I think our readers have gotten the idea by now that Joseph's life was a type of the events that happened to Israel and ultimately the lost tribes. I think the characteristics, to put it frankly, smack one in the face. But does Genesis specifically say this about the tribe of Joseph? Of course it does. And to the old-time reader of this site, this is nothing new, but just in case you stumbled across this series by (seeming) chance, I will reiterate those promises.
Turn with me to your bibles Genesis 48. Let's read that chapter.
1 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. [Remember, Joseph had the sons Ephraim and Manasseh in Egypt] 2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. 3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
Let's stop for a minute here. Jacob is reiterating his promises made by God. What did they include? They included a vast number of people. That's real live flesh and blood folks. How do we know this? Because he mentions the promise of land for an everlasting possession.
5 And now 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 Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Here Jacob adopts Joseph's two sons in his other two sons stead. Remember that Reuben defiled his father's bed. Besides, from the human standpoint, we know that Rachael was Jacob's favorite wife, and Joseph was the firstborn of her children, so he is going to give the birthright to them. This blows to h#%% the theory that critics have that Christ does not have legal ties to the throne of David if he was only Joseph's legal son. Joseph adopted Jesus, and hey! Here's another coincidence! The tribe of Joseph (modern day USA and Britain and the commonwealth nations) also "adopted" Christ when the Jews rejected him. But these fundamentalists would rather you log off this site and discard anything you learned here. They want you to go from spiritual calculus back to first-grade spiritual arithmetic and wallow in only the basic elements of the faith. And then they wonder why the church is dwindling these days? And one other thing--- "birthright" is what one has by right of birth. It is not by "new birth" or whatever else these spiritualizers claim. The reasoning is simple--- Jacob's descendents were promised land which shows they were at the very least going to become one nation (we shall see soon, many!). Birthrights imply physical people as well as shown by the bible's excessive genealogies which ultimately lead us to One Man, Jesus.
6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. 7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem. 8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? 9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. 11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed. 12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Jacob NEVER thought he'd see Joseph again, let alone his sons! The evangelists would have long ago "mentored" Jacob into accepting his loss and pressing forward in the name of God. But Jacob did one thing---- he never gave up! Even if he thought Joseph's demise was for real, he never really accepted it as far as I am concerned. Yes, I do like to pick on some of Christianity, especially the showmanship type, but am I not bringing up a valid point? I really believe if they were around in those days, ol' Jacob would have been suggested counseling for not accepting the loss of his son Joseph and maybe even have been deemed lacking faith! Never mind the promises to Jacob! After all, they just lead to a generation of people like Liaf here that talks about nations coming from Jacob! Seriously folks, I have YET to hear ONE plausible explanation besides what we offer for the verses coming up, except for two half-hearted attempts: spiritualize them OR just say they did not happen yet. Let's continue.
13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, 16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.I like Joseph's trick here. He knew his father could not see well at all so he positions his firstborn Manasseh on Jacob's right side so that Jacob would not miss him! But Jacob's bad eyesight mattered not. For the Holy Spirit guided Jacob's hands wittingly the bible tells us. I find it funny the way Joseph gets all bent out of shape! Not so, my father! We don't want a mix-up like you had with uncle Esau! (I'm surmising, but I think this is to the effect what Joseph was worried about). So, may I ask the reader if we read this passage carefully WHO HAS ISRAEL'S NAME? Is it the Jew (from the tribe of Judah)? OR is it Joseph, i.e. his two sons? Today, that name would be in Christ. And who carries the name of Christ today? Are they mostly people from the NW European nations, the British Commonwealth and the USA that are primarily Christian? And where would the population grow? IN THE MIDST OF THE EARTH! As Genesis 28:14 stated his seed would "spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south" and for what reason? "and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." This agrees perfectly with the earlier promises Jacob received.
19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he [i.e. Manasseh] also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. 20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
There you have it. Jacob assured Joseph he knew what he was doing, for the Spirit of Prophecy foretold that Manasseh was to become "a people", i.e. a great nation. But Ephraim was to become a "multitude of nations". And Jacob crossed his arms in the likeness of A UNION JACK. (Another "coincidence" according to our skeptics, I'm sure!). Therefore he set Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. A critic may point out that "a people" does not necessarily mean that this will be a nation. That in itself does nothing harmful to what we are saying, although I think they are wrong because Genesis 35:11 alludes to these same two people (or, a nation and company of nations). But even if this were the case, I would think the implication is that Manasseh would become a people separate from Ephraim's multitude of nations and the King over them would not be that of Manasseh. The Commonwealth nations at least in word acknowledged the British Throne. However, the United States was the only one from them (Joseph) that politically renounced the crown. This nation would be formed by a people. But as we historically see, I believe that people from ALL TRIBES moved here so that even a substantial portion of Ephraim lives here. This is how Ephraim can still be greater while the balance of power in this age moved to the United States. However, we must consider power relatively speaking as well. In her heyday, Great Britain colonized and controlled a quarter of the world's population with the crown over them. (Numbers 23:10). That feat even today is a feat unheard of with the United States. Indeed, the bible predicted that Ephraim would fade and we are seeing this happening (and only goes to show we are approaching the end of days). (Isaiah 28:1) I think the time to have lived to see this truth in the United States and Great Britain reach its climax was in the late nineteenth century when Britain still controlled the waves and the United States was flowering and were a great "people". Beforehand one only saw Britain and today one only sees a faded out Empire in the shadow of the United States. So depending where one lived in history, the balance would not have looked right until the late nineteenth century. But that does not mean this all did not happen. It did, and history cannot be changed. However, we are now in times when Christianity is being challenged, and other philosophical ways are taking over the minds of the people, and even creeping into the church. Soon it will be "the time of Jacob's trouble" and persecution to the church everywhere as the nations supporting Christianity go apostate as the bible predicted. But let that not worry you! Although that time will be terrible, only one thing will come thereafter: the Kingdom of God on this Earth!