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Genesis chapter 48, Genesis chapter 48, and this whole chapter is pretty much just dedicated to the fact of Jacob, or Israel, blessing Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim and Manasseh. And I'm gonna be talking about that, but I'm really gonna be kind of hitting on the allegory of Ephraim and Manasseh, and just talking about what this kind of represents on a outside realm, or more a bigger realm when we're looking at this. But we're gonna start by reading verse one there, where it talks about Israel being sick. So in Genesis chapter 48 in verse 1, it says, And it came to pass, after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold thy father is sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And one told Jacob, and said, Behold thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. Now what's interesting about this is that it seems like his children, Ephraim and Manasseh, are pretty young, the way he's like holding his hands on there. So I don't think that this, when it says he's sick and stuff like that, this could have been years of him being sick, or years, because if you think about Isaac with his sons Jacob and Esau, if you remember, you know, he's like, I'm about to die, I'm gonna bless you, and then 40 years later he comes back and, you know, he's still alive. So all I have to say is that I don't know when this is. I don't know if this is like right at the end, like this is the last year of his life in Egypt when he dies. It doesn't really tell us that. But anyway, when I read the story I kind of think of Ephraim and Manasseh, you know, coming out between Joseph's knees, and he's putting his hands on their heads, unless they're kneeling down. I guess it could be the case that they're older and they're kneeling down, but I picture them as being a little younger because he's in Israel for 17 years, and so that's something that, you know, he already had Ephraim and Manasseh when Jacob came in there, so if he was dying right at that point, you know, then they're pretty much adults at this point. But that doesn't mean that they're not, you know, it doesn't say that they're like lads or, you know, whatever. But anyway, all that to say is that sometimes it doesn't give you all that information. You kind of have to just figure out where you're at in the time frame there. But one thing I want you to notice with this is where it says in verse 2, it says, Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed when he saw Joseph coming unto him. Now go to Proverbs chapter 18, and this is just something that I kind of think about when people are on the brink of death, or they have a disease, or they have, you know, their spirit, your spirit, and just the way you look at life and stuff like that can determine how long you live. There actually is something to that, like the spiritual aspect to the length of how long you're actually going to stay alive. And Proverbs 18 kind of touches on this a little bit. Proverbs 18 verse 14, that's what it says. It says, the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear. And so it kind of talks about this when it's talking about being sick. Proverbs 15 13, Proverbs 15 13 says, a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. And in Proverbs 17 22 it says, a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones. So there's a lot to be said about this, and anybody, you may have known people, and I just remember my dad's twin brother right before he died, because he had cancer, and right before he died, he had this kind of like last bit of energy, where he couldn't eat anything. He wasn't, he couldn't keep anything down, couldn't eat anything, and just was, you know, at that store pretty much. Then all of a sudden like he, he got up and just had all this energy, and he was like eating bacon gravy and all this stuff, and like stuff that he can never put down before. Couldn't eat anything before that, let alone bacon gravy, and brother Dave had some of that, so he knows what I'm talking about. That's not, that's not a light food, okay, so that's something that you're gonna take down if you're in a real, if you feel good, but he died right after that, and so it was something that it was kind of like your spirit just kind of giving you that one last push, and I kind of see that with with Jacob here, but I also see the fact that sometimes, especially when you're older, people just give up, and you know sometimes, you know, I think that, you know, you may ask, you know, why do women live longer than men sometimes? I think women have a spirit to want to stay alive for their family, and men just don't care. I don't know, I don't know what it is, but I think that I've heard that, okay, I'm not saying that's true, but I've heard that women generally, like if their spouse dies, women generally will look and say, hey, my family needs me, I'm gonna, I need to try to stick around. I need, they have that will to live, so to speak, whereas when men, when they lose their spouse, it's just like, I'm done, and they're checking out, and I've seen this personally, I've seen this with with people that when it comes to who dies, and who dies first, and stuff like that, I don't want to be morbid, but what I'm saying here is that the Bible does kind of talk about this where it's, he talks about how he strengthened himself, and I believe that when he saw his son and his grandchildren coming to him, it's kind of like he was sick, but he's just like, you know, that just kind of gave him a jumpstart, and there is something to be said about, you know, the spirit, and how that can keep you going, and the fact that if you, if you just give up, you know, then you're not gonna make it, okay, so it's not all just like technical, like, you know, this is what's going on in your body, there is a spiritual aspect to it, as far as just keeping a good countenance about yourself, you know, having a merry heart. I mean, think about it, you know, if you're, if you're really, you know, just a depressed person, that's not good on your body, that's putting a lot of unneeded stress on your body, and when you, when you're happy and jovial, that's different, it just helps you out. Anyway, so I just kind of see that a little bit when I see the fact that he strengthened himself when he saw his son coming to him, but go to verse 3 of Genesis 48, and really the, the rest of this chapter is just dealing with Ephraim and Manasseh, so Ephraim and Manasseh, and then the next chapter is gonna be dealing with the twelve tribes, and what Jacob has to say to them. So in verse 3 there, it says, and Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people, and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. 