By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph’s sons in turn, blessing them with God’s blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff. (The Message).

Jacob was ”still living by faith” when He died (see 13a). As he told Pharaoh when he arrived in Egypt, his 130 years on earth had been ”few and difficult” (Genesis 47:9), but at the end of his days he was still a worshipper of God. Many of his difficulties were self-made. Some were not. But in everything he had learned to trust in the faithfulness of God.

If we look at Jacob’s blessing of Joseph’s sons, as found in Genesis 48, 49, we will see that he did indeed bless them ”with God’s blessing”. There was something prophetic about these blessings. God was speaking through him. With Jacob, as with Isaac (20), he saw that God’s saving line would be fulfilled through the younger son.

Furthermore he ”blessed each of Joseph’s sons in turn”. We are individuals. We were not to imagine that we were ‘mass-produced in some celestial factory’ (John Stott). God has a distinct purpose for each of His children. May we know what ours is, and, like David, serve God’s purpose in our own generation (Acts 13:36).