Blessing The Second Son

"Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. For, he said, 'God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house.' The name of the second he called Ephraim, 'For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.' " - Genesis 41:51-52 ESV

Just look at the names. The first name is Joseph relating to the past and the second son's name is Joseph relating to the present and the future.

"Joseph said to his father, 'They are my sons, whom God has given me here.' And he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them." Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, 'I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.'... And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn)... When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, 'Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.' But his father refused and said, 'I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.' So he blessed them that day, saying, 'By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.' Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh." - Genesis 48:9-11, 14, 17-20 ESV

Naturally speaking our firstborn is our past. It is gone but not quite forgotten. The grace blessing always falls on the second son.

"Thus it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being'; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." - 1 Corinthians 15:45-50 ESV

Our past has no inheritance. As believers we live in the present reality of the quickening spirit who is Heavenly.

We can learn from the past but the right handed blessing is always on the present. Our identity is a present and future tense identity. It may look like the wrong order to us. We may think we are the product of what we have suffered and come out from but in truth we are the product of grace.

"And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." - John 17:11 ESV

"If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." - John 15:19 ESV

We are in the world but not of the world. Our identity can not be a world oriented identity. God sees us according to the name He has given us in Heaven. Our residence is in Heaven and our time on Earth is just a business trip. Our true blessing waits for us at home and travels with us because we bring our Heavenly identity with us.

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