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 beget us after them shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren and their inheritance. And so the thing that you have to see here, this is strong language because you got, you got to think about this, that he has these children kind of outside in another land, and Jacob's saying, hey they're just as much my children as Reuben and Simeon, and who's Reuben and Simeon? His first and second born. So he's putting them up on the level of his first and second born sons, and so he's stating that. What's interesting about this, and I don't have this in my notes, but in another place it talks about Ephraim, my firstborn. It's almost like he took Ephraim and Manasseh and put him instead of Reuben and Simeon, and if you know, obviously Reuben doesn't get the birthright because he lay with his concubine, and then Simeon and Levi don't get it because, because of what they did with, after Dinah, their sister was defiled and all that. So anyway, that's a whole other subject there, but but also the fact that the inheritance, you know, that it shall be called after the name of their brethren. So meaning that they're a part of Israel. That's what he's stating here. It's like, yeah they may be, they may have been born in Egypt, and you know, they're, so in this, this whole thing about, too, this pure blood, so to speak, of the Jews. Do you know that, that his wife, Joseph's wife was not, you know, of the land of, of the, you know, they didn't go back to Laban and find another wife for him, you know, and so this was an Egyptian that he married, and so right off the bat, Ephraim and Manasseh, which are great people in the tribes, is, you know, a mixed multitude, so to speak, but the big thing that I see here, this whole, the whole chapter here is focusing on the fact of him blessing, Israel blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, and the big thing is going on here is that, that Israel blesses Ephraim the younger. He blesses him more than Manasseh. They're both being blessed, so no one's being cursed here, okay, but he blesses Ephraim, and sometimes when you read Ephraim and Manasseh, sometimes you get, you get mixed up and think Ephraim's the firstborn, because Ephraim's brought up so much in the Bible, and even when it words that he says Ephraim and Manasseh, he says it in that order, and so Manasseh's actually the firstborn, and Ephraim is the younger, and I just want to read that, that portion here, but what I like in this, too, is, is we're gonna see that this happens a lot. Actually, it happened with, with Isaac and Ishmael. It happened with Jacob and Esau. It happened with, with Ephraim and Manasseh. It's gonna, it happened with Zara and Pherez of Judah, meaning that the younger prevailed over the elder, and this is an allegory. This is an allegory of the Old Testament and New Testament. Manasseh's the firstborn. Ephraim's the younger, and one's blessed higher than the other, and so that's what I want to show you is this allegory that's going on, that keeps going on, that pictures the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Israel to the holy nation, which is all nations, or multiple nations, right, and so Genesis chapter 48 and verse 14, it says, and Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly for Manasseh was the firstborn. So he knew what he was doing, and earlier in the chapter talked about how his eyes were dim, so this whole thing is that, you know, Joseph's thinking he just can't see, but pretty much the way this goes down is that it'd be like someone, if he was sitting right there, he's going backwards, so he had Ephraim, he had Ephraim over here, and he had Manasseh over here, so that when he took him up, so he had Manasseh in his left hand, but it would be his father's right hand, and so he brings him up like that, so that when he puts his hands out, you know, he'll put his hands on the right one, he'll put his right hand on the firstborn, his left hand on the younger, this is what Jacob did, you know, is he basically took his right hand and did it the other direction, and so that's what's going on here, but as we keep reading, we'll see that, but something interesting that you're gonna see here in verse 15 and 16 that I was noticing that, you know, kind of studying this out a little bit, that really doesn't have to do with what we're talking about, but I want you to see this in verse 15, it says, and he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my father's Abraham Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, blessed the lads. Now, I guess it does call them lads, so I, you know, actually when I said that, I was kind of like, I think it does say lads, notice that it says the angel, it doesn't say and the angel, it, so when you read this grammatically, God is the angel, and you remember where I was kind of talking about when he wrestled with the man, another place he talked about how he wrestled with the angel, I think this is validating that he wrestled with God, he wrestled with the Lord Jesus Christ, and this angel is equated with God, and later on when you go to Exodus, it talks about how the angel is going to go before them, his angel is going to go before them, so I think this kind of validates this, this is the first place, this first time I've ever noticed that grammatically, that the angel is equated with God. Now, I definitely think that that's the case in some other places, I'm not saying that I was against that, but here I think it's unequivocal, it says the God, which fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel, which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lad, so who's blessing the lads? God, the angel, so I just noticed, I noticed that when I was studying this out, I thought that was interesting, and I think that does validate that, that fact that when he was wrestling with the angel, he was wrestling with the Son of God, he was wrestling with Jesus, and you know, obviously a pre Old Testament appearance of him, but in 17, in verse 17 there, it says, and when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head, and Joseph said unto his father, not so my father, for this is the firstborn, put thy right hand upon his head, and his father refused and said, I know it my son, I know it, he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations, and he blessed them that day, saying, and thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh, and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. Notice that he says that Manasseh is going to be a great people, but Ephraim is going to be a multitude of nations. Do you see? Israel was what? Or the Old Testament was what? One nation, Israel, and what was the New Testament to? The Gentiles, or to all nations, including Israel, meaning that it was neither Jew nor Greek, neither Jew nor Gentile, it's all nations. So you can kind