Jacob may have blessed Ephraim for different reasons. He could have done this because he had struggled with his older brother Esau over the family’s birthright and blessing. Jacob had also favored the younger sister Rachel over the older sister Leah as his two wives. Therefore, he may have advanced the younger Ephraim over his older brother Manasseh because of these earlier relationships in his life. It could also have been that Jacob believed it was God’s will for him to bless the younger grandson over the elder grandson.
In any case, we should realize that our ability to bless or to curse other people can have a great impact in their lives, and we should not take the blessing of other people lightly. The New Testament encourages us to bless the people around us. The Apostle Peter wrote, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:9) Every Christian needs to understand that God wants him to bless other people. It is the Christian’s duty and his destiny. The Christian blesses others by first doing the opposite of what is expected, and by doing the opposite of what is deserved. Instead of retaliating or getting even, the Christian answers with blessings instead of curses, and with goodness instead of evil. Peter wrote that if the Christian would bless other people, then he will inherit blessings from God. In a very real sense, God will treat the Christian in the same manner that the Christian treats other people; even evil people.
As an underserved gift, we need to understand that a blessing is often initiated by the Lord, although it may be proclaimed through other people. Balaam was another example of a person God used to bless others. In the book of Numbers, chapters Twenty-two through Twenty-four, the prophet Balaam was recruited by the Moabite king Balak so that Balaam would curse the nation of Israel. Balaam warned Barak that he could only speak the words which the Lord put into his mouth. Balaam ended up pronouncing three blessings on Israel rather than cursing them; much to Balak’s chagrin.
In Ezekiel 34 there is an implied warning. We need to bless the people around us. The blessings which God intended for his people to receive were supposed to come through the priests, or shepherds, but they chose to bless their own lives to the detriment of the people they were supposed to be leading. People, even as religious leaders, do not always do what God wants them to do.
Therefore God was going to take matters into his own hands as he took on the responsibility of caring for the people himself. God then promised to shower them with blessings.
Other Things Can be Blessed
From the Old Testament, we learn that things other than people could also be blessed. Moses told the people of Israel the Lord would bless them in many ways, which included childbirth among their wives. Moses also promised the people that the Lord would bless their possessions they owned including their land, crops and livestock. Their possessions represented the Lord’s blessings of provision and prosperity. (See Deuteronomy 28:1–8.)
God’s Purpose in Blessing
God has a purpose for blessing people. The life of Job is a good example in showing us not only how God blesses a person, but also God’s purpose behind the blessing. The Bible describes Job as a man of great prosperity both in possessions and with his family. At the beginning of the story of this man, we are told that Job had seven sons and three daughters. He owned thousands of sheep and camels, and hundreds of oxen and donkeys, and also had a large number of servants. More importantly, Job was described as a man who was faithful to God, and his character was that of a man who was blameless and upright. Job feared God and shunned evil. When his children held feasts in their homes, Job purified them and made burnt sacrifices for them. The Bible tells us that “this was Job’s regular custom.” Apparently, Job was trying to bless his family though religious rituals.
And yet, through a series of catastrophes, Job lost all of his possessions, wealth, health and family. Job lost everything, except for his wife, and she advised Job to “curse God and die.” We are told that all these disasters happened to Job because they were tests of his faith in God.
When Job’s faith did not break, and as he continued to prove that he trusted God, the Bible tells us how God blessed him yet again. At the end of the story of Job we learn that, “the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.” God restored Job’s wealth by giving him twice as much livestock as he had in the beginning of the story. God also gave Job a new family which included seven new sons and three new daughters. The story of Job ends with the words, “And so he died, old and full of years.” This ending shows the reader that Job remained faithful, and God has the power and authority to bless his people.
It is important for us to keep in mind that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and that as God promised to “never leave or forsake” us (Hebrews 13:5). Therefore, because God is always the same, we have this one constant truth in life, God always keeps his promises. His promises are still in effect today. The God who is found in the book of Job is also the same God who is found in Ezekiel, and he is still God today. As God tested Job’s faith and also blessed again him by restoring his health, and by providing Job with more possessions, and by giving him a new family, this same God who made promises to the people in Ezekiel always kept his promises. And since God fulfilled his word to his people and blessed them in the Bible, we can be certain God will keep his promises which he has made to his people who are living today.
The reason that God blesses us is because he loves us and he wants to take care of us. We need to understand this truth, and place our faith in God by trusting him to keep his promises to us.
God is actively involved in the lives of his people. This fact becomes obvious when one reads the Bible. Throughout the Bible, and especially in the Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, God tells his people how he wants to help them in life. In verse nine of that chapter, God calls himself “the Lord” when he says, “therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.” God then names himself the Sovereign Lord nine times in this chapter of the Bible. God says in verse two of Ezekiel 34, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?” These selfish shepherds should have known better. They should have taken care of the people. They should have blessed them, and not because the people deserved it, but because these human shepherds should have loved them. But since these shepherds would not do what any good shepherd needed to do, the Lord was going to take over the flock. The Lord promised to bless the people by becoming their Good Shepherd.
As the Sovereign Lord, God was telling Ezekiel, the Hebrew people, and today’s Bible reader, that he is in total control, and that he is going to act on their behalf by showering them with blessings.
Throughout the Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, the Lord uses the illustration of shepherds and their sheep to represent God and his relationship with his people. The Lord accused the religious leaders of Israel of being self-seeking and negligent. God told them that he is going to take over as the Shepherd of his flock. “As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.” (Ezekiel 34:12)
To be honest, we need to ask ourselves, “What kind of a shepherd would we want to look after us?” We could also ask ourselves some other questions: such as, “would we want a shepherd who is only looking out for himself?” Or, “would we want the Shepherd who looks after us do so only because he loves us?” And finally, “which kind of shepherd do we truly deserve; that is, if we have done anything deserving of such a reward?”
In reference to the blessings God is going to bestow upon his people, the Lord continually uses the phrase “I will” throughout the Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel. By using this phrase “I will” twenty-seven times, God wanted the people to know that his blessings are the proof that God