Ephraim and Manasseh as the sons of Joseph are blessed by their grandfather, Jacob. In fact, Jacob actually adopts the two grandsons as full sons meaning that they would inherit alongside their father and their uncles.
As the twelve sons of Jacob (renamed Israel) represent the twelve tribes of Israel and their territorial holdings, we may remember that Levi becomes the priestly tribe and holds no geographical territory. Ephraim and Manasseh take the place regionally of their father Joseph and of Levi. This makes twelve tribal designations for the land. If you look upon a map of ancient Israel, you will see Ephraim and Manasseh occupying the middle of the country.
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Sometimes the younger overtakes
the elder on the road.
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Jacob's poor eyesight reminds one of his own father Isaac. In a fit of irony, we see Jacob bless his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh opposite to their birth order. Of course, this is exactly what Isaac did when Jacob tricked him and took Esau's blessing. Joseph tries to correct his father as if he is simply senile but his crafty father knows exactly what he is doing.
Once again, we see the (now) long tradition of the younger usurping the elder in prominence.
Jesus turns inheritance on its head in dealing with the religious institution of his day. It was thought that the chief priests and the Pharisees would be spiritually superior to most people of the day. They would be seen as the oldest son - the heir - the ones to inherit the kingdom of God.
Jesus then tells them this parable in Matthew 21:28-32:
“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
What is interesting is that the Bible itself prescribes how inheritance is to operate legally in their system. Then it seems as if God defies convention in order to achieve the divine plans. As Christians, we understand in our heads that grace overcomes law. Yet, we want to stick with the defined rules. After all, to ignore all rules is to invite chaos to reign. So maybe the way of the Spirit is to know when is the right time to do what needs to be done.
This is dangerous territory. To discern this kind of timing requires a lot of prayer from the people.
And then it requires courage. And lest we take the breaking of law too lightly, this was exactly what the chief priests thought they were doing in conspiring against Jesus.
Arise, O sun of righteousness, upon us,
with healing in your wings;
make us children of the light and of the day.
Show us the way in which we should walk,
for unto you, O Lord,
do we lift up our souls.
Dispel all mists of ignorance which cloud our understandings.
Let no false suggestion either withdraw our hearts
from the love of your truth,
or form the practice of it in all the actions of our lives;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer by Thomas Sherlock, Bishop, Church of England, 18th Century
Photo by born1945 via Flickr.com. Used under the Creative Commons license.
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