of see this allegory and how it works out, and which one's older? The Old Testament or New Testament? I know that's, you should know that, right? It's in the name. So the Old Testament's obviously the older, the firstborn, it's all, it's also called the First Testament. It's called the First Testament, what's the New Testament called? The Second Testament. And so what's, what would Ephraim be? The second born. And so you can see this allegory, but I want to just kind of go back because you see the allegory of this with Ishmael. This is strong, okay? This is Bible when it comes to Ishmael and Isaac. There's no guessing on this one. Go to Galatians chapter 4. There's no guessing on this one, but I believe that with Ephraim and Manasseh, you see the same allegory as far as blessing the younger above or more or better than the older. So Galatians 4, it flat out says that Ishmael and Isaac are an allegory of the old, the two covenants. The old and the new. And notice it says the two covenants, it doesn't say like the multitude or the three covenants, you know, when it comes to this Zionism stuff that says there's like some other covenant coming after this. There's nothing in there. I don't remember seeing a third child here, you know. The redheaded stepchild, you know, where they have to see to believe, you know. It's not by, it's not by faith anymore. It's by sight when the Jews come along, right? I listened to, so I have so many sermons that I want to preach. Like what, this is one of those weeks where I just don't have enough time to preach the sermons I want to preach, but I listened to an interview between John MacArthur and, what's his name, Ben Shapiro. So I watched this whole, there was a discussion between them, and there's two things I want to, but John MacArthur was like against replacement theology and all this stuff, and he said it was anti-Semitic and all this stuff. So I'm like, well I know what I'm preaching on Sunday. And then they were talking about slavery in the Bible and all this stuff, and both of them did a horrible job at explaining it. So I'm like, well I know what I'm gonna preach on eventually again there too. So sermon ideas, I'll just listen to a bunch of heretics talk about doctrine. I'll get my sermon ideas. All I have to say is that the Bible is very clear on this. In Galatians chapter 4 and verse 21, there's no way you can come out of this without understanding that these two sons are an allegory. This is actually where it says allegory in the Bible. In verse 21, it says, Either desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are in allegory? For these are the two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai which generate the bondage, which is Agar. I wonder who that's talking about, Mount Sinai, you know, the First Testament, the Old Covenant. For this, Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, in answer to Jerusalem, which now is and is in bondage with their children. But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. So you see that the children, the children of the flesh, are likened to who? Ishmael. The children of promise are Isaac. And then the mothers, Hagar, is likened unto Old Jerusalem, the physical Jerusalem. And then who's Sarah likened unto? New Jerusalem. And so these are all allegories, right? They're allegories as far as showing, hey, this is what was going on in this story. This is what this pictures as far as what's gonna happen in the future. And so this, no doubt, right, it says it's an allegory of the two covenants. And in Romans chapter 9, Romans chapter 9 hits both Isaac and Ishmael, but also Jacob and Esau. So with Isaac, you see that, right? Who's the older one out of Isaac and Ishmael? Ishmael. Ishmael's older by 13 years. So he's older and Isaac's the younger, but who's blessed more? Isaac. Who's older out of Jacob and Esau? Esau is the oldest. Who's blessed more? Jacob. So you see this coming down the line, and even with Judah's children, same thing. But I want to show you, so Romans chapter 9 and verse 6 there, it says, it says, not as though the Word of God had taken into effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall I see be called. Now why does he say that? Not because they're all the seed of Abraham. He's saying that Ishmael was his seed as well, right? Does that make sense? And it even says that in the Old Testament, that Ishmael was his seed, but that Christ was going to come through Isaac. And so, in Isaac shall I see be called. And so we see that there's a difference between those two. That is, they which are the children of flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. So we see that Ishmael with Hagar, we see Sarah with Isaac, we already covered all that, with all the head already in Genesis, but that's an allegory of the Old Testament, New Testament. The older and then the younger. And the younger was the one by promise, the younger was the one who Christ came through. And go to Genesis chapter 25, we'll see Jacob and Esau. Keep your finger in Romans 9, because we'll look back at that where it's quoting this. Now with Jacob and Esau, this allegory is actually a little different. I just wanted to show you this one, because it's still the younger to the older. But this allegory is more so the children of God compared to the children of the devil, okay, as far as the blessings go. Now Esau I don't believe was a child of the devil, but when it comes to this prophecy of the elder shall serve the younger, that's where I think we're more so talking about the children of God compared to the children of the devil. Because it says Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated. That gets into another realm, but it is an allegory of that. And when I preached on Obadiah that was the allegory that you have to understand when you're looking at Obadiah, because you're looking at children of God compared to children of the devil, and Israel represented as a whole the children of God. Edom represented as a whole the children of the devil. Not that everybody in there was a part of that, it's just the fact that that's what those nations represented. But in Genesis 25 verse 21 it says, and Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her, and she said, if it be so, why am I thus? And she and she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger. Now you remember the story that when Esau came out, Jacob had a hold of his heel. So he was, you know, right behind and, you know, taking hold. And it talks about how the younger can have greater power. We know that that doesn't really happen with the individuals, but it happens with the nations later on. But Romans chapter 9, if you still have your finger there, same thing. I just want you to see that it's just talking about the same thing in verse. So you see in Romans 9, it's giving you the allegory of Ishmael and Isaac, and then it's giving you the allegory of Jacob and Esau. In both those cases, the children that were blessed were younger. Younger to older. And so in Romans chapter 9, verse 10, it says not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to the election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And so we see that this is more so an allegory of the children of God, children of the devil. God loves his children, but he hates, you know, the children of the devil. And so we see that allegory, but it still is the younger to the older comparison. I go to Genesis chapter 38. Genesis chapter 38. Just to show you the Pharaohs and Zara. Now this one's similar to Jacob and Esau, only it's a little different because this has the scarlet thread thing going on. And, um, I feel bad for the women that have the birth of these twins that are just like rambunctious like this. But anyway, this is chapter 38 in verse 27. It says, and it came to pass in the time of her travail that behold, twins were in her womb. And it came to pass when she what she travail that the one put out his hand and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread saying this came out first and it came to pass as he drew back his hand that behold, his brother came out and she said, How has thou broken forth this breach be upon thee? Therefore his name was called Faraz and after afterward came out his brother that had the scarlet thread upon his hand and his name was called Zara. So Zara put forth his hand outside the womb, put the scarlet thread. Now this had to have happened before or else why was this woman putting a scarlet thread? So this midwife must have seen this before when you're dealing with twins that, you know, sometimes that would happen to where you don't know which child was born first or whatever. Anyway, so all that to say is that Zara put forth his hand out first. He's the one that had the scarlet thread about his hand, but then somehow Faraz broke forth and came out first. So that made Zara the first born and Faraz the second, technically, even though Zara is the one that fully came out, or Faraz is the one that fully came out first. But notice the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1. Who was, who did Jesus come through? He obviously came through Judah, but which of these children did he come through? The older or the younger? It's interesting too that they're always struggling between each other too, you know, with these children. They're always fighting with each other. But in Matthew chapter 1 and verse 3, it says, And Judas begat Faraz and Zara of Tamar. So that's the story, and notice who's the one in the line. And Faraz begat Ezrom, and Ezrom begat Aaron, and it goes down the line. So Faraz, the younger, is the one that's in the genealogy of Jesus. So within Israel's children, you have these two children, Judah and Joseph, that both their two children, their two sons, their two firstborn, you know, or not the firstborn, Judah had Sheila. But these two children that the younger is actually, you know, above the elder when it comes to certain aspects. And so you can see that all the way through. And one thing that's interesting too is the fact that Ephraim, later on when the kingdoms are split, is that the northern kingdom of Israel, and especially in Hosea, you see that it's referred to as Ephraim. And the southern kingdom is referred to as Judah, even though it's not just Judah. Benjamin was a part of that. Simeon was kind of assimilated with Judah to begin with. And so there was these other, you know, people that were kind of assimilated with that. And other tribes came down. If you remember when they split, there was other people that came down to Judah to be a part of the actual true religion of God. And so, but they were called Judah. And even in Jesus' day, it was called Judea. And so that's where they got the name Jews. Sorry, John MacArthur, but Abraham wasn't a Jew. I'm just going back to that interview, but he's just talking about how God blessed the Jews from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I'm just like, it's from Judah, my friend. So I know that Levi gave tithes, why he was yet in the loins of Abraham, you know, but I don't think I'd take it that far to say that Abraham was a Jew because Judah was in his loins somewhere, and that's why he's a Jew. So anyway, all that to say is that we see that now. There's some verses on this. You don't really have to look at this, but in Isaiah 7, just to show you that when it talks about this broken kingdom, a lot of times, now a lot of times they'll just say Israel and Judah. You know, the kings of Israel, the kings of Judah. But there's a lot of cases where instead of saying Israel, it says Ephraim. Why? Because Ephraim was the majority of that kingdom, just as much as Judah was the majority of the southern kingdom. And when Israel was a whole nation, Judah was the majority of that. Judah was the chief ruler. He was the one that prevailed. And you can look at this too when you look at how many armed men they had, and I didn't for the sake of time, if you go to Numbers, they number each tribe as far as all the men that are able to go forth to war before, you know, they die in the wilderness and after. So I believe it's in like Numbers at the very beginning, like chapter 1 or 2, they number all the men, and then in Numbers 26, before they go in for real with Joshua, they number them again, and you'll see that Judah is like the number one tribe, and then Ephraim's up there as far as the amount of people. And Manasseh's a big tribe too. So Ephraim and Manasseh are very blessed. They're a very big tribe, and even Manasseh had to be, he split off. If you remember, when they go into the Promised Land, some of them stay back before they go over to Jordan into Jericho. They wanted to just sojourn, and they wanted to live in that land on the east side of Jordan, and so you had a half tribe of Manasseh over there. So if you remember, we talked about that, and they kept saying the half tribe of Manasseh. So they were so big that they could actually split up and still have like tribes on both sides of Jordan. But in Isaiah 7 verse 17, it says, the Lord shall bring upon thee and upon thy people and upon thy father's house days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria. And the whole book of Hosea, it's just Ephraim and Judah, Ephraim Judah, Ephraim Judah, and it's just using that over and over again. For sake of time, I'm not gonna go there, but you know, you can literally just go through that whole book, and it's just Ephraim Judah, Ephraim Judah, and you're like, why does it keep saying Ephraim? It's because just the reason why it says Judah, even though there's other tribes that are in there with it. It's just that that's the bigger tribe. And so when you see that sometimes, when you see that being said, especially in the Minor Prophets, because you're dealing with when the kingdoms are split, and even in some cases you're dealing with after they were already destroyed, and they're talking about Ephraim, they're talking about Judah. And so, but I don't know if you knew this, but the two spies that came back with a good report, so they sent out 12 spies, one out of each tribe. Do you remember the two spies that were good, what tribes were they from? Now you're probably gonna know because what my whole sermon is about, but it's Ephraim and Judah. Go to Numbers chapter 13. Isn't that interesting? I don't think it's a coincidence, but I just want you to see that. So the two spies that were actually good, you know, good, righteous men end up being the biggest tribes in the land, and the number one, I mean the two big contenders when it comes to the northern kingdom, southern kingdom. And so Numbers chapter 13, this is where they're getting ready, they're sending out the, to spy out the land. Numbers chapter 13, verse 6, it says, Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Verse 8, Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. Now verse 16 clarifies, let's talk about Joshua, and so in verse 16 it says, These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land, and Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Jehoshua. So Joshua, Jehoshua, and in another place, when talking about Joshua the son of Josadec, it calls him Jeshua. And in the New Testament, it's Jesus. You can actually see where Jesus comes from, and you can even kind of see where Jehovah is mixed within that. Anyway, that's not a whole thing on the etymology of Joshua or anything like that, but all that to say is that that's interesting that the two spies that spied out the land, the one was from Ephraim, the one was from Judah, and those are the two most blessed men out of all the tribes of Israel. And so, but Ephraim, again, it says in Genesis chapter 48 that he's going to be a multitude of nations. A multitude. That's interesting, because when we see in the New Testament, so if you look at that in verse 19 of Genesis 38, it says, And the Father refused and said, I know it, I know it, my son, I know it. He also shall become a people and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. So you see, one nation compared to multiple nations. Now, look at Romans chapter one, because this is a phrase that you see a lot. What? To the Jew first and also to the Greek. To the Jew first and also to the Gentile. Notice who's first? The Jew. And I don't have time to go into all the passages on this, obviously, but I do want to show you that when we're talking about this with Ephraim and Manasseh, the younger is the better one. It's blessed more. The New Testament is not only newer, it's better. It actually calls it the better testament. It calls it the better covenant, and so it makes sense. What's better, one nation or multiple nations? I mean, just reading what the blessings are here, you would say that Ephraim got the better blessing, and so the New Testament is so much better than the Old Testament, just on so many levels, and you read Hebrews, it just threw out, and so I'm gonna kind of do a little tour de force through Hebrews there to just kind of show you that, but in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16, just to show you these verses, I'm sure you've seen these before, but in Romans 1 verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Why does it say that? Does it say, like, you know, he cares about the Jews more? You know, it's to the Jew first and also to the Greek because the oracles of God were given to the Israel. They were given to the Jews, meaning that it all came through them. They had the prophets that they were coming to, so it's kind of like if you were gonna, if you were gonna give the gospel to someone that claimed to be a Christian compared to someone that believed in, like, multiple gods, which one do you think's gonna hear it easier? The one over here that already has the foundations. They have the foundation of the fact that, you know, Jesus is God, the Trinity, they have that all down, so now you just gotta just prove to them that it's not by works, it's by grace alone. You know, this to the Jew first and also the Greek, I look at this to the Christian first and also to the, to the, you know, idolater, I don't know, you know, like the Hindu or something like that or the Muslim. Nowadays that's the way it is because the Jew is not what the Jews were back then, okay? Judaism today is a reconstructed rabbinic Talmud-worshipping religion. It's not what it was in the Old Testament. That's the fallacy that they come up with is that what they're doing today in Judaism is the same that's what we're reading here in the Old Testament. It's not. What we're reading here in the Old Testament is what we believe. What they did in the Old Testament was Christianity. They didn't know the name of the Savior, but what they believed is what we believe, okay? So, but in Romans chapter 2, just to show you that when it says to the Jew first, it's not saying that he has a preeminence for the Jew. This is what Sam Gipp will teach. This is what these heretics will teach is that, you know, the Jew has preeminence over the Gentile. Notice what it says here. It's just showing you that the Old Testament to New Testament, yeah, the Old Testament came first. The New Testament's better, and it's not saying that he had respect of persons because it actually says he doesn't. In Romans chapter 2, and for the sake of time I'm going to read the whole passage, but in verse 9 there says, tribulation, anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil of the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile, for there is no respect of persons with God. Notice that it's the punishments to the Jew first, too. You know, so it's not saying that, you know, the Jews blessed more than the Gentile. It's just saying that because all the oracles of God came to them first. In Romans chapter 3, I didn't have this in my notes, because then in Romans chapter 3 it kind of says why. It says, in verse 1 it says, what advantages then hath the Jew, or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way, chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. That's why there's an advantage, because they had the foundation. They had the foundation of all the prophets, and so it should have been easier for them to get saved. And I think with a lot of them that did get saved, it was easy, because they're looking at you, they're reading them Isaiah, and they're just like, yeah, I've been reading that all my life. You know, now it finally makes sense. And it's like when you go out and win Christians, you