1 After this Joseph was told, "Behold, your father is ill"; so he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And it was told to Jacob, "Your son Joseph has come to you"; then Israel summoned his strength, and sat up in bed.
3 And Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty (El Shaddai) appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4 and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.'
God (El Shaddai) had blessed Jacob (Divine Mind) at Luz. One interpretation of Luz is "separation," but under the light of Spirit, we find that that which we conceive to be apart from God (Luz) is in truth His abode (Bethel, house of God). Therefore this Luz state of consciousness belongs eternally to the Divine Mind and its faculties: Will (Ephraim) and Understanding (Manasseh), which faculties are to multiply and bring forth fruit exceedingly.
5 And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
6 And the offspring born to you after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
The Divine Mind (Jacob) here claims Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh (fruit of the imagination) as his own. The primal faculties of Will (Ephraim) and Understanding (Manasseh) or of affirmation and denial now come under the dominion of the Divine Mind, symbolized by Jacob. The secondary issues come under the imagination (Joseph).
7 For when I came from Paddan, Rachel to my sorrow died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)."
When an important Ego is about to change its plane of expression, a memory of past experiences, especially of those which are dear to the heart, flashes into the mind. Spiritually that which is good in the experiences is retained and that which is not good is cast aside. In soul consciousness, the soul intuitively rejects the error and claims the good. It is an occasion where denial and affirmation play an important part.
Jacob had been on his way from Paddan (a place of substance in the consciousness and body organism of the individual) and was yet some distance from Ephrath (realization of abundance); that is, the illumined Divine Mind (Jacob) had been passing from a lower plane of substance to a higher plane. During this period of transition the consciousness of love for material substance (Rachel) died, or sank back into the subconscious, there to become the foundation of a more spiritual love. Now, through introspection, Jacob was eliminating the error and affirming the good.
8 When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, "Who are these?"
9 Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom Gods have given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, I pray you, that I may bless them."
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them.
11 And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see your face; and lo, Gods have let me see your children also."
12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him.
Up to this time the faculties symbolized by Ephraim and Manasseh had been under the inspiration of the imagination (Joseph). Joseph's taking his sons from between his knees and handing them over to Jacob for the final blessing symbolizes the restoration of the faculties to their natural estate. The dying of Jacob represents the withdrawal of the activity of this special spiritual inspiration imparted through the Divine Mind.
14 And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the first-born.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, "The Gods before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, the Gods who have led me all my life long to this day,
16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
Jacob blessed his grandsons, and his blessing is significant. Manasseh, being the first-born (under divine law understanding precedes Will), would be entitled to the chief blessing, but Jacob laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh instead of the reverse, which was the customary way of blessing.
17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; and he took his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
18 And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this one is the first-born; put your right hand upon his head."
19 But his father refused, and said, "I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you, Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, 'Gods make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh'"; and thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Joseph, thinking his aged father's dim eyesight responsible for this seeming error, called his attention to it. Jacob replied that he knew what he was doing and that although the older son was to become great and important, Ephraim (Will) would take precedence under the natural law to which they were both to be subjected.
Jacob saw that the time had come for Ephraim and Manasseh to act on their own initiative, and he knew what he was doing when he gave Ephraim (the Will) first place. In the free, full development of man, the Will and ambition to achieve leap ahead of the Understanding. This has been, and still is, the experience of the human race, and it will continue to be until man, in his freedom, willingly accepts divine guidance. Then Manasseh (Understanding) will come into his own and assume first place in consciousness. The blunders of man will then be corrected and a mutual understanding be restored to the whole world.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but Gods will be with you, and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.
The final blessing of the Divine Mind on the Imagination (Joseph) promised that it would be taken back or "reincarnated" in the land of the fathers.
22 Moreover, I have given to you, rather than to your brothers, one mountain slope which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow."
The one extra portion that Jacob gave to Joseph, which he "took out of the hand of the Amorite" (a race inheritance) with his sword (power of the Word) and bow (directive power), is an amorous force that finds expression on the generative plane but which eventually must be elevated to spiritual consciousness. The exercise of any faculty to the best of one's ability is appreciated by YHVH (law), and we get an extra portion, a "free gift of God." We receive a certain return for our mental effort although we may not always directly recognize God as the source.