THE EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH BLESSING

Someone once said that if there is a blessing that every single person needs to hear again and again, it is the Ephraim and Manasseh blessing. This is the blessing spoken by the patriarch Jacob in Genesis 48:20 over his two grandsons.

So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Why is this blessing so relevant?

Its relevance has to do with the meaning of the names Ephraim and Manasseh. Joseph had intentionally chosen these names for his two sons as landmarks in his difficult life experiences.  His brothers had sold him into slavery because of jealousy, and the lies of his master’s wife landed him in jail while in Egypt. However, through all of Joseph’s hardships, God’s favor kept working in his life and eventually he rose to a governmental position of great prominence in Egypt.

By the time Joseph’s first son was born, his long season of hardship had ended, so he appropriately named him Manasseh, which means “making forgetful.” To the second-born he gave the name Ephraim, which means “making fruitful and prosperous.”

Genesis 41:51-52 puts it this way:

Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

How about you? Do you have some painful experiences that you need to forget? And don’t you dream of a future that is fruitful and prosperous.

I see this blessing as the divine antidote for a painful past (especially painful emotional memories), and a catalyst for future prosperity.

Receive Your Blessing

This is your moment of freedom. Open your heart right now and receive divine grace to release forgiveness to those who may have caused you pain in the past. This is a prerequisite for the blessing to start working in your life. Joseph would not have graduated into a season of prosperity had he not forgiven his brothers.  Releasing those who have hurt us into the hands of God is the secret to our future prosperity.

Here now is the blessing:

In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I bless you with the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh. May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh—May He cause you to forget the pain of your past, including the pain of your father’s house, and may He make you fruitful and prosperous in the future. You are blessed in the name of the Lord.

Pay it Forward

It is significant to note that even to this day, many Jewish families still speak the Ephraim and Manasseh blessing over their children.

Can you imagine if we were to speak this blessing over ourselves, to our children, and to others on a regular basis?

It’s short. It’s simple. It’s powerful. Let’s pay it forward!

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