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"Not so. my father," said Joseph, "for this is the
firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his
father refused, and said.
1
know it, my son, 1 know it: he
[Manasseh] also shall become a people, and he also shall
be great: but truly
his younger brother shall be greater
than he,
and his seed shall become a multitude [or,
COMPANY)
of nations. And he blessed them that day,
saying, ln thee shall Israel bless. saying, God make thee
as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim be–
fore Manasseh" (Gen. 48: 18-20). Here the promises are
no longer collective. possessed jointly. Jacob now was
prophesying asto the blessings of eaeh, índividually.
As we have seen from the preceding installment, the
numerous seed was to become "a natíon, and a company
of natíons." Now we see that the "natíon' ' to become
truly great ís to spring from the seed of Manasseh, the
son of Joseph. The "company of natíons" is to grow out
of Ephraim. Notice that, before divíding the promises,
this prophetic blessing indicated plainly that the descen–
dants of these Jads should remaín
together,
and together
grow into a great multitude, then become separated,
Manasseh becoming a
great nation,
and Ephraim a still
greater
company ofnptions.
Here, then, is yet another detail of the future national
characterístícs of these people. We must not look for the
fulfillment among the sons of Judah. Nor among descen–
dants of any other of the twelve tri bes.
The promise of a future great nation and a company
of nations, together great for multitude, rich in national
material prosperity, possessing the "gates" of the earth's
other nations, applies solely to these lads and the two
tribes which sprang from them.
We might add here, too, that the tribes of Ephraim
and Manasseh never became such in the times of Bible
history. Sorne might suppose the bouse of Judah was the
nation , and the ten tribes. the company of nations. But
none
of these promises went to Judah. Nor were they to
be fulfilled in any of the other tribes, save Joseph's
double portion, the two tribes of Ephraím and Manas–
seh!
It
was Ephraim who was to become the company. or
multitude, of natíons, and Manasseh who was to become
the great single natíon. And these promises never were
fulfilled
in
them,
in
times of Bible hístory.
lf these promises ever have been fulfilled, we must
look for their fulfillment between the close of Bible
hístory and the present!
ProphecyforToday
While still
in
the spi rit of prophecy, Jacob called his
twelve sons together to tell them what their posterity
should become
"in the /ast days."
Here are prophecíes which should assist us in identi–
fying the tríbes of Israel
today- for
surely these are the
last days!
We shall here take space to consider only the
destiny o f Judah and of Joseph. Joseph's descendants
14
were actually dívíded into two tribes, Ephraim and Ma–
nasseh, and usually are called by those tribal names
instead of the name " Joseph." The fact that these tribes
are here spoken of as "Joseph" plainly indicates that the
prophecy applies joíntly to Ephraim and Manasseh.
"And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gathe r
yourselves together, that 1 may tell you that which sha ll
befall you
in the /ast days. .. .
Judah, thou art he whom
thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck
o f thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down
before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my
son, thou art gone up: he stooped down. he couched as a
lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver
[margin, ruler's statf] from between his feet. until Shiloh
come; and unto him shall the gatbering of the people
be" (Gen. 49: 1, 8-10). The He brew word here translated
Shiloh
means the Messia h, the Prince of Peace. or the
one ''seed"
of Abraham. (See
Young's Analytica/ Con–
cordance to the Holy Bible.)
Promised to Joseph
Regarding Joseph, the combined Ephraim-Manasseh
tríbes, at this present day, Israel prophesíed:
"Joseph is a
fruitful bough
[here is pictured the birthright promise of
multitudes in fulfillment). even a fruitful bough by a
well ; whose branches [margin,
daughters]
run over the
wall" (verse 22).
In other words, in the las t days we are to find the
children of J oseph a numerous people, a great nation
and a company of nations, whose daughters. or chi ldren,
shall "run over the wall"- that is, run over. or past, the
nation's boundary- in other words, be a colonizing
people! Further. in the prophecy for Joseph for these
"last days": " ... the Almighty ... shall bless thee with
blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that
lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the
blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of
the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of him that was separate
from [margin: is prince among) bis brethren" (verses
25-26).
We shall see that these descendants of Joseph, possess–
ing these birthright promises-to become numerous, to
colonize, thus spreading to the "north and the south, and
east and the west ," until they enci rcled tbe globe, to
possess the "gates" of enemy nations- never returned to
Jerusalem from Assyria, where they were driven with the
ten tribes after 721 B.C., and were never again mixed
with Jews from that time! Here are promises and proph–
ecies which never have been fulfilled by the Jews, by the
Church, by the American Indian, or any other fanciful
counterparts of modern Israel. But they
are fu!filled
today
if
the Word of God is to stand!
o
(
To Be Continued)
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1978