know, to the Lord, those are the easy ones to win because they have the foundation. It's harder to win the Muslim. It's harder to win the Hindu. I'm not saying it can't be won, but most of people, I mean, just let's be honest, most people we win are what? Self-professed Christians. And so, now I've won a Muslim to the Lord. I've won a Jew to the Lord, but that doesn't happen very often. You know, it's not like that's all the time, and you say, well that's because you live in West Virginia. Listen, in WVU, you run into every religion that you'd ever imagine out there. I mean, there's times where it's just like every door was a Muslim. I just spent my whole day in the Middle East giving the gospel, you know, because they're all like foreign exchange students. And it's great, though, because it's kind of like you got the mission field right at your front door, but all I have to say is that most of those people don't get saved. Some do, but it's not like the majority. Now, I also noticed this, that the word Gentile or Gentiles means nation. Now, go to Genesis chapter 10. Genesis chapter 10. I just want to blow through this real quick just to show this, and I'll prove it to you just by cross-referencing the Bible, but it's interesting, you know, you know what the Jews call Gentiles, like the Hebrew way they say it? They call it goi or goiim. Do you know that's the Hebrew word that's used for nation when it says Abraham? I'll make Abraham a great nation. So, it's just a term that means nation. Now, sometimes it can imply like a heathen nation, meaning like an idolatrous nation, but it's just a term that means nation. So, when you see Gentile to Jews first and also to Gentiles, it means to the Jew first and also to the nations, meaning that multiple nations. It's not just one nation. It's not just to Judea, because when it says Jew, that's what it's implying is location. It's implying, you know, because what do you, when you look to the Greek, what are you implying? You're implying an ethnicity or a location as far as who that's going to, but it was only to the Greek, you know. Obviously, it was to the Gentiles, it was to all the nations, but Greek was the, I mean, as far as languages go, that was the number one language at that time. Lingua Franca or whatever, however you want to say that in whatever cool way that they, Latin way that they say that, as far as just the, it's like English today, you know, it's the most spoken language. It'd be kind of like today you would say to the, to the Jew first and also to the English or something, I don't know, you know, something like that, but, but in Genesis chapter 10, this is the first time Gentiles is ever used, and it says in verse 5, it says, But these were the isles of the Gentiles, divided in their lands, everyone after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. Now I'm going to show you a cross reference, so in Isaiah 9, go to Isaiah 9, and we're going to cross reference this because this, this passage in Isaiah 9 is quoted in the New Testament, and we'll see that one place it says nations, one place it says Gentiles. So you don't need to know Hebrew to understand this, you know. Actually, you don't need Hebrew to understand any of the Bible because we have it in English. So this is always a good way to cross-reference things and see, you know, what words mean. It says in verse 1, it says, Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when the first he highly afflicted, lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did no more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea beyond Jordan and Galilee of the, of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Now look at Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4 is where this quote is quoted. I was quoting it from Isaiah 9, talking about Jesus, but in Matthew 4 and verse 15, it says the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. So you see that in the Old Testament, it says Galilee of the nations. In the New Testament, it says Galilee of the Gentiles. So we see that that's just talking about nations. So I just want to prove that to you. So when you're saying, you know, to the Jew first and also to the Gentiles, it's talking about the fact that you're going from the people that were in the Old Testament, you know, or in the that first covenant which was Israel as a nation. It's kind of like to Israel and also to all the other nations, is what he's saying there. Now salvation has always been that way. I don't want you to get confused on that. Salvation has always been to the whole world. It says look unto me all the ends of the earth and be saved. And so it's always been salvation to all the ends of the earth. But when it comes to these covenants, that's what it was. It was before the Old Testament, you know, it was different. It was the order of Melchizedek. But when the Old Testament happened, that was a specific nation that God was using to bring his law through, to bring all his prophets through, and all this stuff. But those prophets were preaching to the other nations. I just got done reading Jeremiah, and there's the whole chapter is just dedicated to him preaching to other nations. And so like condemnation to Egypt, condemnation to Moab, condemnation to, you know, to Babylon. So there's all these things that they're preaching to other nations. And so it's not like they just had this localized ministry where it was just Israel and us Israel and no more kind of thing. No, they were supposed to be the light to the whole world. The New Testament's different because now all the nations are to be the light to the world. Meaning that it's all believers. It's not just this one central area where everybody's kind of coming out from that. Now we have all nations, and there's local churches throughout all those nations that's spreading the light. It's kind of like spreading out your forces, and it's a lot better. And obviously the Old Testament to New Testament is an allegory of the law and grace. It says for the law was given by Moses, but what? Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is what? A picture of what? The law. And what is the New Testament? Grace. And the law couldn't save anybody. Never could. So when they were in the Old Testament, it's not like they got saved by the law, but that was a picture of, hey, you can't get saved by the law. You know, the fact that that had faults, and it was by reason of them that they couldn't keep that covenant, and they broke that covenant, what does that prove? The law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. And the law has concluded all under sin that we might be justified by what? Faith. So that is something that is just an allegory. It's an allegory of salvation, of the law and grace, but it's not this dispensationalism where now in the New Testament people are finally saved by grace. You know, it's been by the law, it's been by works all this time. No one could ever do it. Because if that was the case, then no one went to heaven before the New Testament. Everybody's in hell. David's in hell. Abraham's in hell. All these people are in hell because they were trying to get there by their works. But just to show you that, that the difference between the Old Testament and New Testament as far as one nation compared to many nations. Go to Exodus chapter 19. Exodus 19 is where it's establishing the Old Testament. So Exodus 19 is where it's talking about that, and then Exodus 20 is where you had the Ten Commandments that are being spoken, but then throughout the rest of Exodus there you have all the commandments and judgments that are giving. It's not just the Ten Commandments. And then you have them building the tabernacle or God's giving them instructions on how to build a tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant and all the stuff that's going to go into the tabernacle. And then they actually build it. So that's all in Exodus after chapter 19 here. Leviticus is all about all the sacrifices. So you think about Exodus is like the tabernacle, everything's gonna be in tabernacle. Leviticus is all about the sacrifices, more on the judgments, giving a little more detail, some more things when it comes to that. Numbers, there's like a couple things that are dealing with ordinances and everything, but Numbers is more so the story of them not going into the Promised Land and wandering for 40 years. Deuteronomy is the second giving of the law. That's why it's called Deuteronomy. So just to kind of give you an overview of what's going on in those books. But Exodus chapter 19 in verse 3, it says, Now, you know, people get mixed up with this too because they're like, well it was only the children of Israel. No, anybody could become a part of that though. Anybody that wanted to be a part of that, it talks about this in the Ulta. It talks about it in Deuteronomy on how if you want to be a part of Israel, all you have to do is figure out what tribe you want to be into. And if you're a man, you get circumcised and you do the ordinances, you're a part of it. Obviously you're supposed to be a believer, but that's just kind of like the ordinances you do to be a part of it. And so this isn't like exclusive to any nationality or anything like that. It's just that this was more of a localized, like it's gonna be kind of like if you're saying, I want to be a Christian, I want to serve God, and it was set up to where you had to live in a certain country and you had to go to this one church, you know, kind of thing as far as to do certain ordinances and stuff like that. That's what that's kind of like. So do you see why it's better now? Do you see why it's a lot better now? And think about it, even back then, society was more closed in, right? After the flood, everybody's coming out of where? The mountains of Ararat. So everything's kind of spreading out, spreading out. I don't believe during Jesus' day that there was like, obviously, I mean, when did we settle this land, you know? Is it 1492, is that when he sailed the ocean blue? 1492 that Christopher Columbus came upon and like slaughtered. Anyway, there's obviously Vikings and stuff like that came over, but it wasn't really settled until we came over here and started settling it and start all that stuff. So do you see how everything's being spread out? It's almost like God knew that the whole earth was gonna be encompassed with people and it wouldn't be easy to have a central location. So it's kind of like spreading out your forces and making sure you have a light throughout the world. But you go to 1 Peter chapter 2. So 1 Peter chapter 2, we see that now this holy nation, and remember it says a kingdom of priests. It talks about a kingdom of priests and it words it a little different. It calls it a royal priesthood in the New Testament. But notice in verse 9, 2 Peter, or 1 Peter, did I say 2 Peter? 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9 it says, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Notice this, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. So what are we talking about? We're talking about the Gentiles. We're talking about everybody, but it's not just the Gentiles. Remember when you're in Christ, it's neither Jew nor Greek. It's neither Jew nor Gentile. That means that it's all assimilated. It's not like they, it's not like when this happened, when we came into the New Testament, it's like everybody that's an Israelite, you're gone. You're not a part of the New Testament. You can't be a part of New Testament. No, that's why he says in Romans chapter 11, has he cast away his people, which he foreknew? It says, God forbid I'm an Israelite. I mean most the apostles were Israelites. They were Jews. So the New Testament's better because it not only includes Israel, but it includes all the other nations too. Meaning that everybody's a part of this, and can be, have local churches, and it's more spread out, and so the ministry obviously is easier and better. You say you keep calling it better. It is better, and so I'm sick and tired, you know, of these people are the Jew worshipers out there that are just like, man, I mean I John MacArthur wishes he was a Jew. I mean these people like John Hagee, they just wish they could figure out if they were a Jew because they're so special. You know, there's nothing special about a nationality. God's not a respecter of persons, and so, but go to Hebrew chapter 7, Hebrew chapter 7, and this is the last thing I want to show you here, and your homework is to read the book of Hebrews because it's over and over and over again showing you, hey, this was a picture for a time then present, these were a shadow of things to come, they were all physical, they weren't perfect, you know, they had their issues, all these problems, all the priests had infirmities, and now what do we have? It's just constantly saying, here's the Old Testament, here's the New Testament, this is so much better. And so, in Hebrew chapter 7 and verse 19, it says, for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a what better hope did, by the which we draw an eye on the God, and then as much as not without an oath he was made priest, for those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath made by him that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after your order of Melchizedek, by so much was Jesus made a surety of a what better testament. So, when you say New Testament, it's the better testament, and Hebrews chapter 8, go to Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 6, Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 6, Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 6, it