A LESSON FROM MANASSEH

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 he blessed them that day... saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. – Gen 48:19,20.

The boy Manasseh was the first son of Joseph, born to him by his Egyptian wife Asenath. His 2nd son was Ephraim. Both were adopted by the patriarch Jacob as his own sons when he was about to die.

But the strange thing about this event was that in blessing them, Jacob placed the younger Ephraim over Manasseh! This is similar to him being placed over his elder brother Esau, and of Isaac being placed over Ishmael, etc. The Bible is replete with cases like this.

However, there’s something striking about this action; it was Joseph, their father, and not Manasseh that complained about this upset of tradition. All through the episode, and for generations to come, neither Manasseh, nor his descendants ever tried to reassert their seniority over Ephraim. (Indeed, it was Ephraim who started having ego-tussles with Judah, the 4th son of Jacob, but that’s another story).

Manasseh shows a maturity and wisdom that many of his elders lacked. Take Ishmael, for example. Sure, Isaac was made the sole heir to Abraham’s covenant blessings. But he didn’t appreciate the fact that he was a son of Abraham, heir or not; that was a big deal. Even the Almighty God factored this when blessing him. In Gen 21:13, God says, “And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is your descendant. Was Ishmael content with that? No, he wanted what was rightfully Isaac’s.

This subtle truth also eluded Esau. Before he and his brother Jacob were born, the prophecy went out that “the elder shall serve the younger”. (Gen 25:23). But notice that it didn’t say that “the Elder shall be poor”, or the “Elder shall be a nobody in the land”. Indeed, the LORD said, “Two nations are in your womb...” Not two boys, or two men. Esau was declared a nation before he was even born, but he let Jacob’s blessing blind him to that fact, and struggled with the covenant heir to his own ruin.

Manasseh was not that unwise. He knew that it was better to be a lesser son of Jacob, than to be a Senior GRANDSON of Jacob! Rueben had 4 sons, Simeon had 6, in all, Jacob had 53 grandsons. Now which of these grandsons do you know by name? But every Bible reader is familiar with Manasseh.

That’s the lesson from Manasseh: be content with your blessing. That someone else’s blessing seems to be greater doesn’t mean God blessed you with less. You are blessed with your blessing.

Now, check this out: If you study the map of the 12 Tribes of Israel after they were settled in the land of Canaan, you’ll notice that about a quarter of all the land of Israel belongs to Manasseh alone!

Not bad for a so-called lesser tribe, innit?

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus Name.

GREG ELKAN