The Blessing
By William M. Self, Sr.
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Proverbs 17:6 NIV
Children's children are a crown to the aged,
and parents are the pride of their children.
The Ephraim and
Manasseh blessing is a Grandparent’s blessing.
Joseph took his sons to his father Jacob for a blessing.
I was richly blessed to have godly
grandparents on both sides of the family.
When my Mom or my Dad took me to
see my grandparents, I felt a special love.
Their words and
actions made me
feel like I was someone special.
When I did not believe in myself,
my grandparents
believed in me.
We have a little sign at our house that says…
“Nana’s and Papa’s House
where grandchildren
are spoiled”
There is a huge difference between raising
our children and our grandchildren.
It is said after Grandparents spoil the grandchildren,
they send them home
for the parents to deal with them.
The ability of grandparents to be a blessing
to their grandchildren is amazing.
One of the things that kept me
on the right track was the thought…
I would never want to do anything
that would offend my grandparents.
I enjoyed their favor and would
never want to do anything to lose it.
In fact, their favor made me want to excel
because I loved to
see the pride they had in me.
Everything my grandparents did was
a model I wanted to
grow up into…
The way they treated each other, their work ethics,
how they related to others, and their involvement at church.
I could not wait to grow up and be like them
and now I am grown up and like them…
Loving and blessing my grandchildren,
trying to be a
shining example…
A model they will want to grow up into.
Jacob blessed Ephraim
and Manasseh
as if they were his own sons.
Ephraim and Manasseh shared
the same blessing as their uncles.
If you are a grandparent, don’t spoil your grandchildren
with
candy and sweets that will give them health issues later in
life…
Give them the blessing of favor, the belief
that they will be someone great.
Model greatness to them in every area of life.
Scripture Reading
Genesis
48:1-4 NIV
48 Some time
later Joseph was told, "Your father is ill." So he took his two sons
Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, "Your son
Joseph has come to you," Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the
bed. 3 Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the
land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, 'I am going to make
you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of
peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your
descendants after you.' 5 "Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt
before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will
be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you
after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned
under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan, to my
sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a
little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to
Ephrath" (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When
Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, "Who are these?"
9 "They
are the sons God has given me here," Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel
said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."
10 Now
Israel's eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So
Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced
them.
11 Israel
said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has
allowed me to see your children too."
12 Then
Joseph removed them from Israel's knees and bowed down with his face to the
ground. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel's
left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel's right hand, and brought them
close to him. 14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's
head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on
Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 Then he
blessed Joseph and said,
"May
the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and
Isaac walked,
the God who
has been my shepherdall my life to this day,
16 the Angel
who has delivered me from all harm
— may he
bless these boys.
May they be
called by my name
and the
names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they
increase greatly upon the earth."
17 When
Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim's head he was
displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head
to Manasseh's head. 18 Joseph said to him, "No, my father, this one is the
firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
19 But his
father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a
people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be
greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations." 20
He blessed them that day and said,
"In
your name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
'May God
make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'"
So he put
Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
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