My sons, May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh. Ephraim and Manasseh

accomplished something that no one else in the covenantal family had.

Jewish parents bless their children saying: “May God make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel,

and Leah” to the girls; and “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh” to the boys.

God often work unconventionally (not of this world). He does not always act the way we

thought He would. This is shown in the patterns in Genesis where the younger was blessed over

the older. This, ofcourse, is not God's standard; most definitely not today. This simply is God's

will for the 5 consecutive generations of the family God chose to be in the Bible.

"Like so many others, we expect God to work in a certain way, but find that He is often pleased

to work differently and sometimes even unconventionally. But faith recognizes that God’s ways

are not always man’s ways. It took Jacob a lifetime of discipline to learn that lesson. But learn it

he did, and then he blessed the younger over the older. For five consecutive generations this

reversal continued: Abraham over Haran, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over

Reuben, and now, Ephraim over Manasseh."

"Isaac and Ishmael were brothers, but they weren’t able to live together. Ishmael was banned

from Abraham’s home. Jacob and Esau were twins, and they, too, had their share of sibling

rivalry. At one point, Esau wanted to kill his brother. Next came the twelve sons of Jacob, and as

we know, their relationship with Joseph wasn’t perfect either. Their jealousy of Jacob’s favorite

led them to sell Joseph into slavery."

"Finally, Ephraim and Manasseh arrive on the scene. Joseph placed the older son, Manasseh,

under Jacob’s right hand. The right hand is considered the stronger of the two, both physically

and spiritually. Manasseh, the older brother, was deserving of that privilege. Ephraim, the

younger brother, was placed under Jacob’s left hand, the weaker hand. But to Joseph’s

surprise, Jacob switched his hands by crossing them over and placing his right hand on the

younger brother’s head and the left one on the older brother. Was this a mistake?"

"Jacob explained that he had seen in prophecy that great men will come from Ephraim, the

younger brother, and so he needed the greater blessing to help those descendants. Amazingly,

Manasseh doesn’t protest. He was not jealous and he was not resentful. Ephraim and

Manasseh were the first brothers who loved each other unconditionally and did not fight." It is

so critical to be able to live in harmony with our brothers and sisters. As it says in the Psalms:

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (133:1). Few things

make the Lord happier then when there is unity among His children.

Let Ephraim and Manasseh be your example in your daily life. Be happy for the successes of

your friends and support them in their times of difficulty. When we are spiteful or jealous, we

end up hurting ourselves and each other. We are all our best when living in unity together.

Blessings: Like Ephraim and ManassehMonday, October 13, 2014

2:13 PM

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