What a week this was; snow in Florida! I am grateful that I serve an amazing God who made and controls the weather.
When He uttereth His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures. Jeremiah 10:13
Below is a family tree that lays out Abraham's family that we read about in Genesis. In this post, I wanted to focus on the concept of the firstborn. This occupies an important place throughout Scripture and is foundational in Jewish culture. In the Bible, not only are male sons designated as being the first born, but Israel and Jesus are both referenced to as the firstborn. Jesus is referred to as the firstborn and "heir of all things." (Consider: Hebrews 1 & 2, Ephesians 1, Colossians 1, Psalm 2) This is a clue to us that this concept is very important for us to recognize as we read scripture.
Abraham's family was charged with passing down truth from generation to generation and his lineage would bring forth the Savior of the world. It was paramount that the son, who was chosen by God to carry on the truth, be selected by the father as the firstborn and receive the father's blessing. The firstborn took on a leadership role over his younger brothers and sisters and would one day take charge of the entire household. Additionally, in Deuteronomy we find that God gives commandments to give the firstborn a double portion of inheritance.
"Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath..." he shall acknowledge the firstborn, "by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his." Deuteronomy 21:17-18
However, a father could designate a younger son as the "firstborn" and reassign the double portion, blessing, and rights to the younger if the older son had some moral or character flaw. This exception to the rule happened repeatedly in Abraham's family. Many of the fascinating stories in the text that we read this week were recorded for us so that we would understand how and why the promise was passed down through the line that was chosen. Let's take a look at the firstborn exceptions we find in Genesis.
Abraham's firstborn son, Ishmael, was with a concubine. However, God told Abraham that the covenant was to be continued on through Isaac, the son of his wife, Sarah. (Genesis 17:18-21) Isaac had two sons: the oldest Esau and the youngest Jacob. In our reading this week, we read about Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a single meal and just like that it went from Esau being a spiritual patriarch, to Jacob taking the center stage. (Genesis 25:29-34)
Jacob had twelve sons and his eldest was Rueben. Rueben ruined his chances of serving as head of the family when he slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine. (Genesis 35:22). Number two and number three sons, Simeon and Levi, forfeited their "next in line" status when they tricked a group of Canaanites and treacherously killed all the males in the community as revenge for their sister being defiled by the Canaanite prince, which left the fourth born son, Judah, as the one who should receive the blessing and birthright according to law.
I know all of those family stories made for captivating reading, but here's where the story gets super interesting. At the end of Jacob's life, Joseph brings his two eldest sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to Jacob. Jacob claims (adopts) these two sons of Joseph as his own sons and then passes the birthright on to Ephraim, Joseph's second born. Jacob blesses Ephraim by saying that "his seed shall become and multitude of nations" (Gen 48:19) and then ensures that Joseph's family will receive a double portion of the inheritance by giving him the birthright (Gen 48:22).
"And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 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. And now thy 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." Genesis 48:3-5
But... there is part of the covenant that God made with Abraham that isn't specifically addressed with Joseph and Ephraim... God promised Abraham that through his descendants, all families of the earth would be blessed and that kings should come out of him.
In chapter 49, "Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days." Jacob goes on to bless each son and in doing so, Judah is told that his brethren shall bow down to him. He is described as a lion, whose strength should give Israel victory and dominion. It is said that the scepter (sign of authority) and a lawgiver will not depart from Judah until He whose right it is to rule should come and all people are gathered to Him.
Judah has received the authority part of the birthright and the part that blesses all the families of the earth through the covenant. He is the physical firstborn according to law. Ephraim is God's spiritual firstborn (Jer 31:9) like Isaac and Jacob were, despite not being physical firstborns according to law. Judah physically provided, or delivered, the source of blessing in Jesus and Ephraim displays God's ability to spiritually adopt and bless firstborn children from among all the families of the earth through him.
The final "firstborn" twist and turn that I will mention regarding this part of Abraham's family story is with Judah's children found in Genesis 38. Tamar became pregnant with twins by her father-in-law, Judah. During delivery, the first son, Zarah, put his outside the womb and the nurse tied a string on his arm. Then his arm was drawn back in and Pharez was fully delivered before Zarah. Technically, Zarah was the first born, but the firstborn status went to Pharez.
As you know, King David was from the Tribe of Judah and many kings came from Judah in Israel. However, when Israel split into two kingdoms, the Tribe of Ephraim became the most dominant in the Northern Kingdom and his sons reigned as kings in this kingdom. Both fulfilled the blessing of kings upon the earth, but the ultimate king, Jesus, came through Judah.
I will remain brief on this next topic, but I encourage you to look at the PDF attached below and ponder the author's thoughts. Seek the Lord to see what He would have you learn from it.
The account of Joseph is a precious, beautiful story. There are dreams of a prosperous future, heartbreak, and redemption. However, in addition to the moving account of his life, Joseph serves as foreshadow of Christ. The Old Testament uses typology, or a form of prophetic symbolism to point to something that is yet to happen, or a figure who is yet to come. Below is a PDF that lays out 60 different aspects of Joseph's life that reveal to us details of the (then future) Messiah. Many Jewish believers at the time of Christ, missed that Jesus was the Christ. Let us study to show ourselves approved and not miss out on the things in God's Word that He has buried deeply for us to search for.
PDF from: Gleanings in Genesis by AW Pink
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