Genesis 48:1-20 [NLTse]
One day not long after this, word came to Joseph, “Your father is failing rapidly.” So Joseph went to visit his father, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed. 3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4 He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations. And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

5 “Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.
7 “Long ago, as I was returning from Paddan-aram, Rachel died in the land of Canaan. We were still on the way, some distance from Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). So with great sorrow I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.”
8 Then Jacob looked over at the two boys. “Are these your sons?” he asked.
9 “Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are the sons God has given me here in Egypt.”
And Jacob said, “Bring them closer to me, so I can bless them.”
10 Jacob was half blind because of his age and could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Jacob kissed and embraced them. 11 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!”

12 Joseph moved the boys, who were at their grandfather’s knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground. 13 Then he positioned the boys in front of Jacob. With his right hand he directed Ephraim toward Jacob’s left hand, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Jacob’s right hand. 14 But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to lay his hands on the boys’ heads. He put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, though he was the firstborn. 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked—the God Who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day, 16 the Angel Who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. May they preserve my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac. And may their descendants multiply greatly throughout the earth.”
17 But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head. So Joseph lifted it to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 “No, my father,” he said. “This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

19 But his father refused. “I know, my son; I know,” he replied. “Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”
20 So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, ‘May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

Sermon
Words have power. What we say matters. The Lord Jesus’ half-brother, James, writes that our lips speak both blessings and curses, and that it should not be so! The Lord Jesus warns us to be careful about even the most insignificant word we speak, because they matter. In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth with words. And across the Bible, even filling up our readings these past weeks across Genesis, we see the power of blessings spoken and coming true! What we say matters, and the Lord God has called us to be a people who bless and are a blessing!

The Bible is filled with blessings: God blessing people; fathers blessing children; kings blessing God’s people and God’s people blessing kings! Here, in our morning’s reading, we see Grandfather Jacob blessing his son, Joseph’s, boys, Manasseh and Ephraim.

“Blessing” is a powerful word across the Bible and across our culture. It can be belittled to simply refer to any nice thing that happens to us or that we’d like to have happen to another. And yet, at the same time, it still echoes with a sense of the divine, the eternal, and the supernatural!

With so many people posting #BLESSED because they got what they wanted or because things are going their way, it’s interesting to me that, of the 112 references to the words bless, blessing, or blessed in the New Testament that none of them refer to material prosperity. Consider these passages:

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him… God blesses those who mourn… God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right… God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are My followers…” (Matthew 5:3–4, 10–11)
“Blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.” (Luke 11:28)
“What [blessings] for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.” (Romans 4:7; quoting Psalm 32:1)
“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation…” (James 1:12)
“Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on… Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:13, 19:9)

There is no hint of material prosperity or perfect circumstances in any New Testament reference. On the contrary, blessing is typically connected with either poverty and trial or the spiritual benefits of being joined to Jesus by faith. Makarioi is the Greek word translated “blessed” in these passages, and it means “to be fully satisfied”. It refers to those receiving God’s favor, regardless of the circumstances.

So, what is blessing, then? The Bible seems to portray blessing as anything God gives that points us to Him: Anything that draws us closer to Jesus; anything that helps us surrender in greater ways to the Holy Spirit; anything that helps us relinquish the day-to-day and hold on more tightly to the eternal.

We’re reading through the Old Testament as a church this 2017. (The daily readings are in our Bulletins each week, or you can follow along in The Daily Walk devotional if you’d like some commentary on what we’re reading.) A couple weeks ago, when reading Genesis 12, we read the blessing the Lord God spoke over Abraham, saying, “And I will bless you… and you shall be a blessing… and in you shall all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” So, as we see Jacob blessing his grandkids today and remember God calling Abraham to bless and be a blessing, I think the Father has been blessing us to bless, as well.

So, let me teach you how to bless someone. (I’m not just talking about saying, “God bless you,” to someone, though when we say that with authority it is a powerful gift. But, no, I’m talking about personally and powerfully asking the Lord to bring about, in some person’s life, that which will point them to the Father, draw them to Jesus, help them surrender more to the Spirit, and/or to let go of the temporal and hold on to God.

You can do it in very formal ways or fairly informal ones. You can raise your hand up over someone or you can lightly place your hand on their head or shoulder. (Always ask permission before touching someone, even to give them a blessing. Sadly, for some people, being touched has not been a good thing.) And then ask God’s blessing on them, or ask His protection for them. Have you ever seen the face of a grandparent light up when one of the grandkids comes in the room? Well, ask that they would know how the Lord’s face lights up like that when He looks upon them. Ask that they’d know and embrace His grace, and that they’d have confidence to pray knowing that He wants to give them good gifts. That they would know His wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, and harmony; that they would know that everything needed to bring them to God and keep them close to Him forever has been provided for in full!

Send notes of blessing. Offer prayers of blessing during your own prayer times. And, of course, reach out to bless that baby, or that person who’s struggling that the Lord just drew near, or that one who for some reason the Lord is simply drawing your attention to. Bless, as is our calling and our privilege in Christ!

Now, I want us to pair up. Find someone next to you or in front of you or behind you… (I know, if you’re shy you hate this kind of stuff. But I hope the Lord will surprise you with this…) If there’s nobody nearby you then move around to wherever you can partner-up with another. Just the two of you, please…
Anybody not have a partner? because then I’ll partner with you…
Now that we’re two-by-two, consider your partner and ask the Holy Spirit how you can bless this person. (I’ll give you a minute to ask the Holy Spirit and to then listen to the Holy Spirit.) …

Now, let’s raise our hand over, or, if we have permission, let’s place a hand gently on our partner’s head or shoulder, and speak the blessing that comes to us for them. After the one person is finished, it’ll be the other person’s turn to put their hand up or on and give their blessing… (It doesn’t have to be long, but it might be…) Let’s bless each other…

Words have power, and what we say matters. And God wants us to ask Him for good things; for great things! Great families, financial wealth, and good health are all wonderful gifts we can ask God for and even thank God for, but they are not His greatest blessings. God’s greatest blessing always rests in God Himself. When we have Him, we are truly #BLESSED.