THEN HE BLESSED JOSEPH
Genesis 48:15-16
The prospect of one’s death acutely focuses the mind, but on
what? Astonishingly, for some it only intensifies, concerns for personal peace
and comfort. But for others, it directs their minds toward eternity and the
next generation. Jacob is a very old man, near death, and that is, his frame of
mind as Joseph brings him his two sons. Ephraim and Manasseh, to be blessed by
their grandfather. The faith Jacob is remembered for in the New Testament is
not the faith that wrestled with God, but the faith that blessed Joseph’s sons.
The reason for this has much to teach about prayer.
"By
faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as
he leaned on top of his staff" (Hebrews 11:21). To say Jacob blessed while he was dying is to
say that the blessing was something that he himself would not see. That is the
faith that so pleases God: "being sure of what we hope
for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). The verse in
Hebrews just before Jacob’s mention says the same thing about Isaac’s faith,
and the verse just after about Joseph’s faith. Reuben Alves said hope is hearing
the music of the future, and faith is to dance to it. Jacob, though old and
infirm, is dancing as he prays his blessing.
How should the elderly pray? With a great abandon to faith
and a generous love that will bless the next generation. Bodies may slow down,
but our prayers shouldn’t. Theologian Karl Barth believed the nearness of death
should not shrink our faith; but cause the river of responsibility "to flow more torrentially than ever in view of the
approaching falls, of the proximity of the coming Judge!"
And David was comforted that God understood his frailty and
mortality. "He knows how we are formed; he
remembers that we are dust." David’s comfort grew as he considered that
even though he will die. God’s love will continue to the generations to come. "As
for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the
wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from
everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his
righteousness with their children’s children" (Psalm 103:15-17). The
passion of every generation should be to know the Lord. But the passion of a passing
generation should especially be that the next generation will know the Lord –
and so to pray that blessing.
In Christ,
Playwright Janet
Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories
Theatre of
Fine &
Performing Arts
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