Jacob’s Last will and Testament

And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. Genesis 48:5‭-‬6 KJV

These are significant utterances. Jacob is close to his death. His son Joseph visits him. Jacob now makes a pronouncement of his will. In ancient eastern traditions, the first born is entitled to a double portion of the fathers estate( Deut.21:17). However the rights may be waived by the father for certain reasons. In this case Reuben lost it because of a deep disrespect to his father, as we will see in the next chapter. The next two oldest lost it as well because of their violence towards the shechemites. Joseph got a compensation by replacement. He became the firstborn by this act. Jesus is the crowning glory of the firstborn(Rom.8:29, Col.1:15). So when we accept Christ we become partakers of the heir of all things as God’s firstborn. May you not loose your place. May you be a partaker of Gods double portion. We will talk again about this as we come to the close of the book of Genesis. Today the pronouncement is for you and your children. Congratulations!