In doing this series, I have really come to respect the preachers who do verse by verse sermons as opposed to topical. Both are difficult, I'm sure...but this verse by verse stuff is murder. I always want to skip a verse! I'm always thinking: I don't get it.
So here I am in the Hall of Faith with vs. 21:
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. - Hebrews 11:21
This seems very similar to the last verse about Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau. Except it's not. Up to this point, there has been a pattern of God giving what, by law, belonged to the elder son to the younger. In every case though, the reason is different:
- Ishmael's inheritance went to Isaac. Why? Because Isaac was the son of promise; the result of faith in God. Ishmael was the son of self-reliance, born out of distrust of God (see Galatians 4:22-23)
- Esau's inheritance went to Jacob. Why? Because of God's sovereign will. The younger will serve the elder.
- Manasseh's inheritance went to Ephraim...stop! That's not actually how it goes down.
“Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine..." Genesis 48:5
The blessings they receive are both great. Not like what happened with Ishmael and Esau. Both of these children have been adopted into the family of God, and the future of both is great. Jacob extended his inheritance to them by faith, knowing the will of God for the two of them corporately and individually. He was blind, and Joseph was guiding his hands over their heads, but by faith he crossed his hands over their heads giving the blessing out according to the will of God.
So what? Who cares?
I'll agree this is a tough one, but I was moved by the thought "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first" (Matthew 20:1-16). Both with these children and the workers in the Matthew 20 parable, people receive a part of the inheritance from the Father, but not in the order and not in the amount expected. The work of Christ was so radical. The things he said about salvation and it's application to those who were not Jewish was unheard of.
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:28
All one, all the same, all children of promise with an inheritance from God.
At the end of Jacob's blessing he says:
By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!
This blessing is still pronounced on sons in Jewish families, and there are a lot of differing opinions about what it means. Some think it's about brothers who don't fight, because they never fought over this blessing like their predecessors. Some think it's about being godly in an ungodly surrounding (Israelites living in Egypt). But I think they were blessed in their adoption. Blessed in being grafted in and raised to the position of son...because that's what we all want. To be heirs together with Jesus Christ. To be claimed by God.
So...may God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
Shalom.
By topical sermon I think you mean a sermon where the preacher has a theme, or a general point, and then chooses scripture from various different places in the bible, often without context, in order to support the point.
ReplyDeleteLike, in the church I went to as a kid, we constantly had to flip back and forth between various chapters of the Bible in order to keep up with the preacher. . .
I found that quite annoying as a kid. Now, my concern with it, is that I think that it gives the preacher too much leeway to say whatever he or she wants to say, whether or not it is ultimately biblical. I mean, even Satan can quote scripture for his purpose, right?
The one church I really liked, had a preacher who just chose a book in the Bible, and then just went through it verse by verse. I felt like, by doing that I really got a better feel for what the book was about, rather than just hearing the preacher's personal opinion on a topic . . .
Anyway, kind of a random thought, but that is what I thought when I read your post.
I kind of have a little bit of trouble understanding your posts, because you kind of jump around a little bit, so can be hard for me to follow where it is you are going, or the point that you are trying to make...(this is not meant as a criticism, but just to let you know one of your reader's perspective).