Recollection by: Gabriela Yareliz-
Based on Steve Riley’s sermon at the Florida Conference Campmeeting. Riley is the Senior Pastor of Stanmore Avenue Church in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Life throws us unexpected things. We don’t always understand what we are going through as we are walking along the journey. Only one thing is true: God guides us, and we must trust Him.
Think about the life of Joseph, registered in the book of Genesis. He went from being the favorite son with a coat of many colors, given to him by the father [Jacob] that favored him, to being in prison.
Joseph went through a lot, and God had to work with him; more importantly Joseph never doubted God.
Sometimes we wonder why God doesn’t just share with us exactly what Providence can give us. Sometimes God lets us get to a certain place in life so that we can react. Our reaction is part of the plot; it helps us get to where we are supposed to be.
What if God had told Joseph: you are going to be thrown into a pit; you are going to be sold; then you will work at Potiphar’s house and his wife will attack you and you will flee; she will lie that you slept with her; then you will be thrown in prison; then you will interpret dreams; someone will remember what you did for them and then you’ll end up being governor of Egypt. Sounds crazy. If he would’ve known all of this he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to react.
Fast-forward after Joseph has become someone great, he has two sons.
Genesis 41 and 48 tell us he (Joseph) had two sons.
Let’s look at the story:
Genesis 41
50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh:[a] “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”
So Manasseh was named basically meaning that Joseph wanted to forget his family and where he had come from. It was a name meaning the complete forgetting of your past and afflications.
52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim:[b] “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Here we see the name Ephraim recognizes God, and how he blessed Joseph even through his affliction.
Genesis 48 tells us that Israel (Jacob, Joseph’s father) was very sick and so Joseph goes to see him, and so there he is face to face with his father whom he has tried to forget after so many years in Egypt.
“Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. 3 Then 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 multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
5 And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
7 But as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there wasbut a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”
9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.”
And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”
Jacob wants to bestow a blessing on the sons. Something important to note is that the first-born has “primogeniture.” The first son was the recipient of the blessing according to custom. The first born would sit at the right hand.
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!”
12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said:
“God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for 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; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.”
In this story we see something interesting. When it comes time to bless the sons of Joseph, Jacob crossed his hands. He bestowed the blessing on Ephraim, the one who symbolized what God had done.
Sometimes in life God crosses His hands. The unexpected get the blessing in an unexpected way. God’s favor knows no color or favoritism; He favors whom he will.
Sometimes certain doors stayed closed in our lives so that we will be forced to react. So that our reactions can become part of a plot, the grand story that has us at center stage.
God sometimes blesses us in ways we do not understand, but if you receive His favor, then be joyful.
Ultimately this story represents many things, its depth I cannot go into at this point. I can say this: Jacob was the younger son who received the blessing instead of his twin brother, Esau. Isaac was the youngest son of Abraham who received the blessing instead of Ishmael. Now, note that the first born always received the blessing, but still the younger was made greater.
This makes me think of Jesus, and how Jesus took our place. We as a fallen humanity deserved the penalty for disobeying God’s law; the penatly of the transgression of the law is death, yet God crossed His hands and blessed us, and God himself took our place.
God loved us with an eternal love. Love takes risk. He took that ultimate risk, and also paid the ultimate price.
Life is messy, and confusing, but God has a plan. He uses every situation for our good even if we do not realize it.
Nothing can stop God. Nothing hinders His purpose; He’ll cross His hands if He has to.
If you are in a confusing place, know that God is in control. Remember Joseph and those who have gone before us whose lives have worked out.
Nothing can stop God’s blessing for you if you are willing to receive it. He’ll cross His hands and bless you if He has to.
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances…”-Shakespeare
GABRIELA YARELIZ 