Ephraim And The House Of Judah: Part 1 of 9

Genesis 48:1-7

“Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.”         

“Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’ 

And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 

But as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

 

(Jacob blessing Ephraim and Manasseh.)

Here in Genesis 48 we find a most prophetic chapter. Through our study of this portion and other accompanying scriptures we’re going to look at what it says about Jesus, what it reveals to us about the Church in general and what is happening in these end times around the world.

Aren’t you glad that nothing takes God by surprise?  He doesn’t fall off His throne every time you and I do something stupid or when some major event happens in the world.  He demonstrates that He’s in charge time and again through prophetic scriptures like this one.

Sometimes He’ll actually allow evil to prevail for a while that He might show forth His glory which also results in greater victory for us.  Though it can get very frightening, He is ALWAYS FAITHFUL!  Like the children of Israel standing in front of the Red Sea, sometimes He’ll wait until the armies of “Egyptians” come running up to us.  He doesn’t open the sea until it almost seems like it’s too late.  

But when we call upon Him, our God Is always right on time.  You see, it’s easy to take Him for granted if we only know protection all the time.  We’ll never know what deliverance is.  He wants to show forth His utter faithfulness when we are both preserved from or delivered out of situations.  In either case, we need not ever be afraid.

So, let’s begin this study of Ephraim and the House of Judah.

(Jesus is hidden in every line of the whole Bible)

Ephraim And The House of Judah:  Part 1 of 9.

Part 1:  Parallels Between Joseph and Jesus.

Bible prophecies, first and foremost, tell us wonderful things about Jesus, particularly from the life story of Joseph.  His is the clearest of all typologies and really showcases what a wonderful God we serve.  He isn’t content simply to answer our prayers; He OVERanswers them!

For example, as you know Jacob had been told by Joseph’s brothers that his son was dead, killed by a wild animal. He could hardly believe his ears when these same sons returned from Egypt years later and told Jacob that his son was alive!

Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he’d see Joseph again, let alone his sons.  Yet, here they were:  Ephraim and Manasseh.  Blessing upon blessing!

(Joseph is rejected and sold into slavery to Ishmaelite merchants)

Joseph was rejected by his brothers, thrown into a pit and sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver to some Ishmaelite traders. He lived in Egypt for a number of years during which time he married a Gentile girl named “Asenath.”  Her name means ” belonging to wisdom.”  Apt description!  During His exile in Egypt, she gave him comfort, made him forget the rejection of his family and his father’s house and bore him two sons:  Manasseh and Ephraim.

(Asenath bore Joseph two sons.)

Manasseh means “forgetfulness.”  His Egyptian family made him “forget” his rejection and his father’s house.  Ephraim is the plural of the feminine Hebrew word, “Ephratha,” which means “fruitful;” therefore Ephraim means “double fruitfulness.”  Joseph said that God had made him “doubly fruitful in this foreign land.”

Well, He sure did!  Joseph ended up second only to pharaoh himself!

God also gave great wisdom to Joseph, something he lacked as the young boy who told his dreams to his brothers, making them very jealous and spiteful.  Under his rule, both he and the Egyptians enjoyed great blessings.  So great was his wisdom, in fact, that during a time of deep famine, the whole world came to their land for food, including his brothers.  Even though Egyptians are non-Jews, they had no lack of provision.  The whole earth was blessed because of him.

 Like Joseph, Jesus was rejected by His brothers, natural Israel.  He was crucified (thrown into the “pit”), sold off to the Gentiles (non-Jewish nations) and has been the Savior for 2,000 years primarily to the world which, like Egypt, is predominantly comprised of Gentiles/non-Jews.  He married a Gentile bride: You and I, Church!

We have been blessed because of His wisdom.  Through us, Jesus has been doubly fruitful in “Egypt,” although He, unlike Joseph, has not forgotten His Father’s house.  During this 2,000+ years of rejection and exile, so to speak, we have given Him comfort and helped Him forget His rejection.  Like Joseph, one day soon our Jesus, the greater Joseph, will be restored to His natural family, Israel, and He will reveal Himself to them!

(Joseph interprets the dreams of the butler and the baker.)

Joseph, as you know, was in prison for three years. This is another depiction of Jesus’ death on the cross.

During his imprisonment, there were two men with him.  Both these men had troubling dreams to which God gave Joseph the interpretation.  One lived, one died.
One dreamed he was pressing grapes into Pharoah’s cup, the other dreamed of leavened white bread on his head being picked apart by ravens.
Wine in Biblical typology is a picture of life and celebration.  The idiom there to the Hebrew mind is “blood of grapes,” depicting our Lord Jesus and His sacrifice.  This man was restored to Pharoah’s house.

Leaven, however, depicts sin while ravens typify evil spirits.  Leavened bread, therefore, is not good bread.  That’s why this man received the sentence of death.  These two are a typology of the two thieves who were crucified alongside Jesus:  One lived, one died.

(Every knee bowed to Joseph.)

After he became Viceroy of all Egypt, every Egyptian had to bow their knee to Joseph wherever he went.  He was the most powerful man in the whole land, second only to Pharoah.  The name they gave him, “Zaphnath-Paaneah,”means “savior of the world” in Greek, but in Hebrew it means “revealer of secrets.”  Joseph did that for his generation while Jesus does that for the whole world!  Both meanings perfectly describe Jesus, don’t they?   Because the Jewish people rejected their Messiah, Jesus has become the Bread of Life primarily to the Gentile world for the last 2,000 years.  Like for Joseph, At the Name of Jesus, EVERY KNEE MUST BOW.

Please proceed to part 2 where we’ll discuss who these boys are, what they represent and what they tell us about the church today:  http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2016/04/ephraim-and-house-of-judah-part-2-of-9.html