says, but now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a what better covenant, which was established upon better promises, for if the first covenant be faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. There's your Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh was a great people, and he was blessed, but Ephraim was the younger, and it was a multitude of nations, and he was blessed far above Manasseh, and the younger ended up being greater, and if you think about it, Christ came out of the younger, meaning that Christ is the one established. Christ is the high priest of this, the New Testament, whereas the Levites that had infirmities were the high priests, and they would die, but Christ, after the order of Melchizedek, he ever liveth to make intercession for us, and so go to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, applying to us, talking about better things for us, because Hebrews chapter 11 is just this hall of faith from Abel all the way down, and he kind of just gets into, like, you know, time would fail for me to name all these prophets, so he kind of just starts, you know, like, Barak, Jephthah, Samson, and all this stuff, and so he could have gone on for days just talking about all the prophets that have gone through things, and then he kind of just sums it up with all these different things that people went through, stopping the mouths of lions, you're probably talking about Daniel, and so you think about all these things he's talking about, but notice how he ends this chapter in verse 39, Hebrews 11 verse 39 says, and all these, or I'm sorry, and these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided somewhat better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect, so this is better, you know, they had, they had the promises that they were looking forward to, it's kind of like they knew of Christ coming, they knew of all this stuff that was going to come, and this, this is better for us, so you ever think, well, man, I wish I could be in the glory days of Israel, and I could be back then when they were parting the Red Sea, no, this is better, we're in a better testament, we're in a better covenant, established upon better promises, you know, we should praise the Lord, we have the Holy Ghost indwelling us, teaching us what the Word of God says, we have the whole, a more sure word of prophecy, I mean, this is the better time to live in, this is, this is the golden age, you know, you want to say that this is, you know, the ages and all this stuff, yeah, I mean, the New Testament is the better testament, it's the best time that, if you're gonna live in a time, this is the best time to live in it, and so, don't, you know, don't worry about, you know, like, former days and all that stuff, so, Hebrew chapter 12 is the last thing I'll show you here, Hebrew chapter 12, and I'm not gonna read all of it, because, you know, it talks about, we're not come unto the mount which cannot be touched, and it says, but we are come out unto Mount Zion, you know, so he's going, the mountain that couldn't be touched, what is he talking about? Mount Sinai, and it's talking about God, it's quaking, and all this stuff, and, you know, Moses exceedingly shook, you know, and so they were all afraid, remember the 70 elders that said, we don't even want to talk to God, we don't want to die, so they were afraid, all this stuff, but then it's saying, hey, we're coming to Mount Zion to New Jerusalem, what do you see? Old Jerusalem, New Jerusalem, you see Agar, which is Mount Sinai in Arabia, you see New Jerusalem, which is a representation of Sarah, all her children would be the children of promise, which are all the saved. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 24, it ends it with this, it says, into Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh what? Better things than that of Abel. And so, if you get anything out of the sermon tonight, it is the fact that the New Testament is the better testament. It's younger, you know, it's younger, but it's kind of like, you know, that parable where, where I preach on a parable where the laborers come for a penny, they agree for a penny, and then you have those that come in kind of like on the last hour, and everybody's kind of like, man, you know, they only worked an hour, and it's kind of like that with the New Testament, you know, I think that in the New Testament people are laboring more abundantly, too, because maybe that person in that last hour did more work than that person did for that whole 12 hours that they were out there working. Because we have a more sure word of prophecy, we have the Holy Ghost inside of us, you know, we can have way more confidence than what they had back then when it comes to what we believe, what we preach, and what we do, and I think that's interesting. I always love seeing those allegories in the Old Testament, and sometimes you see that, I mean, obviously Galatians 4, if you've read your Bible, you know that Ishmael and Isaac is an allegory of the Old Testament, New Testament, the two covenants, right? But sometimes you may read over where you see this stuff with Ephraim and Manasseh and not see how that also applies, so I just always think of Jesus on the road to Emmaus, talking to his disciples and expounding the scriptures unto him, and I just want to know what he said to him, because there's so much that I'm always seeing in here, and listen, we're gonna be done with Genesis here soon, but I don't think I've scratched the surface on what kind of allegories and symbolism and spiritual things that are in here when it talks about Jesus, and it's just an infinite book, and you know, I just can't, I honestly can't wait to be in heaven and just ask Jesus to just teach me more about what was there that I didn't see, and just see all these gems and be like, oh man, it was right in front of my eyes, I didn't see it, and so, but that's Genesis chapter 48, so getting closer to the end, obviously we're getting closer to the end of the year, too, but let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for tonight, and pray that you'd be with us as we go back home, and as we work throughout the week, I pray to bless our jobs and our finances, and Lord, thank you for your word, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins, and we just praise you and thank you for the New Testament, for the better covenant, Lord, that we can live in, to where we don't have to travel to Israel to do sacrifices, and we don't have to live in that country to really be a part of your house or to be a part of your people, and Lord, we just thank you for that, that we're in the New Testament and establishing that, and Lord, just again, we pray that you'd be with us tonight, and we love you, and we pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen.