completely reprobate, I do believe the biblical and righteous thing to do is to ensure your children see their grandparents from time to time. Now, obviously, that's going to depend, again, on just how worldly or how wicked they are, okay? But, you know, your children spend an hour with their grandparents a week, let's just say. That's not going to destroy your children's life. Honestly, like, I hear parents so righteous in their thinking, right, so righteous, you know, holier than thou. Oh, but, you know, if they're just one hour with that grandparent, you know, they're just going to become just like them. My problem there is you've got 24 hours, seven days a week with your children, and you're telling me one hour with their grandparents is going to destroy them? If it does, then you've got weak parenting. If it does, then you're not influencing your children the way that you ought to. If you think you can't influence your children more, listen, after they've spent time with their grandparents, after they've heard all the swearworms, after they've seen all the alcohol and all whatever it is on the shelf, or whatever your concerns may be, then you take your children home, and you say, you know, we love grandma, we love grandpa, but the Bible says, and you teach them from the Bible. You instruct them from the Word of God. And you say, look, even though, you know, we know God wants us to work right, to work righteously, we need to learn, you know, we need to be a God example to these family members. We need to be, you know, show, you know, what it is like to be a Christian, how to live a Christian life. Hey, we should strive to be a Godly example unto them. That's how you instruct your children. You know, sometimes I've heard people say, well, you know, I'm not going to allow, even though that church is right on the gospel, even though the preacher is saved, but because he's wrong on this doctrine and that doctrine, you know, I'm just not going to go to that church. I'm not going to allow my kids to be influenced by that one hour sermon they hear because then they might have, you know, a false doctrine that they believe. Once again, you know, if it's the only church that you can go to, you know, your instruction needs to be in church. You know, if that man is saved, if that church is made up of saved people and you're just concerned about a few sermons that might come out incorrectly, my question to you is, where's your influence on your kids? Honestly, you know, I've gone to church with my kids. They've heard bad preaching and all we did on the drive home is say, kids, what does the Bible say? Kids, did you hear something incorrect? Sometimes they would pick it up. Sometimes they wouldn't, but then I would instruct them and tell them what is right, all right. I mean, honestly, does the pastor have that much influence on your kids where one hour of preaching is going to destroy them when you should be the one that has the greater influence? You are the one instructor there that we read in Deuteronomy to teach your kids and to teach your kids' kids, your sons' sons. You are the one that has that responsibility. You are the one that has authority. You ought to be a greater influence on your children than anybody else in this world. And here's the thing, I understand the concern if you're putting your kids in public school. I understand if you're putting them with teachers that are unsaved, that are wicked, that are ungodly, that hate the Bible, that's a concern because now you're sending your kids six hours every day for how many years? 12, 13 years of schooling every day, six hours with ungodly examples, with ungodly friends. Then I can understand your concerns. But just an hour with their grandparents, come on. You know, the righteous thing to do is to allow your children to have access to their grandparents. My parents migrated from Chile, right? And so I grew up without any grandparents, basically. I didn't really know my grandparents. You know, they passed away before I really got to meet them. But there was one, my mother's father, there was one grandparent that I got to meet. You know, I was four years old the first time I went to Chile. And my memory, you know, I kind of remember, it's a bit hazy now, but my mother said that I would never leave my grandfather's side even though I never knew him, never met the man. I could barely speak to him because my Spanish wasn't great, okay? But I would apparently just sit on my grandfather's lap. I would just always want to be around my grandparents. Even though I had cousins my age, instead of going outside and playing with my cousins, I would just want to sit on my grandfather's lap. You know, there was something, I just knew that's family. You know, and it gave obviously some sense of heritage, some sense of understanding, this is where I come from, this is my family, this is what I can identify with. You know, and family is so important in the Bible. You know, it does help you give your identity. It does help you, you know, help you find a place in this world. And, you know, I personally believe if you're restricting your children from seeing their grandparents, that that's going to be more harmful to them, that they're going to lack some sense of, you know, identity, or, you know, or where they belong in this world. So, you know, parents, I just want you to think about this. We all have unsaved family members, we all have unsaved people that our kids may get into contact with, but I believe it's important for them to know their family, you know, even if they're unsaved, but then you be an influence, you teach your kids what is right and wrong, you know? And if you're failing in that area, then you need to improve in your parenting. You need to go back to the Word of God. You need to spend time with your children teaching them the Word of God because you're failing in that area. All right, back to Genesis 48. Genesis 48, verse number 13. No, verse number 12, sorry. Verse number 12. It says here, And Joseph brought them, that's Manasseh and Ephraim, out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. Now, this is where I told you there's some weird teaching about this. So it says here that he brings them out between his knees. And so the teaching I heard is that Ephraim