Genesis 48:21-22 – Take heart, God is with us!

The two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, adopted by Jacob were now considered Jacob’s sons. They were given to Jacob to perpetuate Rachel’s line, since she died young and had only given birth to Joseph and Benjamin. All this Joseph staying by his father, observing the adoption ceremony, consented to it. It was remarkable that he should do so. Why? In giving his two sons over to Jacob was literally consenting for them to forfeit their right to any position in Egypt. He had shifted their allegiance to Jacob and his shepherding children. In so doing, they would virtually no longer have any prospect for any high position in Egypt. While Joseph lived out his position as Pharaoh’s second in command in Egypt, his children would no longer be able to attain that position. Joseph was fully aware that his children’s lot would not be in Egypt but among the people of God. This is an act of faith on Joseph’s part. Like Joseph we must learn to see beyond our present. Even if we forfeit what seems lucrative now, with God we will never lose out.

This position Joseph adopted helps us to clarify verses 21-22. Jacob told him that “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers. I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.” He was literally telling Joseph that he was given to him one more portion than his other brothers. Jacob was here referring to Shechem. It was the plot of land that he had purchased from Hamor the king of Shechem. According to Genesis 33:19, he paid 100 pieces of silver for it. Also in this place his sons had violently murdered many of the Shechemites. Apparently Joseph accepted it, and his bones, according to Joshua 24:32, were eventually buried there.

The remarkable part of the whole life of Jacob, which Joseph also experienced, was the reality of God’s presence with him. In this closing moment of his life, he again reminded Joseph that God would be with him and would bring him back to the land. The presence of God is a crucial part of the spiritual journey that we cannot do without. Whether we are aware of it or not, God is ever present in our life, even in death. That’s what David said in Psalm 23:4, he said, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me….” More importantly, Jesus is with us in our journey now. This is His promise. He said to us in Matthew 28:20, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”