Genesis 48: God Has A Plan

God’s plan has a way of interrupting the plan that seems most obvious. Today we’re in Genesis 48 with Pastor Brandon, watching a family blessing that goes completely against the expected order and turns into a lesson on discernment, surrender, and trust.

Jacob is old, weak, and nearly blind, but his spiritual clarity is sharp. When Joseph brings Ephraim and Manasseh to receive the traditional blessing, Joseph lines them up the “right” way so the firstborn gets the right-hand blessing. Then Jacob crosses his arms and places the stronger blessing on the younger son. Joseph protests, Jacob refuses, and we’re left with a powerful reminder: what feels natural isn’t always what God intends.

From there, we zoom out to the bigger theme running through Scripture, including God choosing David when everyone else looked kingly first. We also talk honestly about something many believers wrestle with: people who claim they have a word for your life. Yes, God can speak through others, but our first direction should come from our own relationship with God and from God’s Word, not pressure, predictions, or noise.

If you want a practical Genesis Bible study that strengthens your faith and helps you hear God’s voice with wisdom, press play. Subscribe to the podcast, share it with a friend, and leave a five-star review so more people can find the Bible Breakdown Podcast.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Welcome And Podcast Format

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

Jacob’s Final Days In Egypt

Jacob Blesses Ephraim And Manasseh

Why The Crossed Hands Matter

Let God Order Your Steps

Prayer And Closing Promise

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Genesis chapter 48, and today's title is God Has a Plan. God has a plan. One of the things that I absolutely cannot stand as a pastor is when someone comes up to me and tells me, I know what God's called for me to do, Pastor. And I say, Well, what is it? Well, so-and-so told me it was, I can't stand that. The reason why I can't stand that is because God wants to speak to you himself. God has a plan for your life. God doesn't, you know, he will sometimes ratify his plan by telling you through someone else. But if someone gives you and says, hey, I got a word for you, and that's the first time you've heard that, be careful because God wants to speak to you himself. And today's scripture very much lines up with this in talking about how they, these people thought there was one plan, but God had another. We'll get to that in just a moment. And so make sure you get your Bibles out. Genesis 48. While you're doing that, also make sure you take just a moment. Like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help. And make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion on our Facebook page. You can get information to all of that stuff at the Biblebreakdown.com. Well, if you were with us yesterday, we just had this massive moment where two days ago, Jacob and Joseph finally see each other again. And then yesterday, Jacob and all of his family moved down to Egypt to escape the famine. They meet Pharaoh, and it's just an amazing moment. And they time continues to go, time passes, and now we're getting close to the end of Jacob's life. He's like 147 years old. That is entirely too old. But he, God's blessed him. He's lived a long, long time. And now is time, and Jacob is starting to say his goodbyes. And he has this moment today when he gets to meet Joseph's sons. And we're going to watch what happens and see if the Lord will speak to us through this today. So if you're ready, Genesis 48, verse 1 says this. One day, not long after this, that would be from yesterday, he was reminding Jacob, or Jose Jacob was reminding Joseph, When I die, take me back. You want to make sure that my body is laid to rest in Canaan? He says, Not one day, not long after that conversation, word came to Joseph, your father is failing rapidly. So Joseph sent or went to visit his father, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, Your son Joseph has come to see you. So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed. Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. Then he said to me, I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations, and I will give you this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession. Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived, and they will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are. But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers, Ephraim and Manasseh. Long ago, as I was returning from Padan Aram, Rachel died in the land of Canaan. We were still on the way some distance from Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem. So with great sorrow I buried her there beside the road of Ephrath. Then Jacob looked over at the two boys. Are these your sons? he asked. Yes, Joseph told him. These are the sons God has given me here in Egypt. And Jacob said, Bring them closer to me so I can bless them. Jacob was half blind because of his age and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Jacob kissed and embraced them. And Jacob said to Joseph, I never thought that I would see your face again, but now God let me see your children too. Joseph moved the boys, and who were the grandfather who were at their grandfather's knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and then he positioned the boys in front of Jacob. With his right hand he directed Ephraim toward Jacob's left hand, and with the left hand he put Manasseh at Jacob's right hand. But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to lay his hands on the boys' heads. He put his right hand on the hand of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, even