07.11. Joseph, i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh

JOSEPH; i. e. EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH.

RACHEL loved the Lord, and acknowledged Him in her domestic life. But she had something of the fretfulness of Jonah, peevishly finding "good cause to be angry," because the Lord had shut up her womb. On this very account, the Lord, chastising her as a daughter, long withheld her desire. She on her part ceased not to cry to the Lord, and perhaps was stirred to more importunate pleading by Leah having recently called her daughter "Dinah" (the judgment-one), as if in triumph over Dan. At all events, she did call on the Lord, and "God remembered Rachel" (Genesis 30:22), and opened her womb. No sooner was her son born than she gave glory to God; "God [Elohim] has taken away my re­proach; Jehovah will add to me another son," calling his name "Joseph," which has a peculiar combination of allusions in itself. It has "Jehovah" in it; it has ****, "take away," in it; and it has **** "add," in it; so that **** is really "He by whom Jehovah takes away reproach, and by whom He gives a pledge of his readiness to give more."

There is something noble in Rachel’s thoughts on this occasion; she adores God in his liberality and willingness to bless. Once let Him begin, and He will go on; for if the hindrance is removed, He de­lights to give. The floodgates once opened, the water pours along. Is it not so in salvation? Has He found his way to us, bestowing "repentance and remission of sins"? Then the way is open for more, and He will give daily mercy, increasing holi­ness, abounding peace, endless glory. In­deed, Rachel’s language, "The Lord will add." is substantially Paul’s, "Now to Him that is able [signifying heart as well as hand] to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).

It has been remarked by writers that the birth of a son by a mother who was long childless, is, in Scripture always referred to as a special boon of rare kindness; and that such a son is given to carry out some peculiar designs. At all events, God’s dealing with Rachel was rightly interpreted by her; and her acknowledgment of divine liberality met with divine approval. Her son Joseph’s tribe became a most notable illustration of the Lord’s bounteous giving "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over" (Luke 6:38).

Rachel magnified, we have said, the Lord’s liberality. "She opened her mouth wide, and the Lord filled it." Might we not get her ample measure of blessing were we, like her, putting unbounded confidence in his giving heart? The Lord did show Himself in her son’s history, far more fully than in her own, as the God who "takes away re­proach," and who goes on "adding" to former favours. Hear Jacob’s blessing (Genesis 49:22-26)- "A fruitful bough is Joseph, A fruitful bough by a well, Whose branches run over the wall."

You call to mind Joseph’s wondrous great­ness in Egypt, how his power was felt and his kindly shadow in every corner of the land, as well as in Goshen. Next, you call to mind his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, how they increased in their descendants, till they formed two great tribes; "His branches running over the wall:" for no other of Jacob’s sons multiplied in this manner. You call to mind how Manasseh’s territory was on either side Jordan, Joseph’s branches "running over the wall," here again-not to speak of his many mighty ones, and his noble bands, with such men as Joshua, ex­celling in true fruitfulness, in the forefront. But we read on- "The archers sorely grieved him, shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of Jacob’s Mighty One." His reproach was turned away, and recoiled on his foes, and all this was done by Jehovah; it came- "From thence, from the Shepherd, the stone of Israel; From the God of thy father, who shall help thee; From the Almighty who shall bless thee."

Yes, from him of whom thy mother said, "He shall add;" He shall ever be found true to his character, going on "helping," and going on "blessing." And what a flood of blessing!

"Blessings of heaven above;" the rain and dew Dropping on his territory plenteously.

"Blessings of the deep that lieth beneath;" fountains And rivers pouring out their gushing floods.

"Blessings of the breast and of the womb;" increase Of every kind in full measure. The giving, or "adding," bounty of Jehovah towards Joseph, is so full, so singu­larly full, that Jacob exclaims, with allusion to the more general and indefinite blessing, common to all the tribes, pronounced by Isaac, as well as declared to Abraham- "Thy father’s blessings rise high (like the Flood’s waters) above my progenitor’s blessings;

Up to the everlasting hills.

