This piece is dedicated to all those fathers who have stood the test of time and have emerged triumphant over the struggles of their soul and act as models of manliness and godliness to us all. Some, I am proud to say reside in my church. Jacob is one of those Biblical personalities who had a lot of personal demons to wrestle with but eventually emerged as a great man of God and a grand old patriarch. He started out being a deceiver, a schemer, and a cheat and as a father he almost got his son Joseph killed by his jealous brothers who were steamed up about “papa” favoring and spoiling their younger brother and making him into a “hate worthy” snitch. See Genesis 37 for the sad details about the consequences of Jacob’s failure as a father. Joseph, however, outgrew his teenage immaturity and naiveté and became a big wheel in Egypt (where his brothers had “exiled” him) while Jacob mourned his “lost” son until they were reunited in Egypt. The rest of the Jacob/Joseph “chronicles” come to an end beginning with the latter part of Chapter 47 where Joseph is summoned to Jacob’s side because the latter was seriously ill. At 147, old age had finally caught up with him, but he went out in blazing glory because though an aging old man he had become a Patriarch and a Seer.
Let us look at what seems to have been his last day on earth (I am assuming that Jacob’s blessings of Joseph’s sons in Chapter 48 immediately precede the blessings for Joseph and his brothers in Chapter 49 which ends in Jacob’s death, verse 49:33). On his last day Jacob speaks with Joseph first and reminds his highly successful son of his exalted spiritual heritage (48:2-4). He reminds his son that their family’s destiny lies in the land of Canaan, not Egypt, where Joseph was such a smashing success. He had already made Joseph promise to bury him in Canaan (see 47:29-31) and tells Joseph that his own mother was buried there also (48:7). He also speaks of God’s promises to him as the divinely chosen successor to the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac who are also buried in Canaan.
So Jacob has a live spiritual legacy that he is passing on to his son Joseph and all his brothers. His is a compelling testimony of God’s keeping power and great faithfulness. On his last day he is still a formidable man of great pride and spiritual substance who can command the reverence and respect of his son who is the grand vizier of Egypt. See where Joseph bows low before his aging and feeble father (see 48:12), who is still man enough to change Joseph’s family structure (Ephraim, Joseph’s younger son receives the birthright over the older son, Manasseh at Jacob’s command as Joseph’s protest is overruled, 48:17-20).
In chapter 48 Jacob demonstrates what a great man of God (“Man of God” is one of the names of the prophets of Israel, e.g. see II Kings 5:13-15) he has become as he prophesies about the future of all his sons and even predicts from whom the Messiah would come (49:8-12). What a presence this man is though he can hardly see (48:10), and is about to die. What great command! He can barely see his grand kids yet he can look down the corridors of time and see the whole sweep of human history summed up in the revelation of the Son of God and the final consummation. This man didn’t need glasses with that kind of sight.
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