The story of Joseph in Genesis is meaningful on many levels. On one level, Joseph is a picture of Jesus. Their lives tell symmetric truths. Joseph, at the bidding of his father, departs in search for his brothers. Upon finding his brothers, Joseph is rejected by them, schemed against, and put in the ground. He rises though, and lives on to dwell among the Gentiles without his Hebrew brothers realizing it. Joseph literally saves the world (Genesis 41:57), and God greatly blesses everyone for Joseph’s sake.
The parallels between Joseph and Jesus go on and on, and these parallels give way to additional meaning.
While living in a Gentile nation, Joseph has two children: Ephraim and Manasseh. The question we seek answer here is, who do Ephraim and Manasseh represent? Since Joseph is a picture of Jesus, who then do Joseph’s kids portray?
Gentile believers! Ephraim and Manasseh are a picture of Gentile believers!
Recall, their mother Asenath was not Jewish. She was Egyptian. So by Jewish standards, Ephraim and Manasseh are both technically Gentile since they shared a Gentile mother. (Research Matrilineally in Judaism.) As Gentiles, they would be adopted as sons of Israel and grafted in to all of God’s promises. Let us follow this through...
1. Ephraim and Manasseh are born to a Hebrew savior whose identity is hidden
Just as Ephraim and Manasseh were born to a Hebrew savior whose identity was veiled, Gentile believers are born to a Hebrew Messiah whose identity is veiled. I say this because Jesus’ identity is hidden from His Hebrew brothers. They do not recognize Him for who He really is. Due to the way He is presented, Jesus looks and sounds very Gentile. This is just like the brothers not recognizing Joseph because he looked and sounded very Egyptian. His Hebrew brothers did not see him as their own.
Even more, Joseph’s identity is hidden from even Ephraim and Manasseh. Though they dwell with him and know him very well, Ephraim and Manasseh are disconnected from Joseph’s cultural background. After all, the two of them had come to know Joseph in a Gentile setting. Joseph dressed like an Egyptian. Joseph spoke like an Egyptian. Joseph attended to Egyptian matters. Ephraim and Manasseh likely heard stories about their father’s heritage, but of what real importance did his Hebrew family have now? Especially after what they did to him. Indeed, Ephraim and Manasseh discounted Joseph’s cultural roots, just as some Gentile believers may fail to appreciate Jesus’ cultural roots.
2. Ephraim and Manasseh are grafted in with the children of Israel
When all the families finally come together at the end of the story, it is a momentous occasion. In the next book, the book of Exodus, we see their united departure from Egypt. When the Israelites leave, the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh leave with them! They realize they share a common destiny, partake in a common redemption. What they had known their whole lives (Egypt) would be left behind. In its place would be their new home, the land of Israel alongside the people of Israel.
As Gentile believers, this is our spiritual home: the land of Israel, the Messiah of Israel, the Scriptures of Israel, the people of Israel. But like Ephraim and Manasseh, we discover this rich heritage later on in life. We come into it not by natural birth but by adoption.
3. Ephraim and Manasseh are raised without Israel’s knowledge
The sons of Jacob had no idea that Joseph was over in the Gentile world, alive and active, bringing about salvation to the people. Similarly, the Jewish people do not realize that Jesus, their Jewish brother, is alive and active in the Gentile world. He is reproducing; he is having children. Without their knowing it, Gentile believers are being raised up and added to God’s family. In due time the Jewish people will learn of us, and they will come to see Gentile believers as their own kinsmen. More than that, the Jewish people will consider Gentile believers to be one of the most fruitful portions of the Kingdom. (“Ephraim” mean fruitful. Ephraim’s tribe becomes so fruitful that, later on, the entire northern kingdom of 10 tribes is called Ephraim.)
4. Ephraim and Manasseh are the youngest of the brothers
Joseph’s father Jacob adopted Ephraim and Manasseh as his own children! Therefore, Ephraim and Manasseh become the youngest of the brothers, younger than even Benjamin. So, too, Gentile believers are the newest comers to the commonwealth of Israel, the latest arrivals to the covenant of promise.
5. Ephraim and Manasseh proliferate like fish
In Genesis 48:16, Jacob says a blessing over Ephraim and Manasseh. Speaking by way of the Holy Spirit, Jacob says, “May they proliferate like fish...”
What, pray tell, is the international symbol for the Gentile church? A fish! Jacob even goes on to say, “May they proliferate like fish in the land.” This seems like a bizarre thing to say, given that fish live in the water. But read in the context of Gentile believers, it makes perfect sense. We proliferate like fish in the land.
Let us end with something that reveals the graciousness of our Father. In Genesis 48:3, Jacob says to Joseph, “Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Rueben and Simeon are.” Here we have a father (Jacob) speaking to his son (Joseph). Due to Ephraim and Manasseh’s relationship with the son, the father values them as much as he values his eldest children (Rueben and Simeon). In a similar sense, Gentile believers have a direct relationship with the Father’s Son, and because of that relationship, Gentile believers occupy a cherished position in the Father’s mind, and we are blessed just as Ephraim and Manasseh were blessed.
