The Eyes of Faith at the Door of Death

THE EYES OF FAITH AT THE DOOR OF DEATH

An Exposition of Genesis 47:12-48:22

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: August 18, 2024

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

47 ²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

²⁹ And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” ³¹ And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

48 ¹ After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ² And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. ³ And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ 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.’ ⁵ And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷ As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸ When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?” ⁹ Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” ¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” ¹² Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 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 him. ¹⁴ And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). ¹⁵ 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,
¹⁶ 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.”

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. ¹⁸ And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” ¹⁹ 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.” ²⁰ 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. ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. ²² Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.” (Genesis 47:28-48:22)

INTRODUCTION

Well, let me set the stage for this message this morning. You know, we've spoken about celebrating the recent births of Esther Rose and Adam James. And even as we've read here in the Book of Genesis, much is made of being fruitful and multiplying, even Genesis 47:27 which we looked at last week talked about how Israel was fruitful and multiplied exceedingly in the land of Egypt.

And as we think about being fruitful and multiplying, we think about births, and households with children, and nurseries overflowing, and the sounds of babies and toddlers and little feet. At the same time, when we even think about an illness or an injury (even as Tim just brought two young people before the Lord in prayer), we are reminded of how fragile life is and how quickly it can be threatened and even taken. And of course, ever since the fall of mankind into sin, the darkness of death has been cast as a shadow over all mankind. And unless you are Enoch or Elijah, which you are not, you have an appointment with death. And as we look at this passage today, we encounter Jacob near the very end of his life. Death is at the door, so to speak. What will Jacob do in his final days, in his final moments before he goes the way of all the earth?

A significant part of ministry is ministering to you in such a way that you are equipped to die well, to die in faith. And this whole passage invites us to think about dying in faith because there is a very important verse tucked away in the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 11. As you know, Hebrews 11 – the hall of faith – looks back to the Old Testament saints and highlights their faith concretely expressed in particular words and actions. And Jacob is there in the hall of faith. And do you know which part of his life is harkened back to in Hebrews 11?

“Well, let me read it for you. Listen carefully to these words: “By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.” (Hebrews 11:21) And so, Jacob's demonstration of faith in Hebrews 11 refers back to Genesis 47-48 and makes the very important point that Jacob died in faith.

And my question to you is: are you ready to die in faith? When I ask this question, I’m not talking about having your papers in order, having prayed the right things, and having checked the right boxes. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is, when you come to the door of death, will the brightness of faith shine brightly over your surroundings, over the people who are with you? Or rather, will the darkness of unbelief make the moment bitter and sour?

Of course, we know how critically important it is to die well, to die in faith, because death is not the end: “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). The Lord “will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14) So, I want to encourage you this morning, through the example of Jacob, to die well.

And keep in mind that you will not die well, you will not die in faith, unless you have first of all lived by faith. I know that deathbed conversions do happen from time to time, but don't count on it happening. It's not like they're happening all the time. Generally speaking, the way that you live will manifest itself in the way that you die. And so, if you would die in faith, you must first of all learn to live by faith.

So, let's walk through this passage. Really, what I want to do is to walk through the passage briefly, and then I want to call attention to three very important lessons that I think will help us to live by faith and die in faith.

WALKING THROUGH THE PASSAGE

The burial place (Genesis 47:29-31)

First, in Genesis 47:29-31, Jacob calls Joseph to his side and makes Joseph promise that he will bury his body in the same place that his fathers had been buried, which is in a cave near Hebron in the land of Canaan. This specific place of burial is important, because it shows that he stands in unity with Isaac and Abraham, and that he expects God to fulfill His promise to grant the land of Canaan to his descendants.

The double portion of blessing (Genesis 48:1-20)

Second, in Genesis 48:1-20, Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim. When Joseph heard that his father had fallen ill, he took his two sons and went to visit his father (v. 1). Upon learning that Joseph had come, Jacob sat up, recounted God’s blessing, and claimed Joseph’s two sons as his own:

“And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mind, as Reuben and Simeon are.” (v. 5)

Joseph’s other sons would be his own (v. 6a), but Joseph’s first two sons would be reckoned as the sons of Jacob. In claiming Joseph’s two sons as his own, Jacob was effectively conferring ‘the double portion of blessing’ upon Joseph. In those days, it was customary for the firstborn son to be granted a double portion of the inheritance: the firstborn gets two portions, and every other son gets a single portion. Of course, Jacob’s firstborn son was Reuben, but Reuben committed a defiling sin and thereby forfeited his birthright, and the privilege of the birthright was transferred to Joseph (see 1 Chronicles 5:1-2). Thus Joseph received a double portion, and the way that he received the double portion is that his two sons were reckoned as Jacob’s sons. Joseph’s other sons would be regarded as Joseph’s sons but would receive their inheritance under the covering of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh (v. 6b).

