Criss-cross

Genesis 48:14
But Israel crossed his hands and reached out. He put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, although Ephraim was the younger son. He put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was older.

Why? Why did Israel [Jacob] cross his hands to bless the children? I often wondered about this, especially growing up as the second of two children. A lot of times growing up we, the younger children, see the older get what we believe to be more or better things. They get new clothes, we get hand-me-downs. They are the first to drive, go to the prom, and get married (usually). They’re usually the first ones to bless the family with grandchildren. We’re always riding on their coattails, or so it seems. A lot of times it’s not until we’re out on our own in the world that we, the younger, really realize who we are and start to become our own person. For so long we lived under the shadow of an older sibling that our identity was simply that: a shadow.

This still doesn’t answer the question: why did Jacob cross his hands and bless the younger brother with the right hand and the older brother with his left hand? I don’t think he was picking favorites. I don’t think that he had seen Ephraim grow up in the shadows all his life and wanted him to be something new. I think Jacob saw something that God had ordained from before there was time. It was an opportunity to cleverly hide the mystery of Christ and the blessings of His grace rather than the curses of the Law.

Everything is significant in the Bible. From the placement of a comma to the names of the children, each detail is special and holds within it clues to the ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ to the world. Jacob, whose name means supplanter, is the one doing the blessing here. We know that Jacob got his name because he was born holding Esau’s heel and, later in life, managed to get Esau’s blessing for his own. But I believe that God had an even greater purpose for revealing why Jacob was so named. Even in this chapter of Genesis the translation switches back and forth, referring to him as Jacob in one sentence and Israel in the next, both names of the same person!

Jacob, the supplanter, or Israel, prince of God, is blessing two children. What are their names again? Ephraim, meaning “the famous bearer, very fruitful,” the youngest child, and Manasseh, meaning “he that is forgotten,” the older child. In essence, “he that is forgotten” is being supplanted by “the one who is very fruitful.”

What’s the significance; where’s Jesus? I’m about to let you know. Manasseh is a representation of the Law that God gave to Moses, the Ten Commandments. He was the first to come, but not the greatest. Ephraim is a representation of Jesus Christ and His grace. He is the greatest. The glory of the first is fading and being forgotten while that of the second is greater, everlasting, and bears much fruit (2 Corinthians 3:7-11).

The right hand blessing had to go to the one who would represent the Right Hand of God, Jesus Christ, in whom we have forgiveness of sins and open access to the blessings of heaven (Philippians 4:19, Hebrews 10:12). The left [over] blessing had to go to the representative of the Law, whose job is finished at the revelation of Jesus (Galatians 3:24).

There is just one more thing, the way in which the boys were presented and what Jacob did. The boys were facing Jacob and he was facing them, Manasseh in front of his right hand and Ephraim in front of his left. When Jacob reached out to bless the boys, crossing his hands, he made a sign for God to see. It was a cross, the eventual key to unlock the blessings God intended for mankind from the beginning. Just for fun, right now, stop and reach your hands out as Jacob did. Cross them and look down. That is what God saw that day. He saw the forgotten being supplanted by the very fruitful True Vine through the cross!