Let's begin at verse 8 of Genesis 48. This is where, as you know, Jacob had already adopted Joseph's son, Manasseh and Ephraim. These were legal adoption. And he said, I'll make him mine just like Reuben and just like Simeon. So Joseph, who had the right of the firstborn, through Joseph it was given to Manasseh and Ephraim. or the blessing. And of course we're gonna see in this passage how Ephraim receives the blessing of the firstborn. But in verse eight it says in Israel, that's Jacob, he always has two names and I always point out how we can identify with that. We're sinners saved by grace. Jacob's who are Israel. Sinners who have prevailed with God through Christ. And that's how we prevail with God, we plead Christ, we plead his blood, his righteousness as our only ground of salvation. We're like that old publican, God have mercy on me the sinner. And so Israel beheld Joseph's sons and said, who are these? Now you understand his eyesight was dim, he couldn't see here. In verse nine it says, Joseph said unto his father, they are my sons whom God hath given me in this place. Now Joseph is not denying that Jacob had adopted these boys, he's just identifying him for his father. And so these are my sons whom God hath given me in this place in Egypt. And he said, bring them, Jacob said, bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. And that's the fruit of God's grace. What we see there is when a person physically and legally adopts a child, then it's up to that person after all legal hindrances and all that was required has been accomplished, all legal hindrances removed, then the blessing has to be bestowed. That child is to be taken into the family. brought into the family and given all the rights and all the privileges and all the blessings of being in the family. And we looked at this last week in Galatians chapter four. We have kind of like a summation of that concerning our adoption, our spiritual adoption by the Lord God in Christ. You see, God adopted us into his family when he chose us before the foundation of the world. and He made us His, His children. And Christ, we were given to Christ as our surety, all of our sins having been imputed to Christ and all of the conditions of our salvation laid upon Christ, who would remove all the obstacles of sin by His death on the cross and would bring about every blessing and benefit of salvation by all that He accomplished for us. And so in Galatians chapter four, where it says in verse four, it says, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law. And you might notice here now, now Joseph is a type of Christ in all of this. because it was through Joseph that Manasseh and Ephraim received the blessing. Well, it's through Christ that we, the adopted sons of God, received the blessings of salvation, all grace here and all glory hereafter. And Christ was made of a woman, that's his sinless humanity, made under the law, that's our salvation, according to the law and justice of God, conditioned on Christ. He became accountable. for our sins, and he did this, verse five, to redeem them that were under the law, to pay the price, the redemption price, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now that's not to say that's when God adopted us, but that's when we received that adoption, and here's the explanation of it, look at verse six, and because you are sons, and this is the generic children of God, Because we are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And he says, wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. That's a summation. of what's happening here as Jacob adopts Joseph's two sons legally and makes them his own, gives them his name, makes them part of his family, and now he's gonna bring them into the family. He's going to bless them with the blessing that he's given. So think about that, that's a type, that's a picture of our adoption. And then we're coming to our being blessed. We have to, if God has adopted us, by His grace through Christ. If God has chosen us and if Christ has died for us, we must receive the blessing. There's no such thing as God choosing someone and Christ dying for someone and them perishing in their sins. That doesn't happen. That's not scriptural. That's not the gospel. If God chose us, if He adopted us, if Christ removed all the obstacles by His death on the cross and provided all blessings by the righteousness that God has imputed to us in Christ, then we're gonna receive the blessing. The Holy Spirit's gonna come. He's gonna give us, we're gonna be born again. He's gonna regenerate us. He's gonna give us a new heart where we cry, Abba, Father. That's descriptive of a new relationship with God, God being my Father. He's both a righteous judge as well as a loving Father. And so that's the picture. We'll look at verse 10. It says, now the eyes of Israel were dim for age so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him. And he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face. And lo, God has shown me also thy seed. In other words, he didn't think he'd see Joseph again after the other brothers sold him into slavery. He thought Joseph was dead. And he said, now here I am looking at you and looking at grandsons who he's adopted into his