Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin
The seventh and eighth tribes of Israel were Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim means "God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction" and Manasseh means "to forget" (Gen. 41:51, 52). When Joseph gave these names to his sons, he did not realize what God had in His mind concerning them. He never thought of their need, their sufferings, their hardship and their troubles. But God was using them as co-workers to show His people, His heavenly purpose for their future.
Ephraim means "fruitful." How abundantly fruitful our loving Lord wants us to be! Such a life of fruitfulness will not be easy. If you want to be near to the heart of God, then you must be prepared to bear much fruit spiritually. First of all, by abiding in Him you can be fruitful (John 15:4). Secondly, by longing for His life to be poured into you constantly and freely, just as the sap flows into the tree and the branches, you can be fruitful. Sometimes, one branch of a tree will be withered because that branch is affected by some disease. You have to search yourself constantly to be sure that the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is flowing into you freely and abundantly. If it is not, examine yourself to determine what is preventing the flow, and confess such a sin and know the Lord's forgiveness.
Thirdly, He says, "Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it" (John 15:2). Watch the gardener purging the branches of the vine. Every branch is cut in such a way that it yields bunches of grapes. At Hamton court Palace, near London, a vine was planted about two hundred years ago. It is a very old vine but it is wonderful to look at, as it fills a large dome shaped room. When it starts yielding fruit we can see thousands of bunches. For two hundred years it has been yielding fruit because it is pruned very carefully. Our Lord is saying that we need to be pruned and purged to bear fruit. Only a careful gardener knows how to purge and prune. That is why God permits painful sorrows and trials to make us more fruitful, not to punish us.
God made Joseph fruitful through affliction. Jacob refers to this fruitfulness of Joseph while blessing him; "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall" (Gen. 49:22). How did Joseph become fruitful? When he was a young lad his own brothers hated him because he refused their company and would not be a partner with them in their bad habits. Their father Jacob loved Joseph, so they were jealous of him. They wanted to kill him, but ultimately they sold him as a slave. Thus he was brought to Egypt and he became a slave in the house of Potiphar. Here, he was falsely accused and put into prison and forgotten entirely for two years. These afflictions lasted for about fifteen years altogether but when he was thirty, the Lord lifted him up and brought him into favor with Pharaoh.
These fifteen years of affliction were not wasted. God used them to prepare Joseph for a very high position. During days of food rationing, the Government requires many faithful and efficient officers to be in charge of the Rationing Department. Yet, because of bribery and corruption, both in the department and elsewhere, they are not able to solve the food problem satisfactorily. Much food is wasted and people suffer. But this one man, Joseph, was able to supply food not only to Egypt, but to other nations as well, throughout the seven years of famine.
In Psalm 105:16-22, we read how Joseph suffered as a slave and then as a prisoner. Finally, he was set free by the king and made "lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his prisoners at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom." Generally princes (Government Officers) and senators (Members of Parliament) become corrupt and dishonest. No doubt Pharaoh was not able to trust his officers because of their corruption and dishonesty. So he gave full authority to Joseph to punish the corrupt princes and senators. These men must have been rich and powerful men. How was Joseph to bring them under discipline? It was a very difficult task, but Joseph had been disciplined by his afflictions, and he was able to teach wisdom to these proud and stubborn men. To qualify Joseph for such a difficult task God had to take him through fifteen years of suffering.
From his childhood Joseph had learnt to depend entirely upon the Lord. He was forsaken by his relations and forgotten by his friends. At times, he had no one to help him or show sympathy to him. He received no encouraging or comforting letter from any one. I believe during those days the Lord became very precious to Joseph and he must have spent much time in prayer and communion with God. In this way the Lord trained Joseph for the high position he was to hold one day.
When God blessed Joseph with a son he called him "Ephraim" because he now understood clearly that God had not forgotten him or forsaken him, but had always loved him and knew what He was doing. In the same way, God wants us also to be very near to His heart through many afflictions. He is preparing us to hold a very high position, not only in this life but in the next one also. However painful these afflictions may be, we must always thank God for them. If you do not pass through all these afflictions, you will live only an ordinary life. But if you want to hold a high position with the Lord in His Kingdom, you must be prepared to go through the refining fire of every trial the Lord thinks fit for you.
Every believer without exception must go through afflictions. All the saints of God of whom we read in the Scriptures had to go through many severe afflictions. Having gone through many trials, David says, "He brought me forth also into a large place" (Psa. 18:19). The apostle Paul gives a long list of the forty or more difficult experiences he had to go through (II Cor. 11:23-30). So we have to thank God for the honor He has given to us also to be prepared and trained for the great responsibilities He wants to give us later on.
Manasseh: After Ephraim came Manasseh (Num. 2:20). Manasseh means "to forget", "For God", said Joseph, "hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house" (Gen. 41:51). As Joseph forgot the past so must we: rather we must look to the future for something better (Phil. 3:13). We enjoy talking about our past sufferings to get human sympathy. We say: "See how much I have suffered through all these past years. Nobody could have such an unhappy home as I have. If you knew the condition of my home, my parents or my friends, you would realize how much I am suffering." However to grow spiritually we must forget completely every past suffering of any kind.
Sometimes we look at the past and remember with joy what the Lord did for us so many years ago. We keep on telling others what happened ten, twelve or fifteen years ago. Some times with tears we talk of those wonderful days, and long to get back to the good old days, at least for a while. Married people look back to the first few months or years of married life and long to go back to those days not realizing how much greater blessings the Lord has for them in the future. Perhaps God has been extremely good to you, and you have seen Him working mightily in the past. Do not forget that He has something far greater in store for you in future. So look forward with eager expectancy for these greater things. Paul says, "I press forward". It is only when you press forward for the better things the Lord has to give you, that your faith is kept alive. Such expectation and faith will keep you near to the heart of God. He will not be satisfied until He has filled us with His fullness and brought us into perfection. He wants to give us His whole Kingdom which is our full spiritual inheritance. That is why He asks us to press forward. Thinking of the good old days and maintaining the same attitude that we had seven or eight years ago will hinder our spiritual progress and fruitfulness.
We all need the experience of "Manasseh." Whatever happens we must remember that the Lord has better things for us in the future. He wants us to enjoy fully all that He has planned for us from eternity, because He says "all things are yours" (ICor. 3:21). However, merely repeating these words is not sufficient; we have to claim His promise. God says, "Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee"; (Heb. 6:14). That is God's promise and according to it, He will go on multiplying His blessings to us in abundance for eternity. For this reason we must forget the past, however good it may have been and expect greater things to happen. We must go on claiming the full share of our heavenly inheritance in His Kingdom and in His Throne.
The wonderful thing is that although we have failed Him and grieved Him, He does not make us forget our blessings, but He has made provision by His blood to cleanse us, and to give us all that He has prepared for us in the future.
Benjamin: Ephraim and Manasseh were followed by Benjamin (Num. 2:22). Benjamin means "Son of my right hand" (Gen. 35:18). When Rachel was in great pain and was dying, she called her new born son, "Benoni" — "Son of my sorrow." But Jacob changed his name from Benoni to Benjamin, "Son of my right hand", meaning that Benjamin was going to receive power and strength rather than sorrow. It is the right hand that is most useful for every job. Only a few use their left hand. So when Jacob said, "Son of my right hand" or "Son of my strength", he meant that this son would finally have more strength and more joy because of the sorrow in which he was born. Benjamin's mother died in child birth and so he did not know a mother's love. But it was through Benjamin that his brothers were brought into favor with Joseph later on. Although Joseph was hated by his brothers, his heart melted when he saw Benjamin and he not only forgave them but even rewarded them.
Thus we find that Benjamin speaks of those sorrows which bring us to God's right hand. Sorrow is a precious and costly experience which brings us close to God and makes us enjoy His strength. The Lord may take us through experiences of extreme sorrow. He may take away our parents at an early age. He may take away our children, our husband or wife, or some one whom we love. We may not understand why this should happen to us. But through the sorrow caused to us, we will be brought into divine favor. We have seen many cases of servants of God being called to glory at an early age. In Acts, we read how Stephen was stoned and killed in the prime of life. He had been a mighty man of God and a source of great joy to all his fellow believers. Saul of Tarsus was a witness of the stoning of Stephen; in fact he was a helper. From that time he could never forget the vision of Stephen saying with a shining face, "Father, forgive them." Later Paul himself had to suffer, much for Christ's sake (II Cor. 11:24-28). We can say that it was through the triumphant death of Stephen that Paul was transformed into such a strong witness for the Lord. When his own time came to be stoned, Paul endured it with rejoicing, and also gladly suffered stripes, poverty and shipwreck. In this way the Lord has brought salvation and blessing to many people through the suffering and death of His saints. For instance, Bro. G. Samuel of Delhi was called to glory at a comparatively early age. When we started the service at his funeral, it was raining. It continued to rain as the body was being taken to the cemetery and in spite of the downpour, many high officials both Hindus and Muslims came. We had prayed, "Lord, will You please stop the rain?" As we came near the cemetery the rain stopped and the weather remained clear till we finished the service. I have never seen any other funeral where the Lord worked so mightily. Only eternity will show what God did that day in the lives of those who attended that funeral.
Through very painful experiences we learn how to bear other people's burden, and this, in turn, qualifies us to come to the right hand of God and into divine favor. Your sorrowful experiences may not all be caused by the death of loved ones. They may be caused through misunderstandings with friends and relations from whom you expected love and comfort, and who on the contrary, have disappointed you and even betrayed you. All these experiences are allowed by God to bring us to His right hand: from the experience of Benoni, "Son of my sorrow", to the experience of Benjamin, "Son of my right hand."