and Manasseh were these little kids, these little infants, you know, and they're kind of between the knees of Dad, maybe they're shy to see their grandfather, and so, you know, Joseph asking, Come on, guys, go to Grandfather Jacob. They're already at least 20 years old, right? Or 30 years old, right? You think of 30 year olds around his knee. Come on, guys, go to Grandpa. This is why we need to be, you know, students of the Word of God. We need to pay attention to the ages that God, you know, has given us. And so, but this kind of bothered me. What does it mean that they were brought out from between his knees? And what I believe is happening here is because Jacob said they're going to be as sons to me, kind of like Ephraim and Reuben was, I believe this is kind of symbolic, a type of a writing that shows that Jacob's kind of passing on, you know, passing the children on to his father. You know, that they wouldn't just be grandkids of Jacob, but they would be, you know, children of Jacob. And of course, they are, they become tribes of Israel in that sense. And so I do believe this is symbolic, and I will show you some evidence of this. If you can go to Genesis 50 now, Genesis 50, verse 23, I just want you to see how the Bible uses this term of knees, especially in the book of Genesis. Genesis 50, verse 23, it says here, And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machiah, the son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph's knees. Okay, so what I think this is teaching here is that they're brought up on Joseph's knees. They're kind of being, you know, being received by Joseph. You know, that he's so happy to see his grandkids, and he receives them onto his knees, you know, maybe again embracing them, receiving them. But there's like this transfer that's happening in a sense where he's receiving them unto himself. Now please go to Genesis 30, Genesis 30, verse 2. Genesis 30, verse 2, you may remember the story where Rachel was unable to have children, and then so she gets her handmaid and basically makes Jacob sleep with the handmaid so she can have children through her. But it says here in Genesis 30, verse 2, Rachel obviously upset that she can't have children, and it says, And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, Am I in God's stead, who have withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her, and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. So what we're seeing here is that Bilhah would have these children, and, you know, Rachel uses this language that she will bear them upon her knees, that these children of Bilhah would be like her children. That's the sense, okay? So when we go back to Genesis 48 and we read verse number 12, and it says that Joseph brought them out Again, I think this is where, you know, there's like a handover taking place, kind of like an adoption that, you know, Jacob is adopting or receiving unto himself these two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. So it's not little children hiding, you know, between the legs of Joseph. All right, verse number 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 them. And Israel stretched forth 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. So get a picture of this. Actually, Nicholas and Christian, can you guys come up here? I'll give you just a visual representation of what this is. Okay, you guys stand here. You guys face me. Or face this way. All right, so pretend... Manasseh was the firstborn, so Nicholas is older, so he'll represent Manasseh and Christian will represent Ephraim, okay? So the way this was done, when Jacob would bless them, he would place his right hand, obviously, on his left hand on their heads, and the right hand would represent the greater blessing, okay? There'd still be a blessing on the left hand, but he would represent a smaller blessing. So Joseph presents them this way to his father, so the father would make sure he puts his right hand on the older and his left hand on the younger and bless them like that, okay? But what we read there in verse number 14, look at it, and these are all stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head, so on the younger. So instead of blessing them like this, Jacob does this instead. He crosses his arms and blesses them like this. Jacob does that on purpose. You guys can sit down, all right? And then it says here in verse number 14, it says, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly, okay? So wittingly means knowingly. Jacob's doing this on purpose, in other words. He knows he's putting his right hand with the greater blessing. He knows he's doing it upon the younger, and he knows exactly what he's doing, is what the Bible's saying here, okay? Verse number 15, So he's just thanking God. He recognized that God has given him all his provisions, and then verse number 16, Who's this angel that Jacob met? That was Jesus Christ. Remember that he wrestled with God? You know, the Bible calls it God. The Bible calls it a man, and the Bible calls it an angel. And the only one that's fully God and fully man is Jesus Christ. And so he's talking about this angel that redeemed him from all evil. You may remember this was the time that he was going to approach Esau, see his twin brother Esau, but he was afraid for his life. And so he's recognizing that the angel answered the prayers, that he redeemed him from evil. He says, 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. So Joseph tries to fix it. He goes, well, Dad, actually lift your hands. It should be like that, right? It upsets him. He wants the older one to receive the greater blessing. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn, that thy right hand, 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 Ephraim by far was the greater, the largest ne'er tribe with the children of Israel. So great, in fact, that when Israel would be divided into the two kingdoms, from the two kingdoms, the southern kingdom of Judah, and the northern kingdom of Israel, that many times in the Bible, God would refer to that northern kingdom just as Ephraim. Kind of like the southern kingdom is just called Judah, even though it had Benjamin as well there and some of the Levites. The northern kingdom, even though it was ten tribes often in the Bible, it's just called Ephraim. So when you read your Bibles, especially in the prophets, and God is just speaking about Ephraim, he's generally speaking about the whole northern nation of Israel. So Jacob here is prophesying of the future. He's obviously being moved by the Spirit of God, making sure his hands are in the right place to speak of this prophecy to come. Verse number 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. Now, I'll just read to you from Hebrews 11, 21. It says, By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff. The New Testament gives a little bit more information. Obviously he's dying, he's struggling, and he's actually leaning on a staff that has his blessing on them as well. And Jacob did this by faith. We could see that by these actions of the blessings that he did to his children, he's acting upon the faith that God has revealed to him. And so Jacob was a faithful man. Verse number 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. So again, he's prophesying of the future. He's saying, look, there's going to come a time when the Israelites will leave Egypt and return to the land of the fathers, return to the land of Canaan. Of course, we know that story took place with Moses that took him out of Egypt, and then with Joshua who would then lead him into Canaan. But look at verse number 22. And this one got me scratching my head for a while until I figured it out. But 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. I just want you to think, what do you think? We see that he's prophesying of the future. What do you think verse 22 is about? He says, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. Do you guys ever remember Jacob going to war with a sword and bow and taking land of somebody? My first thought, I'll just show you my thought process here. Please go to, you don't need to stay in Genesis 48, but go to Genesis 33. My first thought was the story of Shechem. You know how Simeon and Reuben went in and spoiled that city. Because not only did that story happen, but you may remember the story that Jacob bought a piece of land. Now look at Genesis 33 verse 19. Genesis 33 verse 19. It says here, speaking of Jacob, that he bought a parcel of a field where he spread his tent at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money. So we know he bought this piece of land for a hundred pieces of silver. And then go to Genesis 34 and verse 30. Genesis 34 verse 30. This is after Simeon and his brethren killed all the men of Shechem. But it says in verse number 30, And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And I, being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. So even though it's Simeon and Levi that did this wicked act of killing the people of Shechem, Jacob's realizing that, well, this represents me. You know, this will have an effect directly on me. So my first thought is maybe, you know, him taking the sword and the bow, maybe that's like symbolic of, you know, Simeon and Levi doing that damage in Shechem, because it also associated with that land that was purchased by him as well in the same place. But when I looked into this, it just didn't really make sense. And I found a pretty interesting passage. If you guys can go to Genesis 24. Please go to Genesis 24, verse 1. Because the whole thing, Jacob is prophesying of future events. So it makes sense that verse 22 would also be a future event to come. Okay? Joshua 24, verse 1. And of course, this follows the story of the Israelites going into the land of Canaan, having much war, taking much land for themselves that was promised to them by God. And it says in Joshua 24, verse 1, And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem. So it's that same place that Jacob bought a piece of land. And called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods. Okay? So God, He is basically just going to show them how they're going to break up the land of Canaan, what pieces of land they're going to inherit. Now drop down to verse number 8. Before we read verse number 8, I'll just read Genesis 48, verse 22 again. Jacob said the words, Moreover, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren. So it says to Joseph, I'm going to give you another portion, another inheritance above your brethren, more than your brethren, which I took as the land of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow. Okay? So it's talking about the Amorites here. Look at verse number 8. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, so there it is, which dwelt on the other side of Jordan, and they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand that ye might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. So that the Israelites go to war against the Amorites? Yes. Okay? Now look at verse number 32. Drop down to verse number 32. So after they go to war against the Amorites, they are all gathered in this land of Shechem right now, but look at verse number 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. Now look at this. And it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. There it is. So when you go back to Genesis 48, verse number 22, and Jacob is prophesying of the future. He says that he would go to war against the Amorites. You know, he speaks of it like it really happened, but he's speaking of a future event where he goes with sword and bow against the Amorites, and he gives that extra portion of land to Joseph or to his children, right? To Joseph, Manasseh, and Ephraim. And so when we read Joshua 24, we see this prophecy come to fulfillment, that the children of Israel would also not just take the land, but they would also take this extra piece of land in Shechem and that would be the inheritance to them that was prophesied by Jacob back in Genesis chapter 48. I think it's amazing how the Bible is so perfect, right? How the Word of God, you know, just the future events to come, the prophecies come to fruition in this way. But brethren, that's the end of Genesis 48. I hope you've been able to take something out of that. I think it's an amazing thing, you know, the words of Jacob, how they've come to pass, how we see the Spirit of God, how we see his faithfulness toward God, be able to help him bless Manasseh and Ephraim and also foretell all the future. All right, let's pray.