Genesis 48:1 - Meaning and Application

When Joseph heard that his father was sick, he went to visit him, even though he was a man of rank and busy with public duties (Genesis 48:1). Respect for an aging father was a duty he would not neglect. Visiting the sick is a Christian duty, especially when we can do them good in body or soul. The sickbed is often a fitting place both to comfort others and to learn for ourselves.

Joseph also brought his two sons with him, so they could receive their grandfather’s blessing and be shaped by what they saw and heard. It is a good thing to introduce young people, who are just coming into life, to aged servants of God who are nearing its end. The testimony of dying believers to God’s goodness, and to the sweetness of wisdom’s ways, can strongly encourage the next generation. Manasseh and Ephraim would surely never forget what happened that day.

Pious parents want a blessing, not only for themselves, but for their children. They long that their children may live before God. Joseph had shown special kindness to his father above all his brothers, so he had reason to hope for special favor from him.

When Jacob heard that his son had come, he gathered what strength he had to receive him well (Genesis 48:2). He stirred himself as much as he could and sat up on the bed. Sick and aged people should try to remain as cheerful and active as they can, so they do not lose heart in trouble. If they strengthen themselves as Jacob did, God will strengthen them. If they rouse themselves and make use of what little strength they have, God will help them.

In return for Joseph’s care, Jacob adopted his two sons. In this act of adoption, several things stand out. First, Jacob recalls God’s promise to him, because his action rests on that promise: “God blessed me” (Genesis 48:3), and he now wanted that blessing to continue through them. God had promised him two things, a large family and Canaan as an inheritance (Genesis 48:4). So Joseph’s sons would each become a tribe, and each would receive a separate share in Canaan, equal with Jacob’s own sons. Jacob blessed them by faith in what God had said to him (Hebrews 11:21). We should do the same in our prayers, for ourselves and for our children, keeping God’s promises clearly in view.

Jacob also openly received Joseph’s sons into his own family: “Your sons are mine” (Genesis 48:5). They were more than grandchildren to him, they were to be counted as his own children. Though they were born in Egypt, and their father had been separated from his brothers, Jacob did not treat them as cut off from the Lord’s people. He made them visible members of the covenant family. He explains this later when he says, “Let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers” (Genesis 48:16). In other words, let them not seek their future in Egypt’s power and honor, but in the promise given to Abraham. Jacob valued that inheritance far more highly, and he wanted them to do the same.

In this way, the aging patriarch taught these young men, who were then about twenty-one years old, not to look on Egypt as their home. They were not to join themselves to the Egyptians, but to choose their place with God’s people, just as Moses later did in a similar trial (Hebrews 11:24-26). Since this would mean self-denial, because they stood to gain much in Egypt, Jacob encouraged them by making each of them the head of a tribe. Those deserve double honor who, by God’s grace, turn away from the temptations of wealth and status to embrace religion, even when it brings shame and poverty. Jacob wanted Ephraim and Manasseh to understand that it is better to be low and in the church than high and outside it, better to bear the name of poor Jacob than rich Joseph.

Jacob also added a provision about any children Joseph might have later. They would not be counted as separate tribal heads, as Ephraim and Manasseh were, but would be included with one or the other of their brothers (Genesis 48:6). It does not appear that Joseph had more children, but Jacob wisely gave this direction to prevent disputes and confusion later. When making arrangements, it is wise to think ahead and prepare for what may happen, even when we cannot know it beforehand. Our prudence should work together with God’s providence.

Finally, Jacob mentions the death and burial of Rachel, Joseph’s mother and Jacob’s dearly loved wife (Genesis 48:7), recalling the account in Genesis 35:19. When we are near death ourselves, it is good to remember the deaths of loved ones who have gone before us. That helps make death and the grave more familiar. Those who were as dear to us as our own souls are now dead and buried, and we should not think it strange to follow them by the same road. The loss of close family brings a grief that stays with us a long time, because strong love in the time of joy often leads to deep sorrow in the time of loss.