though he was the firstborn. And then he then he blessed Joseph and said, May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all of my life to this very day, and the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, may he bless these boys. May he preserve my name in the names of Abraham and Isaac, and may their descendants multiply greatly throughout the land. But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim's head. So Joseph lifted it and moved it to Ephraim's head, from from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. No, my father, he said, This one is my firstborn, put your right hand on his head. But the father refused. I know, my son, I know. Manasseh will become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations. So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing. These people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, May God make you as prosperous, prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh. And in this way Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. Then Jacob said to Joseph, Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and he will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors. And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow. Now the reason why that would be such a big deal, and especially to the original hearers of this, is because during the time whenever an elderly person before they would die, they would speak blessings over their children and their grandchildren. And it was thought at the time that the right hand was considered to be the hand of blessing. And to be honest with you, the left hand was considered to be the lesser. And then I hate that because I'm left-handed. And so that's where if you see where it constantly will say the son of my right hand and that kind of stuff, it is that was considered your right hand, was considered the hand of your strength, the hand of just your uh security. It was the hand of blessing. And so that's why when Ephraim and Manasseh were being blessed, you were supposed to put the right hand, the the stronger blessing on the older. And remember, that was because the older son was going to be the one that was going to be in charge of the family. They were going to be the one that was going to have to take care of everybody else. So one of the things that people don't always remember is it wasn't because the oldest was better than. It was because the oldest one had a higher responsibility on them. And so that's why you wanted the older one to get the blessing because he needed it for all of us, right? But that's what he was saying is he was saying, actually, I'm going to give the greater blessing to the younger. And so the way that whole thing worked, Joseph was like, no, no, no, no, no. The older one needs the blessing because he's the one supposed to be in charge. And Jacob was like, I know, but this is what God's leading me to do. And he put the blessing, the stronger blessing, on the younger and said, the younger is the one who is going to become the greater. And it was this wonderful moment that is a wonderful reminder to us that we may have our plan, but God orders our steps. And I love that idea because the Bible also says that it was time for a king in Israel. That the Bible says that God sent a prophet named Samuel to go look for the next king. And he went to a guy named Jesse's house. And as he was looking around, he saw that Jesse had several sons, and all of them were, you know, tall, dark, and handsome, everything was looking all right. But every single one of them, God told Samuel, God sees the heart. Don't always be fooled by the outward appearance. And it wasn't until he got all the way down to the youngest that he said, That's the one. And now we know that guy as King David. God often does what we don't expect for his own glory. And so here's the thing. As I was telling you at the very beginning of our episode, I want to make sure and provide clarity because I don't want that to get confusing. Here's the thing: can God speak through other people? Absolutely, he can. I can't tell you how many times I've had somebody say, Hey, Pastor, I was praying for you and I really felt like God put XYZ on my heart. But what I mean though is, is you can't live according to the prayers of others. Our relationship with God is a relationship with God. And so the first time we hear direction from the Lord should come from our relationship with God. Many times when people have said, hey, I felt like that God told me XYZ, it was ratifying, it was confirming what God had already spoken to my life. And so therefore, we have to be careful that we allow God to order our steps, not someone else. And this chapter is the reason why. Because it doesn't say in any anywhere in here that Joseph cared for Manasseh over Ephraim. It's just the way it was supposed to be. He was just going according to what was natural. But God had a different plan. And so it's always important that we don't go with just what we think, but we go with what God's word says. And so make sure that you always give room for God to do something different. But make sure it comes from God's Word, not from somebody else. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that you lead us and that you guide us. And the many times there will be times when people will try to push us to the left or to the right or say this or go there. I pray you'll help us to resist all that and to trust you in all things. We celebrate you today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And then what God's Word says, Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. If God can do that, anything's possible. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Genesis chapter 49.