The Faith to Discern

Returning from our detour on prayer back to our study on Hebrews 11, we pick up with verse 21 concerning Jacob and his blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh at the end of his life.

By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. – Hebrews 11:21

At first glance, one might ask, “Where’s the faith in that?”  “What am I supposed to learn from Jacob giving a blessing to his two grandchildren?”  To fully understand, one must understand the life of Jacob and read the full context of this blessing (Genesis 48).

Jacob was the younger of twin brothers.  God had stated before the boys were born,”the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).  Jacob was to be the recipient of the blessing and the birthright, not the older brother as dictated by tradition. Yet, Jacob was a deceiver, a supplanter (this is the literal meaning of his name).  He took advantage of his brothers hunger and his lack of spiritual concern to obtain the family birthright for a bowl of stew. As his father Isaac lay dying desiring as his last wish to bless his oldest boy, Jacob unwilling to wait and allow God to work deceived his blind father into believing his was the elder brother and receiving the blessing.  The birthright and the blessing were to be Jacobs, this was God’s plan but this was not God’s way; it was Jacob’s way.

One might think that here at the end of his life, Jacob is once again doing “life his way” – blessing the younger son of Joseph with the greater blessing as his father Isaac should have done for him.  Maybe Jacob is trying to make his own point .  Or maybe he’s trying to get back at life – “Hey, my life would not have been so hard if this would have happened in my life. Let me show you what should have been done.” But this was not the case. Jacob came to the end of his life having learned the hard way.

In the early years, Jacob believed in God, worshipped God, sacrificed to God and dedicated things to God.  But it was not until that infamous night that he wrestled with God that his life changed.  It was the night he dedicated himself to God and was no longer Jacob, the “supplanter”, but Israel, “a prince with God.”  The Jacob we know after that night is much different than the Jacob before that night.

Years have passed since that night and now when Jacob comes to bless his grandchildren, he comes with experience – good and bad.  He comes with the experience of having lived life his way and the experience having lived it God’s way.  He comes with the knowledge that living God’s way is far superior.  He knows the life of faith and experience has taught him discernment.  He recognized the presence of God in this situation and followed both the plan and the path that God had laid out. 

And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.  And his father refused, 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, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.  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 – Genesis 48:19-20

Jacob’s faith brought discernment to recognize the presence of God in this situation.  As a youth, he knew God’s plan but failed to follow God’s path.  After dedicating himself to the life of faith, he learned the discernment to not only know God’s plan but to follow His path.  As a youth, Jacob “rushed in where angels feared to tread” but in the end, his faith teaches us to learn discernment, to recognize the presence of God by following His plan and His path.

Article 1 in Series – A Prince With God

Article 1 – The Faith to Discern

Article 2 – Learning to Discern [Coming Soon]