Not his wife

Here in chapter 48, Israel was 147, Joseph 56 and his sons Manasseh and Ephraim about 20 and 18.  Joseph was the prime minister of the greatest nation in the world; however, he still respected his father as the authority and his leader. When Israel being reported sick, Joseph took with him his two sons and went to Goshen to meet his father; Joseph wanted his two sons to be a part of the Israel family. It is important to note that Joseph didn’t take his wife with him, which in our society would have been a normal thing to do. In this symbolic way, he separated his two sons from Egypt and the Egyptians and incorporated them among the Israelite.

The only one

For about 70 years Israel had lived his life close to God, Israel sees himself as a sheep and describes his God as his shepherd. He accepts that without his God he would be lost. In verses 15 and 16, we notice that Israel is spiritual open and receives information from God. In verse 16 Israel says, “The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the boys.” This is the first-time redemption is mentioned in the Bible, and the Angel Israel is talking about is sent from God and He redeemed him. The only one being able to redeem people is Jesus.

Must do sin

The Angel, Jesus, bought Israel free from his sinful world around him, the world presented him on the open “sin slave” market and the slave trader is the devil, Israel was as we are lost in the “must do sin” prison, further back in a dirty, wet and ugly corner in darkness and humidity.  Then Jesus came down from heaven in the form of an angel and bought him free into the open, clean and bright.  

Just pretenders

Israel repented and promised God to pay Him tenth of all he received if He saved him where he was heading. What happens on the slave market is only the beginning; Jesus bought you free, free to do what? The world is to the left and heaven is to the right, the gate is strait, and is called “to repent” and the path is narrow, and on that road, you need to walk by the traffic rules there. Luckily, you can get them, God wrote them down for you in his book, which He sent to earth to redeem you, “The Word” who was in the beginning with God, who is God. Walk with Jesus every day, He is your only friend here, all others are pretenders.  

On a higher level

Israel blessed the two sons of Joseph and he saw in his spirit the personality of both and chose Ephraim before Manasseh, Israel was close to God and had the power to bless and also to prophesy, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given you one portion more than any of your brothers.”  Israel was spiritual awake on a higher level than we are today.

Questions

1. Do you accept that Jesus is the Bible?
2. How can you say that you know Jesus without knowing the Bible?
3. How often do you meet and talk to your best friend?
4. Are you still in the “prison”?
5. Jesus talks about two gods, Him being the one, however who is the other?