Deuteronomy 33:13-17 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew… The character of Joseph is not often correctly apprehended, although it comes out very distinctly in the picture which Scripture has given us of the boy, the youth, and the man. Its most conspicuous quality was firm resolution and indomitable strength of will. There was nothing weak or undecided in him; and from this sterling root of character, sanctified as it was by true piety, sprang the virtues which all can recognise in Joseph's behaviour throughout his chequered experiences; a master sense of duty, cheerful courage, and perseverance under misfortune, rigid justice, and indefatigable diligence in all to which he set his hand. Ephraim was evidently the true son of Joseph in all his natural force of character; and, in the history of the Hebrew nation, we find him practically absorbing the individuality of his elder brother Manasseh. But, unlike his father, Ephraim seems to have been proud and selfish and overbearing, asserting his claim to supremacy without regard to the feelings or the rights of others, and angrily resenting every sign of resistance to, or questioning of, his right to the chief place among his brethren. Such a character is sure to secure its ambitious ends, at least, for a time, if only it is backed by the ability to rule; and in this way alone we might account for the tacit submission of all Israel to Ephraimitish dictation from the days of Joshua, the greatest hero of the tribe, and a man who reproduced all the spotless virtues of Joseph himself, until the disastrous "day of battle," when "the glory departed from Israel," and when Shiloh, the former centre of Joseph's dominion and of the religious worship of all his brethren, ceased to be God's chosen dwelling place, and was turned even into "a curse to all the nations of the earth." But something more than the mere ancestral force of the Ephraimitish character explains this long-continued supremacy of the tribe in Israel. The distinction which Joseph claimed among his brethren seemed to be invested with an almost sacred authority by the traditions of his father's express appointment, which, moreover, Moses appears to acknowledge in the blessing which is now before us. His richly coloured phraseology is reproduced in part by Moses in Deuteronomy, whilst the thought which underlay the words of the older prophecy is manifestly present to the mind of the later seer. Now what that thought really was is revealed in a brief incidental passage of 1 Chronicles. We are told by the author of these annals that Jacob transferred from Reuben to Joseph the birthright of the first-born son; that birthright consisting of a double portion of the patrimonial estate, as well as of titular headship in the family, such as the father himself exercised until his death. Jacob assumed the liberty to take away this high distinction from his eldest son, who had justly forfeited it by gross misconduct, and to confer it upon the latest-born but one, whom he had already singled out for other peculiar privileges when the lads were young and living together at home. And further, as if to emphasise the liberty of preference which he thus assumed, the dying patriarch singled out the younger of Joseph's two children as the special inheritor of this transferred birthright. But some will very naturally doubt whether he did not go beyond other limits which his recognition of the Divine decrees ought most distinctly to have set before his mind. For God had assigned the headship of His chosen people to Judah, and Jacob was not ignorant of this arrangement, but had given utterance to it in his prediction concerning the royal sceptre which his fourth son was to stretch forth over his enemies and his father's sons alike. Perhaps he may have drawn some subtle distinction in his thoughts between this regal honour, which also had a certain spiritual aspect, and the temporal substance of the birthright which he desired to transmit to Joseph. And this theory was very likely present to the mind of Moses when he adopted so much of Jacob's former blessing, and seemingly confirmed it absolutely to Joseph. But this was a judgment after the flesh, and not after the spirit; and in Jacob's case the assumption of a right to judge at all in such a matter was specially unwarrantable, and is all the more surprising because he had been so often punished for former acts of similar self-willed interference with the course and directions of God's providence. Could the patriarch have foreseen all the evil consequences of what he did, he would surely never have attempted to advance the tribe of Joseph into the place of preeminence which God had reserved for Judah. It was in the death chamber of Jacob in Egypt that birth was first given to that disastrous rivalry which for more than a thousand years weakened the house of Israel, and which still points a mournful proverb for the Church of the living God. One is tempted to linger over the very serious lessons which are suggested by this striking instance of the conflict which may arise between Divine election and human self-will, and of the well-marked differences in the fortunes and character of those whose inheritance is chosen of God, and of those whose inheritance is derived from men. How often do we think to do good to our friends or to our children by setting apart for them special gifts or asking specific requests for them from God, when, in truth, we are only procuring them evil and a curse; whereas, if we had left them in faith to God, and taught them to submit cheerfully in all things to His sovereign will, they would indeed have been blest more richly than we could have desired or conceived! And how often do we congratulate ourselves upon the proud advantages which human affection or policy has conferred, forgetting that there is only one inheritance which avails eternally and truly — that which pertains to the children of Divine election, "who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). (T. G. Rooke, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, |
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