Genesis 48:8
When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, "Who are these?"
Sermons
LessonsG. Hughes, B. D.Genesis 48:8-14
The Patriarch's Departing LifeR.A. Redford Genesis 48














I. WHAT IT WAS.

1. It was not anxiety about temporal support, for that had been generously made sure to him by his son Joseph.

2. It was not concern about the future fortunes of his family, for these had been graciously taken under God's protection.

3. It was not uncertainty as to his own personal acceptance with Jehovah, for of that he had long ago been assured.

4. It was scarcely even fear of his approaching death, for besides being a thought with which Jacob had long been familiar, to a weary pilgrim like him the event itself would not be altogether unwelcome.

5. It was dread lest his lifeless body should be interred in Egypt, far from the graves of his ancestors in the holy land.

II. WHENCE IT AROSE.

1. From the deeply-seated instinct in human nature, which makes men wish, if possible, to sleep beside their fathers and friends. Though religion teaches us to believe that every spot on earth is in a manner holy ground, yet it does not induce a spirit of indifference as to the last resting-place where we shall lie.

2. From a firm faith in the Divine promise that his descendants should yet return to Canaan. Even if Jacob did not anticipate that this would immediately occur, if, as is probable, he had already dark forebodings that the period of exile and servitude spoken of by Jehovah to Abraham was about to commence, he was yet able to detect a silver lining in the cloud, to see the happy time beyond, when his children, in accordance with the promise "I will surely bring thee up again," should return home to their presently abandoned inheritance.

III. HOW IT WAS REMOVED.

1. By Joseph's promise. Requested by his aged parent to convey his body back to Canaan, when the life had departed, Joseph solemnly, engages to carry out that parent's wishes to the letter. "I will do as thou hast said."

2. By Joseph's oath. As if to remove every possible ground of apprehension, the old man further binds his son by an appeal to heaven. "And he said, Swear unto me; and he (Joseph) sware unto him." The venerable patriarch's anxieties were at an end. "And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head." - W.

Israel beheld Joseph's sons.
1. Prudence in good men may divert nature from the remembrance of sad events. About Rachel.

2. Weak nature may see in part that which it doth not discern. So Jacob.

3. Reason suggests inquiry to know what sight doth not discern (ver. 8).

4. Sons in strength should help the weakness of aged parents. So Joseph to his father.

5. It concerns fathers to own their children especially in order to a blessing. So Joseph his.

6. Godly parents account their children God's gift unto them. So Joseph.

7. It is a mercy remarkable to have children for blessing in a strange place.

8. Gracious fathers desire their children's children to bless them (ver. 9).

9. Old age makes the saints subject to the same infirmities as other men. So to Jacob.

10. Dimness of sight is a usual symptom of old age.

11. Weakness in sight makes mistakes that need direction in the holiest men.

12. Good fathers yield to the desires of bringing children to them that can bless them.

13. Kisses and embracings are not unseemly from holy ancestors to their seed's seed in order to blessing (ver. 10).

14. It is meet for the holy ancestors to acquaint the sons of God's dealings, with them.

15. Hopelessness of mercy with good souls makes them remember it more sweetly.

16. God's mercies sometimes over-reach hope and expectation of His people.

17. Saints delight to show their over-abounding mercies to His praise (ver. 11).

18. Suitable motions to dispose for a ministerial blessing is but meet.

19. Filial obeisance in honour of parents is a just duty in expectation of a blessing (ver. 12).

20. There are right-hand and left-hand blessings, which God giveth by His ministers, greater and less.

21. Good men may aim one to the right, and another to the left.hand blessing, whom God changeth.

22. It is needful to come near So the ministers of blessing if men desire to have it (ver. 13).

(G. Hughes, B. D.)

People
Amorites, Ephrath, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Manasseh, Rachel, Reuben, Simeon
Places
Bethlehem, Canaan, Ephrath, Luz, Paddan, Rameses
Topics
Beheld, Joseph, Joseph's, Sons
Outline
1. Joseph with his sons visits his sick father.
2. Jacob strengthens himself to bless them.
3. He repeats God's promise.
5. He takes Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons.
7. He tells Joseph of his mother's grave.
8. He blesses Ephraim and Manasseh.
17. He prefers the younger before the elder.
21. He prophesies their return to Canaan.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 48:1-20

     1651   numbers, 1-2
     7266   tribes of Israel

Genesis 48:8-20

     5661   brothers

Library
Two Retrospects of one Life
'And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been.'--GENESIS xlvii. 9. 'The God which fed me all my life long unto this day; the Angel which redeemed me from all evil.' --GENESIS xlviii. 15,16. These are two strangely different estimates of the same life to be taken by the same man. In the latter Jacob categorically contradicts everything that he had said in the former. 'Few and evil,' he said before Pharaoh. 'All my life long,' 'the Angel which redeemed me from
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Calm Evening, Promising a Bright Morning
'And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin;
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Wonderful.
Isaiah ix:6. HIS name shall be called "Wonderful" (Isaiah ix:6). And long before Isaiah had uttered this divine prediction the angel of the Lord had announced his name to be Wonderful. As such He appeared to Manoah. And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honor. And the angel of Jehovah said unto Him "why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is Wonderful" (margin, Judges xiii:17-18). This angel of Jehovah, the Person who
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

Blessing Children. Concerning Childlikeness.
(in Peræa.) ^A Matt. XIX. 13-15; ^B Mark X. 13-16; ^C Luke XVIII. 15-17. ^a 13 Then were there brought ^b 13 And they were bringing ^a unto him little children, { ^c also their babes,} that he should touch them: ^a that he should lay his hands on them, and pray [According to Buxtorf, children were often brought to the presidents of the synagogue in order that they might pray over them. The prayers of a good man in our behalf have always been regarded as a blessing; no wonder, then, that the
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah
"And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto Me (one) [Pg 480] to be Ruler in Israel; and His goings forth are the times of old, the days of eternity." The close connection of this verse with what immediately precedes (Caspari is wrong in considering iv. 9-14 as an episode) is evident, not only from the [Hebrew: v] copulative, and from the analogy of the near relation of the announcement of salvation to the prophecy of disaster
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Gen. xxxi. 11
Of no less importance and significance is the passage Gen. xxxi. 11 seq. According to ver. 11, the Angel of God, [Hebrew: mlaK halhiM] appears toJacob in a dream. In ver. 13, the same person calls himself the God of Bethel, with reference to the event recorded in chap. xxviii. 11-22. It cannot be supposed that in chap xxviii. the mediation of a common angel took place, who, however, had not been expressly mentioned; for Jehovah is there contrasted with the angels. In ver. 12, we read: "And behold
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision B. At Jacob's Well, and at Sychar. ^D John IV. 5-42. ^d 5 So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 and Jacob's well was there. [Commentators long made the mistake of supposing that Shechem, now called Nablous, was the town here called Sychar. Sheckem lies a mile and a half west of Jacob's well, while the real Sychar, now called 'Askar, lies scarcely half a mile north of the well. It was a small town, loosely called
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Genesis
The Old Testament opens very impressively. In measured and dignified language it introduces the story of Israel's origin and settlement upon the land of Canaan (Gen.--Josh.) by the story of creation, i.-ii. 4a, and thus suggests, at the very beginning, the far-reaching purpose and the world-wide significance of the people and religion of Israel. The narrative has not travelled far till it becomes apparent that its dominant interests are to be religious and moral; for, after a pictorial sketch of
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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