The Spirit of God prompted that question in my mind several days ago. Over the last few days and evenings the Lord graciously provided me with the answer – HIS answer – to that question. The first pondering He planted in my mind was to wonder just how the apostle Paul would have expounded upon the 48th chapter of Genesis to those in the various congregations he taught and nurtured. The 48th chapter of Genesis, of course, is the passage where Jacob, or Israel, pronounces a blessing upon the sons of Joseph – Manasseh and Ephraim. Remember, Paul felt certain that he and his fellow apostles might be the last Christians to die prior to the return of the Lord. (See I Corinthians 4:9). He cautioned young people desiring to marry that it would be better to marry than to burn with passion for one another, yet reminded them that “the time is short” and that the fashion of the present world was soon to pass away. (See I Corinthians 7:9, 29 and 31). Therefore, if Paul thought that the blessing Israel pronounced upon Ephraim and Manasseh had not been fulfilled, he would have had to conclude that the blessings pronounced would only find fulfillment in the yet to come kingdom of God! The Spirit of the Lord then drew my attention to the glaring fact that Ephraim was never mentioned in the New Testament and Manasseh was mentioned only once, in Revelation 7:6.
Many years ago I had noted that Ephraim figured largely in Hosea’s prophecy, that, in fact, Ephraim was mentioned THIRTY-SEVEN TIMES in that short prophetic book. I was compelled to read the fourteen chapters of Hosea over and over and over again, literally dozens of times. In this study I will share with my readers what I then saw plainly and clearly in that ancient inspired book.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley