Genesis 48:14Plain English VersionBut Jacob didn’t do that. No, he put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, even though Ephraim was the younger son. And then he crossed his left arm over his right arm, and he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the older son. See the chapter |
Then Joseph stood up. He put his son Ephraim on his right side, and he put his son Manasseh on his left side, and he went near to Jacob with his 2 sons, so that Jacob can ask God to be good to them. Then Joseph put his younger son Ephraim in front of Jacob’s left hand, and he put his older son Manasseh in front of Jacob’s right hand. You see, in that culture, people thought that their right hand was more important than their left hand. So Joseph wanted Jacob to put his right hand on Manasseh, because he was the older son. And he wanted Jacob to put his left hand on Ephraim, because he was the younger son.
While Jacob said all those things, he had his right hand on Ephraim’s head, and he had his left hand on Manasseh’s head. But Joseph wanted Jacob to put his right hand on Manasseh, because he was the older son. So Joseph got upset, and he tried to move Jacob’s right hand from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
Jesus said, “Don’t pray like those people that want everyone to think they are good, even though they are not good. They like to stand up and pray in the meeting houses and on the busy street corners, so that lots of people can see them praying. They want to hear people say, ‘That’s a good person.’ But listen, that is all those people will get. God will not give them anything good for doing that.”
If ever you need to pick somebody to be a church leader, pick somebody that has been a Christian for a long time, not somebody that is a new Christian. It is like this. If the person you pick starts to go wrong, everyone will blame you as well as blaming that person. So pick somebody that you know is really good, so that you don’t get yourself mixed up with something that is wrong.