Genesis 47:27-48::22 - Trusting in the Promises of God
Amen. Well, as Chris mentioned, my name is Mike. I am one of the campus pastors here, and it is so good to get the privilege to open up God’s Word with you guys tonight. We are going to be in Genesis chapter 47. So if you have your Bibles—and I hope that you do—go ahead and pop them open to Genesis 47.
As we head into this week’s text, we’re reminded of last week as Joseph brings his family into Egypt to settle there. They settle in this place called Goshen, outside the city but still in Egypt. They were able to live out their faith, to bloom where they were planted. As Brad reminded us, there is this double calling—this place where the secular meets the religious. They are just blooming where they’re planted, serving the Lord faithfully there in Goshen.
This week, we are going to deal with this idea of a double blessing. We’re going to see as we walk through the text that this idea of a double blessing comes into view. We are also going to be reminded that we don’t live out our stories in isolation. As we have followed Joseph’s story over the last several weeks, this week his story really collides with his father, Jacob. We’re going to see that come to fruition as Joseph’s dad finds himself at the end of his life, looking back.
Most people who get to the end of their life spend a lot of time looking back, and Jacob is no different. He looks back on the 147 years that the Lord has blessed him with, and he sees the faithfulness of God over that time. He starts thinking about the promises of God—the promises God made him over those 147 years.
The Character Behind the Promise
Promises are only as good as the character of the person who makes them. I want you to think of two different types of people before we get into the text.
First, think of that person in your life who is completely trustworthy. That person you would trust with anything—your kids, your money, whatever is most valuable to you. You trust what they say, you trust their feedback, you trust them with everything that you are. Maybe look around the room; perhaps there is somebody in here you are thinking of right now. Why is that person trustworthy? What makes them reliable? Maybe they do what they say they’re going to do. Maybe they live out their faith. Maybe you know they have your best interests at heart. When you think of that person, it becomes easy to trust them because their character is trustworthy.
Now, I want you to think of the other person—the person you wouldn’t trust with anything. You wouldn’t trust them with the penny on the floor of your car. You don’t trust them with anything because they’ve never shown you any part of their character that is worth trusting, or maybe they’ve actively shown you parts of their character that make them unreliable. Maybe don’t look around the room for this person! But what makes them unreliable? They’re never who they say they are. They never show up when you need them. They don’t communicate well. They lie. Their character is not in line with someone you would trust.
As we contemplate the character of God, the One who makes the promise, what we are going to find is Jacob. Remember, the name Jacob means “trickster.” We are going to see that Jacob the trickster has grown in his old age, and he is going to put his faith on display—faith in the promises of God, because God has shown that He is always faithful.
Let’s jump into Genesis 47, starting in verse 27:
Genesis 47:27-28 (NASB)
Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous. Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
Seventeen years have passed since Joseph brought his family into Egypt to escape the famine. They settled in Goshen, bought property there, and began to multiply. All of a sudden, babies are popping up everywhere, everyone is having kids, and the family is growing. We start to hear whispers of God’s promises.
God’s promise to Jacob was given back in Genesis 35:
Genesis 35:11 (NASB)
God also said to him, ’I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.
In this multiplying family, we start to see that promise come to fruition. We hear whispers of what God spoke to Jacob, and they are going to continue to grow. By the time the book of Exodus opens up, they are innumerous:
Exodus 1:7 (NASB)
But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
The promise God made to Jacob in Genesis 35 continues to come true. But it’s not all rainbows and butterflies, because even though he is starting to see some of the promises fulfilled, not all of God’s promises seem to be working out—at least not yet. Look at how Genesis 35:11-12 concludes:
Genesis 35:11-12 (NASB)
God also said to him, ’I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. ‘The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you.’
Jacob sees they are multiplying and growing, but as he considers his immediate circumstances, he finds himself with no nation, no kings, and still living in Egypt. He was promised that he would return to the Promised Land, that a nation and rulers would come from him. But the promises were the long game of the upper story. The promises were never meant to be confined to the lower story alone. It is the long game that God is playing. God will bring a nation out of him; He will bring kings out of him; He will bring them out of Egypt when He is ready, because God’s timing is perfect. Still, Jacob clings to the whispers of God’s promises.
Clinging to the Promised Land
After 147 years, the time for Israel to die draws near. He calls his favorite son into the room and asks him to make a crucial promise:
Genesis 47:29-31 (NASB)
When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, ‘Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but when I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.’ And he said, ‘I will do as you have said.’ He said, ‘Swear to me.’ So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed [in worship] at the head of the bed.
