Humility in God

I read Genesis 48 today so here's what I've pulled from it: This passage talks about who is blessed in the Earth and what humility means.

In this chapter Joseph presents his sons to Jacob realizing that Jacob's is probably near death. Jacob reminds Joseph of the blessing he received from God from Luz (running away from Esau). I think this takes us back to Jacob's blessing, that he received it from Isaac even though he was the younger son (Jacob and Esau). Towards the end of the chapter, Joseph receives a blessing that is greater than his brothers because Jacob loved Rachel. Remember that he was the younger of the other brothers. And as Jacob was blessing Joseph's sons, the younger received the greater blessing.

In a way, there were three instances where the greater blessing did not go to the one who would receive it in a cultural sense. Rather it went to the one who least deserved it. I think this passage makes several points about humility and blessing:
1. God's blessing is granted to those who seem to least deserve it.
2. Blessing comes in the form of fulfillment of God's promise
3. Humility can only come from God

For the first point, God's blessing seems to go to the younger sibling, not the older sibling. In older cultures, the older sibling deserves the blessing of the parent because ore responsibility is placed on them. They are the leaders of the household, second to the father. In a bigger picture, this passage seems to imply that God's blessing goes to those who least deserve it. Jesus' sermon on the mount seems to support this.

What is that blessing? It is the accomplishment of God's promise for our good. God's promise in the passage is the blessing of abundance in terms of children and prosperity. And the third point is that humility can only come from God. In a way, we can only be humble if we see ourselves in terms of God's holiness.

Why is this important? Because unless we reach a point of humility in respect to God's holiness, we'll never reach a point of true humility. True humility, in the passage, is the realization that you never deserved the blessing in the first place. Jacob was the 2nd born, Joseph was the youngest of all his brothers, and Ephraim was the 2nd born. If anyone deserved the blessing, it should be the 1st born. I think that the reason Jacob gave the blessing to Ephraim instead of the older sibling is to pass on this realization. That it will be through faith that their promises will be accomplished, not through works or status.

In terms of who deserves God's blessing and promise, let's also look at the cross. God gave us something that we never deserved. God gave us Christ exactly because He knows there's nothing we can do to repair the relationship we have broken with Him. And so in terms of blessing, God gave us the greatest gift of all: Christ.