A Surprising Surprise

Ok...I said yesterday I wanted to blog about Genesis 48:11. So, here goes!

Once again, I must confess, I've read this verse probably dozens of times, but this morning I REALLY read it! So you don't have to take the time to look it up, here 'tis:  Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well."


Oh, my gosh!!! Have you ever let this verse bring tears to your eyes? I did this morning, and even now, it brings tears to my eyes. We're all familiar (hopefully) with Jacob and most of his life, but stop and reread it. Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. He'd believed for many years (no, I'm not going to stop and figure out how many) that his FAVORITE son was DEAD!!! (Thanks to his other, less-than-favorite sons) As stated in the verse, he NEVER expected to see Joseph's face again, this side of Heaven. But God had a surprising surprise in store for His beloved Israel. Don't overlook the fact that this occurred AFTER God changed his name from Jacob (deceiver or chiseler) to Israel.

Would it not have been enough for God to bless Israel with JUST seeing Joseph's face again? And I'm certainly not downplaying this. But, no. Our God is One Who loves to LAVISH upon us good gifts from His generous and loving hand. And, I believe He also loves to surprise us! He also let Israel see Joseph's children as well! Now, c'mon, you grandmothers! Isn't one of your favorite blessings getting to see your grandchildren? Yes, Israel had MANY other grandchildren...but not by his favorite son.

Now this is, frankly, overwhelming, especially for a man as old as Israel was. Yet, not only did he get to SEE his favorite son's sons, but he got to bless them before he died. This is not a common habit among us today, but think about it. Would it not bless YOU to pronounce a blessing upon your precious grandchildren right before you shed your earthly body? If I had any, I think it would be marvelous!

AND...another thing I had never caught before is in verse 5, Israel adopted Joseph's sons! Yes! Did you ever see that before? I hadn't! Here's verse 5: "Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are." This makes me think of Joel 2:25 "Then I will make up to you for the years That the swarming locust has eaten." This is getting rather long, but I keep seeing even more as I post! (It's so exciting!)  It wasn't just Israel who'd missed out on seeing Joseph's sons all those years, but Joseph's sons, also, had missed out on having Israel as their grandfather all those years! So he gave them a double portion! Wow...This all seems very powerful to me, but if you're a grandmother (or grandfather), SOAK IT UP and GLORY in what God did for Israel (and Joseph and his sons) at the end of his life. Marvelous!