Today, I want to write about the blessing of Jacob which he gave his grandson Manasseh.
Manasseh was the first born of Joseph who brought his two sons to his father Jacob for blessing them.
The created realm by the presence of the two fathers Jacob and Joseph
The realm of the anointing, that God created in the time of the mentioned blessing was made by the presence of Jacob and Joseph, who are a sign for us today of promotion/ favoritism and kingdom administration.
Jacob was a twin and the second born son of his father Isaac. During the birth process Jacob was holding the heel of his elder brother Esau (see Genesis 25:21-26).
He received the first born blessing from his father through the help of his mother Rebecca, who cooked the meal for Isaac and covered both hands of Jacob and his smooth neck with goatskins (see Genesis 27 i.c.w. 2 Kings 1:8; Exodus 26:7; Matthew 3:4).
The blessing by Jacob
As Jacob was about to bless the two sons of Joseph he blessed them by laying first his right hand on Ephraim who was the second born and standing on the right side of his father Joseph.
Then Jacob took his left hand and put it on Manasseh who was the first born son of Joseph and standing on the left side of Joseph.
By this laying on of hands Jacob crossed his arms, so that his left arm was covering the right arm of him (see Genesis 48:8-14).
Genesis 48:8-14:
8 When Israel (Jacob) 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 that 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 towards Israel's left hand and Manasseh on his left towards 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.
The last Hebrew letter “Thav”
The crossing arms of Jacob is also showing the sign of the last Hebrew letter, the letter “Thav” which has the numeric value of “400” (see Genesis 15:13- promise given by God to Abraham about the 400 years of captivity for the people of Israel to step into the freedom).
It also means “desire, longing, to indicate, to mark, to draw a line and symbolizes an identification mark, an imprint, a code; in Job 31:35 is the“Thav” used as “longing” and in Ezekiel 9:6 it is used as an indication mark for protection”.
For us today the acting of Jacob means, that he put the cross of Christ into the three generations (Jacob, Joseph and Manasseh/ Ephraim) to impart the love and grace of God as well as the longing for more of Christ Jesus and the protection in him into the future generation, that would live further and entering into the “GOoD“ future by carrying the inheritance of the forefathers.
Both brothers, Ephraim and Manasseh were later blessed as tribes by Moses and called to be horns to push the enemy away (see Deuteronomy 33:17).
Deuteronomy 33:17:
17 In majesty he (Joseph) is like a firstborn bull; his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even those at the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim; such are the thousands of Manasseh.”
The left horn of Manasseh
Because the left side is connected to Manasseh and horns are representing in accordance to Moses blessing as well as in the biblical context “power/ strength” and are the vessel for the anointing, I want to speak today about the difference between the left and the right side and what it means (see Psalm 92:10).
Psalm 92:10/ 11- German version (A song for the Sabbath day):
10 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me.
The realm of power and authority
Because Jacob crossed during the blessing of his two grandsons his two hands while the left hand covered his right hand, I want to use at this point a teaching excerpt about the difference between power and authority from the seer prophet John Paul Jackson.
"The assigned power of God is the needed element with which one occupies the Promised Land.
And it is authority, with or rather by which one governs.
If we take as an example the rulership of a king, the right hand of the king would symbolize the side of power, which instructs and the left hand, the side of authority.
This means that authority is located within the Kingdom and power is operating to the outside, because it is intended to further expand the Kingdom.
Therefore it is important, that the responsible leaders within the Body of Christ as well as in the secular area are not reigning by their power but through the authority that they have.
However, when they rule only by power, they are dictators.
The governance in authority will take place where the referred persons have favor in front of the eyes of God and of men.
Dictators, however govern by positional authority against the authority of the people to which most of them are "forcibly" subordinated.
True spiritual leaders with a humble heart, however, are intent on doing God's will and not the will of men.
It is God who puts it into people's hearts, to give the executives favor, so that they are effectively in a position which enables them to take influence in the hearts of men.
Therefore it is important that leaders do not demand their authority by humans.
If this kind of demand still happens, it would be solely and alone developed from the area of "power" that ultimately leads to an oppressive dictatorship.
God does not want that we as his people are governed dictatorial, but fatherly-royal."
Authority and submission
As Body of Christ, we need to understand God's order of leadership and authority in his kingdom in order to live in holy protection.
In submission to God's assigned authority is protection offered to us by the wings or the shadow of God (see Psalm 91:1-2).
Psalm 91:1-2 (NIV):
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty (note: Shaddai).
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Not every Christian is called to leadership, and this we have to accept and understand. If we do not, we intervene in an authority field and that approach leads to a disaccord within the Body of Christ, which has its result in many unnecessary difficulties and dangers.
Authority
To walk in the authority of God in the assigned realm of responsibility, we have to know what authority is and when it functions.
In the kingdom of God is authority the result of responsibility.
Generally speaking, we have in every area of the church only to the degree authority, as we have the responsibility for the assigned area. If we are not responsible for an area, we have no authority in it. In order to have a lot of authority, a person must stand submitted to saints who have more authority than her-/himself!
On the basis of this word, we can see the importance of the positioning of Manasseh and of Ephraim which is connected to the statement of Jesus, who said, that the first becomes last and the last first. Both, the first and the last are co-working together within the kingdom of God, so that God's power and authority is seen in the world (see Matthew 19:30).
Matthew 19:30:
30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Without Manasseh, we wouldn't be able to see the cross made by theirs grandfather Jacob, representing for us today, God as The Ancient of Days releasing his love to the people on earth through his son Jesus Christ (see John 3:16)!
John 3:16:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Amen and Amen.
In His Wisdom,
Daniel Glimm
