“²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.”

– Genesis 48:20 (NKJV)

“So he blessed them that day (“this is the day that The Lord has made”; “for such a time as this “), saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying: (Here at his very last we are privileged to behold the profound moment in which Jacob finally asserts his full identity as the embodiment of Israel The Nation in one man; and is it not beautiful to recognise how it is within this move of the most deep-seated act of service of another [“[b]y you “] and in the service ultimately of God Himself, namely, in the act of generational blessing, that this treasure of identity is discovered. Not only do we detect a firmness, a resoluteness and a boldness in Jacob’s referring to himself first as Israel unwaveringly, but also in his doing so in the third person. This confident awareness of his purpose and function as a servant of God executing His Will upon the earth in far-reaching and profound manner, is furthermore detected in the full assurance expressed – both in God but also in himself as chosen vessel – , and indeed resounds within the resolute “Israel will  bless” which he then proceeds to do in a new, fresh and unexpected way from the original blessing in verses 15 and 16, precisely because of  Joseph’s meddling: truly, truly the Sovereign outworking for Good never ceases to amaze! It is also worth mentioning that in moments where faith has become so much of a substance- [Heb 11:1], when it is of such tangible quality as to be palpable in the energy surrounding one- & is manifestly felt on cellular level, aye, when one is as overcome by the “I know that I know that I know” as Jacob is within these moments, then truly, truly one is possessed by The Holy Spirit and nothing else but God’s Will can be done.) ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!‘ ” (This very blessing – the lads’ names now becoming the epitome of what is effectively a Messianic blessing [Romans 8:29] – is birthed from a renewed zeal in Jacob which would not otherwise have been stirred up to this degree had he not just been challenged by Joseph in the very thing perhaps most painful to him personally [Psalm 51:10], namely, the supplanting of the natural birth order.) And thus he set (having become the very right hand of God in this moment) Ephraim before Manasseh (executing The Sovereign Will of God as it was, and is and always has been 😉).”