Ligure- Ephraim
1. His Birth
Genesis 41:50, 52- And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. Ephraim was the second son of Joseph. Ephraim means doubly fruitful.
Joseph was a Jew that was promoted to the second in command in Egypt, and was given a Gentile bride, this making him a great type of Christ. When Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, he gave the second born the blessing of a firstborn son. Jacob told Joseph that the older would serve the younger, and from there on in Ephraim's name was mentioned before Manasseh.
2. The Patriarchal Blessing
Genesis 48:20- And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. Ephraim, the second son of Rachel's firstborn, received the blessing of the firstborn from Jacob.
Genesis 49:22-26- Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Joseph went through a long trial, but in the end he was blessed- II Corinthians 4:17- For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; The way we know that Joseph was blessed by God was in the fact that he saw all the things that happened to him were because God had a plan. He didn't blame his brothers, He acknowledged God's hand in the matter. Genesis 50:20- But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Ephraim received a double blessing because of the hardships his father faced; we as Christians receive many blessing because of the hardships that Christ faced!
4. The Stone Ligure in the Breastplate
Not much is known about the ligure. Commentators differ on what exactly it was, but it still remains a mystery. Manasseh was Joseph's firstborn, like Israel was God's firstborn. Yet, the double blessing has fallen to Ephraim, the second born of God, the church. We get salvation by grace and are called the sons of God- John 1:12- But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Just as the ligure is a mystery, so also is God's second born that receives the double blessing! Ephesians 5:32- This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Agate- Manasseh
1. His Birth
Genesis 41:51- And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. Manasseh means forgetfulness.
There is no reason made evident in Scripture as to why Jacob would reverse the order of these two brethren. It may be in the fact that Jacob himself was the second born, and he was also passing this on through Joseph, since Joseph was the second "firstborn", being the firstborn of Rachel, his second wife.
2. The Patriarchal Blessing
Joseph named his son forgetfulness, and sometimes forgetting is a good thing. Joseph was able to forget all the evil his brothers did to him and, in doing that, was able to forgive and accept them. Philippians 3:13-14- Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We must not only forget, but we must reach forth and endeavor to accomplish the will of God in our lives!
Genesis 48:16- The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Jacob's blessing to these boys brings to rememberance the wrestling with the Angel where Jacob himself received a blessing- a new name! No longer would he be known as "the supplanter", but now he would be known as "a prince with God". His blessing from the Lord was passed on to the sons of Joseph.
3. The Mosaic Blessing
Deuteronomy 33:13-17- And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. Again, both sons are mentioned together in the blessing of their father.
Manasseh was divided into two half tribes, each receiving an inheritance on both sides of the Jordan River. This could be prophetical in that God deals with his firstborn, Manasseh, mainly in the Old Testament before Christ is rejected of the Jews. Then, he turns again to deal with his firstborn in the New Testament during the Tribulation and history thereafter.
4. The Stone Agate in the Breastplate
The agate is harder than steel. These stones were originally found in Achates, Sicily. They are rough and unattractive until they are split and polished.