To Jacob, this is a massive deal. He doesn’t just ask for a casual promise; he makes Joseph swear an oath. Placing a hand under the thigh was an ancient way of raising the importance level—this was of the utmost importance to Jacob. He says, “I know I’m not going to make it out of Egypt alive, but when I lie down, when you leave, carry me out and bury me with my relatives. Don’t bury me in Egypt. Bury me in the cave of Machpelah in Hebron.”
It was normal practice back then, just as it is now, for loved ones to be buried with their family. If you walk through a cemetery today, you see gravestones with husbands and wives next to each other, grandparents, children. Jacob wanted to be buried where his ancestors were. That was their land. Egypt did not belong to them; Egypt was not their promised land. Machpelah was where he wanted to be.
Remember who Joseph is—he is number two in all of Egypt. As Joseph’s father, Jacob could have had one incredible Egyptian burial. We are talking about a state funeral to end all funerals, celebrating him until the cows come home with endless food and wine, celebrated by the entire nation. Yet the trickster has grown into a man who realizes that worldly acclaim is not what it’s cracked up to be. Fame and fortune are not what he cares about. He cares about God. He cares about being buried in the land God promised.
We see his faith in the promises of God as he clings to the assurance that one day, his people will be brought out of Egypt and back into the Promised Land at the appointed time in God’s sovereign plan.
The Adoption and the Double Blessing
A short time later, Jacob becomes ill, and Joseph brings his sons for a visit:
Genesis 48:1-4 (NASB)
Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, ‘Behold, your father is sick.’ So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. When it was told to Jacob, ‘Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,’ Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed. Then Jacob said to Joseph, ’God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’
Ephraim and Manasseh were introduced back in Genesis 41 along with Joseph’s wife, Asenath, who was Egyptian. When Joseph brings them in, Israel collects his strength and sits up in bed. He recounts how God Almighty appeared to him at Luz (which Jacob renamed Bethel in Genesis 28) and blessed him with the promise of fruitfulness and an everlasting possession. Egypt was only a temporary home. Jacob knew God would be faithful to His word.
Jacob continues speaking to Joseph:
Genesis 48:5-6 (NASB)
’Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. ’But your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.
Standing before his son and two grandsons, Jacob officially adopts Ephraim and Manasseh into sonship. He elevates his grandsons to the legal position of sons, giving them equal status with his eldest sons, Reuben and Simeon.
If you have a map section in the back of your Bible, turn to the map showing the twelve tribes of Israel. If you look for the specific “Tribe of Joseph,” you won’t find it. Why? Because Joseph’s tribal allotment was split in two. It was divided between his two sons, so on that map, you will see the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Through Joseph, Jacob doubles the tribal allotment. Joseph didn’t get the short end of the stick; his descendants received two allotments of land while his brothers’ families received one.
Jacob is rewriting his will, saying to Joseph, “My beloved son, whom I thought was dead and gone—you are alive. I am giving you a double portion through your sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.”
What is fascinating about Ephraim and Manasseh is their mother: she was Egyptian. As the story of Joseph points forward to Jesus, we see here the folding in of the Gentile nations into the blessing of God—a foreshadowing of what Jesus would accomplish on the cross. When God promised to bring a blessing to every nation through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that was ultimately fulfilled at the cross.
God’s promises are available to everyone, even if you are here tonight feeling like an outsider. Maybe this is your first time in church, you didn’t grow up in faith, and you never imagined stepping foot in a building like this. In the kingdom of God, there is no such thing as an outsider. The gospel is for everyone. If you put your trust in Jesus, humble yourself, submit to His will, and believe that He died on the cross and rose again, He will save you. He will adopt you, make you an heir, and you will be an outsider no longer. That offer is available to you tonight.
Crossing Hands: God’s Sovereign Choice
As Jacob blesses Joseph, memories of his life flood back:
Genesis 48:7-11 (NASB)
‘Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).’ When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, ‘Who are these?’ Joseph said to his father, ‘They are my sons, whom God has given me here.’ So he said, ‘Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.’ Now the eyes of Israel were [so] dim from age [that] he could not see. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, ‘I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.’
Jacob recalls the painful death of his beloved Rachel on the way to Ephrath (Bethlehem) when Benjamin was born. Then, looking at the boys, he asks who they are because his eyesight has failed. Joseph explains they are the sons God gave him, and brings them close.
To understand this moment, we have to remember Jacob’s own youth. Remember when his father Isaac was old and blind? Jacob put goat hair on his arms to deceive his father and steal the blessing meant for Esau. Here, there is a parallel: Jacob is blind and near death. But there is a massive contrast in character. Jacob isn’t being tricked. Instead, he is overwhelmed with gratitude. At 147 years old, he realizes: “I never expected to see your face again, Joseph, and now God has let me see your children too.” He doesn’t take credit; he simply recognizes the sheer kindness of God.
