Jacob Chanikuzhy

Those who have power and influence, sometimes do favours even out of the way, to their friends and supporters. A selfish and self-seeking ruler might distribute perks and prizes to others not on account of their merits but just on the basis of their loyalty to him. But, do the favours bestowed by the narrow-minded and nepotic benefactors really help the unworthy beneficiaries? It can happen that the undeserved power and position make the recipients selfish, arrogant, spiteful and even immoral and irreligious. It will ultimately lead to their own ruin. This sad scenario can occur even with the divine blessings. The Good Lord showers undeserved blessings and graces to every one of his children. But, how do we go about with these gratuitous blessings is the matter that really counts. The story of the blessing of Ephraim is a case in point.

Patriarch Jacob was nearing his death and he wanted to see his son Joseph. Being second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, Joseph must have had many things to oversee. Still he found time to visit his old and ailing father. He took also his two children – Manasseh and Ephraim – with him. Probably they were in their twenties. These young men were brought up as royalties in a royal palace and in Egyptian culture. The Egyptians detested the Hebrew shepherds. Still, they accompanied their father to visit their grandfather, who was a Hebrew shepherd. Their domicile in a foreign country and their life there in affluence did not make them forget their family relations and racial roots!

The happy news about the visit of Joseph with his two children raised the spirit of Jacob. He mustered all his remaining physical strength to sit on the bed to greet his son and grandchildren. A great gift a sick person can offer to his sorrowful family and friends is to appear with a cheerful and hopeful face. Jacob could very well put a brave face even at the vicinity of his death. It is noteworthy that the very first words that Jacob spoke to Joseph were about his God experience in Luz. It is the fond remembrance of God and all that he did in his life that sustained him in his old age and deathbed.

Before his death, Jacob wanted to give his final blessing to his grandchildren. Although Manasseh was the firstborn of Joseph, Jacob gave the special blessing of the firstborn to Ephraim, the younger son, raising him above his elder brother.

Subsequent history of Israel shows how the tribe of Ephraim rose into power and glory. Joshua, the successor of Moses was a descendent of Ephraim himself. The tribe of Ephraim occupied the central part of Canaan, enjoying a very fertile and secure land. Important places of worship like Shechem and Shiloh was in the territory of Ephraim, enhancing its religious importance. After the death of King Solomon when the kingdom was divided into two, Jeroboam, an Ephraimite became the first king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Thus, Ephraim became the seat of royal house and political power. Later on Ephraim became so prominent among the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom that the entire Northern Kingdom was sometimes called Ephraim.

However, the blessings received by Ephraim, as the Deuteronomic history in the Bible discloses, made them arrogant, domineering, jealous, and discontent. According to the biblical narratives, it was because of the jealousy of Ephraim over the glory and might of the tribe of Judah that Ephraim led the ten tribes of Israel to separate themselves from Judah. In their blind hatred towards Judah, they repudiated everything related to Judah – their Davidic king, their temple of Jerusalem, and their God, Yahweh Himself. In order to differentiate themselves from the people of Judah, and to create an identity for themselves and to consolidate their political power they did even forsake the true God. Subsequent history of Israel is the history of sheer idolatry. Ephraim, the recipient of undeserved blessings from Yahweh, became so ungrateful to Yahweh that it became the leader of apostasy. In its jealousy and malice towards Judah, it divided the kingdom ruining the unity among brothers. Its apostasy and arrogance sealed its fate. Ephraim was defeated by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. and was sent to exile. Since then no one has ever heard anything from the tribe of Ephraim. It is now counted as one among the ten lost tribes of Israel!

The story of Ephraim is a powerful warning to all who boast of their special blessings from God.