It’s funny how things come full circle, isn’t it?
When we first meet Jacob back in Genesis 25, he is known as the “supplanter” (Genesis 25:26). He came out of his mother’s womb literally grabbing the heel of his older brother, Esau – an action that foreshadows how Jacob would constantly be trying to take pre-eminence.
When they were in the womb, there was even a struggle between the two. Esau and Jacob “wrestle” within the tomb; when Rebekah inquires why this is happening, God tells her that the “older will serve the younger.”
Finally, we have the culmination of this prophecy when Jacob steals the birthright from his brother Esau, walks with God, and secures the lineage. That was Esau’s birthright, but it was given to Jacob, the younger brother.
This isn’t the only time something like this has happened. In Genesis 16 and 17, Abram’s wife Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, but it’s his second child, Isaac, who is the actual child of promise. Like with Jacob and Esau, the older is secondary to the younger.
Now, at the end of Jacob’s life, it’s happening for a third time.
When Joseph brings his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to be blessed by their grandfather, he positions them so that the older son (Manasseh) is on Jacob’s right hand, which is the position of honor. Ephraim, the younger, is on Jacob’s left hand.
However, when Jacob reaches out to bless them, he intentionally crosses his arms to bless the younger over the older.
Joseph is aghast by this, thinking that his father’s poor eyesight is the cause for the mixup (Genesis 48:10). Jacob insists that the positioning is correct, and explains to Joseph that the younger brother “shall be greater than he [the older].”
As if to reiterate this point, Jacob blesses them again, saying “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” The fact that he uses Ephraim’s name first signifies his pre-eminent status. Several hundred years later, in Jeremiah 31:9, God calls Ephraim His “firstborn.”
To be fair, there isn’t really that much of a tangible difference in the blessings. Both will become great fathers of great tribes, but Ephraim will be “greater.” Ephraim’s descendants will become a “multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:19).
Eventually, Bible history will prove this to be true. When the tribes eventually leave Egypt, the tribe of Ephraim will have 8,000 men more than Manasseh (Numbers 1:32-35). There will be a slight correction during the second census when Manasseh pulls ahead, but Ephraim’s status will be bolstered by some notable names, such as Joshua and Jeroboam.
In the end, it’ll be Ephraim who attains superiority over Manasseh, second only to Judah. If Jacob were alive to see what Ephraim became, it would’ve looked awfully familiar to his own relationship with Esau. Life truly does come full circle, sometimes.