Let them be on JOSEPH’S head! On the crown of the head of him who is distinguished among his brethren." The surpassing richness of his territory, even to the summit of its hills (witness the hills of Samaria, Bashan, and Gilead!) with the accompanying abundance of all things, and the population revelling in this luxuri­ance; this, and much more, is included in this blessing on him who was "separated," in the sense of being above the rest in dignity and influence. But shall we be able to trace in Moses’ blessing (Deuteronomy 33:13-17) any recogni­tion of Rachel’s God, who shows in Joseph’s case that He will honour them who hesitate not to expect that He will give and give again? It is even so. Moses does discern in Joseph’s lot the same exuberant bounty of Jehovah. We need not quote the words in full; but there are a few things specified which illustrate the history of Joseph’s double tribe. He sings of the accomplishment of Jacob’s blessing in the gift of copious, overflowing, plenteous waters; and the precious productions ripened by the "sun and moon," and given to Joseph at the regular periods in succession, so that his very "hills," with their olives, vines, metals, pastures, spices, contributed to form a sample of "earth and its fulness"; and all through the "goodwill of His who dwelt in The Bush," i. e., the free sovereign favour of Jehovah who at The Bush intimated how He meant to dwell with undeserving men, blessing and not consuming them. But Moses proceeds to tell some distinctive features of Joseph’s tribe-namely, in regard to its double nature- "The first-born of his bullock, glory is to him;

Even buffalo-horns are his horns." This is Ephraim, whom Jacob raised to the position of first-born (Genesis 48:8). Ephraim was to have special honour; he was, in Joshua, to push the nations of Canaan, and in after days to seat himself on the throne of the Ten Tribes.* But at the same time, it is not only in Ephraim, "the mighty tribe," that Joseph is to be represented; in this instance one son of Jacob is to originate two tribes- "And they [these sons of Joseph whom you see] are the myriads of Ephraim! And they are the thousands of Manasseh!"

* In the symbolical sealing, Revelation 7:8. Joseph evidently stands for Ephraim, for Revelation 7:6 has Manasses separately Who does not feel that the horn of plenty has been emptied on this Tribe?

"Blest of the Lord was Joseph’s Iand With sacred treasure of the dew and deep;

Blest by the moon in Nature’ s hour of sleep, And by the sun with autumn’s golden heap, To fill the Reaper’s hand.

"His was the strength of ancient hills, The treasure of the pasture and the mine;

And, crowning all, a blessing more divine, Clear in that light that made The Bush to shine, Leapt his rejoicing rills.

"Blest was his portion when beside The well of Sychar sat the Holy One, Footsore and weary ’neath a shadeless sun, Opening to one who sin’s career had run Salvation’s healing tide.

"Bald Ebal and fair Gerizim, Ages have passed, but lightly o’er your brow; But o’er your wandering tribes hangs even now The curse that hath avenged the broken vow Of faithless Ephraim.

"Yet to his record’s promise true, The Man of Sychar cometh once again, All Gerizim’s rich blessings in his train, To pour on Joseph’s land the latter rain, And Shiloh’s life renew."-PAULIN.

It would not be possible, within our limits, to sketch with any fulness, the history of the teeming thousands and ten thousands of Joseph. We might speak of cities, Shiloh, Sychem, Tirzah, Samaria; and of Manasseh’s inheritance on the west of Jordan, stretching from Bethshan to where afterwards rose Caesarea; and then of his portion in the east, where stood the sixty cities called Havoth-Jair, where the hill of Bashan reared its head, with a plain at its foot extending in one unbroken expanse, flat as the surface of a lake, for fifty miles. Truly Joseph’s spreading branches "ran over the wall."

We may, however, glean a few less known facts about these sons of Joseph from the book of Chronicles. It is recorded that "there fell some of Manasseh to David, as he went to Ziklag, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zilthai, captains of the thousands that were of Manasseh" (1 Chronicles 12:20). These seven leaders and their men took the part of the despised and persecuted son of Jesse, casting in their lot with him in the day of his calamity; "And they helped David against the band of the rovers [the roving Amalekites and others]: for they were all mighty men of valour, and were princes in the host." In 1 Chronicles 12:31 it is said that they num­bered eighteen thousand men. This was on the west side of Jordan; but their brethren on the east side also came, "Of the half tribe of Manasseh, on the other side of Jordan," along with a company of Reuben­ites and Gadites, reminding us of the early days, when these allied tribes crossed over to the help of Joshua. They came "with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, an hundred and twenty thousand." Very deep hold had the cause of David taken on their hearts, and David’s cause was the cause of God; so that we may say there was in those days no common interest felt for the things of God in Joseph’s borders. It was most honourable to them, and is a noble example to us; for in this there is a type. As they adhered to David, the anointed, in his day of adversity, so are we to follow the true David in days of evil, such as the pre­sent times are; for "if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him." We should have noted that Ephraim also sent to the same cause his "twenty thousand eight hundred" (1 Chronicles 12:30), "mighty men of valour, famous throughout the house of their fathers." Well did it become the descendants of Him who is described as "shot at by the archers, sorely grieved, and hated" (Genesis 49:23), thus to come forward and take the part of God’s servant in days when the archers shot at him, as he sang in Psalms 64:3-4. From another part of First Chronicles we glean something more. In 1 Chronicles 7:15, we find Machir, of Manasseh, marrying Maachah, of Benjamin, thus again illustrating Joseph’s branches "running over the wall." In verse 16 it is told that this Maachah called her first-born "Peresh," as if alluding to this spreading of Joseph’s vine, for "Peresh" signifies "spreading." But we gather more regarding Ephraim. In that same chapter, 1 Chronicles 7:21-23, we find that he to whom the blessings of Jacob and of Moses held up such bright visions of pros­perity was at first the most vexed and tried of all Jacob’s sons, even like his father Joseph, and Joseph’s mother, Rachel. For after he had called one son Zabad, "dowry" ; another Shuthelah, "plantation of greenness"; ano­ther Ezer, "help"; and another Elead, "God adorns," his prospects were suddenly and sorely darkened. The men of Gath (native Hittites, it may be, before the time of the later Philistines), in some engagement, slew these promising sons of Ephraim! It is thought that these sons of Ephraim had gone out of Goshon and entered Palestine, and assailed these men of Gath, perhaps thinking that God would at that time give the people into their hands, pushing them before them, since the land was theirs by promise. But, as afterwards, in the siege of Ai, the Lord taught that it is not a good cause itself that gives victory, but the actual and present help of Him whose cause it is. Ephraim mourned bitterly and long, perhaps alarmed as well as amazed; for it seamed as if Jehovah’s words were falling to the ground. He called his infant, then born, Beriah, "one born in misfortune." But the clouds soon broke; his daughter Sherah (verse 24) is found on the high­lands of Palestine, near where her bro­thers perished, and becomes renowned, building the two towns of Beth-horon the nether and the upper-a woman, the founder of Ephraim’s greatness, as if a foreshadow­ing of the time when the Virgin should bring to earth its true ray of hope! There flowed also ere long a full stream from Beriah’s fountain, beginning in Rephah, and Reseph, "riches," and "flame of lightening," till it reached Nun and Joshua (1 Chronicles 7:25-27). It was thus that the Lord tried faith before He honoured it, appearing to extin­guish the hopes of Joseph’s first-born ere He brought them to full perfection. Such is the way of our God; the sorrow goes before the joy, even as Messiah is first the Man of Sorrows, and then crowned with glory and honour. Nor has Joseph been finally given over. His blessing is in reversion; for Jeremiah says (Jeremiah 31:5, Jeremiah 31:12, Jeremiah 31:14) of "Ephraim, the Lord’s first-born" (Jeremiah 31:9, Jeremiah 31:20).

"Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountain of Samaria; The planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things, For there shall be a day when the watchman upon Mount Ephraim shall cry, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’

* * * * * * * And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, And flow together to the goodness of the Lord, For wheat and for wine, and for oil, For the sons of the flock and of the land; And their soul shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall not sorrow any more at all.

* * * * * * And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness."

Surely this is the very God of Joseph!