family. Verse 12, and Joseph brought them out from between his knees and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them before Ephraim. Now Joseph is the mediator here, you might say. Just like Christ is the one mediator between God and sinners, God and men, the man Christ Jesus. So you see, Joseph is bringing them to him. That's what Christ does for us. He paid our debt, dying for our sins. He gave us his righteousness. We're justified in him before God. And he's the one who sends his spirit to bring us unto God. He brings us there. And so we come to God through Christ. You see, that's what people don't understand today, even many who claim to be Christian. Without Christ, There's no approach to God that's acceptable. Without Christ, there's no salvation. Without Christ, there's no love from God. If you talk about love from God apart from Christ and apart from God's justice being satisfied by Christ, that's just empty love. It's no good. It's a lie. It's what it is. And so it says in verse 13, Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand. Now you understand that he's bringing these boys to be blessed by Israel, by Jacob. Now Ephraim is the youngest. Manasseh is the oldest. So in Joseph's mind, what's going to happen? Manasseh is going to receive the firstborn blessing. That's indicated by Jacob laying his right hand upon Manasseh's head. Ephraim, in Joseph's mind now, is going to receive the blessing. He's gonna receive a blessing, but not the firstborn, and we're gonna talk about that in just a minute. And so he puts Ephraim where Jacob would put his left hand on him. So he says, Israel's left hand and Manasseh in his left hand, that's Joseph's left hand, which toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. So you see what's going on here. He's placing these boys the way he thinks according to the law of the firstborn. And it says in verse 14, and Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it not upon Manasseh's head, but on Ephraim's head. You see that? Who was the younger? And he put out his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly. In other words, this guy knew what he was doing. knowingly, with understanding, that's what the word wittingly, in other words, this was no accident. So what you have there is the crossed hand blessing, as somebody said. And Jacob knew what he was doing, for Manasseh was the firstborn. So he's showing there that according to the normal way of doing things, in this family, Manasseh would have received the right hand, the firstborn, and Ephraim left. But no, it's different. And so what's going on here? Well, first of all, this is the same, basically, that happened with Jacob and his brother Esau. Why was this happening? Was God breaking his law? No. No, God didn't break the law. God is sovereign. It's not that God is above the law, he is the law. But this is not one of the moral precepts that always stand in existence. This is a law that is totally under the volition, not of man, but of a sovereign God. And he did this once before, and Jacob can understand this very well. Look at Romans chapter nine, verse 10. Here's the same, now what is this all about now? Why did he say I'm gonna bless Ephraim with the firstborn and I'm gonna bless Manasseh with just the regular blessing of a son? Well, you remember it says, when it talked about in verse nine of Romans nine, for this word of promise, talking about the promise of God, salvation at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son that's Abraham and Sarah and not only this but when Rebecca also had conceived by one even by our father Isaac now this is the mother and father of Jacob and Esau verse 11 for the children being not yet born neither having done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that call." So what do we see working? The sovereignty of God. God makes the choice. God does as he wills in his wisdom, in his mercy, in his grace. And it said in verse 12, it was said unto her, the elder, that is in this case Esau, shall serve the younger, which was Jacob. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. I've received Jacob, I've accepted Jacob, not based on anything that Jacob did or would do or tried to do or decided. This is before the children did any good or evil. In other words, God determined in his sovereignty that he was going to give Jacob what Jacob did not deserve or earn. And he decided in his sovereignty that Esau was going to get what he deserved. That's why we pray, Lord, do not, please don't give me what I deserve and what I've earned. I need mercy. And so he says in verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid, for he sayeth to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. And here's the bottom line of the whole thing here now, verse 16. So then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And that's the glory of God. So if you go back here to chapter 48 of Genesis, that's what's working here. This is God's sovereign purpose, to do as he pleases with his own. And, you know, I mentioned this last week. You say, well, is there any other, you know, when you look at this, Ephraim. What does Ephraim mean? It means fruitful. Ephraim looks to the future. What does the name Manasseh mean? It means forgotten, forgetting. And I think about that because Ephraim sort of represents faith in Christ. Looking to Christ. Paul said, I forget those things which are behind and press forward to the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus. That's our life. We live and walk and act by faith, looking unto Jesus, the author and the completer of our faith. Manassas sort of represents our repentance, our dead works which we leave behind. We forget them. God does not charge them to our account. You see, you can look at, you can think about that. God has imputed our sins to Christ and he has put them away. He's done away with them. He's removed our sins from us as far as the East is from the West. And God says he'll remember them no more. That means he will not hold them against us. He will not keep a legal record of those. When we appear before God at judgment, we appear before him as righteous in Christ, based on his righteousness imputed, and our sins will not even come into play. That's what the scripture says. Now for unbelievers who stand before God without Christ, that's all that'll be seen, is their sins. So think about this. It's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. Now go back to verse 15 of Genesis 48. He says, and he blessed Joseph and said God. Now he blessed Joseph because it was through Joseph that the boys were gonna be blessed. And we can see a parallel there to our being blessed in Christ. We're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The reason that we receive the blessings and all the benefits of salvation is because of Christ. And Christ is the savior of his people. Well, the reason these two boys were receiving this blessing was because of Joseph, who was the savior of his people. You remember, he tells them later on, he says, God sent me here to save much people alive. Now, Joseph, again, is a type of Christ. And so he said, he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day. See, he's attributing all of his blessings, all of his existence to God. And that word fed is an interesting word. You know what it's translated in other places? For example, in Psalm 23, one, it's translated shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. What he's saying, God who shepherded me all my life. Christ saves, Christ is the good shepherd, he's the great shepherd, he's the chief shepherd, he saves us. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep, he keeps us, he feeds us, he sustains us, and he'll bring us to glory. And then here's the basis of it, verse 16. The angel. The messenger which redeemed me from all evil blessed the lads. Now who's the angel that redeemed us from all evil? That's Christ. He's not talking about an angelic being. There's no angelic, none of the angelic beings redeemed us. And it's been well established in the very beginning that the redemption price is what? Blood. Blood has to be shed. So he's speaking of Christ. Think about this, this is Jacob. How many years before Christ come that he's talking about, in the past tense, the angel which redeemed me from all evil. You say, how can he speak of redemption? Now redemption takes place in time at the cross. That's when Christ redeemed his people. So how could Jacob or any other saint of God speak of that redemption, which is well into the future for him, as if it had already happened? Now you know the answer to that. Because God said it and that settled it. It's a sure thing. There's no possibility that Christ would not come in time, as we read in Galatians 4, be made of a woman, be made under the law, and redeem them that were under the law. So that which has not yet happened in God's sovereign mind and reality, it's a done deal. It's a done deal. And that's amazing. King David expressed that on his deathbed. God has made a covenant with me that is ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation and all my hope, all my desire. So Jacob says, the angel which redeemed me from all evil. He speaks of redemption. Well, I tell you, every son of Jacob, that's what we speak of in. We're gonna sing a song in our main, Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim. Jacob looked forward to the certainty of that redemption. We look backward to the certainty of that having already been accomplished. And so he says, that angel which redeemed me from all evil, all evil, think about that, Jacob, had seen a lot of evil. Let me give you a comparison here I put in your lesson. Look back at Genesis 47 and verse nine. Look at verse eight first. This is when after Joseph sent for Jacob and all the family to come down into Egypt, and Joseph introduced his father Jacob to Pharaoh. And it says in verse eight, and Pharaoh said unto Jacob, how old are you? And Jacob said, look at verse nine, Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Now we know that Jacob is about 147 when he's dying, so he spent 17 years there in Egypt. He said, the days of my pilgrimage are 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." Few and evil. But now over here in Genesis 48 and verse 16, what's he talking about? The angel, which redeemed me from all evil. What's the difference? Over in Genesis 47, where he's talking to Pharaoh, he's talking about himself. It's about him. Here in Genesis 48, verse 16, he's talking about Christ. It's all about him. So when I get to talking about myself, what am I gonna say? I'm just a sinner. Had a lot of trouble, I've had some good times in my, I had a lot of trouble. I'm like, what was it that Job stated? In Job 14 one, man that is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. You see, viewing life from the human point of view, that's all it is, days of evil and days of trouble, peppered maybe with a few times of laughter and joy. But on the whole, you know the book of Ecclesiastes talks about that a lot. The vanity of vanities. You know what that's talking about, it's talking about life lived to its fullest without God. It's still vanity of vanities. But viewing our lives from God's point of view, according to the word of God, it's all about Christ. He's our hope. He's our assurance. Joy and peace in believing, in looking to Christ and resting in him, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So that our assurance, our comfort, our peace does not come from looking within ourselves. It comes from looking out of ourselves to Christ. Keep your eyes focused on him. I'm gonna talk about that a little bit in the message. Look at verse 17 now. This is Genesis 48. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. And what he's saying, Joseph, in his mind, he said, well, this is not the right thing to do. And he held up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his father, not so, my father, for this is the firstborn, put thy right hand upon his head, Manasseh's. And his father refused and said, I know it, my son, I know it. I know that Manasseh's the firstborn and I know it. He also shall become a people and he also shall be great. He's gonna receive a blessing. But truly, his younger brother shall be greater than he. and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And verse 20 says, he blessed them in that day, saying, in thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he said, Ephraim before Manasseh. So Jacob knowingly blessed the younger with the firstborn. And as I said, what does Ephraim mean? It means caused to be fruitful. The fruitful picture of fruit of God's grace that comes to us through Christ. I'm the vine, you're the branches, Christ said. We don't produce fruit, did you know that? I used to hear a lot of preachers talking about we're fruit producers and fruit inspectors and all that. No, we're not. We bear fruit from the vine who produces it. Christ is the vine. Manasseh pointing to the past, which is our repentance of dead works and idolatry. God says there's sins and iniquities I will remember no more. And there's the blessing. Look at verse 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. Now, don't miss this. When he talks about the land of your fathers, what is he talking about? He's talking about the promised land. The land that was promised to Abraham. Renewed in Isaac and then in Jacob, now in Joseph. And so this connects all of this blessing with the promise that God gave to Abraham of a land of which he would gather his people and keep them there until a particular God-appointed time. And what was that time? The time of the coming of the Messiah. And you know, that's the mainstay of the promise that God gave to Abraham. And look at verse 22. He said, moreover, I've 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. Now, first of all, you say, well, now Joseph died in Egypt, but you remember what his request was? When you leave to go back, take my bones back. And then in Joshua's time, When they went over the river and into the promised land, they took Joseph's bones and they buried him there. And that's where it was set up according to the promise of God. And the birthright having been given to Ephraim, that was all according to God's sovereign plan. And we see that all through the scripture. God meant for, you know, and this birthright, let me just say a word about that before I close. The law of the firstborn birthright was more than just money and lands and all that, that included that. But all the sons got money and land, you know. Jacob and Esau, remember back then? Esau had plenty of physical money and land and all of that. So that wasn't the issue. The law of the firstborn was the spiritual head of the family. In other words, the firstborn was to be the spiritual head of the family and to be the patriarch, that's the word I'm looking for. He was to be the leader in the truth, not just in caring for his family physically, but in teaching them the truth of the promise of the gospel and showing them the reality of God's promise to send the Messiah into the world. And so like, for example, Esau despised his birthright. What that meant is that Esau had absolutely no interest in those spiritual things. All Esau cared about was the things of the world. That was the problem. And so Jacob had received that. Now Ephraim had received it. And this giving Joseph a portion above, giving it to his sons basically, that was God's token of his faithfulness to his promise. This is going to take place. And I'll tell you why. It's all conditioned on God's faithfulness and promise to do what he promised to accomplish and to do.