Before blessing these two sons of Joseph, Jacob recounted one of the great sorrows of his life, when his beloved wife Rachel, the mother of Joseph and grandmother of Manasseh and Ephraim, died and was buried on the journey from Bethel to Bethlehem (v. 7).

At this point, the visually impaired old Jacob got a faint glimpse of two young men beside Joseph, and thus he learned that Joseph’s two sons were present in the room with him. Manasseh and Ephraim came near to their grandfather, and Jacob kissed them, embraced them, and put his hands upon them to bless them. Contrary to Joseph’s intention (in v. 13) and Joseph’s objection (in v. 17-18), Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim the younger, and put his left hand on Manasseh the firstborn, thus “[putting] Ephraim before Manasseh” (v. 20), the younger before the older, the second-born before the firstborn. Both Ephraim and Manasseh would be blessed, but Ephraim even more so: Manasseh “shall be great” (v. 19), but “his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations” (v. 19).

And so, as we near the end of Genesis, we get one more snapshot of how the blessing of the Lord – or the greater blessing – falls to a younger son: not Cain, but to Abel and then to Seth; not Ishmael, but to Isaac; not Esau, but to Jacob; not Reuben, but to Joseph; not Manasseh, but to Ephraim. Although “the eyes of Israel were dim with age” (v. 10), God guided Jacob’s hands and words so that Jacob conferred the blessings suitable to Ephraim and Manasseh. There is something refreshing about this scene. When Isaac’s eyes were dim with age, Jacob had deceived his father. As Jacob grew older, he himself had tasted the bitterness of being deceived, for Jacob had been deceived by Laban and by his sons. By wonderful contrast, Jacob is unable to be deceived in this moment: although his eyesight is poor, his mind is alert, and he is clearheaded when Joseph attempts to switch his father’s hands around in order give preference to Manasseh the firstborn. Joseph makes no attempt to deceive, but speaks frankly about his intention. But Jacob remains steadfast in his purpose, and Joseph has no choice but to submit to his father’s patriarchal and prophetic decision. No deceit. No disguise. No dishonesty.

You can see that Jacob’s blessing upon Joseph’s sons is, at the very same time, a blessing – indeed a double blessing – upon Joseph himself. For in verse 9 Jacob says, “Bring them [Ephraim and Manasseh] to me, please, that I may bless them”, and verse 20 tells us that “[Jacob] blessed them that day”. But the calling forth of blessing upon the boys (v. 16) is introduced by saying, “And [Jacob] blessed Joseph”. So Jacob blessed Joseph with a double portion of blessing by blessing Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh as if they were his very own sons.

A promise and a gift (Genesis 48:21-22)

Finally, in Genesis 48:21-22, Jacob concludes his time with Joseph by issuing to Joseph a promise and a gift. In the next chapter, Jacob will call all of his sons to his side, in order to make pronouncements concerning all twelve of his biological sons. But in Genesis 47:29-48:22, it is special time between Jacob and his beloved son Joseph, along with Joseph’s two sons being present as well in Chapter 48. But as this special time between the patriarch and his beloved son comes to a close, the patriarch has two important words for his dear son.

First, Jacob speaks forth a promise – not a promise of what Jacob will do, but a promise of what God will do: “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.” (v. 21) Jacob is encouraging Joseph with the promise of God, for Jacob knows that this is indeed God’s promise to His covenant people. God will be with Joseph and with all Israel until they have been brought into the land of promise.

If I may draw a very simple but vitally important lesson here for parents: your goal in parenting is to impress upon your children that they must trust God, not you. You are going to die. Even in life there is only so much you can do for your children. Jacob didn’t accompany Joseph to Egypt; Jacob didn’t sustain Joseph in Egypt; Jacob didn’t work out a good plan for Joseph in Egypt. But the Lord did! Furthermore, your goal as a parent is to impress upon yourself that you must trust God with your children. You are going to die, but before you do die, you can have confidence that God will be with your believing children and accomplish His good purposes in and through their lives.

Second, Jacob confers a gift upon Joseph: “Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.” (v. 22) While you still have your breath, it is your right to dispose of your assets in whatever way you see fit. Jacob, in keeping with his great love for his beloved son, sees to it that a special gift is given to him alone. Apparently this special grant of land to Joseph is referenced in John 4: “So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there” (John 4:5-6).[1] What may seem like an unclear piece of real estate at the end of Genesis 48, was known to the people of Israel for many centuries.

Thus we have a brief overview of the passage: the burial place, the double portion of blessing, the promise of God, and the gift of land.

THREE IMPORTANT LESSONS

Now let’s ponder the prominent themes that are upon Jacob’s mind as he nears the end of his earthly sojourn. Jacob finishes his course in faith, as Hebrews 11:21 alerted us to. What can we learn that might help us to run and finish our course with the same faith that Jacob had? Here are three lessons for us to ponder.

Stand in the legacy of your fathers and mothers in the faith

First, if you want to live by faith and die in faith, then stand in the legacy of your fathers and mothers in the faith. In terms of Jacob’s example, it is evident that Jacob’s fathers – specifically his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham – are very much on his mind as he stands at the door of death:

“Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” (Gen. 47:29-30).

Jacob’s life and death must be understood in reference to the legacy that God had handed down to him through his fathers.

When he invoked God’s blessing upon Joseph’s sons, he introduced God as

“[the] God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked”. (Gen. 48:15)

The Creator God isn’t some vague higher power up there beyond the sky somewhere. The Creator God is a personal God revealed to, known by, and in relationship with the people that He calls and redeems. Later, God told Moses to “[say] this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:15)

In this same vein, when Jacob invokes God’s blessing upon Joseph’s sons, he prays that his name, which is bound up with the name of his fathers, would be perpetuated through Joseph’s sons:

“and in them [i.e., in Ephraim and Manasseh] let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac”. (Gen. 48:16)

Jacob mentions his fathers once more in his encouragement to Joseph:

“God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers”. (Gen. 48:21)

This final reference to Joseph’s fathers would include Jacob himself alongside Isaac and Abraham.

Notice that the legacy, the name, the divinely given purpose, promise of land, the goal of a great nation and covenant people, is singular. It’s not every man for himself. It’s one people – the people of the promise. There is one legacy of covenant grace from the first generation patriarch Abraham, to the second generation patriarch Isaac, to the third generation patriarch Jacob, to the fourth generation patriarch Joseph, to the fifth generation sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, to future generations beyond them who will constitute “a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Gen. 48:16).

In terms of our own lives as Christian believers, it is vitally important that we ourselves stand in the legacy of our fathers and mothers in the faith. We over-complicate our Christian life when we are preoccupied with our own individual journey, as if our own individual journey with God is what the whole thing is all about, as if the whole thing is about God and me. If you want to drive yourself crazy, make the whole thing about you and mapping out your individual purpose and figuring out your own inward experience. On the basis of the entire Bible, including today’s passage, I know that I am justified in saying that God intends for us to have relational reference points outside of our own individual box, relational reference points that reach back into the past. Jacob looked back to Abraham and Isaac. Joseph, and later Moses, would look back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. According to Genesis 48:20, future Israelites would look back to Ephraim and Manasseh and pronounce blessings in their name. Centuries later, Paul tells his beloved protégé Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:5-6). Later in the same letter Paul says, “[Continue] in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14-15).

Looking back to these relational reference points is supposed to keep you grounded, encouraged, and strengthened. Do you remember your fathers and mothers in the faith? Do you consciously stand in the legacy that God has passed on to you through them? We ourselves may indeed look back to the early patriarchs, and to the steady stream of prophets, and to the apostles who taught the way of Christ, and to the early church fathers, and to the faithful teachers of the Protestant Reformation, and to the champions of the modern missionary movement. All of that is foundational and helpful. And yet, at the same time, we should also remember the faithful believers who have had more direct impact upon our lives – faithful parents, faithful preachers, faithful mentors. Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”

When I think back to the course of influences that led to my own conversion to Christ, I often revisit the course of influences that led to my parents’ conversion to Christ. I remember that the Lord brought faithful Christians into their lives with gospel impact – and they have names: Bill and Barb Ginney, Bruce and Karen Linton, Bill and Mary Allen, Rick and Gen Cornish, and the faithful believers at Vernon Baptist Church. And the Lord brought faithful Bible teachers into their lives with gospel impact – Dr. Renald Showers, and Wendell Calder. And through such influences, the Lord drew them into His family in the mid-1980s, and that brought me into the orbit of faithful Bible teaching. It took a while for it to sink in, but the twelve years of sitting in church or junior church, Sunday School, Awana, and Youth Group, was not wasted, but the seed of the Word was planted in my heart, and it took root and began to bear good fruit at the appointed time. And in the last thirty years, the Lord has granted numerous other influences to stimulate my growth in Christ.

I don’t stand before you, and I don’t stand in this world, as a stand-alone guy. I stand in the legacy of a rich heritage, which itself is part of the richness of the one body of Christ. Brothers and sisters, remember that “[we] are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:19-20). Stand in the legacy of your fathers and mothers in the faith, and stay connected to the living stones with whom you have been joined together in the Lord’s spiritual temple.

Stand on the record of God’s faithfulness to you

It is not enough, however, to stand in the legacy of those who have gone before you. If you would live by faith and die in faith, then you must also stand on the record of God’s faithfulness to you. In my first point of application, I put the emphasis on the rich heritage of which we are a part. But in this second point of application, I put the emphasis on our own individual experience of God’s faithfulness.

In Genesis 48:3-4, Jacob recounts the promise that God Almighty made to him. The promise that God made to Jacob was essentially the same promise that He had previously made to Abraham and Isaac. But the point to grasp here is that Jacob wasn’t a second-hander who lived off the promises that God made to his fathers. Instead, Jacob himself had a fresh and personal experience of those promises being made to him:

“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.’” (Gen. 48:3-4)

God’s promises must come to us with a freshness that comes when the Holy Spirit breathes on the Word and personalizes it to our own heart and life.

Furthermore, Jacob had experienced an initial foretaste of the fulfillment of this promise. When Abraham died, he had one covenant son Isaac and one covenant grandson Jacob – not a multitude! But by the time Jacob died, significant progress had been made! Don’t forget what we read in Genesis 47:27 – “Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.” (Gen. 47:27) And so, in the final 17 years of his life, Jacob got to see the blessing of physical offspring on the increase, in accordance with God’s promise. In this regard, Jacob noted the kindness that God had shown him by letting him see Joseph’s sons: “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” (Gen. 48:11)

Even more pointedly, look at how Jacob surveys his entire life in Genesis 48:15-16. In the second half of verse 15, look at how Jacob refers to the God whose blessing he will invoke on Joseph’s sons: “the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day”. Then he follows up that statement with another remarkable statement at the beginning of verse 16, in which “the angel” is the divine angel, another reference to God, almost certainly a reference to the Son of God: “the angel who has redeemed me from all evil”.

Now there is something very beautiful about these two statements from the lips of Jacob, and we must not miss it. Here he is at the end of his life, and he is not focused on what he has done: he is not focused on the strength of his faith, or on the quality of his obedience, or on the maturity of his character, or anything that he has accomplished. Instead, as he stands at the door of death, he is focused on God’s faithfulness and God’s mercy toward him. Jacob isn’t preoccupied with his own track record, however good or bad it may have been. Instead, Jacob testifies to God’s track record: He has shepherded me and taken care of me “all my life long to this day”, and He has rescued me “from all evil”, from all hardship, from the conflict with Esau, from the conflict with Laban, from the apparent loss of Joseph, from the difficult days of famine, and no doubt from many other trials. 

The way to live by faith and die in faith, is not to get in front of a mirror so that you can ponder and analyze your faith, your faithfulness, your obedience, your decisions, your prayer life, your ministry, your fruitfulness, your accomplishments, and so on. Of course, I don’t mean that there is no place for humble reflection on your life and growth as a Christian. It is all good and well for Paul to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7) Yes and amen to that, but that isn’t my text today. In terms of Jacob standing at the door of death, there is something refreshing and helpful about his focus on what the Lord has done, because that is what faith does. Faith doesn’t look into the mirror to admire itself and its fruits, or to bemoan the lack thereof. Instead, faith looks out through the window at the landscape of this present life, and sees God – God’s faithfulness, God’s mercy, God’s kindness. God took a profoundly insecure college student and woke him up. God rescued me from a season of darkness and doubts and fightings within. God brought me to people and books that watered my soul. God delivered me from the lean and barren years. God mercifully spared me from significant mis-steps that I would have easily taken. God brought me through very uncertain times in ministry, and has sustained me to this present day. I’m like Jacob, stumbling along through ups and downs. But underneath that stumbling, underneath those ups and downs, underneath those advances and setbacks, are the everlasting arms.

Let us take to heart the words from a well-known hymn:

"When my spirit, clothed immortal,

Wings its flight to realms of day,

This my song through endless ages:

Jesus led me all the way,

This my song through endless ages:

Jesus led me all the way.”[2]

Encourage your loved ones with the same divine grace that has carried you

Finally, if you would live by faith and die in faith, encourage your loved ones with the same divine grace that has carried you. Commend subsequent generations to the grace and mercy of God. See into the future with the confidence that God will continue His faithfulness in subsequent generations. Speak and bless and encourage and give accordingly. Impress the promises of God upon the people around you, and thereby pass the torch!

There is a direct relationship between the first two points of application, and this third point of application. Think about it: if you are standing in the legacy of your fathers and mothers in the faith, and you are standing on the record of God’s faithfulness to you, then what are you going to impress upon your loved ones as you depart from this world? You are going to impress upon them the promises of God that stretch back many generations, and you are going to impress upon them the faithfulness of God that you have experienced in your own life.

Now just imagine if you are the sort of person who isn’t living by faith. All you think about is your own performance in your own little individualized religious box, with very little sense of God’s faithfulness to past generations and very little sense of God’s faithfulness to you. Instead, you are focused on your own religious performance. If that’s your mindset, what might you say to your loved ones who are gathered around you before you die? You might say: Well, it’s all up to you! Duty first! Be careful to measure up! Do all the right things! You’ve got this! And yet, there isn’t a whiff of that mindset in Genesis 48.

Jacob is not living with a mindset that is pressured to maximize his own performance. Instead, Jacob is living in the freedom that comes when God’s promises get a hold on your heart. Jacob, the man of faith, believes that God will make him a company of peoples: believing this, he prays expectantly that Ephraim and Manasseh will “grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Gen. 48:16) – knowing that Manasseh shall become a great people (Gen. 48:19), and that Ephraim shall be even greater and that Ephraim’s seed “shall become a multitude of nations” (Gen. 48:19). He sees his two grandsons in the light of God’s promise, and thus Jacob is confident that Ephraim and Manasseh will be pacesetters throughout Israel: “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” (Gen. 48:20) Jacob knew that God had promised him: “I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again” (Gen. 46:4). And Jacob thought about this promise of God in a multi-generational way, and believing this promise he was able to say to his son Joseph: “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.” (Gen. 48:21) If we would live by faith and die in faith, we must become a people whose emphasis is happily upon God’s promises and God’s faithfulness.

How many of us, when left to ourselves to speak freely out of the overflow of our hearts, speak forth law? We might say: Now remember to get it right. Do this. Don’t do that. Take your flashlight. Flush the toilet. Read the Bible. Pray a lot. Go to church every Sunday. Get a good insurance policy. I’m not against good counsel and good manners. And the Bible certainly gives us moral exhortations which we must heed. But how easily we end up communicating to people: It depends on you! It depends on you! It depends on you! And what we build are law-centered people who think it depends on them. But what we see in Jacob, and in Jacob’s example of faith at the door of death, is that he was a ‘promise of God’ centered person who knew it depends on God, and out of the overflow of his heart he spoke to Joseph and Joseph’s sons.

What are you communicating to your children? God’s promise, or your plans? God’s faithfulness, or your performance? God’s power, or their need to follow your example of fleshly planning and fleshly performing? Become the kind of man or woman who is able to sit down with your children and say, God has been my shepherd all my life long to this day. And let them reply: How so? And then you begin to open up about the triumphs of God’s grace in your life.

You don't want to get to the end of your life at your deathbed and tell your children, ‘God has been my shepherd my whole life long’, and they respond by scratching their heads and saying, ‘That’s news to me.’ Let it not be news to them. Long before the end of our lives, let us tell them of God's faithfulness and thereby build them in them a confidence in God. 

As we sing

As we sing “Song of Repentance”, let us be mindful to repent of being preoccupied with ourselves and our doings, and let’s rest in the big expansive everlasting soul-sustaining promises of God. Let us repent of being obsessed with our own track record (and either feeling proud or dismayed as a result), and let’s celebrate His faithfulness and kindness. It is, after all, not the work of our own hands, but the work of God’s mercy, through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and the risen Lord’s bestowal of the Holy Spirit upon us, that makes all the difference. And then the final song, “Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me”, provides a fitting emphasis to close this service. If we would die in faith, we must first live by faith, and by faith we recognize that our Good Shepherd carries us from start to finish, and all our fruitfulness comes from Him.

ENDNOTES

[1] I am indebted to Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Book of Genesis, p. 574, for alerting me to the John 4:5-6 connection.

[2] From the hymn “All the Way My Savior Leads Me” by Fanny Crosby.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. The Book of Genesis (Ariel’s Bible Commentary). Fourth Edition. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries, 2020.

Steinmann, Andrew E. Genesis (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019.