At last the time drew near when Jacob must die. He called his son Joseph to him and made him solemnly promise not to bury him in the land of Egypt, but to carry his body to the land of Canaan that he might lie with his fathers. Egypt was a strange land, while Canaan was the land that God had promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; and Jacob wanted his body to be carried back to this land of promise.
One day, after Joseph had made this promise, he got word that his father was sick, and he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see him.
When Jacob heard that Joseph was coming, he strengthened himself and sat up in bed to talk with him. He told Joseph that God Almighty had appeared to him in the land of Canaan, and had blessed him and told him that He would give that land to him and to his children for an everlasting possession. “And now,” he said, “thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reu ben and Simeon they shall be mine.” In this way these two sons were to come in for their share in the inheritance of the land of Canaan, while the rest of the children that Joseph would beget, should not.
Jacob then told Joseph to bring his sons near. When they came to him be kissed them and embraced them. Then he said to Joseph that he had not thought to see his face again, but God had not only granted him this, but had also allowed him to see his children. His heart was filled with gratitude when he thought of all God’s love and goodness toward him.
Then Joseph took his two sons, placing Manasseh, the older of the two, at his father’s right hand, and Ephraim, the younger, at his left hand. Israel’s eyes were dim with age, and he could not see, but he shrewdly guided his hands; reaching the right one over, he placed it on Ephraim’s head, and his left hand he placed on Manasseh’s head. With his hands in this position, he blessed Joseph and the two lads. And he said, “Let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.”
But Joseph was displeased when he saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, and he held it up to change it, saying, “Not so, my father; for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.” But his father refused to do this, and said, “I know it; my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he.” Through Jacob’s taking these two lads as his own, they and their posterity were called the children of Israel, and they were counted as Israel’s sons.
Israel then said to Joseph, “Behold I die; but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the. land of your fathers.” How comforting it must have been to Joseph’s heart to have his dear, old father tell him that God would be with him—the God who had watched over and cared for him in all his earthly path!
Israel then called his twelve sons to him and blessed them each one, telling them, as guided of God’s spirit, what would happen to them and to their posterity. When through with this, he charged them to bury him with his fathers. After getting through with what he had to say to his sons, he lay down in bed and died.
Jacob had, in many ways proved the love and goodness of God; and when the end came, trusting in God, he could call down His blessings upon his children, and his children’s children.
ML 04/27/1902