Alrighty, the last time we met we were discussing the cross-handed blessing that Jacob handed down to Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh.
The result of this tradition-defying blessing were the following three things.
Thing One:
Joseph’s two sons literally became Jacob’s own two sons (as opposed to staying his grandchildren).
Thing Two:
The birthright blessing (comprised of the authority to rule the clan and the right to receive all the family’s wealth) was turned over to the younger child instead of the first-born child.
Thing Three:
Joseph’s cross-handed blessing turned out to be prophetic and determined the future destinies of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and how Ephraim would be the dominant tribe.
I want to now show you a perfect example how “Thing Three” occurred several hundred years later.
Let’s fast forward all the way to the time of King Solomon.
During Solomon’s time, Israel was a united, powerful and respected nation.
However, that changed practically overnight after Solomon’s son died and his son inherited the throne.
Almost immediately Israel fell into turmoil and a civil war split the nation into two kingdoms.
We know these nations as the “Northern Kingdom” and the “Southern Kingdom”…
…OR…
as the “Kingdom of Judah” and the “Kingdom of Israel”.
Judah was in the south and Israel was in the north.
Now here’s the thing and this is a big thing folks.
The northern kingdom was NOT called Israel at the time.
That’s right.
Calling the Northern Kingdom “Israel” is a recent edit or redaction that was inserted into our modern Bibles.
The original and oldest manuscripts call the northern kingdom “Ephraim”.
At this stage, out of the 12 original tribes of Israel, Judah and Ephraim had become the top dogs in the nation of Israel.
Understand that territories were usually named after the dominant tribes in the area in Biblical times.
Hence, when the two kingdoms came into being as a result of the civil war, they were named after the two dominant tribes who controlled them…
…which was Judah in the south…
…Ephraim in the north.
Ain’t this just freakin’ awesome?!?!?!?
We can see the historical manifestation of Jacob’s cross-handed blessing occurring several hundred years later.
If this isn’t proof of the supernatural and prophetic nature of the Holy Scriptures, I don’t know what is.
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