Then Joseph positions the boys for the blessing:
Genesis 48:12-14 (NASB)
Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the ground. Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.
Joseph places Manasseh (the firstborn) at Jacob’s right hand and Ephraim (the younger) at Jacob’s left hand. The right hand represented the primary blessing and prestige—which is why scripture says Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. Joseph expects the traditional birthright blessing to go to the oldest. But Jacob intentionally crosses his hands, placing his right hand on Ephraim and his left on Manasseh.
Genesis 48:15-16 (NASB)
He blessed Joseph, and said, ‘The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.’
Jacob praises God for three specific things here:
- The covenant God of his forefathers — a celebration of generational faith passed down from Abraham and Isaac.
- The Shepherd of his life — recognizing that while his fathers walked with God, God was the One who actively shepherded and led Jacob through all his wandering.
- The Redeemer who delivered him from harm — reflecting on Laban, Esau, and all his trials, recognizing God’s undeserved grace.
Joseph, however, is troubled by the crossed hands:
Genesis 48:17-20 (NASB)
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, ‘Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.’ But his father refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.’ He blessed them that day, saying, ’By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’’ Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Joseph tries to physically move his father’s hands, thinking his dad is making an elderly mistake. But Jacob refuses, saying, “I know, my son, I know.” He explains that while Manasseh will be great, the younger brother will be greater.
Joseph likely remembered his father’s history with Isaac and wanted to prevent a mistake. But Jacob reassures him that this is God’s design. God’s ways are higher than our ways. In a culture where the firstborn was exalted, God repeatedly chose the younger: He chose Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over his older brothers, David the youngest boy in the field, and fishermen to build the global church.
When you feel inadequate, like you are the least qualified or the wrong choice, remember that God loves to work through the unexpected so that He receives the glory. He chooses the least likely people, and He can surely use you.
Trusting the Promise Maker
Jacob finishes his blessing:
Genesis 48:21-22 (NASB)
Then Israel said to Joseph, ’Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers. ‘I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.’
Reuben lost the firstborn inheritance due to his sin, and the birthright was divided. Judah would receive the royal leadership line—which we will look at next week—but Joseph receives the double portion of the birthright.
1 Chronicles 5:1-2 (NASB)
Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him [came] the leader, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph),
Joseph, an Old Testament type of Christ, is exalted to receive the double portion. Colossians points us to the ultimate fulfillment:
Colossians 1:15 (NASB)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
At the end of his life, Jacob stood firm as a man of faith. He believed the promises of God because he trusted the character of God, even when his circumstances made those promises feel far off.
What do we do when our circumstances make God’s promises feel distant, causing us to wonder if He will be faithful this time? Many of our struggles stem from misunderstanding passages like Romans 8:28:
Romans 8:28 (NASB)
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.
It is hard to hold onto that truth when our immediate circumstances don’t feel good.
August 18th of this year was a deeply painful day for me. I lost my sister to COVID. She was 52 years old, leaving behind two adult daughters. I had so many questions: Why, God? This was the woman who would text me in the middle of the night to tell me she was praying for me. She had a walk with the Lord that I envied because she would perceive things about my life that I had never spoken out loud. In moments of intense grief, it is easy to say, “God, You work all things for good… I love You, so what is this? This doesn’t feel good. It feels broken, and I am hurting.”
For Jacob, the fulfillment of God’s greatest promises was still hundreds of years away. Yet he trusted the promises because he knew the One who made them.
When I look back on my life, God has proven His faithfulness time and time again. When I didn’t know how I was going to make it through, He brought me through. When I was sick, He brought healing. When relationships were fractured, He restored them. How can I look at His track record and not trust that the God who was faithful every single time before will be faithful again?
When hard times hit, we tend to forget what God has done. Think back over your own life. Where has God shown up? What storms has He carried you through? What prayers has He answered? He has been faithful.
We have to ask ourselves: Are we giving our feelings and fears more airtime than we are giving to God’s Word and His promises? When we give our anxieties more airtime, God’s promises seem to shrink in our view. But when we give God’s Word and His character the airtime, our fears begin to shrink.
Listen to how the psalmist wrestles through this tension:
Psalms 42:11 (NASB)
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
His circumstances were hard, but his God remained faithful. Your circumstances today may be heavy and confusing, but our God is always faithful.
Let’s pray.
Father, I am so grateful for Your character. I am thankful for Your promises and Your Word. Thank You for the way You guide us, shepherd us, and redeem us. Thank You for every time You have proven Your faithfulness, giving us stones of remembrance in the midst of trials. Lord, Your character is unmatched. Help us as a church to remember what You have done, to anchor our souls in who You are, and to trust You always. In Jesus’ name, Amen.