Inference

01.19.12

Genesis 48.19-20 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. NASB

Scripture speaks when It must, and is silent when appropriate. We learn a lot about Jacob in these final chapters of Genesis. We learn he was a both a shepherd and a warrior. (See Genesis 48.22) We learn that he considered Ephraim and Manasseh his children (See Genesis 48.5). And we learn that he thought a lot about Joseph’s sons see Genesis 48.14ff. We also learn that Jacob still favored Joseph over his brothers (Genesis 48.21,22).

What gets my attention is that God is involved in the making of nations and in laying out the societal foundations of the nations. God is the One who chose Ephraim over Manasseh. God is the One who chose Joseph over Reuben. And God is the One who chose that Messiah would come from Judah. God is in charge of these things and not men. And where men run afoul is when they take attempt to take charge of things. But even then God’s purposes are perfectly accomplished because God can use even the worst decisions of men (or the best) to accomplish His purposes.

When I think about the trail of my own life, I have to remember Who is in charge of the paths I’ve taken, and has used the decisions I’ve made, whether good or bad, to accomplish His purposes in my life. There is, at any given point, more going right than wrong in the life of a Christian. That’s because God is in charge (control) of our lives and His purposes for us go way beyond what we feel or see or think.

We might see things from east to west or from left to right, but we cannot put those same perspectives on God for He sees them differently than we do. When culture says the eldest is the first blessed it shouldn’t surprise us that God has chosen the younger over the older. God sees things differently than we do. God looks at the heart and God knows and see things that we can’t. I don’t know how Jacob saw those things in Joseph’s sons; all I know is he did. So I’m left to infer some things.

I’m left to infer that God’s involvement in Jacob’s life was more than what Scripture shares. I’m left to infer that Jacob’s thoughts about the future were molded by God’s input into his mind. I’m left to infer that when one is chosen by God, God does what God does in the life of that person despite what flaws or shortcomings that person may have. And I am left to infer that God’s will and purpose will be accomplished no matter how things appear to me.

What all this does is build my trust and my confidence in God that no matter how weird or painful things appear to me, God is doing what He is doing, and it is perfect and right and loving and good. Sometimes the older will serve the younger…